You've made a place that will have a claim on Kenzie's heart wherever she lives. Magical indeed.

And I want to pick rocks in a floppy straw hat too!

I love those dirty knees! She is just precious and definitely into the whole Secret GaHden thing, clearly she comes by that honestly. (Very pretty teapot, too).

Very Glad you took the pic after the field. It shows Kenzie "for real" on that day and she and the moments are to be treasured.

I love what you did with the bricks. Magical, indeed!

Martie

I love the little path leading up to the playhouse! What a magical play place for a little girl!

I agree, that's a pretty teapot!

I think I like that she's fresh from the field for the annual bench shot :) She'll appreciate it too, someday, when she ponders where she got her love of gardening :)

Thanks for sharing with us!

Saucy

Oy oy oy! Why is it that I see no photos on this of all threads!!!! I hope things change later today and I can view the garden and little Ms Kenzie~

What a magical place for Kenzie! The tea party looks like it was fun. I'm sure she's going to miss grandma and grandpa and her special place as much as you will miss her.

Michelle -- what wonderful memories you are creating - a bond to last a lifetime. It will make Kenzie want to come spend summers with you all her life. Thanks for sharing - it brings tears to my eyes - I am fondly remembering wonderful times w/ my own grandma!

-Cindy

Kenzie is one lucky girl. An entire space devoted entirely to her whims...and devoted grandparents to go along with it. You've hooked her for life. She's a gardener in the making, so very sweet. Absolutely loved the bench picture, dirty knees and all.

Michelle, you are such a wonderful grandmother! I love what you've accomplished with Kenzie's Secret Garden and this year's garden bench photo is wonderful!!! I appreciate that you share these annual photos with us.

I was sad to read that Kenzie will be living further away (your daughter and son in law, too)...I hope you'll be able to figure out ways to see them often (the webcam and using Skype?). You have the video camera, maybe you can make short movies to share with them and them with you often.

I always love seeing your photos. All of them are wonderful---loved seeing Grandpa and Kenzie, but wished there was a Grandma and Kenzie photo, too. Hope you remembered to have your husband take one that day.

Sending you my best!
T.

Oh my goodness!!!!! Will you be my Grandmother???? LOL

Seriously, what a special place and special times. I just love what you've done. And I prefer the bench photo as is with dirty knees and all. Too cute!

You've done wonders Michelle.

Deanne

Wow, Michelle-just precious! What a wonderful place for a little girl to play.....and I adore the picture with the filthy knees :) Thanks for sharing your magical day!
Brenda
P.S. I WANT GRANDBABIES, lol!

Ahem!

This will probably make you blanche, Michelle. but I'm "goin' for it" anyway. Is that playhouse big enough for a BUNKBED? bear with me.

When I was about 6-7 we had a screened porch off the foundation of our home. There was no electricity out there, but where do you think I wanted to sleep on summer nights? If I didn't sleep there, I slept in the tent in the backyaHd. The COOLEST thing about it was having a flashlight and knowing that you couldn't use the thing non-stop without killing the batteries! Clearly, I learned the "rationing" thing at a tender age.

Just plantin' the seed... Because fascination with nature starts at a tender age and continues to grow. There is nothing like sleeping a totally dark place with the nature's sounds all around you. Sometimes it can be a little scarey, but that makes it all the more fun.

;)

I'm glad you all could join us in the Secret Garden. I forgot to mention that we also had mint oreos, yogurt and cheese at the tea party.

As for the path, the mulch is temporary and will be replaced with small rock.

The teapot was a bargain I got for $5.00

Denise, come anytime - we have extra straw hats LOL

T,there is a picture of her and I. I have a large hat on and look pretty goofy.

Michelle

I hope you can keep these photos up until my computer works once more. I'm not getting photos from several sites. No idea what the problem is. It is always with Photobucket, though some Photobucket photos do come through. ARGH!

Michelle, Thanks so much for sharing Kenzie's day and the Secret Garden. It's a wonderful start to a very special place. I love seeing her doing all the differant things and a girl who don't mind getting dirty is ok in my book. Norma

Michelle, what a wonderful place you have made for Kenzie. I feel for your sadness at her moving away. My GDs have always lived rather far from me. I am happy that you have had her close for as long as this. My favorite pic of her is the flower arranging one. She has such an intense expression, but they are all very dear pics.

YESSSSSSSS! I see the photos tonight! Oh how perfect for a small child! I agree with Marian, the flower arranging is a super sweet shot, also the Wee Garden. I hope she can come to this garden every summer until she is 50, and beyond!
How dear of Rick to help you with this project.

Michelle, that Kenzie is such a lucky duck!! :-)
I wish when my kids were small, I had the time to do something so creative and fun in the garden with them. It is a great way for her to have wonderful memories of both her Grandparents and gardening. Her very own space is such a rare gift for a child to have and I am enjoying seeing it all progress. I can only imagine how grand it is going to be when you have it finished!

:-)
pm2

Lol, I love how Kenzie seems to get progressively more 'disheveled' in every shot! Shes pretty cute for a little kid I must say :-)
I love the design of the paths and the rock borders, and can't wait to see the finished product. How nice it would be if every child had a secret garden.

Kathy in Napa

Hi Michelle, The Secret Garden is coming along great. And oh that Kenzie. What a sweety! Looks like you both (and Rick too) had a perfect day and made some wonderful memories. Love this years bench photo too!

Bella and I went on a tour of a nearby Childrens' Garden yesterday. They had some really cute things. One was a pizza garden outlined with stones and then also divided into pizza slices with the stones and each 'slice' had a different veg/herb that could be used on a pizza. They also had a little house similar to yours and had a bell on top that the children could ring by pulling a rope. Bella loved that. Another neat thing was the cement pathway had all been decorated by children by pressing in assorted treasures, mirrors, marbles, etc. and pressing in cookie cutters shaped like animals or abc letters. I'm going to have Bella do a few stepping stones like that for my garden.

Isn't it amazing how you think you could never possibly love a child more than you own until you have a grandchild? Thanks for sharing yours and Kenzie's magical day with us. I enjoyed it so much!

Eden

PM2, that's what happens when you have g'kids, you have time to do all the fun stuff.

Eden, I have a bell to attach to the playhouse but took it off when I primed it. We could probably place some marbles and other treasures in the rock that we are going to add to the path. It sounds like a fun idea.

Chelone, the play house is pretty small, I doubt that I could lay out in it. Kenzie could though. When we were kids my parents had a huge 10 person tent that we set up in the yard for a couple weeks every summer and had various neighbor kids stay over night with us. Fun and sometimes scary!

Michelle