Botanical Scarecrows

It was another very full day today, and of course because it's Sunday, it started out at church.  You can see the cowboys and cowgirl above wrapping up the "Trailblazers" series with a little twist that no one saw coming:  we didn't end things at all.  It directly ties to our next series with a miniature tribute to an old television show I loved called "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr."  There was an "orb" that the cowboys have discovered, and that thing gives our cowboys the ability to time travel, and that's where we're heading for our next series, "Time Travelers."  It should be fun, although at the moment, I have no idea what's going on with it other than the really good messages.  

It's been great at KidPak.  We've got the worship band coming out four times, and the skit is above four times too, and it makes for a pretty packed morning for volunteers, but it's so good to be back and doing things together again.  

We got home and had a bite to eat, and because the weather was so good, the idea struck us all that we should go out and do something again, getting out and going for a walk.  So off we went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens in Gainesville.

It was a perfect day for a walk in the gardens.  It's not that far away, and the drive was nice anyway.  Madison had her camera again, as did I, and Mommy and Nana were just there to enjoy the walk through the garden area.  They were pretty strict on regulations to begin with, only letting a certain amount of people in at a time.  This was fairly odd, as there wasn't anyone there to speak of.  It was very empty.  And that was okay, but the question became obvious:  just how many people do they allow in here at a time? 

After getting a lecture about making reservations next time and so forth, lo and behold, it turns out that we could in fact go in because - as mentioned earlier - there wasn't anyone there.  Anyway, all laughs aside, we went on in and had a great time.  It was just perfect weather.  The last time we were here, the sun was beating mercilessly down upon us, and it was October.  This weather was so calm, so cool, and so bright and clear.  The sun was there, and it felt nice.

This giant frog didn't even seem to mind.  Fortunately, he must have already eaten, or didn't like junk food like us.  The colors were a little more like something you'd see in fall here, but that didn't mean the place was an exhibit of dead floral displays.  It was on the contrary quite nice.

It was also very colorful!  Not only were there beautiful flowers all about, there were butterflies and hummingbirds flying all around us as we made our way through the gardens.  There was one other thing here that we came to see though...

Ah, the scarecrows!  Yes, they're back.  It's October, so we came to see all the scarecrows that were lining the pathway, most of them set up by organizations and companies, except for one in particular that you'll see soon.  This guy looks like Slash, sort of hung over and leaning on a tree.  It's in fact a nurse, made up by the staff of some hospital, I believe.  

Nana enjoyed the walk.  It was the farthest she's walked in a few weeks, and she did well.  She enjoys sitting in the sun like this, and was content to watch us looking at the flowers and hummingbirds.  She walked beside Mommy for the entire afternoon, looking at all the flowers, trees, and scarecrows.

This one was nice, a little further down the path.  We did this same trail a few years ago, and this time I think the scarecrows were a bit better.  Again, the weather was much better too.

But additionally, there is a new area that is opened up, a play area for younger kids, but also a nice new area to walk around with.  It was a bit of a hill for Nana to climb up, but she was right there with us all the way, enjoying all she got to see.

This scarecrow seemed to be urging us all on, pointing the way.  There were plenty of unusual entries.  Most scarecrows you assume are just blue jeans and a sweatshirt filled with stuffing, and some sort of bag for a head.  But this was the sort of place where things were a little more elaborate, and of course designed to be a bit more weatherproof.

Ah, which came first?  The chicken or the egg.  No doubt, Nana and Mommy are discussing this right now.  As you can see, a large portion of the trail is in the shade, making for a nice cool walk.  But even in the sun, things weren't too bad at all.  It was nice.

And as mentioned earlier, and even seen earlier, there were butterflies all over the place, visiting all the flowers they could and adding to the beauty of the gardens.

Speaking of beauty, this was a nice scarecrow that we ran across in the middle of the gardens, one covered in floral patterns that stood out amidst the green.

Ah, time for a break.  This was a pleasant place for a stop, a nice location for some rocking chairs and a few minutes to take a break on a quiet Sunday afternoon.  There were a few other people here at the gardens, but not so many at all.  Certainly not so many compared to what we were seeing at Jaemor's and Burt's yesterday.

