Discovering the Garden

This was our first time back to The Children's Garden since K has been walking - a much different experience!

Of course she walked all around and through the Garden as if she'd been there a million times.

It's such a magical place...

It's like building blocks for the imagination.

I just read this great article on NPR that talked about all the benefits of "old-fashioned play" - before the commercialization of play - you know, the kind where you play for hours in the back yard or down the street, with that old-fashioned thing called make-believe. Not only is that stuff fun, but it actually does all sorts of good stuff for the brain, improving cognitive & emotional development, among other things.

Unfortunately, there aren't many places these days where children can run free and enjoy unstructured playtime. This is one of them!
I would LOVE for my back yard to be like this.

Honestly, I'd be happy with some trees and shade to make the summer sun a little more tolerable!

I think we will have to get a year pass here in the future. Luckily for now we have friends who have passes they are kind enough to share :)