Yesterday we enjoyed meeting up with Lilian from Mama(e) in Translation and her family along with Jeannette from Moot Thoughts and Musing. I had never met Jeannette before and it was lovely to chat with her and her adorable little boy Ellis. It’s funny but when you’ve read someones blog you feel like you know them already before you meet face to face. Then when you finally get together you feel a little shy and don’t know what to talk about; at least I don’t. You are starting a friendship with someone you already know but it seems presumptuous to refer to the things they’ve shared in their blog. Do you know what I mean?

 

We met at a local arboretum that has a wonderful garden railway display. It is absolutely amazing how carefully they’ve built tracks complete with tunnels, trestle bridges and fabulously intricate buildings all in miniature. All sorts of electric trains run around the tracks in loops. The boys were in wonderland. They couldn’t stop running around, back and forth shouting “It’s coming! It’s coming! Look! Look the train!”

All around the tracks the landscaping is beautifully planted with minatures and dwarf varieties of lovely plants. The colors and textures are exquisite. I could have taken pictures of just flowers and leaves if the boys had been easier to keep track of… they were in such a whirlwind I got dizzy trying to keep up.

We also enjoyed the swans on the pond and the rose garden. We had a picnic on the grass and watched a dance troup do an outdoor performance. There were craft projects for the kids. The weather was almost perfect (a bit muggy) and the crowd small because thunderstorms had been forcast. All in all we had a fabulous time  with great bloggy friends.

This morning my boys had our wooden trail set spread out on the living room floor again, deep into train time. I can’t think of a better field trip for them to have taken at this time of year than the garden railway. Thanks for inviting us Lilian!