I’ll give you one guess as to where Ryan is smelling these gorgeous tulips…
If you guessed Phipps Conservatory, you’re right! We headed downtown after Natalie’s soccer game on Saturday because it was too cold to be outside and flowers always make things better. Right?
Unbeknownst to us, it was the last weekend for their spring flower show, and ohmygosh, it was amazing. They had a series of rooms based on several countries. The kids received passports at the entrance that they stamped throughout.
The displays were simply breath-taking. My camera can’t do them justice. Here’s the room for the Netherlands. I wanted to start applauding when I saw it. Don’t worry, I didn’t. I just stood in awe.
The room for France
The room for China
Last time we came Natalie wished she’d brought a sketch pad and pencil. Daddy remembered this time and brought supplies for her to draw. (She developed this habit from her school in Virginia… it’s one I love that they instilled in her.)
Ainsley didn’t want to draw flowers. She wanted to draw a map. Here she is explaining where we need to go next “according to the map.”
Here is the boy bending down – because I’m squatting to take his picture, of course.
Okay, raise your hand if you know there is an orchid reminiscent of an Iris. Come on, don’t be shy.
The three amigos in France.
Ainsley didn’t want to get the group shot taken. Natalie cooed at her sweetly, “If you take this picture, I’ll do something very special with you after.” This was her idea of special:
With about ten minutes to go we headed to the vegetable room… the one with an inside vegetable garden and pretend market. We purposefully kept this room until we’d seen the rest of the exhibit. It’s sortof hard for the kids to want to leave the fun.
Natalie told me they had a very large family…. 52 teenagers and 92 children. And the parents aren’t divorced. (Please don’t ask me why she threw that last part in. I think it’s because she reads a book series where the little girl’s parents are divorced so she talks about her two families… and pray tell, how in the world would one mom and dad be able to survive having that many children?)
After shutting down the museum – I’m pretty sure we were the last ones to leave – we drove to Shadyside for some grub. We found several wonderful looking restaurants we’d like to try, but none we felt were kid-friendly (BRGR, Paris 66, Soba, NaCl, Plum). We ended up at a pizza shop.
The girls liked watching the pizzas being made.
If you look closely (in both pics) you can see the girls’ faces reflected in the glass.
Ryan was glad when the pizza was on the table…
Henry and I finished the evening on the couch watching a movie.
I’m not sure the day could’ve gotten any better.
(c) 2016 Leighann Marquiss
Comments (6)
That sounds like a perfectly awesome day with the family! I loved the France Room…and also the picture of the 3 kiddos in that room.
Thanks for sharing about it.
Love, Linda
let us know when you want to try BRGR or Salt! we’ll join you! ~liz
sounds like a great day!
I bet the flowers were awesome!
I’ve always wanted to go to Holland during tulip season, I didn’t know I could just go to that museum 😉
Will this still be open when I watch kids?
Looks like a really fun day – and Natalie’s bribery was worth it for that cute shot.
We always enjoyed our visits to Phipps when we lived in the Burgh. Looks like you are enjoying your new “hometown.” Now, we need to extend the PGH hockey season with a must win Wednesday night! Please have your kiddos start cheering 🙂
Gail
Annapolis, MD