Pioneer Garden...

Today Sydney, Paige and I went to voluteer at "the Botanicals." The girls ran, climbed rock walls, ran, played in the Arch sculpture, ran, had a picnic, talked to the geese, and did I mention that they ran? They were loving the warm day, sunshine and the magic of playing in a beautiful place. I raked, trimmed grasses, raked, and dug up some parsnips all in the Pioneer Garden. The homestead belongs to a famous Toledoan Peter Navarre...and had been moved three times since it was built. First from downtown Toledo, to Navarre Park, then across the street to the Toledo Zoo, and finally found it's current home in The Crosby Gardens which later became TBG. The garden represents what a pioneer family in 1837 would have grown...the year 1837 was chosen for the garden since that was the year Toledo became a city. I also harvested buckwheat seed for the horticulturalists to store, very cool looking seed pods.

Photo by Missouri Extension Office
The funniest thing I heard all day was little Miss Sydney yelling with her sing songy vioce across the wide open grass field at the geese."Hey all of you geeses guess what?...I've got your feather, I've got your feather...You can't have it back...try to come and get it... You can't have it back...Nanenanenana."

Raking is fun when I make a pile and someone else comes and takes it away me. I was definitely enjoying tidying up and then leaving it for the staff to come and clean up! You think I can talk John or Kate into being my ground crew?

This photo was the highlight of the day. My littlest girls were running everywhere and holding hands. This miraculous behavior of went on for the entire three hours we were there. I brought nothing for them to do and didn't tell them about lunch until it was time to eat. They were so happy, capital H-A-P-P-Y. I might have had a tear in my eye. Yep, definitely a tear, but only one and I promise I didn't use my dirty hands to wipe it off my face. I have to keep up the appearances that I'm a neat person for at least a month before I forget my company manners and revert to my true self.

P.S. - The parsnips were a big hit at dinner.