Descanso Gardens

Last week I went with Haley and Sam to my favorite place in southern California so far, Descanso Gardens in La Canada. It was SO beautiful!! The kids both loved it, too, they were having so much fun running all over and discovering each new flower, statue, waterfall and secluded bench to have a snack on.

We started off at the Japanese garden. Lots of gorgeous red (Japanese maple?) trees - the picture does NOT do it justice, I forgot my camera so had to settle for phone pictures.

and little statues like this

and little waterfalls and pools of Koi. Sam was fascinated with the waterfalls, he kept trying to figure out how to get closer to them while little momma Haley tried to direct his attention to less dangerous avenues. :) They both loved the "fishies" and would rush from pool to pool to see if there were any more in the next one.

Sammy has figured out that he's required to say "cheese!" when the camera is pointed at him, but he has this adorable little lisp that you can actually see in these pictures - "Cheeth!" :)

These light fixtures were the coolest, like a big spiderweb only not creepy. I'm so figuring out how to make one.

After the Japanese gardens we moved on to the Camellia gardens - these were Haley's favorite. So many shades of pink!

My favorites weren't the Camellias but these awesome orange ones lining all of the paths

Then came possibly the most heavenly five minutes of my whole life as we walked through the lilac garden. I was so caught up in the amazing aroma that I forgot to take more pictures haha.

Back at the top of the camellias there was this amazing house, the Boddy House (sounds like something you'd find attached to the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland). The inside was closed for cleaning but we walked around the grounds and decided that we could sacrifice and move in there. :) We planned BBQ's as we walked on the patio and mentally strung twinkle lights along the walkways.

The kids-sized bench was a favorite - they can share it with the wood gnomes at the BBQs.

Haley was impressed that this Calla Lily was as tall as she is

We shared chocolate chip cookies by the tulips

Visited what we dubbed "the fairy house" because surely only fairies could live in such a magical little house (I caught Haley searching for them when she thought I wasn't looking). We decided we would be great friends with them when we were neighbors and they could come dance at our parties.

And then moved on to the rose garden

My favorite part of the rose garden was the Iris' haha. We sniffed them lovingly in honor of Grandma Janet, who loves them.

and the kids' favorites were throwing pennies into the fountain (BOO to that ugly orange cone in the shot!)

and chasing this poor duck couple for about ten minutes


Tell me they aren't the greatest kids on the planet!!

I cannot wait to go back - I think I might be a lilac junkie now! If you're coming to Cali this spring I would highly recommend Descanso, it was so great!

love, mary