Vesak Day Picnic @ Botanic Gardens

I love public holidays.  I doubt anyone will disagree with me.  Public holidays mean Jon's on leave.  It means we have a day outside of our usual weekend routines.  It means a day for special plans! 

The plan?  Picnic at the Botanic Gardens with my parents and Aidan :)  I'm sure I've said this a million times, I love the Botanic Gardens!  And what a perfect day to go.  It was breezy, sunny, but a little cloudy so it wasn't too hot.  It wasn't that humid too.  Clearly many families had the same idea cos the Palm Valley was quite crowded. 

And there was something funny about the valley that day.  It was covered with little bits of white, almost as if someone had torn tissue paper and thrown it all around.  But it couldn't have been cos there was just so much of the tissue-like white stuff.  Then Papa solved the great white-fluff mystery.  The cotton tree's pods had burst open!  The field was covered with cotton!  I've never actually seen cotton fresh off a tree before.  I feels so soft, like wool but without the oily feel.  Yes, yes, I know that's why they call it cotton wool...but this felt more wool-like than cotton wool. 

Can you see the cotton on the field?

Papa bringing Asher for a walk to look at the fishes

A picnic has to have food.  What did we bring?  KFC breakfasts!  Convenient, no need to prepare anything, and I like the wraps, but it always feels like they're finished too soon.  Hmm..

The cosy party

Happily munching away on Cheerios

There was a little yellow butterfly that seemed to like my father very much.  It keep settling on him much to our amusement.  And Asher was most fascinated with the little creature. 

Asher poked it here and left a bit of the, I don't know what you call it, the powdery stuff from a butterfly, on my Dad's shirt.

It was then quite cute to see Asher take a piece of tissue paper nearby and proceed to wipe the spot! 

This was voluntary.  No forced child labour here!!  And how shiok for my father!!

Back from the boys walk.  My mum and I lazed on the mat while they strolled off somewhere.

Being pampered by his Nai Nai.  Aidan was quite hot cos it was getting warmer. 

He ain't heavy, he's my grandson

Daddy and Son

Since the boys came back from their walk, my mum and I decided to bring the little boys for another walk, but this time on their strollers.  We came across this lovely area of hanging red ivy which the boys loved.  It was intriguing and I was quite fascinated too.  It was fun to walk through the ivy again and again (and again).  Thought it was very interesting that they did this 'display'. 

Where's Por Por/ Nai Nai?

Asher was so contented and tired out by noon that he actually fell asleep while being rolled back to the car in his stroller!  That hardly ever happens!  Has it ever?  I can't remember the last time it did!!  We should soo do this again.

Picnic @ The Botanical Gardens

It's been a while since the girls met up, and we decided to meet for brunch. Then it evolved to meeting for brunch under a big tree, and we then all assumed that big tree would be in the Botanical Gardens :) So yes, we went to the ever lovely Botanical Gardens for a morning picnic! Oh, and of course all the other-halves were invited to our picnic too :)

The picnic party








Nessie made yummy smoked salmon and ham & cheese sandwiches, and even brought a decadent slice of brie! Janine made a hearty and healthy potato salad complete with real bacon bits! Who can resist that? And PS made indulgent chocolate muffins, topped with chocolate icing! Great for a sweet treat after the savories! And Alex made a very healthy and refreshing fruit salad, that we all gladly tucked into as the sun got hotter.

Just lazing around after eating






Asher playing with some fans









PS also brought her new puppy, Obi! It was my first time meeting the little guy, and he's a handsome chap who knows a comfortable bed when he sees one :) He was initally on the straw mat, then slowly, slowly, he shifted and eventually migrated to the cloth picnic spread Jon and I brought :) And he duly marked out his territory by rolling all over one section of it, very cute :) Asher got to stroke him too! Asher's first time being up close and personal with a doggie. But he still needs to learn to be more gentle with animals, cos Asher was trying to tug on Obi's fur, and in trying to pat Obi's face, almost poked his eyes out! :)












"Cups are less fragile, I can bash them around!"

































The weather that morning was very good, not too humid, but we could have done with a little bit more wind. At one point it threatened to rain, but thank goodness the good weather held up! In any case, chilling, chatting, eating, relaxing, jibing, laughing - what more can you ask for? =) By the end of the picnic, we were warm, in need of shade, and in need of rest from the 'tiring' picnic :) And Asher needed to have his lunch too. But I think the morning's excitement wore him out, and he was too tired to eat much. So he just dozed on Jon's shoulder for the rest of the morning :)

Fulfilling My Tummytime Dream

Since Asher was born I've been dying to picnic at the Botanic Gardens and let Asher hang out for a while among the lush trees , and have some tummytime on the grassy field. We had gone there once, but mainly to stroll around. This time, I brought along a picnic mat so we could lie down for a while near the Symphony Stage. Wasn't a full picnic cos I didn't pack a basket, but it was close :)

I think Asher really enjoyed his time there! He was wide-eyed as he stared at all the different trees around him, and looked up to see how high some of the trees grew. He was curiously looking all around him to soak in this new environment. The spot I found was slightly sloping and Asher kept leaning to one side, so eventually I placed him on my tummy :) Partly cos I just like having him on my tummy too hee.










I believe he really liked looking around cos when I saw that some dark clouds were gathering and decided to pack up, he fussed a little when I lifted him off the mat to put him back in his pram. But since he could still see all the trees from his pram, he quietened down quite quickly :) It didn't rain in the end, so we just strolled around the park. I showed him the waterfall, and stopped by many of the bright flowers for him to take a better look at them. The beautiful surroundings, and the rumbling of the pram eventually lulled him into sleep :)










Definitely something to do again. Maybe next time I'll bring a basket! :)