longwood gardens

Today we are going to Longwood Gardens.  I have been looking forward to visiting this place.   I see so many gorgeous pictures of the gardens on Nancy's blog.  I am excited to see it all first hand.  We woke up early and got out the door right after breakfast.  Justin had his last swim class today so we needed to come back around noon.  The kids managed to ride in the jeep for a few minutes.

We started out by walking to see a tree house and some of the fountains.  As we walked by the pond, we heard the toads and their mating calls.  There were six or seven we could see in the water.  I caught a nice picture of two here.  They were tough to spot.

The weather was gorgeous.  I am grateful we are here on such a clear and sunny day.

Bennett and the kids loved the tree house.  It had three levels.  

Bennett loved climbing on the stairs.  

He threw a tantrum when it was time to go.  I loved the fountains.

Every few minutes the water would "pop up."  I could have watched them all day.

Our next stop was the pavilion.  Nancy said there were a lot of fountains inside for the kids to enjoy.  Bennett loves to play with water so I knew we would spend a lot of time there.  We caught some cool sights on our way over like this giant bench.  Justin said it echoed.

And, this cool plant.  We couldn't find the marker for this one.  It was really pretty though.  The flowers were shaped like bells but were very large and a beautiful orange color.  I want one for my garden.

This plant reminded me of a wig.  It felt like touching human hair.  

Chloe and Justin lead the way to the pavilion.  I was admiring the absolutely perfect lawn all around us.

Inside we are greeted by a wishing pond.  We threw some coins in and out of the water.  Bennett didn't want to leave it.  It must be because he didn't know what was waiting for him around the corner.

Out of the numerous fountains scattered around inside, this was Bennett's favorite.  He loved reaching for the water coming out of the flower-shaped spouts.  

Chloe and Justin were showing him the ropes of course.  

I was very impressed by the various fountains myself.  I wouldn't mind jumping into one of them either.  It was very warm inside.

Finally got all of three kids together for a picture.  Up to this point they were all busy doing their own thing.

Bennett was so soaked at this point he needed a new change of clothe.  Thanks to Nancy I had a new shirt and shorts for him.  

Chloe was so sweet.   She kept her eye on Bennett.  She would run off and play but always come back, check on him and play for a bit about every five minutes.

We run out of time so we got the kids changed and headed back to the car.  Besides the fountains there was a lily pond and numerous lawns inside the pavilion.  I couldn't stop taking pictures.  The pavilion was gorgeous.  Everything was perfectly tended.

We made a brief stop to look at the main fountain in the gardens before hitting the road. 

I wish Longwood Gardens were closer.  I could see myself spending all of my weekends here.  Thank you Nancy for taking us.  What an amazing way to pass the morning.