Family Garden Day

The stars aligned and Travis had this morning off, which was perfect timing to be able to hit up a fun activity that's been on my wish list, and visit the Family Garden Day at Fellows Riverside Garden. It was SUCH a neat place! The purpose of the (free!) event is to get kids moving (with a little nature walk), and teach them more about healthy food and bugs through activities in the garden. Cool, huh?! 

 

We missed the first portion of the activity, which was searching for grasshoppers (the "Bug of the Day"). Here the girls are looking at the caught grasshoppers.

 

But we did get there just in time for a story time about nighttime animals and fruit. The kids sat on these little log seats underneath a canopy. :)

After story time, most of the kids followed a guide to go explore another section of the gardens, but being the girls' first time there, they wanted to stay and explore the Family Gardens instead.

Bethany LOVED the digging portion of the gardens:

And I loved this adorable gazebo! With the vines climbing up the sides and strings of beads strung from the top, I thought it was magical.

 

 

I couldn't help but use this opportunity to take some nature shots too, and these busy bees were kind enough to oblige me. ;)

 

And with pigs being my favorite animal, I couldn't resist taking a picture of these cute little guys either. Aren't they fun?!

Grace and I recently learned about how bees collect nectar from flowers, so it was fun to have that in mind as I was taking these pictures.

They had several cute little windmills around the garden:

The garden not only has flowers but fruits and vegetables growing as well. Bethany, Grace, and I walked through here while I pointed out lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes, purple beans, and more. It was SO neat to see them all growing on their plants!

 

Bethany was kind enough to pose for me on this little butterfly bench for a few pictures (even if she didn't LOVE the idea ;) ).

 

 

 The activity also involved making a craft. Today's crafts were making a foam cricket or grasshopper, or making a musical instrument. The girls' were immediately drawn to the paint, so making a musical instrument it was.

 

These are the little drums that you put beads on yarn through so they'll make noise when you rub the handle between your hands. They both turned out really cute.

 

While they were finishing up their projects I snuck over to take a few pictures of this guy:

 

 

 The last activity (that we were there for) was harvesting vegetables and herbs from the garden. All the kids helped the guide harvest, and then were allowed to take samples of everything home. So neat, huh?! The girls were pretty distracted by the water bucket, but Grace did help pick a yellow tomato and some basil, which we got to take home.

Taking a few last shots before we left:

How much fun would it be to have a little girl's tea party at this butterfly and flower table?!

It was a fun event and something we'll definitely bring the kids to do again!!