Finally Outside

What a beautiful weekend. I was finally able to take the kiddos outside because the temperature was finally in the 50's. The botanical garden in Nashville was offering a $1 admission for the month of January and since I was a work widow Travis encouraged me to take the girls. I'd wanted to go since we've lived here but the admission always seemed too steep considering I'd been able to take Amanda to Bok Tower Gardens for a couple bucks a piece several years ago. Although they've raised their prices considerably since then. Anyway, most anything is expensive when your family multiplies to five.


It's pretty obvious though why they'd offer reduced admission in January- nearly everything is dormant and it's usually pretty darn cold. But the sun was shining and we really only needed light jackets to enjoy the day. The grounds were still pretty although the grass is brown and there were no leaves on the trees. Just the opportunity to get outside was enough. The garden used to be the estate of the family that was part of Maxwell House coffee and it is expansive. The old mansion itself is 30,ooo square feet and now houses the museum. We saw lots of interesting art, the scholastic series is on display right now which is by students all over this area. That was a little disappointing *but* I got butterflies in my stomach when I realized that they had a Faberge' exhibit! It was very impressive. I've never been to a prestigious museum but this was nice. I wasn't allowed to take pictures although I saw a couple of people brazenly carrying around cameras and snapping photos. All in all it was a wonderful day and I'd like to go back when things are blooming.

Here's Chloe with a statue of a 19th century woman as Sphinx. I wondered how she'd actually do her hair and put on that lovely dress with those claws. The kiddos in the herb garden. I liked the twisty-ness of the grape vines and the shadows.This is part of the mansion's garden.The japanese garden.
The kiddos...When I walked into the seasonal garden I gasped. The red berries was a huge contrast to the evergreen, brown grass and leaf-less trees. I'd love to have one of these trees but for the life of me I can't remember what their called. It seems like it was a "paw-paw" something. I'm probably remembering it wrong.