Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Poor E had to work today. P and E roughhoused on the bed ("you wanna roughhouse papa? wanna wrestle?") all morning and then E schlepped into town. Phoenix wanted some time with Seth and when presented with the options of beach, park, zoo or gardens he chose gardens.

It really was a lovely fall day. The gardens were glorious! P gathered fallen berries from each berry bearing tree, including some interesting gingko fruit and a strange lemon. Then we watched the koi swim while Seth unknowingly sat beside a supermodel. Phoenix's personal destination was the children's garden at the far end of the park. E's stories have featured Crete, minotaurs and labyrinths lately so P was determined to do the mini maze in the kid's section. We ran around "losing" Phoenix and touching all of the textured leaves. I've noticed that despite spending most of his time with me he has inherited the noise-making traits of the Schultz clan. He whizzed down garden paths singing and chanting and puffing. He dodged trolls under the little bridge, walked the balance beam and looked at Uncle Seth through the kaleidoscope.

At closing time we wandered through the park to his favorite pizza place and sat in the amazingly empty backyard by candlelight. He sat still through most of the meal but eventually tried to use Seth as a jungle gym. Before getting spazzy though, he leaned in and said "I love you Uncle Seth." When Seth returned the sentiment P initiated one of his current favorite word games that he gleaned from the book "How much do you love me?" In the book, an eskimo girl asks her mother how much she is loved and how long she will be loved. P's version tonight went something like this "How much you love me than this pizza?" And even though it is Outstanding pizza, P was picked and he was pleased.