A Groot Scarecrow and the Music Man

This morning we were off to Team Edge practice which is about two hours long, so during that time, Mom and I snuck over to the Botanical Gardens in Gainesville to check out the Fall Festival there.  The big reason was to go see our Groot scarecrow that Mom set up.  Of course, we were there to see the other scarecrows too, and there were many great ones there.  Some really nice ones!  We wandered through the gardens, checking out the scarecrows, but also visiting a couple of other stations.  There was live music there, plus an insect zoo that actually had those walking stick creatures from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  Iconic bugs!  I'd never seen one up close like that before, and they're pretty amazing.  Anyway, it was nice walking about and enjoying the nice weather, seeing all the flowers and butterflies.  We stopped by a few booths and got some ice pops and I even bought some deodorant from a vendor, just wanting to support some local businesses.  It was a nice time - here are some of the pictures below of the "Hallo-wings" event, with the theme of "wings" added to scarecrows, particularly things that have wing that help pollinate:

There were plenty of other wonderful scarecrows at the Botanical Gardens.

Here's the Moth Man!

Good idea.  Why bother spending all that time standing, when you can just sit down?

This woman really likes bees.

Even that one on her nose!

So "diapers" was the theme here.  Flying diaper wings?

Ah, a nice use of the wings theme.  Silence of the Scarecrows.

This is a mantis that stays on premises all the time.  To ward off other large insects, presumably.

Inventive idea!  A scarecrow hanging upside down!

Another exhibition of glass butterflies continues to stay here. 

This was so tempting that Mom and I actually stopped in these chairs and rocked for a while.

Here's Mom, looking comfy!

Ah, and here's Groot!  Our scarecrow Groot welcomes the bees and butterflies.

In fact, the name of our project is "Bee Kind."

Here's Mom with her creation.  She did most of the work on this one.

Another moth, almost like a kite!

Not going to lie.  If I found this in the woods I'd be creeped out.

The froggy is helping with pest control by the pond.

The flowers were nice here this morning.

In time for the spooky season, here's the dreadful pitcher plant!

Ah, Mr. Roger's Trolley goes by a pumpkin village.

These butterflies were just gorgeous.

Bad pun alert!  Here's ... the Beatles.  

After that, we picked Maddie up.  We got Chick-Fil-A and had that at the new location in Oakwood, and then made our way down to Sandy Springs to start out the next season at City Springs Theater.

We went to see one of my favorites, growing up:  "The Music Man!"

Here we are in our amazing seats, front row center balcony!

These pictures are sent by email using a camera device there that we were having fun with.

The Barbershop quartet was amazing,  Maddie enjoyed hearing these guys!

Ah, another nice souvenir pictures!

The play is a tiny bit different from the movie - some good surprises in there that I never knew.

Ah, this is a nice one.  Let's keep this one.

I found a lot of these pics online of the cast in their promotional material.

A collage of some of our group pictures.

Okay, I love this number!

Here's Maddie's solo collage.

Mrs. Shinn was really funny!

"76 Trombones" is such an iconic bit of music.

Harold Hill is one of the original scoundrels with a heart of gold.

Oh, you got trouble!

Trickle, trickle, trickle!

Why don't you give Iowa a try?

Are your kids using words like.... "swell?"  Or "so's your old man?"

The rest of our day was rather quiet, as you might suspect.  We got home without incident, stopping by the grocery store for a few items but otherwise enjoying a quiet night.  Maddie and I were doing a Dr. Strange level on our LEGO Avengers video game, and after that we were watching one of my favorite seasonal movies, "Hotel Transylvania 3."  I really love this movie the more I see it.  Brilliant animation, and just full of something that I miss in some animation projects:  fun and joy.  It's just such a great cruise, and I almost wish I was right there with them on it.  But I might want to consider a different airline getting to the cruise port.

Anyway, tonight we started a new book, and that one is "Equal Rites," which is the first book with Esme "Granny" Weatherwax, written so long ago.  We're back in the Discworld, and we're here for a while.  ALTHOUGH, I might dip into another collection of short stories by Terry Pratchett.  Mom got us a book called "The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner - and Other Short Stories," and those look like fun.  Plus all the Goosebumps stuff.  Fun season!

Anyway, we tucked everyone in and said our prayers.  It was a pretty full day, and a fun one!