It’s Orchid Show time at the Missouri Botanical Garden! I love seeing all of the beautiful flowers in bloom, and I especially love that even though we’ve gone to this event many, many times over the years we’ve had a membership, I always notice some new flowers!
Sunday was another cloudy day at the Missouri Botanical Garden, but this time there was no fog, which gave me a much clearer view into the Chinese Garden:
Last week, we got to see the Missouri Botanical Garden in a whole new light (or lack thereof), when we visited during a dense fog advisory. It was really cool to see how it hung in the air and made everything familiar look new and different (and a tad bit creepy!).
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Hey, remember when I used to photograph a landmark at the Missouri Botanical Garden every month for a full year? And then the pandemic happened, and I abandoned my photography project of the Ottoman Garden early in 2020. I decided to give it a go again in 2021, and I made it about halfway through the year when construction on the Ottoman Garden saw it close for months, and I had to give up again. Well, I’m back…not with the Ottoman Garden (I know they say the third time’s the charm, but I’m not willing to risk it), but with the Chinese Garden, which was the next spot on my list I was hoping to photograph.
I’m going to be upfront and say I don’t even know if I’ll be able to do this every month all year. Before we had children in college, and before Moose was in high school, it was much easier to find time every month to visit the Garden. And I really do want to get back into that habit, because we do have a membership, and because I like spending time outdoors, and because it’s so beautiful and different each time we’re there. But I can recognize my limits, and the limits of time, so if I don’t get there every month, I’m not going to sweat it. I’m going to do my best to photograph it as often as possible, though, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it changes through the seasons!
When we went to the St. Louis Art Museum today, these oversized Nike Air Force 1 basketball shoes by Aaron Fowler immediately caught my eye. They’re made from car parts (and other media), and while modern art is not normally my thing, there’s something extremely striking about them!
Now that I’m feeling more like myself, it’s finally time for a look back at our Markel Family Christmas (and New Year’s) celebration!
But first, let me back up a bit. A few days before Christmas, I was trying to be helpful by assisting in moving a couch, and I ended up hurting my back. I managed to make it through the pain until the day after Christmas, when I finally gave in and went to the ER, where they said based on the x-rays, I had a bad muscle strain and a possible slightly slipped disc. Anyway, because of that, I had to tone done our celebration some, although Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were fairly normal.
Christmas Eve was fun because it was also Advent IV, which means we got to go to church in the morning, too!
There was our traditional Christmas Crunch to be had:
And the Fab Five finished the Lego Home Alone house:
And then we headed back to church for the Christmas Eve service, which was lovely as always!
We tried to stop by the St. Louis Christmas tree on the way home, as we have for the last few years, but there was simply no parking, so we went on our merry way, and drove though the Way of Lights only:
When we got home, I took pictures as always:
And we enjoyed a peppermint cake by the light of the fully lit Advent wreath:
I was really not feeling too well, so we didn’t play Ticket to Ride like we usually do, but I did find energy for Animal Crossing:
And I got the stockings filled with some help, and our Little People nativity scene set up:
On Christmas Day, we didn’t have to be up terribly early, so we took our time with stockings and coffee cake:
And then we headed back to church, for the third service in two days:
We managed a nice family picture even though I was still feeling pretty badly:
We took another shot at seeing the St. Louis Christmas tree on the way home, and it worked out perfectly, because there was no one there! It’s not quite the same as seeing it at night, but at least it was overcast!
When we got home, we opened presents:
And had our traditional “Pick out Dinner.”
Ryan’s parents were scheduled to arrive the day after Christmas, and I was going to make our fancy Christmas dinner the day after that. But I was feeling pretty horrible on the 26th, so the fancy dinner was postponed, and like I said, I went to the hospital, and have spent the better part of the week between Christmas and New Year’s doing absolutely nothing, including not making our fancy New Year’s dinner, either. We did have our New Year’s Eve hot chocolate bar, though:
And I managed to be awake on 12-31-23 (how cool was that date?!?) to ring in 2024 on my island (although I wasn’t sure at all that would happen!).
And I finally made the gingerbread cake that was supposed to be the ending to our fancy Christmas dinner for New Year’s Day!
This wasn’t exactly the Christmas I wanted, because I really felt like I let my family down, but I suppose it will be one we remember, anyway, and we still have two fancy dinners to look forward to!
Merry Christmas Eve!
It’s been quite a few years since we’ve been to “Christmas on the Hill,” and we missed it again this year, but we did go for a walk around The Hill on Wednesday to see the nativity scenes in the store windows and the decorations in the neighborhood. I always think it’s a beautiful place, but especially so at Christmas, and I’m pretty sure this is the first time we’ve seen Piazza Imo as the sun went down and the lights came on decorated for the holidays!
When we were in Forest Park last day for our field trip to the Missouri History Museum, we just had to stop by Pagoda Circle and see how the fall color is coming along. I was actually surprised at the amount of color we saw, even though it’s no where near the peak yet!
