A Father and Daughter Outing to Longwood Gardens

Earlier this year the fathers of our church took all their sons on a day-trip to Gettysburg. We girls had our turn recently (not sure what happened to "ladies before gentlemen") with an outing to Longwood Gardens! These trips have been a lot of fun, leading us to hope that they will become a tradition. (The dads haven't made any promises yet.)

" The Eagle has landed" at our house, the first

stop, where...

...my brothers are emphatically informed that "there will be no boys on this bus!"

An excited group of girls fills up the bus.

Stowing necessities (if you read my post on the Church Picnic you
will know that necessities refers to plates, napkins, etc)

Arrival necessitates unpacking.

Where are your "pockets full of posies," girls?

The tallest plants we saw all day.

Thanks goes to Hannah for organizing this delicious lunch so that we wouldn't have to be envious of what was in everybody's personal lunches.

There were more photographers around than myself - some
with better ideas. I copied this idea, but the result was
blurry and therefore not suitable for posting:).

Actually a photo of people eating in which no one was caught in

an undignified moment, such as putting food in their mouth or chewing!

What is it about the men standing to eat? Just doesn't make sense... whoops! I forgot: I stood to eat that meal too.

He must not want to take leftover brownies home.

He isn't easily discouraged, is he?

"Hannah, surely you want them. After all, we brought them especially for you since you requested a chocolate dessert."
Hannah wracks her brain for a polite refusal.

Food on the bus?!! You should have seen the sign in the bus:
"If you must eat on the bus, don't leave crumbs, clean up
after yourself, etc..."

Mr. Oberholtzer, sporting the same hat that he wore on the

father-and-son trip to Gettysburg (he admitted that it is becoming a

tradition). However, his sword was replaced by an umbrella - very

appropriate considering the occasion.

The tomboys among us are revealed!

Everyone had been behaving impeccably until..... the wall was spotted.

Olivia, one of my great piano students.

Grace, another wonderful student!

Of course, they were both models of lady-like behavior:-)!

There were many cameras around that day. I can think of
six right off. We counted how many we thought the boys
would have had on their trip, and we decided that we girls had probably out done them!

This picture speaks for itself.

Dad, keeping things moving: "Raise your hand if you are

over eighteen."

Last-minute preparations

Brochures are popping up everywhere.

Even if you weren't particularly interested in them (the brochures),
you could fit in by making a pretense:).

For our guided tour, we split into three groups. Our tour guide

first took us to the outdoor theatre where a fountain show

was scheduled. We got to hear "The Stars and Stripes Forever,"

but saw no water. Apparently the fountains were not working:-(.

The whispering bench.

Because of the bench's parabolic curve.....

...Charity was able to hear what Faith whispered.
Very interesting!

Now and then we would catch sight of the other groups, on the
other side a fountain, across a bed of flowers, etc...

The DuPont house. (For those of you who like history, Pierre

DuPont was the creator of Longwood Gardens. Speaking of

history, we informed our guide that we were a history-loving

bunch and told her to tell us all she could.)

I would love to see that wisteria in bloom; that must be gorgeous!

One of the beautiful - I mean beautiful! - conservatories!

I'm not sure, but I think I promised to give Candace credit for that
photo. I better would just in case.

Cheerful and unsophisticated - those are the adjectives I
came up with for these flowers.

Candace's Art
(I'm almost positive I promised her credit for this picture.)

The ballroom. I could more easily imagine it a ballroom if
that lady in the jeans weren't standing there: you ought to have a fancy gown on to be in a room like that.

Orchids have got to be some of my favorite flowers!

The picture doesn't do these remarkable, hand-blown-glass

pumpkins justice.

For train-lovers like Dad, what could be more attractive
than an outdoor model train?! Mr. Raine could fuss all he
wanted about not staying on schedule; Dad was going to enjoy those trains:-).

We approach the tower.

The young ladies in our group.

Emma takes a photo...

...which she then allows me to post.

I am green with envy! My camera can't make water look

like that!

This is how my camera captures water:-(.

Unfortunately, discontent isn't a virtue; if it were, I would

be extremely virtuous;-).

If you have been to Longwood Gardens, you most likely won't

find these lily pads anything new, but I thought that those of you

who haven't, might be impressed by their size. They are strong too;

around 150 pounds is what they will hold!

I am having to give entirely too much credit to other photographers
today;-)! Emma Raine took this awesome picture!

Mr. Oberholtzer: lover of books, therefore lover of paper,
therefore lover of papyrus!

Mr. Raine, master of the map, points out our exact position in

the gardens.

Marianna is skeptical.

Dad(puzzled): "That just doesn't look right."

Mr. Raine: "I was sure this was our location."

Candace has the premonition that we are completely lost.

But here is Mr. Oberholtzer to the rescue:
"We are...right...... there!!!"