Mother's Day Weekend

We enjoyed a lot of family time over Mother's Day weekend, with a (short) trip to downtown Kirkwood on Saturday morning (the rain cut it short), a 'big' family dinner at my parents', and a visit to the Botanical Gardens on Sunday after being showered with gifts from the kids (and after seeing that the morning rains had passed us by and it was going to be dry for a few hours).  It was mostly an enjoyable weekend, but it wasn't without it's moments.  There are no breaks from being a mom and being a mom means taking the good with the bad -- even on mother's day.  (Let's just say our exit from the Botanical Gardens wasn't the most graceful...).  Even so, I couldn't be more blessed with these three kiddos.  They keep me on my toes, make me laugh, make me want to cry, make me proud, make me wonder, make me humble, make me doubt myself, and make me feel a love that is like no other.  As hard as having little ones can be, it breaks my heart to see them grow up.  As much as I love them at these ages, I can't wait to see who they will be.  Motherhood is full of these paradoxes, isn't it.  Such a strange and beautiful journey we are on.  I hope they always know how much they are loved and how much I believe in them and I hope I always earn the love and belief they have in me (even as we are making less than graceful exits...).

headed to the train station to check out the fire trucks and trains

free flowers for the kids from the garden club

4 out of 5 of the current grandchildren with their beloved Lainie

Teddy wasn't in a picture taking mood ;)

We got to see some of the set-up for the up-coming Lantern Festival when we were at the Botanical Gardens

Fun in the children's garden

Teddy spent at least 20 minutes moving these potatoes from the basket to the shelf and back again over and over and over...

Stopping to see the Japanese garden after spending most of our time at the children's garden was my choice.  Unfortunately, it did not inspire much peace in the kids... I thought it was beautiful though.

and that was about the end of our trip to the Botanical Gardens ... looks so serene doesn't it?  Amazing how quickly emotions can change!