Glenwood Gardens

Another day, another park.  This time a charming little place that we put on our list of places to visit this summer after finding it in the park book that accompanied our annual park pass (with the $10 purchase of a park pass, it grants you access to all the parks in the county for the year)...so, today we headed off for Glenwood Gardens.  Natalie had a hard time wrapping her head around the existence of a park without a playground, but instantly fell in love with this adorable place to the point that we bought a second pass for this park.  Turns out our pass gets us into the park, but the main feature of the park, the series of gardens, has a separate entry fee.  Anyway, check it out:

how awesome is that tree house?

It was totally age appropriate, even for Ben, and it was not at all crowded.

Ben loved discovering all the animals hidden around the tree house.

train exhibit

fairy garden

swinging bridge

we played here forever

running back and forth, making it jump and sway

Nat was the biggest fan.

exploring the Wizard's Garden

watching trains

not much action in the butterfly garden since there aren't flowers yet

lunch break by the fountain

operating the trains from inside the train station

There are also daily "classes" 15 or so minutes in duration, perfect for short little attention spans.  The park ranger told me they are geared toward whatever age group shows up at the start time, but that there is a weekly theme to them.  We missed today's class because we had pokey eaters.  In addition to all the fun above, we sat on a stepping stone bridge and watched some tadpoles and little fish swim around, checked out the vegetable garden, and played in a little play house.  Needless to say, I now have two worn out munchkins.  It was a good day!  And, to anybody local, I highly recommend this place for little ones!