Scarecrow Trail

Until today, it hasn't felt much like fall here in Alabama. I've been trying to get in a festive mood despite the warm weather, so Saturday we went out to the Huntsville Botanical Garden to see the scarecrow trail and Halloween decorations. Gavin had a wonderful time exploring the children's garden, although he was more interested in the pebbles and sticks on the ground than all the fun play areas...

The garden has several fountains for the children to play in. I've been wanting to take Gavin here all summer but we never quite made it. Since it was in the 80s, he was able to play in the water a little... I guess I still haven't quite got this mommy-thing down because I really should have brought a swim diaper and a change of clothes.

Somehow, Gavin has developed a fear of falling water - the shower, rain, most large fountains...but the fountains in the children's garden were gentle and he really enjoyed them.

Here's a few more pictures of my little guy exploring the children's garden. I had the hardest time keeping him out from under this bridge!

Gavin's favorite part was an area called the "Storybook Garden." I don't know if you can see in this picture, but the vine growing up the gazebo is covered in purple beans - it looked really cool.

He had fun in the maze, too. The vines were past their prime and starting to thin out, exposing the structure they grow on. I followed Gavin into the maze, but when he came to a dead end, he decided it would be easier to crawl through a rabbit-size hole in the fence and left me standing there to find the way out on my own!

Finally, a scarecrow! Gavin didn't pay much attention to the scarecrows, but he did like this one with the turtle theme (I think it was sponsored by a gardening club). He kept saying "hi" and hugging the little turtle!

After we finished walking through the children's garden, Gavin was ready to get home for a nap (and Daddy was ready to get home for football), so we decided to call it a day. But we did make time for a hayride!