Botanical Gardens

What used to be known as "lay here and let me take a thousand photographs of you in different poses and little smirks on your face" has transformed into "chase me, Momma...and go ahead and try to take a photo" But, I must say, I prefer the most recent endeavors....more exercise, some sunshine and some true laughs, nothing forced and no torture, just pure, raw emotions. No, these are not the greatest photos in the world but, as a good friend once said to me "this isn't about making money, it's about making memories"... well, we made them this day at the Botanical Gardens in Norfolk. As Clara waddles around and runs away from me, and I try to keep her from the rose bushes, it was fun....exciting...and wow what a great day to spend with my beautiful baby. this was her first time in a fountain as well, she had a blast. we WILL be going back... she has way too many cute outfits to wear to not photograph them all here.

while walking (and partially sprinting) around this place I was just taken aback at how incredible it was. it really was like a page out of a storybook... when i was younger I always took to the movies with real people. I was never into cartoons that much, i guess because cartoon worlds just seem too easy. I mean, anyone can draw something and make it animated, but making something appear real in real life is way too difficult. And, as a child I'm sure I found the combination of the two really cool because my favorite movie was Mary Poppins. The songs and dance and animals, I mean, what else could a kid dream of? Nowadays with kids wanting all of this crazy cartoon 3D stuff, just seems to be overpowering. Clara and I stay unplugged a lot of our day.. We go outside and take walks and even when we are inside, we play on the floor, cuddling, talking to each other (even though I can't really understand her) and, that's our life....the gardens were a perfect place for us. we bonded and laughed at each other. Like 10 people asked me if I went alone, I did meet a friend there but only saw her briefly, keeping kids on the same schedule is next to impossible, by the time she got there Clara had drank half of the fountain and was sleepy. Some other Moms I know seemed shocked that I would want to take Clara and go alone to a place like that. I don't really understand it...I don't need anyone else to have fun, my best friends are my husband and my baby girl, who else do you really need? :)