Every Day with Eli: May 14

Happy Mother's Day! Yesterday, while I was busy at a babywearing meeting and photographing a squishy new baby, Chris took the kids on a picnic with his mom to celebrate her. Today was my day, and we had a plan. Breakfast, then a visit to the Garden.

At the babywearing meeting yesterday, a friend gave me this handwoven wrap to borrow for a long while. It is exactly what I was hoping for in my last wrap, but is worth at least twice what I was able to pay because it is a one of a kind piece of wearable fiber art. It's truly spectacular. Even Lily agrees!

I mean, really. Look at it. What you can't see in this picture are the sparkle threads woven throughout. This wrap is gorgeous! I packed it (carefully!) into a bag, and we went out for our adventure.

Chris took us to a newish breakfast place near the Garden. Aside from being a bit pricey for a family of 6, it was perfect!

We got there early enough that we didn't have to wait for a table, though we did have to wait for our food. Luckily, each kid got a coloring sheet and crayons. (No, Mom, Eli didn't make those drawings on his own. Chris did that, and Eli was trying to mimic it.)

We passed the time by taking Mommy-and-kid selfies. Each of the kids chose their own outfit, and I love how the older three dressed up!

Caleb made Eli a paper airplane, and Eli was thrilled.

Daisy made this for me, and I was thrilled. (I drew the first flower; she drew all of the others.)

The Mommy and Kid pictures were so sweet that I made this little grid of them:

After breakfast, on to the Garden!

This picture is me at my happiest - big earrings, cup of coffee, camera around my neck, baby wrapped on my back, in my favorite place, with my favorite people.

(No, he's not asleep. Just being snuggly and shy while I took the picture.)

The Garden was crowded, but we had lots of fun. Since I brought the big camera, Chris was really sweet about taking lots of pictures of me with my babies. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of the two of us together!

We took a picture in the same spot last year, so I wanted to do it again this year.

This was last year;

Funny the difference a year makes! Last year, Eli took his first steps on Mother's Day. Now he RUNS!

Lily brought her favorite stuffed animal, Pink Bear, along to the Garden. She carried that bear the whole time!

This is my favorite spot in the Garden - the English Woodland Garden. (Also, you can see some mosquito bites on Caleb's leg. They got attacked on their picnic yesterday!

This is an absolutely perfect representation of what two years old is like. Later Eli saw this picture, and he said, "I will be in the picture next time? I will sit next to you. It will be fun?" Sweet baby. It's hard work being two.

I wanted to photograph the kids on this stone path, and they insisted on posing themselves.

Not the best picture, but there's a whole lot of love in it!

This is seriously my favorite part of the Garden.

Eli agreed to be in this picture with us.

(See my new sandals? My trusty Birkenstocks, purchased on our Grand Tour of Europe 9 years ago, finally bit the dust. I had already had them resoled once, but since I wear them daily they were spent. I'm happy with my new replacements for them though!)

Goodness. Am I a lucky mama, or what?

Then we went to the Japanese Garden. As we walked, I noticed a patch of flowers that matched Daisy's dress perfectly. She was willing - eager, even - to step into the sunlight and follow my directions, and we ended up with this image.