Fairies in the Garden

Once a year Descanso Gardens holds a "Camellia Festival" where they offer "fairy tours" and invite children to come dressed as fairies or princesses or superheroes, or whatever it is that makes them feel magical. (You can check out their calendar of events, here. There's a Cherry Blossom festival in March which I'm sure we'll hit up because, hello heaven.) Anyway, the Camellia's are in bloom here in Southern California and any excuse to dress up and/or my kids have to dress up is always a win. Bo and Revi brought their wings (from Fable's old costumes) and Revi brought her tutu and Bo dragged the most gigantic fairy costume skirt into the car to wear for ultimate wow factor. (She has been wearing the same skirt/dress every day for a week. Kids these days, I tell you what.)

My parents met us at the gardens which is always a joy, especially because we are no longer outnumbered and can pair off and spend one on one time with each kid which rules. So Fable and my dad went on one of the fairy tours and Bo went this way and Revi went that way and Archer and my mom went on a photo-taking mission and we all kind of bumped into each other as our paths crossed. 

The Fairy Tours were the reason for the season on this particular sojourn. In the clearing as you enter the garden were fairies and bits and pieces of feathers, jewels, and other "fairy treasure" items so that the kids could run around and collect the various pieces (they got to take three pieces of treasure home with them). The camellia tours were then hosted by local group, A Faery Hunt, a group of super kind humans who dress like fairies and perform interactive shows with children, host fairy hunts, story telling sessions, and everything that is good and wonderful. (You can check out their schedule here. They also do birthday parties.) The fairies introduced the children to the camellias in bloom and talked to them about respecting the gardens and the planet. There was also talk of magic, wishes, dreams and everything that's awesome. 

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Revi and her purse full of petals + fairy treasure

I was never a princess kid but fairies? FAIRIES were my JAM. Fairies bring me back to my childhood...  fairies and gardens and fairies in gardens.

Hal and I chatted with the professional fairies while the kids hunted treasure and when asked how Debbie (the director) got into the fairy business, she answered with this look of unadulterated joy.

"I've always just loved fairies," she said.

Me too, sister.

And speaking of fairies, I bought this book for Fable six years before she was born because I had a feeling someday she might arrive and now it's her absolute favorite. Tomorrow, inspired by this past weekend, I'm doing a little "fairy fashion" craft in Fable's class and am bringing this book for inspiration. 

There's also this amazing website about fairy houses. (My sister bought this book for Fable for Christmas and it's awesome.) Also, if you're located near Huntersville, NC, there's a fairy house FESTIVAL! And check out this fairy house tour in Rochester, New York! (I MEAN LOOK AT THESE FAIRY HOUSES SO RAD.) Okay I'm done now. 

GGC