Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

My Sasha family received a very lovely Christmas gift this year. We adopted another Sasha baby, Sandy. She arrived a few days before Christmas. I didn't give her a name yet.
Update: I have decided on a name. She is Andriana.

Below she has just taken a bath from a long and somewhat difficult  trip. The box was ripped open. She was cold and looked scared. But we all are happy that she arrived safe.

The first person to meet her was Telesyk.

Telesyk was very enthusiastic and excited to have another baby to play with. He admitted that his Teddy Bear matches Sandy's dress, but he loves his teddy so much and is not ready to part with him. Instead, he presented Sandy with her very own very soft, very huggable penguin.

Oh, and how she liked it!

She said that it was the best day of her life.

Aunt Ann was reading to the children, and they were listening. 

The older kids were very happy to have another kid home. They lit up the Christmas tree and all were fascinated by its beauty ....

While taking a family photo,  it wasn't easy to get the small kids attention... 

but we managed. :)

Best wishes to all doll lovers! Have a very happy New Year, full of ideas, maybe new dolls, a lot of chocolates, and enough time to do everything and have time to enjoy your hobby!

Trip to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

Trip to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

This post combines my love for nature, knitting, and dolls.

I volunteer as a Discovery Garden Docent in the Botanical Garden this fall. It was great experience and I very much enjoyed coming to the garden in the early morning every week. It was interesting to learn new things about plants and work with toddlers. A few days ago was my last day of volunteering, so I decided to take one of my dolls and take some pictures to capture the beautiful season.

I took Anthony again with me simply because he was already dressed up for autumn, and I think his sweater that I knitted a while ago correlates well with the colorful weather outside.
I also took our Sasha's family dog, Charlie, with me. Charlie is an American Girl Samantha's retired dog, Jip.

I hope you enjoy the pictures from the garden as much as we enjoyed our journey.

This is one of the three entrances to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, on Flatbush Avenue.

So our autumn trip begun...

The leaves have already started changing colors. The day was warm, the weather beautiful, and the view was astonishing. 

Regardless of the season, some plants are in full bloom.

Anthony found some tree hollows and was curious about them.

This is a Witch Hazel Tree. So pretty...

Resting and enjoying the beautiful view.

We went to The Aquatic House and were captivated by the beautiful collection of tropical and subtropical plants from around the world and the collection of orchids. Unfortunately, I could not take pictures because my camera was not adjusted for the wet environment and got immediately fogged up. It was almost impossible to take pictures. So we enjoyed the collection without taking pictures.

It was not foggy in The Tropical Pavilion, and we were fascinated by the tall trees and enormous leaves. The pavilion is about 65 feet (to accommodate its tallest trees).

We saw Papaya and Banana trees with their fruits. 

Then we went also to the Warm Temperature Pavilion. 

Heamanthus is one of my favorite plants, but I've never seen heamanthus seeds before. 

It was blooming just a week or so ago...

Bonsai trees are also changing the colors of their leaves...

We continued our walking outside again and we saw an artist painting in the beautiful weather.

A flock of sparrows grazed in the grass. As we approached they hid in the closest bush and then came back again. 

We approached the evergreen area and found a huge pinecone.

And more pinecones...

The smell was so strong that remind us of Christmas and then we found out why. It was a Hay-Scented Fern.

The falling leaves covered the lake the way ice covers water in winter time. It was beautiful.

This was my working place where the children came and explore the nature.

Enjoying measuring.... 

The nestlike viewing platform. 

Making a nest from collected twigs.

Then we went to the garden's shop and saw this unusual Christmas tree...

The Christmas tree is made of air plants.

More colorful pictures from the garden...

Today, I only showed you some parts of the garden. It is impossible to take pictures of everything we liked on our way. Hopefully, I will walk in the garden some other day in a different season and show you the beautiful nature created by people in the big city.