Goblins in the Garden

After church on Sunday, I took Kate to Goblins in the Garden, a Halloween event at Atlanta Botanical Garden. (Tanna had some errands to run and also needed to go to his parents' house to fix their computer.) We met Steve, Diana and Jamie there, too. Kate wore her angel costume--you may remember it from last year. I bought it on clearance after Halloween, and she wore it at Christmastime. It's a size 3T/4T, which is hard to believe because it is tiny. But I digress ...

Before we even made it to the botanical garden, I could not believe the crowds. The traffic was all backed up, and loads of people were walking in from various directions. It turns out that the parking garage was "full" and they weren't letting folks turn in to the driveway. The bad thing is, you did not realize this until you already were in line to turn in--so you'd have to sit through traffic light after traffic light and hope for a chance to pull into another lane. And THEN try to find street parking in the nearby neighborhood. And this is after all that money that was spent on the new parking facility @ ABG. (Can you tell I hate parking issues?)

ANYWAY, when I finally got to a point where I could turn in, I thought I'd just turn around in the driveway. I had to go somewhere, and that seemed like the best option. I had an inkling that there may be some spots opening up in the garage because cars were coming out, but no cars were going in. I thought it might be worth taking a look. Long story short (believe me--I can't believe how long this is getting already) ... there WERE parking spots in the garage, and I got a really close one.

So we get out and head over to the entrance to meet Di, Steve and Jamie. I could not believe my eyes. I should have taken a photo. The mob of people trying to get in at the garden entrance was unbelievable. If we hadn't been meeting friends and if we hadn't just been through an ordeal to park, then we would have left. But we stayed and braved the crowds.

The weather was gorgeous and (of course) we enjoyed the company, but it was too crowded to participate in any of the activities. So basically, we just walked around and left. I wish I could recommend this event. Maybe in years to come, it will be offered over a few days (and not just a few hours) so that not everyone will be there for the short time that it lasts. Getting out of the garden parking area and driveway was another ordeal, but we finally made it. LOL!

Anyway, here are some photos ...


We saw Lee Anne, Sam and Keith


Kate and Samantha. Kate loves lollipops ("suckers"). Here, she is holding two--one opened and one still in the wrapper.


Wheeeee! The girls loved playing on the slide. Not sure who Tinkerbell is there.


More slide fun


On our way out, we stopped by Kate's school's scarecrow exhibit. It is looking pretty rough. Look at all the grass growing all over it. Gross.