Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Laura and Margo Visit pt.2: Red Butte Garden, Packing and Storms

After visiting Temple Square and the Avenues, we drove over to Red Butte Botanical Garden, about a ten minute drive away.
Laura had given me a year long pass to the RB garden for Mother's Day, and I can take friends and family in with me for free.

Let the picture taking begin!





(I did my best to raise her right. She'll be 31 in 23 more days....there is still time for her to grow up. Someday.)

I do love that moose sculpture.
And amazingly, a moose was loose in our neighborhood two days later.
I was totally bummed that I didn't get to see it before the Wildlife management crew sedated the moose and moved her to a less populated area.

The moose family...Dad is above the stream, Mom and calf are in the stream enjoying a munch of stream bed greens.





The critters are cool too....and Laura caught this fellow mid munch!











Hi Margo!

Hi Laura!

Oh the sound of this waterfall was magnificent!

It is right next to an outdoor theater, where concerts featuring famous performers are held each summer..

I wish I could have gotten tickets to the Diana Krall concert in July!

Camera at the ready....

Love the outlined rose petals!

The koi are pretty friendly, especially if you put a quarter in the fish food dispenser and chum them up.










Oh, here we go again!
Bride season in Salt Lake.
A non-LDS bride this time, you can tell by her nearly bare shoulders and non-Temple ceremony.

She was just so elegant, and I watched through the bushes as the traditional Wedding March was played by musicians seated in the garden.
She came out, went up to the first groomsman, and they waltzed a few steps, then she waltzed with a bridesmaid, and then a groomsman etc across the garden until at last she had come to where the groom and minister stood.
I thought that was the best use of the Wedding March song that I had ever seen.
Absolutely enchanting in this very garden setting.

We left the wedding scene and continued to the Children's Garden.
Parents were enjoying taking birthday pictures of their children standing by this floral cake.
Margo conquered a lizard!

We stood at the mouth of a giant dragon-snake...

Where a small child could run inside through the snake's vine covered body

Ahem...I said small child....

A flower bed in a flower bed...an old joke but new to young eyes.

A vine house....



And a tree with a small table and stools below for child tea parties. Or adult child follies.

I'm a huge fan of teaching children to gently rub leaves and to smell the fragrance of herbs on their finger tips. So much nicer than a "Don't touch!" flower garden.

The textures of leaves are interesting too...soft as a lamb's ears are these leaves.
Some fountains take up very little space, but provide a big, big smile anyway.

A child sized butterfly garden, much smaller than the huge butterfly garden at the Houston Bayou Bend garden. Really, couldn't just about any garden have such a planting?

Back to playing with the lizards....

Another fun garden idea.

Pretty useful too.

Every time I visit Red Butte Garden it seems they have something new in the Children's Garden. Sometimes it is corn stalk forts, bean teepees, pumpkin patches...

I should remember to take pictures there more often to jog my memory later on for ideas for children's gardens.

What is it about a Children's gardent that brings out the child in everyone?

The Boston Ivy covered walls are a tender point with me. Our bricks were covered with the season color turning Boston Ivy; B. declared it a hazard to our bricks. Since Red Butte uses it on their walls...maybe it isn't such a hazard after all.

B. is not convinced.
Our Boston Ivy runners are regularly removed.

I just love berries!

Varigated leaves almost overshadow the beauty of the flowers.

Each leaf is a work of art!










We headed back home in time to pack the Uhaul before night fall.

Tiggie snoopervised...

He is a good snoopervisor. He told Bernie exactly what needed to be done.


See? It did all fit just fine. Just like Tiggie said it would.
As the packing was going on, the sky began to look nasty.

The Weather station advised that we seek shelter immediately.

Right.

Uh hun.

Just as soon as we get a picture of the amazing lightening strikes.

There's one strike. A little blurry...but definitely a lightening stike.

Our neighbor two doors down had invited the entire neighborhood over for the Annual Neighborhood Summer Barbeque.
I was madly baking cookies to take down there as soon as the packing was finished.
We arrived at the party just as the storm cut loose.
Everyone had pretty much cleared out...leaving a vast array of desserts behind.
We didn't stay long ourselves...I ran home with my cookie dish in hand.
Soaked to the skin!

Drenched!

What is it with all this rain? SLC is supposed to only get about seven inches of rain a year, but it seems like everytime a party happens around here, it just cuts loose and pours.

And that is always followed by an amazing double rainbow across our mountain view.

A complete bow, broken only by the pine tree blocking the view.
We had dinner and then played Rummicube, then it was off to bed.
It had been a very busy Friday day with the girls.
Just the way I like it!

8 comments:

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Wow, that was a fun post. A little bit of everything. The garden you visited is amazing.

Anonymous said...

Seeing all your wonderful pictures and following along through your day made me feel like I was there with you and enjoying it right along with you all. Love, mom S.

Lovella ♥ said...

Wow JIll, that was a very sweet post. I loved the garden. .
Your flower pictures were so neat to see what you have and what you have that we don't have and what we both have.
The bride. . oh dear, she was beautiful.
I keep looking at the pictures of you and everytime. . I think, is that Jill? You look fantastic. . and there appears to be less of you.
The favorite picture is the drenched party picture. You all look like 20 year olds. Amazing.

A Lady said...

Momma, well written, and an excellent selection of photos! Well said, and I thoroughly enjoyed the much too short time up there.
Loves!!!

Vicki said...

There's something about those red-headed daughters...they'll never grow up. Acting their age just isn't in their genes.

I lovedlovedloved the photos...the flowers...the fun! This was such a great documentation of your day. Good job on getting the lightning - blurry or not, getting a picture of the bolt is nearly impossible.

Marg said...

Sounds like you are having too much fun, but why not.
Water is always fun and it's surprising at the outcome...
I'm just filling up my water balloons.
What is the game Pin the Maple leaf on the Tree?
I just googled it...

Marg said...

thanks loads! I thought it would be similiar. Yes, the whole day will be planned for those who are not athletically inclined, that's why it becomes a real mock to the sports people....
I'll be watching for you July 4th celebrations.

L&D said...

Uh, what unbelievable photos yet again! I am merely speechless. To sum it up: weird lizards, love the shot of Laura blowing the dandelions, the flowers are gorgeous and I even like your stalkerish ways of the non-LDS bride. Made me giggle. For the record, I'd let you stalk me any day. ;)