Visit a Botanical Garden

 Recently, we took the kids to a local botanical garden. Sometimes the greatest treasures are in your “backyard”. As we walked through the gardens I was reminded of my childhood love for the book, The Secret Garden. There is nothing like escaping into nature. Flora and fauna galore, and great for little boys who like to explore (like Diego, who my son adores)… o.k. enough with the rhyming!

Top 5 reasons to visit a local botanical garden:

1. EXERCISE: Take the stroller or baby carrier and let the bigger kids hoof it.
2. ESCAPE  into another world. If your backyard isn’t the dream garden you hoped for, frolic in one that hundreds of people maintain each day and enjoy THEIR hard work.
3. EXPERIENCE: Kids thrive by experiencing—you can read books on lizards for example, but chasing one has more impact, AND is a lot more fun.
4. EAT: Bring a picnic and let your only distractions be nature.
5. ENERGIZE your soul. God’s surrounding beauty always gives energy to my soul.

Photo Opportunity
Outdoor environments like botanical gardens are great places to get pictures of your kids. If you feel like you have an eye for photography you can take outdoor portraits with beautiful scenery for way less and have fun doing it! I always bring my camera and snap shots of the kids and the surroundings.

Consider a Membership
We had a coupon for that day’s admission—we LOVE coupons. After walking around, we both agreed that we needed to get a membership and come back more often. We knew that this was a place we would create many fun memories with our children. Since my husband works in education we were able to get an educator discount on the membership (the zoo had a discount as well) which made it even more affordable. Like the zoo, there is a reciprocal program with botanical gardens and conservatories. Many of the gardens are only a few hours away from us. Now to find the time for a road trip….

Sometimes health insurance companies or workplaces offer discounts to local attractions such as zoos, aquariums, etc. It is definitely worth looking into. Also, memberships may be tax deductible. Any bit helps!

Let me know your thoughts and/or experiences with memberships. Has it paid off for you or did you think it was a rip off? Where else have you bought memberships?