Blithewold

This morning Madeline was too excited by everything!!! to nap properly. After all, there was much fun to be had.

But as the hours passed, a nap looked more and more necessary.

Luckily, we had a perfect nap-inducement in the works: the drive to Bristol to visit Blithewold. I spent three years going to school within very easy walking distance of Blithewold but never visited and therefore never realized how lovely it is.

Madeline, too, was captivated by everything: stonework, fountains ...

... trees -- the largest sequoia east of the Rockies and other interesting specimens like a weeping beech, a "swizzlestick" willow, and lots of false cypresses -- a bamboo stand ...

... and a pond where we tried to track frogs by their resounding "ribbits."

We found some, including this mutant (or trauma-survivor) with only one eye.

Here's its neighbor, a two-eyed frog, for comparison.

From time to time we stopped to enjoy the scenery.

And Madeline enjoyed grandma's funny faces and noises, too.

After a walk along the bay and a tour of the mansion, we found a spot out of the way of the family reunion happening at one part of the grounds and the wedding happening at another. Madeline had a diaper-change and a meal, always a recipe for smiles.

And she practiced her standing -- though she had absolutely no interest in taking steps today -- looking ever more like a toddler. Well, maybe not a toddler, but a bigger baby anyway.

On the drive home, Madeline finally began a proper nap. The nap proved so powerful that it carried over into the yard, where we watered the plants and passed a little more time enjoying the green outdoors.