The first day of summer break was here, and the boys got out of school, their last day, and we were there ready to have fun!

Asher was firm on going to the Gardens. BUT there really isn’t much to do there, so was able to convince them to go to the Discovery Gardens at the Museum of Curiosity instead.

There was some resistance, but as soon as we headed over to the hedge maze, the kids were all in!

It was a bright sunny day, and just perfect weather for running around and having fun!

Lucas was even having a blast running after all of the other kids.

We fed the koi.

Cuties.

My sweet Asher seemed pensive that day. He kept wandering off ahead and looking at the fish. He asked a lot of questions about fish anatomy and how they poop…it was fun and interesting.

Most spring blossoms were gone, but there were some bushes like this one that really had the most lovely blooms.

We found our way to the learning area, and the observation deck.

Then we did some exploring and found what the kids called “the secret place”

Off the beaten path, but the kids were loving to explore in the trees.

 

Fairy village…sort of.

The kids then found a pirate ship and did a sort of play with fairies and pirates and walking the plank.

Google sent this to me, showing us here last year:

Inside it was loud and crowded, but out here, it was quiet and peaceful.

We found this crazy jungle gym, and Lucas quickly made it all the way to the top.

Not to be out shown by Lucas, Mirah wanted to show me SHE could go all the way up too.

Getting down was the real trouble, and Lucas fell to the ground more than once, but he was having so much fun, and none of the falls were from too high.

Jude.

This kids has really  been pulling away from me lately, so any change I get to get a little snuggle from him, I take it.

The next thing we did was check out this new “American Adventure” exhibit.

It was like a live action Oregon Trail, set in the time of the Virginia Company and just after.

Long story short, I died at the VERY end, after drowning on a ship…:(

 

The kids all died too, and were so excited they ran to the water works area, and got busy getting silly.

They did this one their own, and I had to get a picture.

We went to Chipoltle with Malia, Betsy, Karl and the girls. We ended up at a park in Highland after dinner playing with all of the kids.

Rosie.

The kids did mostly well.

It was while singing like this, that Lucas made the remark, “I wish there were two of me!”

Karl was all tuckered out from pushing on the swings and chasing the kids.

Handsome.

Always nice to be together with cousins!