Butterflies and Dragonflies

So excited...an old friend from high school, Julie came into town last weekend...she spent Friday with me and the girls....soooo fun...she now lives in Texas...and I haven't seen her for ages...we have kept in contact by e-mail and phone...but her first time to see the girls in person...well she probably felt like she already knew them with pictures that I used to be good at sending out...then got bad about...until I started the blog. Anyway~ it was a GREAT day...and I had a blast for sure.

We made plans for the botanical gardens...the sad truth is that we have been here 4 years without really doing any of the fun local things...so it was about time and glad it was with Julie...we thought the girls would love it too:)

Although the girls were a tad cranky...they did well for the most part...so it was a great day...now just a warning...I have a TON TON of pictures...I cannot seem to help myself when it comes to the girls and flowers...I just keep going and going...so bear with me if flowers aren't your thing...but I have some cute shots of the girls...Now on another note...when viewing the pictures...please don't feel like I have a favorite...it was just easier to try to keep Hayley in the stroller MOST of the time so we could actually enjoy things because we would have never looked at anything if she ran around the whole time...so yes....most pictures are of Madison...it was just easier to have Hayley enjoy her surroundings in the stroller because if she saw me...she would have wanted out:)...can't blame her...I probably would have been the same way...:)

Anyway...here we go...I'll try to go from the beginning...although perhaps I may get the order mixed up...

I am just IN LOVE with greenery with bright colored flowers....

I dream of a day where I have a HUGE backyard where about 1/2 of the size of my backyard now would be a GIGANTIC flower garden with LOTS and LOTS of greenery too...I still have to convince Bobby of that...not too much of a fan of the greenery part...but I think he would be after going here...

that means I have a lot of learning to do...not so bad with outdoor plants...but don't try giving me an indoor plant...it just won't survive...hee...hee...but it would be neat to have one on second thought...well if it lived:)!

Meet Julie...a lovely sweet girl...[well woman]...you all know what I mean...she is taking photography classes on the side so she was super excited to be at the botanical gardens for some lovely shots of her own...I doubt she knew I took this photo...but I just loved it:) I say follow your dreams...she would be great at it:)

As we first walked in a beautiful fountain that Madison just so happened to pose in front of:)

A little wishing pond with a mermaid statue in the center that the girls just loved..."one more mommy" for the coins to throw in..
Just a little botanical house outside of the English gardens...we started there and ventured off...they were just so excited...
We laugh because we think Hayley will be a great runner with that already "relaxed" face as she runs...her run is so stinkin' cute...and her face is so relaxed her cheeks bounce...I laugh because I have those same cheeks that were always youthful as a kid...I love them
You see this little pool area...you have to know that face is up to something right?...well it was...this was one of many...that Hayley would lean over the ledge and wade her hands in the water making splashes...of course....I was with her the whole time and holding on to her...but she loved it...part of the reason...I decided back in the stroller because she wanted to do it to every water area...just wasn't going to happen for every single one...but it sure was cute:)
The little bell area...they loved making the sounds on the bells...yes...you see Hayley trying to climb in for the big one...it didn't happen...but Madison had a good time going around to all of them she could reach and ringing them...these are about the last pics of Hayley...for the day...back in the stroller...Before lunch we headed into the tropical part indoors...one of my favorites...LOVED this...although the girls were definitely getting hungry...we could have went through a million times and notice more and more each time...that is what I loved. [And] the waterfalls were beautiful...the sound is so calming and peaceful! Madison did too...3rd pic down you can see her looking at them.I just LOVED, LOVED, LOVED these bell looking flowers...they were in yellow too...aren't they beautiful...they are so romantic!
After lunch we came across so much...not sure if this was right after lunch...but we came across the Children's place...where it was super neat...a little town hall...huge play gym...Julie helped Madison and went up there with her while I stayed with Hayley...of course Madison LOVED that! I forgot to include a pic of Madison in a canoe right outside of it...that was superneat...but I think I have so many already downloaded in this post...but she LOVED it!

