Tuesday, May 12, 2009

My First Mother's Day

After all these years, I finally got to celebrate Mother's Day. Last year, our referral literally came 3 days after Mother's Day, so I have been looking forward to this for a long, long time. To celebrate my big day, we went to church first and then to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in nearby Belmont for a picnic lunch. The food was delicious and the five of us had a blast walking around, enjoying the flora, and playing in the fountains. We rounded the day out by doing some yard work and going to dinner at my favorite eatery - Moe's. It was fantastic, and I couldn't have asked for a better day from start to finish.

While I was in the shower, Troy had the boys create some Mother's Day art for me on the porch and sidewalk. Samuel got the task of writing the well wishes since he is the only one who knows how to write. Troy also cooked me bacon for breakfast and made me a cup of tea. A perfect start to a perfect day!

At the top of this photo is Luis' happy face contribution.

And this is Daniel's creation. His smiley faces are really starting to look like faces.

The Garden was packed. We waited for about 30 minutes to get in, but thanks to Luis and a Ranch dressing incident that sent Troy running for napkins, Papa was able to secure a table for us to enjoy our catered picnic in style!

After lunch, the boys presented me with the cards that each of them worked so diligently on. They were all so beautiful and a perfect representation of each of their personalities and artistic abilities. Daniel's was simple, but sweet.

Luis's was a colorful, abstract masterpiece.

And Samuel's was a magic marker creation full of writing and doodles declaring his affection and that he will help me all day!

Troy created a pop-up card for me. It was so awesome! And it had a gift certificate for a new pair of Rainbow flip-flops inside! Yay! I will be walking on a cloud in no time!

Sam took this picture. His ability to frame a shot is definitely improving - at least we are in the picture!

The DSBG has many, many fountains and that was the highlight for the boys. They loved looking at them and playing in the water. You would have thought we were at a water park - except that an actual water park would have been terrifying and the twins would have spent the whole day crying.

A view of the reflection canal.

Some pretty "pear-ple" flowers.

We can't seem to take a normal photo anymore. They always have to be making a funny face.

We really thought that one of them would fall in. Luckily no one did.

However, there was a tunnel fountain that you can walk under. Sam, of course, found the one place where it rained on his head the most and stood there until he was soaked. Daniel ran through the tunnel laughing the whole time. Luis, on the other hand, had to be drug through the first time and carried through the second time, whimpering and protesting throughout.

In the Orchid Conservatory, which is full of tropical plants, Troy managed to capture a sweet moment between Luis and Samuel. At this point, Daniel was in the bathroom screaming his head off while I tried to remove thorns from his hand after he touched some plant that he shouldn't have touched. Next time, he wears gloves!

The wall of orchids. The conservatory was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was very well designed. My favorite part was when we got to South American plants like the banana trees, I made sure to say very loudly to the boys, "Oh we have already seen banana trees in Colombia, remember boys?"

Troy got some very good shots of some of the other plants despite the fact that our camera is dying a very unfortunate death. If you look on the left of the front flower, you can see ants - they are just there to torment me.

This was my favorite picture that Troy took. It just has a very interesting composition.

All in all, it was the best day. All of my boys had fun making it special, and Troy worked really hard to make sure that it was everything I had ever imagined it would be. I can't wait to see what next year will bring. I am also super excited to have an extra day in the year (besides my birthday) that is all about me - though I am honored to share this one with my mom, my sister and the countless other mothers that I know.

5 comments:

maria said...

Happy Mother's Day everyday!

I am EXTREMELY impressed with Troy's card making abilities. He has really come a long way since Microsoft Paint! And I like your favorite picture that he took. The flowers are smiling at you. :) Yay for Mom's Day #1!!!

The Garden Bloggers said...

Wonderful comments and beautiful shots of the Garden. The staff at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden is glad we could play a role in your special day.

The Garden Bloggers said...

The staff at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden is glad you enjoyed your day. The photos here a beautiful.

Red said...

Happy Mother's Day!!

It looks like Troy did a great job of making it special for you and the boys - how wonderful! ;)

Lauren said...

I love everything about this day!!! You are glowing in your pictures. I am overjoyed that you celebrated your first of many Mother's Day.