Life can be so busy. Once in a while it helps to “stop and smell the roses”. Most people don’t take the opportunity to truly think about or appreciate flowers, gardens and nature. We are so fortunate to have Botanic Gardens in our area. It’s a refreshing, creative space with beautiful landscapes and a relaxing atmosphere.

After entering through the visitor center, your first site is flowers and a pond with a huge fountain. Being greeted with this site, I immediately felt stress being lifted off of my shoulders and much of the anxiety I felt throughout the busy week washed away. The air was crisp, fresh and there are pathways winding through beautiful arrangements of flowers.

There are so many different spots and sights to see. We wandered through all of the gardens and sights and frequently sat down just take in the visions. One of Reese’s favorite spots was an area that had huge pumpkins. I have never seen pumpkins like this before. There were 100 and 200 pound pumpkins – we felt like we were in Alice and Wonderland when looking at this area, it seemed surreal! Reese also liked seeing the Bee-Line. This was an area that had all sorts of information about bees. It also had a bee home with hundreds of bees busy making honey. We spoke for awhile to a guide there who told us about how the bees live. He explained to us that the bees were missing their queen bee who had recently left them. It was interesting to really get a good look at the bees and how they live without the worry of getting stung!

Throughout the gardens, there are areas with little ponds and fountains, with neat designs. We also saw several wedding parties there taking pictures with the beautiful botanical backgrounds. There are different spots to get a snack, or a bite to eat, as you are walking around. We enjoyed a bag of cinnamon covered nuts which were delicious.

After several hours of wandering about, it was time to leave. I left feeling peaceful and relaxed, with Reese ready for a nap after all of the walking and running around. We highly recommend visiting the Chicago Botanic Garden for a day to truly appreciate nature and enjoy a terrific, peaceful day with friends and family.

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