The LA Arborteum - Ooh!

On Saturday, Stephaine called to see if I wanted to go with her to a magical place called the Los Angeles Arborteum. And lo, it was beautiful! Here are some pictures from the day, taken by cell phone. I'm impressed with how well they turned out. Also, I sent these along to my folks, throughout the day they just kept getting random pics. :)


This first shot is an awesome peacock. They were all over the place!!! And very fun to look out. They haunted the first part of the park, and it was fun to see them upstairs and down. There were a bunch of hens, and they looked like they were playing tag among the bushes. We found it highly amusing.

There was a mini waterfall. While Steph was climbing the rocks and getting in for closer angles to capture an awesome moment, I just sat back and let the vibe wash over me. Boy, it felt really good to sit there for a minute.

But we continued on, walking around all sorts of trees that I couldn't name to save my life. Not many were in bloom, but there were some fantastic looking trees. I think we'll go back in April or May to walk through all over again.










I can't believe how pretty everything was. This little part just felt like it was out of a fairy tale. I couldn't help but try to capture how pretty it was.
Of course, then I had to have proof that I was really there.







Look, it's really me!











Here is a lovely magnolia tree. I guess they bloom in the winter time. We found as we were walking around that there are some Maple trees. How, you may ask? My the scent! Oh my stars, do they ever smell good! We couldn't find them, though! We were hunting them down by the scent, but just couldn't find them. We were so sad. And then we were so hungry for some syrup and waffles!!






Here is a close up of some blossoms off of another Magnolia tree. So pretty.












We were able to go into a couple of hothouses. Lots of pretty, pretty flowers. Here's one of my favorites, I loved the dotted print on this flower. I'm so glad it showed up.

I found it interesting, there were lots of people roaming around and having their pictures taken. Newlyweds were in several places. And there was a pair of kids in the hothouse with us. They looked like they were dressed for prom, but then again, what do I know?

Sadly, Steph and I couldn't find the "Orchid Carnivourous Plants" that were advertised. This also followed our disappointment of no turtles in the Turtle Pond, and no Maple Syrup at the ready.


Before we left, we spent quite some time at their duck pond, watching kids and their parents feed some duckies. These ducks were awesome looking! They're Mandarin Ducks. No, I got this pic from the internet. They moved too fast for me to snap a good shot with my phone. They were in high competition with some giant Kot brutes. Man, it got ugly out there. But the little girls were having a blast.




Another handsome lad. Ignoring me and my camera. I kept wanting to get a nice shot of them close up, but they kept moving on me. I even tried to get one guy from the back. The way his feathers looked when they were all folded up on each other was absolutely amazing. Alas, I was too slow and my camera couldn't get in a decent zoom. Plus, it was too slow as well.







One our way out, here was one more show off. I was so lucky to have this guy pose for me!














And... here's the Business End. Aren't we glad he decided to turn around? I know you've always wanted to see the underside of a peacock.











If I'm able to, I'll post some pictures from Steph's camera. She was able to get some really nifty shots. Plus, if we're lucky, there's a fantastic picture of me and a kangaroo. :) Hope you all enjoyed my little photo essay! It was a bit time consuming in posting it all, but still rather fun.