a good thursday

every now and then the stars align and an outing with the kids goes really well. thursday of this past week was one of those days for me. that doesn't mean there wasn't a time out in the middle of it for not following directions or that eisley didn't lose her mind on the drive home but, overall, it was a win.

i decided to take the kids the wildflower center thursday morning. they recently added a new family garden area which i had heard great things about and the admission for the month of july was free on thursdays. when i realized it was the last thursday of the month, i wanted to make sure we made it over. it's soooo close to our house and i'm really glad we went because the kids loved it. i will definitely be taking them back and i wouldn't even mind paying the entrance fee because it was so fun for them. i think it would be even more enjoyable on a day when it's not 95 degrees and 10000 percent humidity :)

the only other time we have been to the wildflower center was in january when there wasn't really anything in bloom. this time, it was fun for the kids to see the walkways lined with beautiful, colorful flowers. on the way in, abbey stopped, turned to tucker and said "wow, this is beautiful. isn't it tucker?"

i didn't really know what to expect from the family garden. i had heard good things but, honestly, my expectations were pretty minimal. i was pleasantly surprised. the first thing we noticed when walking in was this walk through cave with a waterfall. the kids were SUPER impressed by this.

there is also a water pump with watering cans the kids can fill up and dump into the river over and over again. this was by FAR tucker's favorite thing. the kids can also wade in the river and get completely soaked if you let them :)

there are two different mazes, an area with tree limbs low to the ground for safe climbing and giant pretend bird's nests complete with baby bird eggs inside.

the kids had so much fun that i ended up cancelling something i had planned for later that morning so we could stay longer. next time, i will pack a lunch and plan to stay all morning long...but i'll wait for the fall for that!