A Walk in the Park

 In case you're wondering what kind of spring it has been, last Wednesday our tree looked like this...

...and this Wednesday we likely won't even need a jacket!  It's so crazy how up and down things have been, but I can't complain--temperatures have been mostly above average for a good chunk of the spring.  We've had a couple long, cool, rainy stretches lately, but we're getting closer to consistently better spring weather.  Saturday ended up being a really beautiful day--mid-60s and sunny--and Craig and Jacob wanted to do some basketball stuff, so I managed to convince Carter to come with me to my favorite spring spot, Highland Park.  I visited twice back in 2019 during two different phases of blooms but lost my nerve last year.  I wanted to go, and outside would have seemingly been fine, but I knew there would be crowds even without the Lilac Festival, and at that point we were still trying to stay home as much as possible.  It just felt like a lot of effort without knowing whether the flowers would be worth it.  And when the deer ate the tulips because there were so few people around for a while, that pretty much sealed the deal.  So this year, I really wanted to go back.  And since the lilacs aren't quite out yet but some other things were blooming, I thought this weekend would be a good spot.  I needed some beauty and outside time, so it worked out perfectly, and Carter was oddly okay about going--probably because he knew a good playground was in it for him!

As we arrived, we encountered some busy parking but eventually found a spot pretty easily in my second choice area.  The blooming trees were the first lovely sight...

This one is always gorgeous and it falls in a really pretty stretch of the path.

The magnolias were getting to be pretty spent, but I did manage to find a couple pretty ones.

I found this gorgeous patch of daffodils (near my favorite tree that has two colors of flowers--too bad my pictures didn't turn out this time), and this picture is the lock screen on my phone now because I can't get over its perfection.

Even with spent magnolias, it was still a pretty spot.

There was one small playground as we walked through the park and I gave Carter a little time to play.  Monkey bars, climbing a giant slide, flipping on the rings...all of his favorites!  After about 15 minutes, we moved on.  After all, a bigger playground awaited later!  I decided it might be fun to go into the Lamberton Conservatory, because I thought Carter might like the little quail, the turtles and tortoises, and the cacti. And you know what?  He did!

There were gorgeous tulips outside, freshly opened! 

Apparently they were closing at 4pm and we only had 20 minutes, but it also meant we got in for free!  Last time I was there, the first room was full of coleus, which I love, but the assortment of spring flowers was SO pretty!

As I had hoped, Carter was amused by the quail, but it is a little nerve wracking walking around them!

He also found the turtles in the fountain entertaining, and almost didn't believe they were real until he saw one move.  I'm pretty sure I thought the same thing my first time there.  It's so odd how they all pile on top of each other, but they did that in the tropical room pond, as well!

It was such a beautiful space!  Every flower was just stunning!

And this kid's pretty handsome himself!

The tropical room has these giant flowers that are bigger than my hand.  There were red ones and some wilting ones that went from yellow and white on the outer edges to pink and finally a deep purple in the middle.

Carter specifically noticed these leaves.  I don't think he'd ever seen leaves with this coloring!
 

He was interested in the cacti, and which ones were sharp and which ones weren't.  I was sort of obsessed with the giant plant in the back that looked a lot like aloe.  It was HUGE!

It's not every day you see a blooming cactus around here, and this one was pretty!  I looked back in my old pictures and happened to catch a different one blooming last time.

The tortoises are cool to watch, although there's one that hangs out on the ground.  He happened to be right near the sign explaining his situation.  He scared a woman that was walking through near us, as she didn't notice him at first and he was right near her feet!

This one crawled right toward us!  I actually have video of most of his crawl, but I'll spare you the exciting footage!

Out in the courtyard there was a pond with a bunch of really orange fish!  They were practically glowing!

I told Carter that his sign that we were getting close to playground time was when we saw the tulips.  The tulip beds are right next to the conservatory, and while not all were open yet, what was out was beautiful as always!

Glad the deer didn't get them this year!  After that it was a walk back through the main part of the park to get down to the big natural wooden playground.  But on the way we had to stop by this tree!

What you can't see is the bridal party just to our right.  It was a perfect day for a wedding, and while I can't say I'd want to drag my dress through a muddy park, they must have had wonderful photos!

At long last we arrived at the playground, the natural playground full of rocks and tree trunks.

It's definitely a challenge to walk some of the narrow tree walkways and jump from tree to rock to tree, but we made our rounds.  Carter really wanted to play tag or hide-and-seek, but I had to explain to him that tag involves going fast, which is not ideal on a playground like this, and hide-and-seek could be dangerous since it involves me "losing" him and it's my job to watch him like a hawk.  So we just walked, and eventually he found this apparatus, which he was pretty much obsessed with.

He walked across it countless times and tried to master going fast.  I did it myself and it was NOT easy!  Each swing moved a lot, and I had to hold on to the top.  Carter was opting for the chains, which was so much harder.  Eventually it got close to dinner time and we had to go.  But he had a good time and complained way less than I expected he would.  Maybe he's finally found an appreciation for his outings with mom?  Hahahaha.

On the way back to the car, I did try to keep an eye out for an open lilac, and this was about as close as it got.  The next couple weeks should get them out, which is actually still a bit early.

It felt so good to get out and walk in nice weather and see amazingly beautiful stuff.  It was interesting to see the mix of maskers and non-maskers in each different setting.  We kept ours on in crowds or on the playground, but otherwise we kept our distance and kept them off.  I can't say I want to battle crowds for the Lilac Festival, but this was a nice alternative.  I was thrilled with how cooperative Carter was, that he even humored some of my educational explanations.  It was one of our least-protested trips, and it was nice to just have that time with him.  

On Sunday, Jacob and Craig jetted off to Erie, PA.  Jacob's team wasn't playing, but an old coach of his who he trains with now invited him to play with his 16U (!) team.  He could have done it Saturday, too, but between the short notice, needing to get his Confirmation stuff completed, and the general unknowns of a long trip on a much older team, he opted out.  But after talking to the coach again, on Sunday we decided it might be worth it.  It helped that he made good progress on Confirmation Saturday.  He ended up playing in two games, scored three three-pointers in one and one in another, and the team won the championship.  He held his own against much older kids and got a lot of support from his teammates, which is cool considering they're big high school kids and he's just a skinny white 7th grader!  But he really seemed to impress them, which gave him a lot of confidence.  I spent most of Sunday putting together Craig's new dresser and thinking through more garage sale stuff.  That has been a crazy, exhausting process and I can't wait to get it done and out of the house.  I have a few VERY busy days ahead, between work, home, garage sale, Confirmation, hosting something after, and getting back to a very busy work week Monday-Wednesday and maybe beyond.  I wish like heck I could take more time off to handle the endless list I'm dealing with, but the one day Friday is likely all I can risk.  I'm not sure it will all get done, but I guess I have to try.  There's some good stuff in there (namely family time), so it should all be worth it, but I am officially nervous and hoping it all miraculously falls into place.