Late Summer at Longwood Gardens

Ish and I decided to take the children to Longwood Gardens this morning. Since we have a membership (thanks Dad!),  we try to go at least once per month.  When we told Little Ish our plans for the morning, his face lit up with joy.  He loves visiting Longwood Gardens and had asked a few different times this week if we could go sometime soon.  Liliana didn't quite get where we were going until we had parked and she started proclaiming, "Go to gardens too, Mommy! Yay!"

The kids were especially delighted to find out that the model trains were back.  Ish and I were particularly thankful for the cool Fall-like weather.

After watching the trains for a while, we decided to head over to the Topiary Garden and let the kids run wild.

Little Ish had a blast feeding the monster bush.

Lily spent most of her time talking to and roaring at the lions that stand at the entrance.

 

Little Ish took a quick detour to the Rose Garden

And then he headed back to the Topiary Garden and found a secret hideout.

Before heading over to the Children's Garden the kids spent a bit of time walking on the outer rim of the sun dial.  It is the perfect height for them to practice balancing because a fall would do little to no injury.

We ended our trip with a visit to the Children's Garden which is easily the kids' favorite part about Longwood Gardens.  If you are planning a trip to this part of Longwood, be sure to bring a change of clothes for your children.  It is not uncommon to see sopping wet kids coming out of there.  I made the mistake today of not packing extra clothes so Lily ended up in just her leggings and jacket on the way home.

Right before we left, I handed the camera to Ish so that he could take some [rare] pictures of me with the kids.