Light Blossoms

Every year, Marina and I like to go to Blossoms of Light. This year our weekend schedule is very full, so I got our tickets for tonight even though it was a school night. It was a chilly night but not too cold. We bundled up and drover over. Traffic wasn’t too bad and we didn’t have as much trouble finding a place to park as we often do.

When we went inside we bought hot chocolate. Then we headed out into the light displays. The lights were arranged much by their color schemes and we liked them. We also saw giant balls of light and glowing sticks that Marina called light sabers. This year they also had a structure made of light. It was fun to walk inside and be surrounded by it.

After we made it through the entire gardens we were ready to go home. It was a fun evening.

A Night at Santa's Village

This evening, we to Santa’s Village at the botanic gardens. As soon as we were inside we bought hot chocolate. It was chilly, but not overly cold and there weren’t many people there. The schoolhouse building was open and we found Frosty the Snowman inside. The next building had Santa in it. There was no line so we got photos with him and his elf.

Just outside the building were two reindeer in a pen. They were both sleeping. They looked so cute! The lights were very pretty as we walked to the barn. The activity in the barn was decorating a coffee mug. Marina was happy to do that.

After her mug was done, we walked past the elf village. There was no line for the wagon rides, so we got on board for that. The ride was shorter than last year but it was fun. After the ride we were ready to go home. We took a different route back to the entrance which took us past one of the old houses. We were surprised to find it was open for tours. So we looked around there before going back to the car.

Day of the Dead

It’s become an annual tradition for us to go to the botanic gardens Day of the Dead festival. It has become a popular event and parking is difficult. We had to park fairly far away but the walk wasn’t too bad. I had already purchased our tickets, so we went right in.

We started by going into the café and picking up drinks. Once we had those, we went to check out the activities. We started by looking over the crafts. Marina decided to look into them. She came back a few minutes later with a paper flower for me.

We stopped for a while and watched some of the Mexican dancing. The woman next to us knew quite a bit about it. It was interesting to hear what she was saying. Next we went into to look at the frames created by school children around the area. We also looked at an elaborate alter set up in a greenhouse in the Japanese Garden.

We walked through the gardens to get to the Community Alter at the front. We each wrote down the names of those we lost, including some pets and added them to the alter. It seemed appropriate to have Mexican food for lunch, so we stopped by a restaurant near home.

Glow at the Gardens

The Glow at the Gardens event has become another Halloween tradition for Marina and I. This year the event was scheduled for one week only. I got our tickets early since it always sells out.

It started snowing just as Marina got out of school. Traffic wasn’t too bad despite rush hour and the weather. However, when we arrived it was clear parking was an issue. After a bit of circling around we came upon some people who were leaving and we were able to grab their spot. It was very close and we were happy about that.

We quickly checked in and started off by buying hot chocolate before venturing back out to explore the gardens. We stopped to look at the pumpkins and Marina picked up candy at each trick or treat station. We just followed the path since it was still snowing heavily.

As we walked around, we kept an eye out for the ghosts we heard about on the Ghosts in the Gardens tour last week. We shared some of the stories with people around us as well. Marina was pretty creeped out when we walked through the trees in the back of the gardens.

Every year, the botanic gardens has the most interesting pumpkin displays that we see. This year was no exception. I took pictures of many of them, but they were all surrounded by snow.

We went back inside to try out the virtual reality experience they set up this year. We had three experiences to choose from. We both picked the Halloween Epic Roller Coaster. It took a bit to get mine started, but I could hear Marina as she went through it. The volunteers thought she was very entertaining.

After our VR experience we were ready to go home. We had a quick walk to the car and headed home. We had an easy trip where we put on dry clothes and watched TV for a little while before bed.

Ghosts in the Gardens

Marina and I sometimes watch the TV show Ghost Hunters together. So we were both excited to go on one of the Ghosts in the Gardens tours at the botanic gardens this evening. I’ve known for a while that the land used to be a cemetery, which is creepy enough. But both of us were interested in learning more.

When we arrived, we sat in an auditorium and watched a brief movie about the history of the land and how human remains are often found there. We also saw some footage a local ghost hunter had found. Then the group split into four.

We started over by the greenhouses. our guide told us some of the stories of ghosts that people have reported, including one called The Watchman. We even got to go into the employee area behind the greenhouses. There has been quite a lot of reported activity in Greenhouse #4.

