March 7

When I saw that it was supposed to be sunny and in the 50s today, I knew we needed to get out of the house. After such a long, dreary, sick winter, we could all use some sunshine. Caleb and Daisy were delighted when I suggested that we visit the Botanical Garden this morning. I was delighted when my friend Amber (who lives nearby) made a last-minute decision to join us. Fun was had by all.

We arrived right after the garden opened, when it was still a little bit chilly. After much debate, Amber's girls left their coats in the car. But as we explored, they got cold. Amber rigged up some headscarves for them out of my ring sling for Mary,

And her scarf for Catherine. 

I almost cropped that photo of Catherine in closer so that her piercing blue eyes really stood out, but her sweatshirt was too funny to crop out.

As usual, we paid a visit to the sheep.

Right now there are just enough sheep for each child. I don't know what we'll do when Lily is big enough to ride a sheep, too. I suppose the kids will have to start sharing sheep.

(This evening, Caleb proudly declared to Chris, "Daddy! I rode the ram today!"

After we rode the sheep, we moved on to the raccoons. 

Michael sees you!

Caleb named this raccoon "Strawberry Looloo".

Daisy named her raccoon "Rackie the Raccoon who loves all Raccoons."

I think she remembered their friend Goatie the Goat who loves all Goats.

Goodness. I'm not sure who's cuter, but Daisy definitely has better cheekbones!

Mary helped Gus ride a raccoon,

And Catherine helped Lily.

As we were leaving, we decided to take a peek at the orchid show. Caleb begged and pleaded to use my big camera, but since I have promised never to drop my lens again, I initially refused. I offered him my iPhone, but like me, he wasn't satisfied with his images. Finally, I relented and let him use my big camera.  So I present to you the Orchid Show, from a Preschooler's Perspective:

I thought it was impressive that he thought to take a picture of the colorful flags hanging from the ceiling. When we were outside, those flags were at his eye level. He saw them and said, "OH! Can we go there?" Funny boy.

Sweet Lily stayed awake the whole time, finally falling asleep on the way home after being awake for six hours. After a long nap, she was ready to play!

She is one happy baby!

Don't you just want to kiss her?

I'm not sure if she was happier about the sunshine, or about getting to play with Brother's toys. I suppose it really doesn't matter!