Among the Trees

Before the weather turned typical of Chicago winters (read: miserable), I wanted to get out to the Arboretum to walk around for a bit. We don't have an annual pass quite yet, but once Benjamin is walking, we'll probably invest in one. We're pretty excited about it. In our opinion, it's one of the coolest nature areas in all of Illinois. Thanks to our friend Alli for getting us in free!

Also, we are members. In the 2.5 years of living here, we haven't joined anything. But now we're members of the local pool/waterpark. This is something very Midwest. Water parks are extremely popular around these parts... and oh my word. Go to Wisconsin to something nobody in the West has ever heard of... "The Dells" and waterparks are a dime a dozen. It's literally the waterpark capital of the world. And did I mention the majority of them are indoors and you never have to leave the resort once for anything. Not dinner. Not entertainment. Not your hotel room. It's all inclusive, under one roof. The Dells is spoken from mouths of children all over the suburbs here. It's so interesting being a transplant here and learning all about the cultural norms of small children.

So yeah. We joined our local waterpark. Pictures to come this summer. And if you come visit, we'll take you. And maybe in another year, we'll join the Arboretum and we'll take you there, too. Until then, here's a quick virtual visit.

In the children's discovery area, many of the attractions were closed because they have quite a few water features that would freeze in the winter. Instead, they set up a fun gnome hunt. We found a bunch of them as we walked through.

We walked the maze garden and headed inside to browse the gift shop and warm up a bit before heading home.

B is 10 months tomorrow. Is it possible that it keeps getting better with age? I love the little boy he's becoming.