We went to the Victorian Secret Garden where we heard about a couple who sit on the bench and strolls through the park. In the back area we were told about one called The Shadow Man who was not at all friendly.

Throughout the tour we heard stories of strange sighting and sounds. In the Lilac Garden there have been reports of a girl in a white dress. After hearing that, Marina swore she’d seen her on one of our visits there.

On the tour we were able to go into a 1920’s mansion that the botanic gardens uses for offices. It was a gorgeous house. We heard about the previous residents who might still be there, including a little boy named Jack. We also checked out a haunted mirror.

After the House, our tour arrived at the main entrance. Marina and I both enjoyed the tour. We agreed we’ll never look at the gardens the same way again!

Spring at the Garden

It’s felt like a long winter and Marina and I are definitely ready for spring. Today the weather was beautiful, so we decided to check out the spring flowers at the botanic gardens. I made us a big brunch before we left the house.

When we arrived at the botanic gardens we discovered that lots of people had the same idea. It took a while to find a place to park and we had to walk a few blocks to get to the entrance.

Once inside we bought drinks and then we started walking around. There is a current exhibit of sculptures of the human form throughout the gardens which we looked at as well. We were amazed at how many different varieties of tulips we saw. The irises were also blooming and we saw a few daffodils were still around.

We were most excited to see the Lilac Garden. The lilacs weren’t in full bloom, but there were enough that we could smell them. We wandered through a few other parts of the garden before walking back to the car. We’d had a very busy weekend and wanted to relax a bit.

Garden Lights

December has been a busy month for us. We weren’t able to go to Blossoms of Light at the botanic gardens before Christmas. The tickets sold quickly and when I got our tickets the only time slot left for tonight was 8:00 pm. That was later than I would have chosen, but I took them anyway.

It was a cold night – the temperature was only 16 degrees when we left the house. Fortunately for us we were able to find parking in the garage right away and there was no line to go inside. So we bought hot chocolate and we were on our way.

The lights were really pretty this year. Marina and I liked the color combinations we saw. Marina was even happy to have her picture taken in front of many of the displays. When we reached the end, we saw that the interactive lights were back but this year they were controlled by a touch screen. Marina was happy to give it a try.

Once we walked all the way through, Marina and I were ready to go home. We were really cold by that time.

Dia De Los Muertos Celebration

We’ve been going to the botanic gardens Day of the Dead Celebration for the past few years. Last year Miss Judy came with us and enjoyed it. So we invited her again this year. She, in turn, invited Bethany and Jeremy to join us. It was going to be particularly emotional this year as we would be remembering a family who was killed earlier this year.

The weather was cool and rainy this morning but we decided to go anyway. It seemed to take a long time for everyone to be ready to go, but we were fortunate that right as we arrived we found someone who was leaving the parking garage, so we got a good parking spot.


When we arrived we found the crafts under a large tent. Marina wanted to decorate a sugar skull, so we wall watched her as she made hers. Judy, Bethany and Jeremy went to watch the Aztec dancers while Marina created a flower wreath and she made paper marigolds which she gave to Judy and Bethany.

We all went for warm drinks and once we had them the Lucha Libre wrestling had begun. So we watched that for a while. Our next stop was the community alter. Judy and Bethany got emotional as they added a family members’s name to the display. I helped Marina with a card with her great grandparents’ names on it.

We went into the Japanese garden where Marina showed everyone the koi pond. Then we wandered around the perimeter of the garden. By then Bethany and Judy were tired, so we decided to leave. On the way home, we stopped to have tacos for lunch.

Glowing Gardens

Marina and I have attended Glow at the Gardens every year since it started. She wanted to wear her costume Sayori from Doki Doki Literature Club today, so this afternoon we put a temporary maroon dye in her hair. She was very excited about that!

This year we were fortunate to have great weather. We had to wait in line to get into the botanic gardens, but it moved fairly quickly.

Once inside, we bought chai lattes to drink as we walked around. I was surprised at how much light there was at the start. We could see all the pumpkin carvings, but they weren’t glowing. It wasn’t until we were about halfway through that it was dark enough to really see the jack o’lanterns. So we decided to go through again to see everything in the dark.

As we were leaving, we saw performers wearing light up costumes which we watched for a while. After that we were ready to go home.