This scarecrow was one of my favorites, with a bird's nest upon his head that looks like a crown, and inside that some crows that were in fact gourds.  This had just the right feeling of Jack Skellington, and was placed perfectly there along the path.  But this next scarecrow was the one we were here to see.

This one was created by Nana and Ye-Ye.  True story!  It is called "Masks, Hand Wash, and Six Feet."  The scarecrow has a mask, hadn't wash, and six witches' feet in one hand.  

He looks kind of menacing in this image here!  They did a fantastic job making a super solid creation, one with just the right spirit about it.  If you found this somewhere in the yard at night, without knowing it was supposed to be there, you might be genuinely creeped out.

But it turned out really well.  Not only that, this scarecrow is literally right by the entrance to the gardens, so it is in fact one of the very first scarecrows you see on the entire journey.  And... also the last one you see on your way out of the park too!

Here's a little guy we found by the entrance.  We were there in the little field at the exit for a few moments, watching all the hummingbirds flitting about.  This little guy stopped long enough for me to snap a picture of him perched on something like a branch.

It was a nice afternoon together, a good chance to get out of the house once more.  It's a struggle to get out the door, but once it happens, we're good to go.  She was having a great time, and all of us were having a great time, a nice relaxing afternoon.

This guy was relaxing too.  Actually, I think he'll be relaxing for a long time here.  Madison thinks he looks like Uncle Fester.

We took a lot of pictures this afternoon.  The Botanical Gardens offer a lot of places to take photos, and that's just in the Gainesville location.  Hopefully we'll get to go to the Atlanta location soon enough.

Until then, this was a nice quiet destination, one with plenty of unique scarecrows too.  It gave us a nice little escape.  This one above was made by some students at Brenau, and this one below... I'm not too sure....

And I'm not sure who made this next one below, but it was greatly appreciated by Madison.  It was a smaller stature scarecrow, and a big hero.

Okay, let's share a few more photos without any commentary.  These are a few that I took of scarecrows and the hummingbird once again.

And here are a few of Madison at the play area, just fooling around on the play set area.    She had to go up there and try the rope bridge...

And once you're up there, you've got to get down somehow....

Yes, the slide!  It wasn't as fast-paced as she would have liked, but at least she gave it a go.  You can see there was no one else around here now.  I'm surprised there's no one squirting the slides with disinfectant after each journey down.  Come to think of it, that might make people go faster downwards, so maybe that's not a bad idea!

This little trolley was going back and forth here, reminding us of Mr. Rogers a bit.  Sadly, it didn't go to King Friday's world.  But it was still a nice thing to watch go back and forth.

And the water features were nice too.  There were water jets that burst out of random locations in this one play area, and in hotter weather you could imagine kids (and kids at heart) having a good time getting splashed with an errant burst of water.  But today we were steering a little clear of that.  It was a nice day, but I think things would go downhill a bit if you got soaked!

Here's another one of those big frogs watching over the place.  It was all rather nicely decorated, and it made for a nice loop up there at the top.  When done, we made our way down the hill, and easier journey for Nana, but she was certainly getting tired by this point.  We'd all been walking a good ways.  But it was invigorating for her - and us - and it was a nice afternoon together.  

We stopped one more time by the "family scarecrow" to say goodbye, and then made our way to the car to go home.  It was a nice day trip.  

Getting home, we ate some, and after that we watched a few seasonal movies, including "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" and "The Book of Life."  These were on to distract Nana somewhat, as we were doing some other things initially.  But we sat down on the couch, under the covers, and snuggled together, the four of us.  Madison had her popcorn crunching, and Nana had her head rested on Mom's shoulder.  It was a nice evening.

We prayed tonight, and we read too.  I tucked Madison under her carefully planned out layers of blankets, and soon after that, we were all off to a good night's rest.  It was a wonderful weekend, really.  Let's conclude here with a look at some of Madison's pictures from this afternoon, taken on her phone: