IL appreciation at the Botanical Gardens

We heard on the news that the Botanical Gardens was having an IL resident appreciation week. We figured, why not...let's go be appreciated! The morning started off less than stellar with rain and storms, but really anymore, is that much of a surprise? After Gabriella's nap we decided to head on over and see what the weather would do. Worse case scenario, we would find something else to do once we got over there.

As we pulled into the parking lot there was a very light sprinkle, so we decided to go ahead and take our chances. We decided to start our visit in the big dome which is their tropical garden. We hung in there for a little bit and when we stepped outside the rain had stopped. It really turned out to be a pretty nice day. Not too hot and definitely not too crowded!

After we walked around some of the gardens, we wandered over into their children's garden. It's free for kids under 2, so since it is June...she qualified! Whoo hoo! It is a really cute area and I can't wait to take her back since we weren't able to see it all. There is so much for the kids to do so I tried to narrow down my pictures :)

There was a big tree house type thing that you could crawl over/under/through. Brian walked across this net bridge and then Gabriella was going to do as well. I really think she would have gone if I had let her, but I'm not so sure she wouldn't have fit between the holes! :) She got pretty far out there before I pulled her back and we just walked across the wooden bridge right next to it.

I love this picture! She had just crawled through this log and stuck her hand in some mud when she looked up and made this face.

We played with this xylophone for a long time. She really loved playing on it. She was just tall enough.

When we were leaving she stopped for a photo and then turned to it and said, "Bye Xylophone!"

Another picture that I love. Brian doesn't care for this one, but I don't see what he sees (he also hasn't seen the outtakes yet, and if so I think he would love this one as well!). I think it's perfect! They had just come down the slide together and it was just a great shot.

I got to go down the slide with her as well, but we don't look quite as comfortable as her and Daddy. She just loves to slide!

We spent so much time in the Children's garden that we didn't have much time to do anything else. As we started to make our way back, Gabriella spotted some birds. Don't you just love how little kids squat down to get that closer look?

When she finally had her fill of the birds, she came running at me.

I must admit these pictures made me nervous. I think they turned out nice, but she was too interested in the water behind her for my comfort level. Brian was standing right there, but still.

After the last shot, she got up and walked over to these steps and just sat down. I think she was telling us she was tired and done! (Notice 'babe' made it into this shot, we never leave home without her!)

I think we will have to go back so we can check out the rest of the gardens. We really didn't get to see a whole lot in our time frame, but we had a really good day! It's just beautiful there!