Madison in the jail...I was surprised how much she really liked "being behind bars..." just cute!

Madison climbed all the way up the hay bales (did I spell that right...looks a little funny...maybe it is just late) ...she did a GREAT job...the first time wasn't sure if she would stand up...but she got there...and I was super proud of her...she wanted to get down all by herself and the last one she wanted help:)
Julie was trying to get a picture of the girls with me...well she captured exactly how the girls are with me...love this picture...because these are my girls and just being normal for sure!

I did get this picture of Hayley...I just couldn't believe it! This is her "WOW" face and her saying it. She loved the waterfall walking into the children's area :)

And this little adorable couple was in the children's area...I just had to take their picture...are they in LOVE or what? I love how she is holding the brochure with her arm around him...just so neat and sweet...exactly how it should be.
These little cups of leaves...definitely caught my attention...then with the pink flowers behind (loved them)...how many times can I say LOVED in this post...have you counted yet:)...I wouldn't either.I had two BIG favorites of the day which we will get to shortly...I promised a lot of pictures and there for sure is...but the Chinese Garden was by far one of them!!!! Absolutely loved it and you can see why...
Wasn't it gorgeous....I just really enjoyed all the detail...the wonderful bridge...the plants right in the middle of the pond...those little bridges are sooo neat...it just made me think that would be great for our photographer to do our family pics at sometime...I don't even know if that would be allowed there...but super...super...beautiful!!! Well...actually for family pictures...I think the wooden one shown somewhere down below in the post in the Japenese garden area may be better...that little olden vintage look...

Have no idea where this picture was at...but how pretty are those bright flowers with that dark, rich green!

Japenense Garden where we headed next...although we didn't know we were in it until we were pretty much passed it...the girls were kind of getting cranky since it was afternoon time by then...just from being tired in the sun...so we didn't spend a whole lot of time...but they had some spectacular and HUGE fish that were neat...Madison definitely enjoyed them...

Japenese garden pics... starting off with the bridge that I was really fond of...
A hop, skip, and a jump...Julie was with Madison here...but she jumped from one rock to the other...it looks like she missed coming back...but she didn't...it is just a lower rock that isn't in water...they had a really neat section with lots of smooth black rocks on the shore...wonderful texture...definitely a great picture too...just not shown.
The English garden was so wonderful...by far my favorite...was this cottage...oh what a great picture place that would make...of course...they had beautiful hydrangeas...my favorite!!! and lillies...my second favorite!!! But these were different...and...these roses...the white ones...so fluffy...so pretty...
Love this picture of Madison...her new friend in hand too...surprise his name is "Lion":)
My other favorite part of the gardens (well I probably liked them the best actually) was how much I fell in LOVE with the lily pads...especially the gigantic ones...and the tropical ones with the flowers coming up with them...it just made you want to go floating on them...so pretty...and these were the water areas that Hayley and Madison had the most fun leaning over splashing their hands in the water...
Have no idea why this picture keeps loading sideways...I have given up:)My very favorite lily pads that curved up...so neat...LOVED them! (Last time saying loved in this post! I promise)
My little butterfly admiring the lily pads too....she enjoyed them
After the gardens Julie came home with me...we spent some time...and Bobby made it home before us...so we took Julie to dinner...another fun time and got a couple of great pictures below...we went to a local Italian restaurant that sure was YUMMY! None of us had not eaten Italian out in awhile so it was nice to do so....plus it gave me some extra time with Julie before she headed to her cousins house...after dinner I dropped the girls off with Bobby...and I drove Julie to her cousins...a very nice time to have some conversation without kiddos...so nice to see an old friend that really just knows you well...we had a neat conversation during the day that I will post about another time...still working on it... I am super excited about it...so can't wait...it'll be a different topic...

Blessings from all of us!

A really nice picture of Julie and I...hopefully it won't be so long until next time but I don't think it will...thanks Julie for spending the day with me!