Monday, November 12, 2007

Children's Discovery Garden at Wegerzyn Gardens - Dayton, OH


Jenna got a new dog last Saturday - a black Schnorkie born on September 3rd. I'm not a dog person but if I were, I'd be jealous because this little living floor mop is just about the cutest thing ever. Weighing in at a whopping 4.7 pounds, she's a mix between a miniature Schnauzer and a Yorkshire Terrier. And I got to name her.

Bella

Last night, Jenna came home with Bella because Romie was going to dogsit. Mom, Kara, Jenna and I had made plans to attend a cat show today. Mom and I had been to two of them before, Kara had gone with us once, and Jenna had never been. Kara came last night too and we spent the evening hanging out and watching cute little Bella do her cute little puppy stuff, like peeing on the floor.

This morning, after stopping at Walmart to fill the van with gas and buy snack crackers and chocolate (provisions, you know), we picked Mom up and headed down 75 in the pouring rain to the 52nd Annual Cat Fanciers Association Cat Show held at Hara Arena in Dayton. What better way to spend a miserable rainy gloomy day? (Well, I did tell Mom if we hadn't had such a fun day planned, it would have taken the Jaws of Life to get me out of the house on a day like today.)


We had just walked in the door and didn't make it past the first row of cats when Kara was smitten by a gray Persian for sale. She oohed and she ahhed and held "Glitzy" and whined around until we dragged her away. Kara and Adam already have two cats - Oreo and Cali - and when she called Adam to ask about buying another one, he told her fine, as long as she found new homes for Oreo and Cali. HA!



We spent about an hour and a half walking through the aisles of gorgeous show cats and watching the judging in several rings. Ah, such fluffy loveliness there was!




Maine Coon

As we left the arena, Jenna mumbled something about being hungry and we discussed the possibility of eating somewhere soon. On the drive down, we had planned out our itinerary which included a quick stop at the Children's Discovery Garden in Dayton as well as Andy's Garden Center in Troy.

We took a quick tour through the children's garden and at this point, Jenna was nearly fainting from hunger. Kara responded to this with a proposal that we not waste time eating lunch since we only had so much time before things closed and that we eat supper after we were done shopping. Jenna rolled her eyes as we handed her a box of crackers and the bag of chocolate truffles.





When I say we took a quick tour of the children's garden, I mean quick. I looked at the time stamp on the photos I took while we were there and from beginning to end, it was only 12 minutes. Why, you ask? Well, it was pouring down rain and only true gardeners would be doing this in the first place. But we saw enough of this fine garden to know we'll be back next year when the weather is better and more things are in flower.











Next stop was north of Dayton, just outside Troy at Andy's Garden. Mom and I had stopped here in the spring of 2006 on the way home from the Cincinnati Flower Show, but we only had about fifteen minutes to shop because they were getting ready to close. We were impressed with what they had to offer and vowed to return in the spring of 2007 when we were ready to buy plants for the new growing season, but for some reason or another, that didn't happen.

Of course, visiting at this time of year didn't afford us the opportunity to buy live plants for our gardens, but they were having a Christmas preview weekend and spring bulbs were 50% off, so we managed to walk out of there with less money than when we entered the front door. I bought a 'Limona' amaryllis, three bulbs of Hyacinth 'Woodstock', and a bag of 'Sagitta' Narcissus. I wanted some 'Thalia'
Narcissus but they were sold out.

As we were driving out to get back on 75 to go home, Jenna was starting to salivate because she knew we were going to be eating supper now. However, we still had time to stop at Andy's Piqua location, so she had to hold out a little longer. You see, Jenna doesn't go on these jaunts with us very often, so she's not familiar with the routine. I'm not sure she likes how we do things, because Jenna is really into her food, but she was a good sport.

Before we got to Piqua, we stopped at Petmart for Jenna to buy some Wee Wee Pads for Bella, since the babysitting wasn't going so well back at home. Romie reported by phone that Bella had had a couple more accidents in addition to those she had last night. Potty training is sooo much fun.

Andy's Piqua location is their original store and is located in a residential neighborhood. It's smaller than the Troy location, but oozes small-town charm and had the same wonderful holiday offerings their other store did. I did a little Christmas shopping and found what I think was their last bag of 'Thalia' narcissus! Between the two stores, I also bought a couple of Christmas tree ornaments and some other decorations.

Finally, Jenna got to eat. Mom said she'd treat us all to supper at Cracker Barrel and by the time we sat down there, we all were pretty hungry. Jenna had started to gnaw on the seat belt.

By 5:30, we were on our way home with full tummies. Kara asked if everyone was happy with their purchases of the day, and Jenna piped right up, "Yeah, I'm pretty darn happy with my Wee Wee Pads." That's all she had bought all day!

We dropped Mom off at home, and as soon as the rest of us got back to our house, Romie and I left again to go to his mom's. It was her 80th birthday and we joined the rest of the family in wishing her a happy birthday. She's an amazing mother of ten, and she sure doesn't seem like the typical 80-year-old.


Kara and Jenna returned to their homes and so did we. Busy, busy day, but just the kind we like - spent with family, making memories.


1 comment:

Shady Gardener said...

What Great garden tours you have been taking with your mom! If you're gathering plants from very many of your trips, your own garden must be filled with pleasant memories! (I've thoroughly enjoyed your tour!) :-)