Boener Botanical Gardens



Second year of residency has been very busy but then again so has every year before now, haha! I think, in general, when you have little's busyness is just a part of life. Although B's schedule was all over the place at the beginning of second year (that started in July) the month of August did not involve any 30-hour overnight's and that's always a nice change! If you follow me on Snap Chat (@MommyinMKE) I chat a lot more about B's schedule since I post more day-to-day things over there. There's a lot of solo parenting that happens during all of B's training but we make it work because our little family is our priority. This month he has had a few weekend days off since he's working more in the operating room now that he's only doing Anesthesia as opposed to everything else when he was an Intern last year. In some ways, it gives us an overall idea of what his schedule is going to look like ahead of time and that is a bit of a luxury that we haven't had in the past. We've taken advantage of this time and have planned more outings as a family. A lot of the places that we've visited I've gone on my own with the little's so it's been extra special to have B experience them for the first time with us and now as a  family of five!


We decided to go to the Boener Botanical Gardens  that has been a fave of mine for quite some time. If you're ever in the area it is a must-see. This place is stunning. It's also kid-friendly and if you remember to bring lots of water and snacks you'll be good to go. It's so fun seeing the boys run around the area. We decided to bring our wagon for the boys to sit in and in between them sitting in it and them pulling it, they loved it! Cristian is now in  the phase where he wants to do everything on his own. Mami or Papi can't help anymore and he isn't afraid to struggle a bit until he gets it right. Just look at that determined strut.



That little smile is the one he uses when he feels especially proud of himself and I can't help but smile really big whenever I see it. He is growing into such a determined little boy. He never quits when something doesn't work and he'll keep doing it until he gets it right. I really admire that about him.




Gabriel on the other hand was determined to find all of the fish in all of the pools of the gardens. They have several there and they're all so meticulously cared for. I could spend hours staring in them and so could the boys!


When Gabriel found the fish he kept waving and saying, "Hi, Fishy!" It was so incredibly sweet and that's all he could talk about when we asked him what his favorite part of the trip was!


The last time we were here I was babywearing Cristian and he napped the entire time! It was so neat to see him experience for the first time by walking around and exploring it on his own. Having B there was the icing for me! Residency can have its very challenging moments but making the most of the time we do have together as a family has been our saving grace.


Our sweet Lucia slept the entire trip! I have loved being able to wear every one of our babies. I know it'll be very sad for me when I no longer have any babies to wear. But until then I'm soaking up all of these sweet cuddles.


I'm so glad that we made it while the roses are in bloom! There are so many varieties right now and as we walked around I couldn't help but wish I could bottle up some of this sunny weather. But I suppose we get the perks of the changing seasons so I can't really complain quite yet haha!


This is one of my favorite benches on  the gardens because it's under the trellis and  it overlooks the rose garden. The boys were just glad we finally sat down to have a snack haha!


B offered to snap some more pics of Lucia and me and I of course I said yes because look at my snuggly bebe!


On our way out we stopped by this pool again because Gabriel wanted to make sure there weren't any fish there! And we obliged because summer is only here for a short time.

I hope you're all having a great week and take advantage of the warm weather while you can!