La Calavara Catrina

 

We've had these season passes to the Gainesville Atlanta Botanical Gardens, so late this afternoon we decided to swing by there to see their latest exhibit, something called "La Calvara Catrina."  It was pretty sunny and pretty hot out there, and fortunately there are a lot of trees to provide shade.  Nevertheless, we had umbrellas with us to make our own shade where we needed it.  

So these are made with a "Day of the Dead" theme to them, each one resembling a historical figure or a legendary character.  They were set in different areas along the walkway, so Mom, Maddie and I took a stroll through the gardens, getting to see all nine of these towering figures.  We snapped some pictures with our cellphones along the way!

This was the later part of the day, and when we were at the exit, we were super ready for some air conditioning.  The temperature outside was 92 degrees!  We were ready to head home after that.

Earlier in the day, we left to head over and see Nana in the hospital for a bit.  Not much has changed with her condition.  She's weak, but in good spirits at least. Mom has been very emotional today, starting earlier.  Maddie came along to see Nana today, and of course Nana went into that "got to get Maddie some money" mode, wanting to bless Maddie with a few dollars.  I gave Mom a five dollar bill and she told Nana it came from her place, so then Nana hands it to Maddie who thanks her for being so nice and generous, and then Maddie sneaks it back to me again!  Nana brought it up at least seven more times though - did we get something for Maddie?  Her mind is a bit more forgetful with the short term memory.  Nevertheless, it was a good visit as far as just spending some time with her goes.  I really don't know how many more of these visits we have left.

We went over to Goodwill after this in search of some church-related prop material and costuming, dropping a few things off there to donate as well.  The wolves were out today there though, these guys with phones, working together to find the values of things so they can buy them all up and resell them later.  It's annoying the way they nearly assault the employee that comes out to place items on the shelf.  The stuff hardly makes it to the shelf.  We left after that, but I did manage to get a Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers Christmas CD, and Maddie found some brand new clothing still with the tag on it.  Oh, and Mom found some "Return of the Jedi" coffee mugs!  It was a fun stop.

Chick-Fil-A is right next door, so we stopped there for lunch.  I'm very depressed about my eating options currently, that is if it's really a lactose intolerance issue.  At least we could do grilled nuggets.  And the food was good there of course. 

When we returned from the Botanical Gardens, we played "Luigi's Mansion 3" for a bit, cleaning out the kitchen and exploring a bit along the way.  We're doing pretty well with the game now, although I might need to get a new controller soon.

Tonight's movie was "Pee-Wee's Big Holiday," which was Maddie's choice.  None of us had seen this one yet, and I wish I saw it earlier, because it was really fun.  The first one is still the best of course, but this had a really fun energy to it, and was unafraid of letting these really long scenes and gags play out.  I liked it, and of course it made us all sad too.  He was a fun character.  Of course, I have all those DVDs of the episodes downstairs...

Anyway, we read from "Leia" tonight, and then it was time for prayers... and bed.  Got another long day tomorrow!