(no subject)
I'm gonna give less details than I usually do about my trip to Chicago so I can move on to the pretty stuff. Pictures. My flight left very early, but it was nice to have the entire row to myself. The short layover in Memphis was just as smooth. And I must say that Memphis has got to be the dullest airport I have ever seen. I found taupe and beige along with other monochromatic colors to be more revolting than soothing. The most wonderful thing about Chicago is its 65-70 degree summers. The first day Anne and I just hung around and caught up and we eventually went out to find a small Japanese mall to do some shopping. Getting lost, we ended up at the dealership cuz Anne's car was making a funny noise. They sent us shopping for the rest of the day while they fixed it. (I bought a new outfit, which you will see me wear in a few of the photos.) The next day, Tuesday, we went out looking for the Japanese mall again. We found where it was supposed to be, but there was no mall. Just houses. >_< Then we went looking for a Target, got lost again, went back to her apartment, printed out different instructions, and finally found it. It was the one street we never went down. Who puts three streets intersecting at once in the first place anyway??? And really, what's up with the complete lack of frontage roads? We then went to see Red Eye (mostly to stare at Cillian Murphy ^_^) and discovered that Tuesday nights were the best to go see a movie. Only five bucks per ticket and free parking. Wednesday, we went to the zoo (penguins!) and then drove five hours to St. Louis where Mark lives. It was the first time I'd ever seen or heard of quadraplexes. Very interesting. Thursday, while Mark went to work, we went to the Missouri Botanical Garden. It was beautiful. And HUGE. We had to go again the next day (I just HAD to see the Japanese garden). I wouldn't be surprised if it had its own zip code. Then on Friday, after visiting the garden again, we went back to Chicago, with Mark this time. Saturday, Anne and I went to Shedd Aquarium (Jeff vehemently insisted upon it when he happened to call me) and then went to see Brothers Grimm with Mark that evening. The next morning, without a wink of sleep, I sadly headed back to Austin. ;_;
Now the fun part...pictures.
Originally, I planned on uploading the pictures I took that I wanted to show (I wouldn't actually force all 600+ on you >_O). But it took me sooooo long to just upload the pictures from the garden that it gives me a headache just looking at the upload page. So I'm just gonna show these for now. I'll get to uploading the others eventually. There are...a lot from the garden. Just like when I visited the botanical garden in Austin with Anne and Mark, I took mostly plants along with a few animals here and there.
Being as I have a new computer and a brother too busy and/or lazy to install the software on my computer needed to properly edit the pictures, I went ahead and uploaded them as they were. Usually, I resize them so they don't take up so much space on the page. But since I didn't, I'm going to leave descriptions of the pictures as links. Less scrolling on your part, right?
I decided to upload pictures from the garden first because they were the biggest batch. I think the zoo will be next. I'll link as many as I feel like tonight and then continue later. I'm sorry if some may look the same, but I had to upload all the ones I liked cuz I'm crazy like that. Hope you enjoy them anyway. ^_^
First, the ponds.
Plate lilies.
Lily blossom.
Another. They came in so many colors.
One of my personal faves because I like how the water pooled in the center like that.
It started raining a little and I wanted to get the drops on the leaves.
Butterflies!
I really liked the color of this one.
Anne, posing in front of one of the many ponds.
A closer shot of her.
My attempt to get the raindrops as they hit the water.
Blossoms again! See the dragonfly landing on the sign? Totally unintentional, I just noticed it when I was uploading this picture.
A very strange but cool-looking blossom.
Another butterfly.
Pretty blossom. (I took so many! -_-)
A closer shot of the sculptures above the largest pond.
These plate lilies were at least 4 feet in diameter.
This one and the others after (of the pond) were taken by Anne. She had a smaller, fancier-looking digital camera. ^_^ White blossoms.
More plate lilies. These things can grow up to three inches a day. O_O
Yet another blossom in a different color.
A blossom just popping out of the water.
A view from the rose garden.
Regular lily pads. I actually saw a frog hopping on them later on.
Peppers right next to the pond. I was tempted to pick one, they looked so good!
How many blossoms did we take pictures of?
The Climatron. A huge biodome that houses the tropical plants. We spent way too much time in it, but we did end up staying there longer because it started to rain pretty hard. I should have taken a picture of it from the outside...hmm...oh well, it's prettier inside anyway. ^_^
Angel-wing begonias.
Chinese lanterns. They actually grow upside-down like that.
Don't remember the name, but a pretty flower nonetheless.
I like how there's just a splash of yellow on the blossom.
The first of many orchids that I saw, though not all the pictures came out clear. Orchids, the most beautiful parasites you'll ever see.
A fuzzy fact from Peach: Ten percent of all plant species in the world are orchids.
Don't know what this is, but doesn't it look cool?
Spider lilies. I think.
Bromeliad.
I love how orchids come in so many different varieties.
A nice view of one of the walkways. The foliage is just so full and thick.
Yay orchids! This one was bigger than an open palm.
I really like the shade of yellow in this flower.
Anne's so silly.
A cute bird hanging out underneath the cacao trees.
The sign says it all.
A little pink clam.
A fuzzy fact from Peach: Bromeliads are known to hold up to a gallon of water during the dry season, usually housing small frogs and insects as well.
Bananas! I wonder if they sell them after they ripen.
I think this is a bromeliad blossom.
I've always seen these white. This one was just so pink. Or is it fuchsia?
Anne posing in front of a waterfall.
