All Aboard!

Today was the very last day that Bank of America is sponsoring their "Muesums on Us" program at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. J and I, of course, did not want to miss our last chance for a free entry so we decided to visit--even though it was only 42-degrees when we arrived!

Not to fear, Cutie Face was dressed for the occasion in her "ski outfit". She greeted the frog but didn't like sitting next to him--perhaps it reminded her of Santa? We convinced her to touch his knee, and that made sitting next to him tolerable.

After the frog adventure we went through the Caterpillar Metamorphosis trail. Let me tell you--what a difference a month makes. This time, we were the only family in it! I guess that is what cold weather does to people in Atlanta :)

Cutie Face couldn't help but stop and hug the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) mascots. She was afraid of them when we saw them at the Pink Pig grand opening but she liked them (loved them!) much better today:

We tried to get her to do a quick photo op in front of the poinsettia plants but she wasn't into smiling. Finally, J started singing "the ABCs" and she perked right up!

The Botanical Garden was celebrating Miniature Trains in their green house. You'll have to click on this collage to get the gist of it. She signed "train" over and over and over again and then signed "again" whenever it would chug on by. She looooved watching it come through the tunnels. It was a huge highlight for her!

We capped it all off with a "real" train experience (ie a train on a golf cart). It was so much fun to experience that with her! The conductor was great and weaved in and out and tooted the train whistle all the time.

She loved waving to J out the window and had a HUGE smile on her face the whole time. Too much fun!

I'm glad we went All Aboard! and experienced the Botanical Garden one last time in 2009!

We ❤ Museums on Us!

As Bank of America customers, we get the privilege of visiting a number of museums and local attractions for FREE every first weekend of the month! Woohoo!!!

This weekend we went back to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.

A lot has changed since we last visited, and I'm not just talking about Cutie Face! The Gardens expanded and are gorgeous and even more beautiful than last year.

One thing has not changed, though--they are still holding their annual Scarecrows in the Garden exhibit this Fall!

This year we actually remembered to bring our camera! (too bad it did die on us half way through but you'll get the gist after the thousands of pics you'll see in this post!).

A baby scarecrow:

This was J's favorite: Julia Child's Scarecrow!

My favorite was Curious George (remember? My other blog is Monkey's on the Bed! How could i not like anything monkey?)

We also had the privilege of viewing many of Henry Moore's incredible sculptures. They are even more beautiful in person AND embedded in nature!

Their Children's Garden is pretty fun, too, with cooling fountains and water areas (perfect in HOTlanta!)

Cutie Face loved playing in their caterpillar walk--basically a winding path that leads you through the life of a caterpillar:

and, at the very end, you get to leave as a butterfly!

If you are ever in Atlanta, I think that the Botanical Garden is one of our best attractions! We loved it today!