Happy Mothers' Day!

Sunday, May 13, 2007 was Mother's Day, so Troy and I went to Fort Wayne to enjoy it with my mother. Even though the 150 miles that separate us isn't really all that much, we really don't get together often enough and I don't think we tell Mom how much we appreciate her NEARLY enough. But then again, does anyone?

After MUCH prodding to get Mom to choose a place to go to lunch, she opted for Red Lobster. However, since it was Mother's Day Sunday and Fort Wayne is always a bit limited on restaurant choices, when the rest of the gang arrived, there was at least an hour wait, so a change of plans was made and we went to a little restaurant in Fort Wayne called Cheddars. It was actually a place that my group of friends and I used to go in high school (many moons ago!), but then it burned down sometime in the mid-90s and they rebuilt it. It is much nicer now.

We had a lovely meal together where we discussed what was going on in our lives. Troy and I talked about our recent "Date Night" excursion and how we're constantly on the prowl for cheap entertainment. Matt shared his plans for building a new house. Actually, I think it will be more like a new garage with a small house attached. He has several motorcycles, a large truck and a HUGE trailer for towing the motorcycles, so he will definitely use all of the garage space!

Matt and Tammy also looked out our pictures from our recent baseball diamond date night and was fascinated by my ability to take pictures of Troy and me without the timer. I just put my arm out and press the button. Luckily it's instant gratification, so we get to see how well I did. So, Matt decided he had to try it himself and after several tries got a shot of Tammy and himself that he liked. (He's VERY thin and the first few made him look like he had a double chin because of the way he was holding the camera out. He did NOT like that!)

After lunch, I had asked mom what she would like to do as a little outting since it was Mothers' Day and she chose the Botanical Gardens in downtown Fort Wayne. They were having a special exhibit on butterflies and as an added bonus, mothers got in free! I had also done a little online searching and found a buy 1, get 1 free coupon for admission for Troy, myself and Dad. Score! A sunny afternoon for the 4 of us spent perusing the Botanical Gardens all for $8! I do love a bargain!

When we arrived at the gardens, they were only going to be open for 20 minutes, so I quickly bought the tickets and we went in.

Our first stop was in the special butterfly exhibit. It was enclosed in a specially netted room with fans blowing into the entrance so that the butterflies wouldn't escape when we walked in. There were signs up warning us to watch our feet and it's a good thing because I nearly stepped on one. These butterflies must be VERY used to people because they will get VERY close to you. Dad even became the butterfly charmer. I came around the corner after looking at a pair of butterflies on a tree branch and he was just standing there holding one in his hand. Amazing! When Mom originally put forth the idea of the gardens, he poo-pooed it, but since it was MOTHERS' Day and not FATHERS' day his vote didn't really count. Now that he was at the exhibit, he was thoroughly engrossed and it was great to see.

We moved quickly through the gardens. There are 3 different green houses set up to be different environments and showcase their own unique plant life. (The desert and rain forest exhibits were quite warm!) Our final stop was the little path that led outside to a little coy pond. This is an area where many a wedding reception is held and the big white tent was still up from the night before.

As we left, Dad commented that we will have to go back when we can spend more time. Yes, we will Dad. Yes. We will.