The Other Colors at the Botanical Gardens

Yesterday I posted couple of RED pictures from our day at the botanical gardens on Saturday.  Of course there were many more colors we got to enjoy!

We made our first trip to the gardens in June (about 75 miles from where we live).  We fell in love and bought a membership, excited about the many awesome programs they have each season.

During this, our fall trip, we got to enjoy a taste of bluegrass music...

...and we loved seeing the 40 scarecrows designed by different local artists, perched throughout the estate.

This was probably the most traditional scarecrow, and the girls' favorite.

There is also a model train exhibit set up right now.  I didn't think to get a larger picture of the tracks, but they were nothing short of amazing!  Everything was built on materials found in nature...lots of tree stumps supported the tracks, and the bridges were made of small twigs.  It was pretty cool!

Of course we were excited to see the many beautiful fall colors...

...and hunt for the biggest and brightest leaves.

Baby A isn't always very cooperative for pictures these days...she was more than willing to "hide" behind this leaf that was as big as her head!

In addition to the fall festivities, we loved meandering throughout the gardens.  Here's a sampling of the fun we had...

I can usually get a picture if I ask the girls, "Do those flowers smell?"  Good thing they don't have allergies!

And the girls are always willing to climb up on something and peer over a ledge!

"Hug your sister!"

"Smile with Mommy!"  (They obviously didn't hear the second part..."Look at Daddy!")

"What's in that well???"

Our favorite activity...a +1 mile nature hike, along which there are several huge outdoor sculptures.

"Beep the tortoise's nose!"

 

"Hug your sister again!"  (The girls were getting a little tired at this point.)

I was trying to make pictures of the girls after lunch.  Baby A said, "Sissy has something on her face!"  I asked her if she could get it off...which resulted in fits of giggles.

"Look!  There's water in that tree trunk!  Can you see your reflection?"

And my favorite pictures from the day...Baby A loved these lion statues when we first met them this summer.  She was tickled to be reunited with them.  The lions were hungry, though, so Baby A fed them some special leaves.  Problem solved.

I'm already looking forward to seeing the gardens decorated for the holidays!