November morning

It was a hot Saturday morning. We decided to venture outdoors! Initially our grand plan was to “feed the ducks” at the Botanic Gardens, the patch that we frequent near the Jacob Ballas garden. Till our plans were scuppered by this sign.

Uh oh

Do not feed the ducks, swans and fishes it said. Apparently they are fed regularly with their own healthy diet.  The kids were disappointed, and our breadcrumbs went untouched, but oh well!

Getting quite close to an unflappable black swan



Interesting garden structures by a visiting artist dotted the landscape – this one made of some red rust-coloured wrought iron



loved how to morning dew looked like glittering crystals on the huge banana leaves

We enjoyed walking through this little banana grove, and pointing out all the banana flowers and fruit to the girls. B recognised the “nana!” readily – how wonderful to be able to see them as they grow on a tree, instead of thinking that all food grows from supermarket shelves.
  

In the grove

Such an awesome banana flower with fruit

Since we could not spend a leisurely morning feeding the ducks, we decided to traipse through Jacob Ballas instead. This is the first time the girls experienced the awesome treehouse.  B went down both slides, albeit with a parent.  K was gutsy enough to climb the metal ladder and go down the slides herself.  Maybe they should have made the chutes green instead of red – might have fit into the natural colour scheme a tad more.



I loved this little set of table and chairs made from tree trunks!



huge water lily pads – looked huge and inviting enough for a baby to sit in

Marcotting! Hands-up, who remembers this from primary school textbook days?

Then we encountered a log across a shallow stream.  Papa decided to walk K across it.  We then figured it could be a great confidence building exercise to encourage her to walk across it herself!


holding hands first

contemplating going it alone!

Going it alone all the way! Papa behind just in case…

It was a good way to spend a morning out – think the most significant event was K conquering the log.  It’s little moments like this that mark growing up, that are hopefully the things we remember when we’re grown.