Sunday at the Gardens

The botanic gardens have a corpse flower named Stinky that is expected to bloom in the next week. The last time that happened, the wait to smell it was hour along. They are expecting it to bloom again in a about a week. I have no desire to wait in a line like that, but I was interested in seeing it. So we decided to go to the gardens today.

Our first stop was the orangery where Stinky was front and center. It is huge! After we took a look, we went strolling through the rest of the gardens. One of Marina’s favorites is the Japanese garden. She likes looking at the bonsai trees and koi fish.

Nearby was a pond that was full of blooming lily pads. It was very pretty! We also walked through a garden that was full of edible plants. We saw some cabbage like plants that Marina and I thought looked like Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.

We went through the American gardens where Marina walked up a small hill by a waterfall and told me it was her favorite place there. The rose garden was absolutely spectacular with roses of every color blooming. I couldn’t remember a time when I have seen the botanic gardens looking so beautiful. Not only did we see flowers of every kind blooming, we also found berries growing in many places.

It was a hot day, so we decided to walk by Stinky one more time and go home. We walked through the tropical greenhouse on our way. That is always fun to see.

Pixelated

Today was Marina’s first day of summer vacation. I decided to take the day off and we went to the Botanic Gardens. We both slept in and left in the late morning. The weather was very warm today and the Gardens were popular. We were very happy to get a parking spot in the garage and out of the sun!

Once we got inside the gardens, Marina was ready for lunch. So we stopped at the café and ate sandwiches before looking around. They have a collection of sculptures called “Pixelated” on display this summer and Marina was particularly interested in seeing those, so she used the map to make sure we saw them all.

We headed toward the lilac garden in hopes that they were still in bloom. A few of the flowers remained, but not as many as we have seen in the past. We also took some paths around we haven’t used as often. We saw columbines and irises in many different colors all over.

Marina really enjoyed the Pixelated sculptures – she was especially excited about the “Cat Head” one. After we went through the garden we went to the children’s garden. After seeing the sailboat sculpture Marina spent a bit of time playing in the wading stream before we decided to go home.

Beautiful Night, Gorgeous Lights

We had record high temperatures today, so I thought it would be a great night to see the Blossoms of Light at the Botanic Gardens. I picked Marina up after school and we went directly there. Traffic was pretty bad, so it took about an hour to get there.  Fortunately when we arrived we were able to park and get inside quickly.

We started by having dinner in the café near the entrance of the gardens. After we ate, we bought hot chocolate and started out.

As always, the lights were gorgeous. Marina loved the trees filled with purple lights and my favorite was a tree wrapped in two shades of blue lights. As we walked through, the event got more and more crowded. So we found ourselves negotiating through people.

Even though it wasn’t very cold, we still stopped for a while to sit by the fire pit – one of Marina’s favorite spots. We talked to another family for a little while before finishing up our trip through the garden. We stopped for a bit at the interactive light display. Unfortunately a large group of ids cut in front of us so Marina decided not to take a turn controlling the display.

We had an easy trip home which was a nice change from the long trip there.

Santa's Village

For many years, Marina and I have wanted to see the holiday lights at Santa's Village, but we’ve never made it. So I suggested we go this evening – our only opportunity this year. Marina agreed.

I picked her up after school. We ran into plenty of rush hour traffic and after about an hour we arrived at the location. The parking attendant told us we were his VIPs for the night and directed us to a parking spot right by the entrance.

I already had our tickets, so we walked right into the event. We stopped briefly at a fire pit, but it was such a warm night we didn’t stay there for long. We followed the path into a building. Inside we found a Christmas plate craft, Mrs. Claus, Frosty the Snowman and Santa himself!

The line for Santa was short, so we did that first. Marina couldn’t think of anything she wanted for Christmas, but she posed for photos anyway. Next she designed a Christmas plate. We sat for a story and a song with Mrs. Clause before we moved on.

We followed a beautifully lit path to an Elf Village. The buildings were so cute! Nearby were two reindeer in a pen. Marina was able to pet them a little when they came close enough to the fence. We checked out the movie theater where an old cartoon was showing. We picked up hot chocolate to drink while we were there.

Then we got in line for a hayride to the other side of the garden. It was a pretty trip!

The rest of the light show was a decorated farm house. Marina particularly liked the ducks and chickens in the coop. We could even see some that were sleeping.

Our trip home was much faster than the drive to the garden. After a fun evening, it was good to get home.