Fairchild Gardens: The Chihuly Edition

I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to see the Chihuly Exhibit that they had at our local Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens before it left (it leaves tomorrow) because I thought it was somewhat of a once in a lifetime opportunity. Chihuly is a glass-blower extraordinaire, in a nutshell. It did not disappoint, not one little bit. It was incredible! I felt like we were walking around this Dr. Seuss-Willy Wonka-12 Dancing Princesses Fairy Kingdom the entire day. It was so cool. It also reminded me of my college days when I saved my pennies and flew to visit my sister who lived in Chicago at the time. She LOVES art (and actually knows something about it, okay, she knows everything about everything--she's like a walking National Geographic, but thats not really the point) and took me to my first big and fancy art museum in Chicago and it was AMAZING!  Anyway, it reminded me of that because I felt like I was stepping outside of our normal realm of things and into 'things-we-would-love-to-enjoy-more-of-when-our-toddlers-grow' realm, which can be related to my college years?! Okay, moving on. 

Sterling took a massive test yesterday (huzzah!) and we started the weekend off extraordinarily wonderfully by swimming at our friends pool and barbecuing afterward. Sterling was a little distraught about how his ribs turned out (my fault, I bought them pre-cut, I didn't know, I've never actually purchased ribs before?) but all in all, it was a very successful evening and I felt very much like it started summer for us. In this land of eternal summer, it's kind of fun to feel seasonal. 

Sterling made us a delicious breakfast shake (he also made us dinner, now that I think about it, OH HOW I LOVE HAVING A HUSBAND HOME!!!) and then we headed out to Fairchild Gardens. Since Sterling had let me sleep in (see previous parenthesis), we were much later than I had anticipated and so it was HOT and HUMID and we were DRIPPING the entire time. Luckily, we both still thought it was worth it.

(Be forewarned, this is the world's longest post. I did cut out over forty pictures that were originally uploaded (if you want to see them Kami, I'll email them to ya!) but couldn't delete anymore, because I always thought of you, Kami. So if anyone else doesn't enjoy it, sorry man.)

By far Will's favorite Chihuly piece. "BOAP! BALL! LOTS!"

See what I mean about feeling like you were in some other world place?

 You could come at night and see the exhibits all lit up, which they had some ASTOUNDING photos of. But it was much more pricey, so we made do. Ruth found a picture of one of them lit up in the book we were handed at the beginning and thought it was the coolest thing.

I think this one was the Blue Moon. I liked it. 

Ruthie took her assignment very seriously, and found several items on her picture list. So studious! 

These were called Frogs Feet and Sterling really liked them. He liked all the ones that were camouflaged into their environment. I agree though, it is really clever.

We came here last year, without Chihuly, and the biggest hit was the butterfly house. Remember how I posted fifty pictures and said over and over that they just CANNOT do it justice? Still true. But I had laid in bed and explained in intricate detail to Sterling just how amazing the butterfly house was. Even with all the hype, he still had an intake of breath when he walked in. It is just that incredible. It is the most fairy of fairy kingdoms I have ever imagined and the most magical of secret gardens ever described. My camera cannot catch the hundreds of butterflies, so I didn't even really try this time.

Little baby chrysalis'.

The world's biggest moth. I can't remember the name now, but Sterling probably would.

This beautiful garden with HUNDREDS upon HUNDREDS of butterflies flying all around so you can't even walk forward without being very careful not to step on them and they whizz all around your face. The camera doesn't capture their fragile little existences. 

A Chihuly vase. I LOVE the color!

A stump of moths. A nice worker explained to Ruthie about their deceiving eyes and how it scared birds away.

These are probably my second favorite of the Chihuly's. I think they are breathtaking.

I really wanted a picture of the lovely blue butterflies, but I couldn't get one at a standstill. This is right in front of me though and you can see the three blue ones and the big brown one, all six inches from my face.

This one was pretty cool, very bright and hidden.

These leaves were GINORMOUS. They extended up and above Sterling's head and along the ceiling, getting wider and wider.

These tropical flowers look like they are made of wax, don't they?!?! 

They are called Etlingera corneri and you see them in Thailand to Malaysia. I took a picture of the tag, just so I could write it here for my sister Kami.

This one was called Reeds. Appropriate. I think it's really beautiful.

I really liked this boat one, although I feel like the colors are kind of sinister. The black ones Chihuly calls seals. You can see another exhibit in the background.

These were Walla Wallas. INCREDIBLY beautiful. Sterling asked if I could have any, which would it be, and it would be a water one (not these one, the ones further down in the post), just because it looks so magical having floating baubles in water.

Weird tree roots! For reference, they started at about Sterling's waist height.

We took a tram tour. Mostly to get a break from walking around in the heat. It was a great idea--we loved the tour and the break!

Gorgeous tree flowers. 

Okay, I hate photos without human subjects. But it was REALLY hot and our kids were doing really great, but I thought asking for smiles for hundreds of photos was definitely pushing the limit. So just remember the adorable children of mine that were being amazing troopers, and enjoy the photos of the art.

I didn't like this one, but for some reason I feel like I should include it because he blew it out of plastic, not glass.

This one is my favorite! Okay, second favorite?

This is what I would want to have at my house.

Specifically this blue one. I LOVE it! You can't really tell in this picture, but it looks like the colors are rimmed in silver when you are next to it.

I thought these purple cacti Chihuly's were pretty cool. 

Sterling was a fan of these, because they blend in. 

The tram tour guide said it takes twelve people to reach around this trunk. It was impressive. 

Okay. This one REALLY IS my FAVORITE!

I like the orange sunburst one.

This one was called the citron sun. 

Now does that not just look like Dr. Seuss, or what?

I love the contrast against the blue sun!

Random growing pineapple.

This guy was the tallest. I don't remember the name. We saw a couple banana spiders on webs off of this exhibit. We saw webs and spiders all day (is this the season? or just the botanical gardens? so nasty!) but this one was particularly large. I like how this one goes red at the top. Sterling spent a lot of time speculating on how they transfer these exhibits.

We all came home and napped. It was glorious. Then Sterling made grilled cheese for dinner and fixed Ruthie's bike so we had a little bike ride around the complex. There is nothing better than a weekend with a hubby who has very little school work going on for the next week. Heavenly, I tell ya what. This is what all the hard work is for, right?!?!