A fuzzy fact from Peach: The source of the poison from poison dart frogs is unknown, though scientists believe that it may mostly be from the insects they ingest and anything they may absorb through their skin. But they can't be positive because it is impossible to observe the life of one in the wild. And because these were raised in captivity, they aren't actually poisonous.
Hey Brennon. Is this your Blue Death Frog?
Or maybe it's this one?
And this day gecko looked straight at the camera. ^_^ So cute!
I love puffer fish!
Another pretty, nameless flower. (Jeff, I bet you know. ^_^)
A personal favorite of mine, the carnivorous plants.
A hybrid pitcher plant.
Mmmm, slowly digested insect juice.
I wish I could remember the name of this one, it looks so cool.
They look like tiny grapes.
Too many to remember!
Another personal favorite. Japanese lantern.
Elephant ears!
The cutest chicks ever!
I wonder if it's edible.
Another pretty flower.
Spider plant. I thought it was devil's tongue at first. They look so similar. -_-
Maiden's hair.
Don't know. -_-
And I think that will be all for today. I still have the Japanese garden to show you. Among other things, of course. ^_^
Now the fun part...pictures.
Originally, I planned on uploading the pictures I took that I wanted to show (I wouldn't actually force all 600+ on you >_O). But it took me sooooo long to just upload the pictures from the garden that it gives me a headache just looking at the upload page. So I'm just gonna show these for now. I'll get to uploading the others eventually. There are...a lot from the garden. Just like when I visited the botanical garden in Austin with Anne and Mark, I took mostly plants along with a few animals here and there.
Being as I have a new computer and a brother too busy and/or lazy to install the software on my computer needed to properly edit the pictures, I went ahead and uploaded them as they were. Usually, I resize them so they don't take up so much space on the page. But since I didn't, I'm going to leave descriptions of the pictures as links. Less scrolling on your part, right?
I decided to upload pictures from the garden first because they were the biggest batch. I think the zoo will be next. I'll link as many as I feel like tonight and then continue later. I'm sorry if some may look the same, but I had to upload all the ones I liked cuz I'm crazy like that. Hope you enjoy them anyway. ^_^
First, the ponds.
Plate lilies.
Lily blossom.
Another. They came in so many colors.
One of my personal faves because I like how the water pooled in the center like that.
It started raining a little and I wanted to get the drops on the leaves.
Butterflies!
I really liked the color of this one.
Anne, posing in front of one of the many ponds.
A closer shot of her.
My attempt to get the raindrops as they hit the water.
Blossoms again! See the dragonfly landing on the sign? Totally unintentional, I just noticed it when I was uploading this picture.
A very strange but cool-looking blossom.
Another butterfly.
Pretty blossom. (I took so many! -_-)
A closer shot of the sculptures above the largest pond.
These plate lilies were at least 4 feet in diameter.
This one and the others after (of the pond) were taken by Anne. She had a smaller, fancier-looking digital camera. ^_^ White blossoms.
More plate lilies. These things can grow up to three inches a day. O_O
Yet another blossom in a different color.
A blossom just popping out of the water.
A view from the rose garden.
Regular lily pads. I actually saw a frog hopping on them later on.
Peppers right next to the pond. I was tempted to pick one, they looked so good!
How many blossoms did we take pictures of?
The Climatron. A huge biodome that houses the tropical plants. We spent way too much time in it, but we did end up staying there longer because it started to rain pretty hard. I should have taken a picture of it from the outside...hmm...oh well, it's prettier inside anyway. ^_^
Angel-wing begonias.
Chinese lanterns. They actually grow upside-down like that.
Don't remember the name, but a pretty flower nonetheless.
I like how there's just a splash of yellow on the blossom.
The first of many orchids that I saw, though not all the pictures came out clear. Orchids, the most beautiful parasites you'll ever see.
A fuzzy fact from Peach: Ten percent of all plant species in the world are orchids.
Don't know what this is, but doesn't it look cool?
Spider lilies. I think.
Bromeliad.
I love how orchids come in so many different varieties.
A nice view of one of the walkways. The foliage is just so full and thick.
Yay orchids! This one was bigger than an open palm.
I really like the shade of yellow in this flower.
Anne's so silly.
A cute bird hanging out underneath the cacao trees.
The sign says it all.
A little pink clam.
A fuzzy fact from Peach: Bromeliads are known to hold up to a gallon of water during the dry season, usually housing small frogs and insects as well.
Bananas! I wonder if they sell them after they ripen.
I think this is a bromeliad blossom.
I've always seen these white. This one was just so pink. Or is it fuchsia?
Anne posing in front of a waterfall.
A fuzzy fact from Peach: The source of the poison from poison dart frogs is unknown, though scientists believe that it may mostly be from the insects they ingest and anything they may absorb through their skin. But they can't be positive because it is impossible to observe the life of one in the wild. And because these were raised in captivity, they aren't actually poisonous.
Hey Brennon. Is this your Blue Death Frog?
Or maybe it's this one?
And this day gecko looked straight at the camera. ^_^ So cute!
I love puffer fish!
Another pretty, nameless flower. (Jeff, I bet you know. ^_^)
A personal favorite of mine, the carnivorous plants.
A hybrid pitcher plant.
Mmmm, slowly digested insect juice.
I wish I could remember the name of this one, it looks so cool.
They look like tiny grapes.
Too many to remember!
Another personal favorite. Japanese lantern.
Elephant ears!
The cutest chicks ever!
I wonder if it's edible.
Another pretty flower.
Spider plant. I thought it was devil's tongue at first. They look so similar. -_-
Maiden's hair.
Don't know. -_-
And I think that will be all for today. I still have the Japanese garden to show you. Among other things, of course. ^_^