Garden Week: Botanical Garden trip

Fingerprint ladybugs & bees

What a glorious day to be out in the garden.  The weather was crisp, the sun was shining, and the outdoors were calling.  We just had to be outside.       

So we headed to our local Botanical Garden, which is home to more than 13,000 different kinds of plants from all over the world.  Talk about an amazing garden.   

This was our first trip so we didn't know quite what to expect.  It was beautiful--a truly hidden gem nestled in Strawberry Canyon.  We brought our stroller, which was clearly a mistake.  Most of the paths are gravel hiking trail types and have lots of steps.  Little Mama spent two minutes in the stroller and then walked, "hiked," or was in our arms.

So much natural beauty to take in.  Little Mama -- look, carnivorous plants that eat bugs!

carnivorous plants

The cactus plants were amazing.... 

Look how tall this one is...

and of course, the redwoods...

Overall, it was a gorgeous morning.  We also managed to squeeze in some indoor garden fun... 

Ladybug clothespins

Little Mama's auntie bought her a ladybug crafting kit for Valentine's Day, which we finally put to good use.  Little Mama had been asking to open it for days now and today seemed like the perfect day. Ladybugs are so beneficial for the garden.  They eat the aphids, Little Mama.  

She did a great job sorting out the items in the package; however, I must admit, I did all the gluing and assembling.  I was so inspired by how cute they came out, I put up a small clothesline in Little Mama's room to hang all her artwork.

We took out the paints and did a little finger painting too.  See the blades of grass above with Little Mama's fingerprints.  Little Mama glued blades of grass to the paper and then added yellow and red fingerprints all around, which I later made into bees and ladybugs.  Since we had the paint out, we painted another sheet of paper, which we later made into a butterfly.  

finger-painted butterfly

 More sensory table play with seeds!  

sunflower seeds, bird seeds, and bell pepper seeds

Little Mama loved this activity.  In fact, there was a mini-meltdown at clean-up time, it was such a hit. I gave her the insides of a bell pepper (again), some sunflower seeds, and bird seeds and let her mix, pour, and sift.  Nothing special, nothing fancy, but lots of fun.  Looks like Garden Week is getting a thumbs up around here.  Wait till we visit our own garden in the backyard...