Like a Kid in Lotusland

I am lucky that my husband's family live in fabulous places like Santa Barbara. For years I've tried to visit Ganna Walska Lotusland, but due to poor planning on my part, I've never been able to go. This year Jason's aunt thought ahead and made reservations for the family months in advance. I was like a kid in a candy store.
I admit I was a bit jealous of my daughter and her cousin, Wade. To experience this beautiful place as a child must be awesome! I found myself blocking out the docent (who was awesome, by the way), and instead watching the kids as they experienced this place for the first time with me.

Without the kids, I would have missed this leaf. At first I thought they were commenting on the water droplets, but they were actually admiring the shadows being cast by nearby agapanthus, and how they looked like fireworks.

I would have also missed how notocactus leninghausii looks like a "bunch of fuzzy people staring at you."

Of course that was until we saw the Oreocereus celsianus. They are the fuzziest of all. Plus, they were obviously named after Oreo cookies, so they must be cool.

When they're my age, will they appreciate this moment they had when they were four and five years old?

And lets not forget the Theatre Garden, filled with adorable statues from the 1600's that Madame Ganna acquired during World War II.

African boxwood and fern pine make a great backdrop for playtime. Our docent, Gayle, was nice enough to allow us to take a long break at the theatre so that the kids could run around and burn off some energy.

And the statues encouraged silliness...... which we highly encourage in my family.

After our tour my husband decided that his favorite garden was the Japanese Garden. I was disappointed at how my pictures turned out here because it was such a bright sunny day and I had a glare in almost every single photo I took of it. It was also so big that it was hard to capture just how beautiful it was. At the end of our tour Jason and I took the kids for one more lap around the lake while the rest of the family went to the gift shop.

I'd say my favorite plant that I saw at Lotusland would be the climbing bamboo, chusquea coronalis. In a wide open space like it's in here, it takes on a weeping form that is graceful and beautiful. According to our docent, this plant bloomed back in 1994 and provided enough seed that you can now find climbing bamboo at several nurseries.

This was a great way to start our vacation.