Shangri La and strawberries

The kids and I went to Port Neches to visit the grandparents for a few days last week because the husband had to be out of town. My mom suggested we take a little day trip to Shangri La, some botanical gardens founded by Southeast Texas philanthropist Lutcher Stark. I admit I was skeptical. Because Southeast Texas is known more for its swamps and vast vistas of refinery spires (and the faint smell of sulfur in the air) than it is for its lush gardens. Then we got there and I was pleasantly surprised. There were beautifully manicured gardens with thousands of blooming azaleas. There were multitudes of egrets nesting in the mesquite knees, with a special viewing blind to observe them. The kids' favorite part was the vegetable gardens, which were being tended by wonderful volunteer gardeners who encouraged the kids to dig and take as many samples as they liked. We tried spinach, celery, swiss chard, parsley, and, the favorite by far, sugar snap peas. Harper wondered why vegetables don't taste this good when we buy them at the grocery store. Hudson ruminated on his swiss chard for around 30 minutes, finally swallowing it on the car ride home. There was even a special plot, deemed "Mr. McGregor's Garden" which had lettuce, french beans, radishes, parsley, cucumbers, celery, cabbages, potatoes, AND, of course, chamomile, and, right in the middle hung a tiny blue jacket and some tiny brown shoes. To scare away the birds, of course. VERY adorable.

Harper and Hudson used a mortar and pestle to grind up some egg shells, then they dug holes and buried them. It helps enrich the soil, apparently.

Hudson was really hoping for an alligator sighting, and was well prepared with a weapon:

Helena stayed mostly in the stroller because there was lots and lots of water and I did not fancy a repeat of the muddy baptism at the Japanese gardens. She did get out to do a little digging in a sandbox in the vegetable garden:

Yesterday we went to Froberg's Farm for some strawberry picking. We got 10 pounds of strawberries for just under $20 and had a tremendous time. I don't think these are as sweet as the ones we picked last year. Perhaps it's a little early yet.

Because of all the activity of late, I had deemed today and stay-at-home-and-tackle-the-mess day. I turned on "Sesame Street" and got a few things accomplished, then decided that we might as well take a little walk. Hudson's chain came off his bike after two blocks and I managed to get grease all over my hands and still not fix it, which meant we had to drag the bike back home. At which point Harper tripped and skinned her hands and knees. And it was very dramatic. So we got home, washed our hands, nursed her wounds, switched out the bike for a scooter, listened to Sasha howl her indignation at not being included, and intrepidly set forth again. About 2 blocks from the park, Hudson fell and scraped his knee. He didn't cry because, "I am rough and tumble, Mommy," but then about a half block later, he fell AGAIN and scraped the same knee AGAIN, and this time the rough and tumble crumbled and he started wailing and of course I didn't have my first aid supplies so I did my best with some water and a wipe I found in the stroller (clean? only time will tell). The good news is my pedometer tells me I earned 6,492 steps for my effort.