Boojum Tree, Prickly Pears and Kissing a Statue

We revisited the arboretum last Saturday.  It was delightful.  We may have left later than we should have, resulting in a hurried picnic in the parking lot...but no matter, the sandwiches were yummy (roast beef), the weather was perfect and the kids were excited to be running free and exploring.  

First up, we found the beautiful and rusty blue truck that I discovered on our last visit, and had a quick photo break. Then we continued on down the paths, watching for birds, butterflies and other animals.  We saw one giant, beautiful Monarch butterfly and some of us spotted a cardinal but it was not as easy as our last visit.  We crossed bridges, jumped stepping stones, navigated a stone maze, hiked a mountain trail, looked at olive trees and gum trees and citrus trees and herb gardens and cliff houses, walked through lovely foliage and relished the smell of the outdoors.  At one point, Dennis asked repeatedly, "WHAT is that smell?  It smells soooo good!"  I told him it was nature. 

We saw a boojum tree (I've always wondered what they looked like), and because I didn't have my wide angle lens, I couldn't get the whole tree in the shot, but it was so cool, I've never seen anything like it. 

Also, Q kissed a statue.  Twice.  Yep.  He planted one right on those stone lips.  What a guy.

We also found furry cacti.  They reminded me of Cousin Itt on the Addams Family.  I resisted the urge to touch one.  Because I really wanted to.

Also, Miss B learned that prickly pears are called prickly for a reason and that you probably shouldn't pick them with your bare hands...because if you do, you're left with little spines in your hand that you have to pick out the entire hike back.  And it puts you in a bit of a bad mood.

Q found a mini stop sign, and he loves stop signs and reading the letters, and I love it when he stops so it was a win-win and I had to snag a photo.

On our way home, we stopped to have some of our favorite fried chicken and waffles with a side of cheesy grits, and remembered why exactly we don't take the six of us out to dinner that often.  It's pricey.  That's why.