Botanica

The boys and I went for a little mini-vacation to Wichita last weekend.  Dan had Friday off from school, so we packed way too much stuff and made the 3 1/2-hour drive on Thursday.  (Zach was pretty busy with school so he took advantage of a quiet house to catch up.)

After an 85 degree day on Wednesday, I don't think the temperature made it over 65 the whole time we were home.  Maybe fall is finally here to stay!  The chilly weather didn't keep us inside, though.  On Friday morning, my mom and I took Dan and Ben to Botanica, a fantastic botanic garden in Wichita.  My parents have lived in Wichita for 20 years and my mom loves all things floral and gardening and outdoors, yet she had never been there!  Unfortunately, her first time was spent speed-walking after the boys so she didn't get to stop and smell the flowers.  Maybe a membership will be in her Christmas stocking this year (hint, hint, Dad).

The gardens were beautiful and it felt like we were the only ones there, even though the sun came out and the weather turned out to be just fine.  Botanica has an amazing children's garden with herbs and vegetables to water, a treehouse to climb, a sandbox for digging, and a cave to paint (with water).  Dan and Ben loved all the secret paths and bridges and rocks and ledges.  We had a great morning and I can't wait to go back at Christmas to see how it's decorated then!