Story time at the Arboretum

We have been planning a morning out to the arboretum for two weeks and the morning couldn’t have been any nicer. The local arboretum hosts an outdoor story/craft time every Wednesday morning and we had yet to take advantage of it. With temperatures in the mid 70s and a nice breeze it was the perfect day to finally make the trip.

I was joined by my friends and their boys (getting the kids together is a great excuse for us to get together too). They enjoyed a quick story before getting the chance to run free.

Zander and Dalton got a little silly during the story, but nothing too disruptive.

Joni (who had the day off work since her maternity leave is over) and Leanne (who takes every opportunity to steal one of our babies) snuggled the little ones in the shade. Can you believe we actually needed those blankets in mid-July?

The boys watched the train, watered the gardens and then got to see the snake. Thankfully he wasn’t hungry today because I didn’t want to see him swallow the little frozen mice.

Zander made me a pretty flower during the crafts.

Then we shared a picnic lunch with all of our friends. Seriously … we marvel every time we are together that we somehow managed eight boys with our three families.

After lunch the boys headed to the little pond to feed the fish. Leanne looks like a mama duck leading her ducklings. She said she was just worried one would take a nose dive in the water.

And then our friends went home but we went and played some more. Nick enjoyed a few minutes of peace with the rest of his lunch inside the corn crib. The boys usually pretend these are jails.

Ben had a bit of a diaper malfunction (read: blowout) that resulted in a wardrobe change. I just love the new vintage Mickey onesie! I was so said he had to take it off.

And I bribed the boys so I could get a picture with everyone.

Unfortunately, the morning (actually early afternoon) ended on a low note. The boys threw a fit when we had to leave (I had baby poop on my shirt and pants and it was naptime). Zander plopped himself down in the parking lot and I was in the van and in reverse before he finally came running along. This seems to be the way most things end these days. We have tons of fun, but when it is time to call it a day my kids can never just be happy for what we've done. They always want more.