Flowering

The weather in Edinburgh has been glorious lately. We don't often get such mild, sunshine drenched spring days, so we've been trying to make the most of it and get outdoors as much as we can. On that note, Audrey and I met up with our friends Alasdair and Ros on Friday and set out for a day's adventuring at the Botanic Gardens.

If you've never been to the Botanics, then GO now, while the weather's so gorgeous! Still cool and crisp compared to summer, but so clear and bright.

Listen, I know next to nothing about plants. I like the way they look - the beautiful flowers, the just-blossoming and budding trees, the bushes and ferns and big leaves. But I am definitely no horticulturist, I can't even keep a pot of basil alive. Still, I found the place really interesting - and I'd definitely go again.

They have an indoor area with various exhibits and things Audrey could touch and interact with.

Including a table with colouring crayons and paper. She'd never tried any kind of drawing or colouring before, and there were a few attempts to eat the crayons I'll admit, but with a bit of prompting she did seem to get the hang of making marks on the paper.

There was a beautiful area to hang the children's pictures, but since it was her very first one and I'm so sappy, I slipped it into my bag to take home and keep. Still, we admired the other children's art work!

The gardens were, as I may have mentioned, stunning.

There were statues and art works among the plants and trees, and Audrey stared and pointed and "ooh wow"ed her way round the place.

Inside the glass houses was even more spectacular, but Audrey got a little anxious at first. Something about the sudden change in temperate and all the vines and foliage overhead seemed to scare her a bit, and she called "Mama Mama!" and reached up and clung on to me so tightly.

It only lasted a moment, though, and she was back to being amazed at absolutely everything she saw. "LOOK AT THIS! AND THIS!"

I love visiting places with her - it makes it different, somehow. You imagine how everything must look to her as she sees it for the first time.

She did some good walking by the lily pond.

And we looked at the pretty fish - I managed to somehow snap this photo just as one was surfacing.

It makes me so happy to see her interacting with my friends.

In the glass house with all the cacti the rocky ground was perfect for more walking practice.

Next we saw the aquarium with all the beautiful fish. "Ish!" she said, pointing excitedly up at them. "Ish."

Such a beautiful day. If anyone wants to go on an adventure with us while the weather's still fine, or if you have a great idea for a place we could visit, let me know!