Playin Hookie

After some hard core persuasion on my part...

 * Niki - "hey Honey, I got free tickets.  Wanna go?"

 * Brent - "free tickets?  Oh yeah!  I'm in."

I convinced Brent to take the day off and come with us to the Huntington  Botanical Gardens in San Marino.  Aside from four exhausted, sweaty, and seriously cranky kids, we had a fabulous time.  The gardens are 150 acres and I think we walked about half of that.  

We walked through the Desert Garden first.  I had no idea there were so many varieties of cacti.  Or cactie...or um cactuses.  Anyway..there were hundreds and hundreds of them and they were so beautiful!

A lotus flower.  According to a really nice lady who worked there, they only bloom in the high heat of summer, and OH BABY was it hot today!  I'd never seen a lotus blossom before.  They're huge, like the size of Tyler's head, and so very, very pretty!
Bonsai tree.  Lovin it!
This bridge is just a small part of the Japanese Garden.  This garden was by far my favorite.   I'd tell you why, but well.. I don't really know how to explain it.  It was very emotional for me.  Beauty makes me cry quite often actually.  Can't help it.  It's the way I'm made.  Here's the garden in a nut shell.  It was beautiful in a perfectly balanced kind of way.  The lines and textures of each feature were simple and clean and... subtle.  I get chills just thinking about it! I loved it.  If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend playing hookie for the day and spending it here.