Duke Gardens

Have you been?  They’re pretty spectacular.  Like, it makes you want a ridiculously good camera.  However the first TWO times I went, one day after another, I forgot my camera.  My lack of photograph taking power motivated multiple visits in a row, and on the third time I finally remembered the camera.

However, instead of bringing the camera on a day where there were two adults and three kids, a pretty manageable ratio (for the most part, at least you think it would be a good ratio) I brought the camera the day we had 2 adults and 6 kids (all three and under) and a dog.  So my photos mostly looked like this: 

But, here and there I did manage to get almost all the kids, usually facing away from me:

But I really like this one.  I got a face and a half in this one:

And this one:

However all my stopping to take pictures usually resulted in something like this:The almost 4 year olds make their break.  You can just barely see Brookston in his green shirt there rounding the corner, followed closely by his friend.  Isn’t that a nice tree though?  That’s a nice white tree. ( Don't worry, no kids were permanently lost in the film taking of this outing. )

We stopped for some lunch near some chickens (who did not steal our lunch, nor did they become part of lunch).

 

She’s enthralled.

We headed over to this nice round pond where we constantly reminded kids not to get in.  For the most part it worked.

I love it when Roz gives me this look:

And you can see my friend Amanda there.  She had her twin boys the day after I did.  We labored in rooms right next to each other and our husbands met out in the hallway and discovered we were both Mormons.  So at some point during my recovery I hobbled over to her room to meet her and we became friends.  It’s nice to have someone in practically the same exact situation as you.  (You don’t feel as wimpy when you whine for some reason.  =)  Thanks, Amanda.

I don’t know where Everett picked up the peace sign, or if it just looks like that is what he’s up to, but this cracks me up.

This is the kind of shot where I really want a fantastic camera:

Or for this shot, I mean, I just didn’t do that tree justice.  On one of our visits a bride was standing under that tree.  E stopped and declared: “Look, it’s a beeaauutiful briiiide.”  She probably got  some really nice pictures of that tree.

When it was time to go B wasn’t convinced we should leave.  He sat down on a nice bench and said.  “Okay mom, I’ll stay here and you go home.  I’ll see you later.”

“Brookston,” I replied “I’d love to stay too, but we all have to go now.”

“That’s okay Mom, I’ll just be here waiting for when you get back.”  And as often as we’d come he probably thought that wouldn’t be too long.

But, like I said earlier, no children were permanently lost in the film taking of this outing.