Last week, Chickadee and I gathered up all the change we had lying around the house and ran it through a Coinstar machine. We then took our riches to Starbucks. It was Chickadee’s first time to order Starbucks beverage…she got a pineapple lemonade!
We also visited the Orchid Show at the Missouri Botanical Garden for the first time since 2020:
I wonder what adventures we’ll have next?
After three long years, it’s finally time again for the Orchid Show at the Missouri Botanical Garden! And the show is being held in the new Emerson Conservatory in the new Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center for the first time!
It was so good to be back. The flowers are beautiful, the new space is bright and welcoming, and the smell of the orchids was just like I remembered it. This is always a bright spot in what is usually a pretty dreary month, and I am so glad I will have it to look forward to every year again!
Since all of my other 2022 in Review “Top Five” photo lists have six photos, this one had to also, right? Right?!? I’ve already looked at food, drinks, desserts, and our trip…these are my favorite photos from the past year that aren’t food or vacation related.
I’ve taken hundreds (thousands?) of photos at the Missouri Botanical Garden over the years, but there was something special about this one featuring Henry Shaw’s final resting place in front of his country house:
This photo taken in downtown St. Louis in May reminded me how much I love an urban environment:
Speaking of urban environments, this spring was the first time I’ve visited the Chicago Water Tower in many, many years, and I discovered just how photogenic it is!
That’s a quality shared by the entire city of Chicago…I loved having a bird’s eye view of the city from the Centennial Wheel!
A little closer to home, I really like the beautiful gingko tree outside of our town library, especially in the fall:
Our town is also especially pretty at Christmas:
That wraps up what ended up being my top 30 photos of the year. In light of all of the fun things we did in 2022, I think I should get at least some credit for keeping the number that low!
Can you believe that this year marks the 10 year anniversary of Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden?!? We attended the Member Preview night on Friday, and it was, as always, a great time!
I think it’s especially fitting that such a significant anniversary is taking place the same year the new Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center was opened to the public…it’s a beautiful space!
While there were some familiar displays, there was a lot that was new this year, and I thought it was really well done:
There was also a new photo spot, and I really liked it as a backdrop for a picture of the Fab Five!
It was a cold but beautiful night!
This is always one of my favorite Christmas activities, and now I’m really in the holiday spirit!
We started the week with a field trip to the Missouri Botanical Garden, to take a look at the newly-opened visitors center and take a walk around the garden for the first time in several months.
It was a beautiful day to be out!
Ladybug reviewed scientific notation in algebra 2 (which also conveniently applies to chemistry, as well!). In creative writing, she practiced writing from the perspective of first person plural, which is pretty different from anything she’s done before. She had an introduction to The Periodic Table of the Elements in chemistry. In history, she read about Constantine’s heirs as well as Shapur II of Persia. She finished Act II of Romeo and Juliet. This week, we baked Bilbo‘s Seed-Cake from Recipes from the World of Tolkien.
Chickadee reviewed place value in math, as well as Roman numerals. She finished the second chapter in science, learning about different kinds of wild dogs including wolves, coyotes, foxes, and painted dogs. In history, she read about Cheops, the building of the Great Pyramid at Giza (as well as the Sphinx), and the mummification process. We continued to read Heidi, as well as The Fellowship of Ring.
I have another field trip planned for next week, and I’m really looking forward to it, because it’s to a place we haven’t visited since before the beginning of the pandemic!
This week, we visited the Missouri Botanical for what seemed like the “first time in forever.” It was a bright, beautiful day full of vibrant colors (including Chickadee’s Majora’s Mask shirt!).
Chickadee really enjoyed our trip to the Missouri Botanical Garden to view the cherry blossoms on Sunday!
Yesterday morning, we took a walk around the Missouri Botanical Garden. It does’t matter how many times we visit the Japanese Garden in the spring…I’m always stunned by its beauty!
