The Never Ending To-Do List
This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. Read my full disclosure policy here.
My To-Do list never gets To-Did. This week is so busy that my list takes up an entire notebook page (plus some on the back). I was struggling with it this morning while I stared out at the cloudless, crisp September sky. So much to do! What would I do first? Which order would be most efficient to get all these errands done?
It didn’t feel right. Flu season is almost here, which means the germ freak aphobe in me will soon limit where we can go. Summer is ending, and then we’ll be forced indoors. Noodle just looked up at me as I wrote furiously on my list and those blue eyes got me. I dropped the list on the table, scooped her up, grabbed a bottle, and headed out the door. No list, no phone calls, no internet… just Noodle and mama, adventuring once again!
I drove until we ended up at Morris Arboretum, about half an hour from our house. The admission fee was $14, but we hadn’t been anywhere all summer so it was well worth it (plus, her admission was free). I plopped her in her stroller, and we set off with a camera and a map to explore the gardens.
Which was great for strolling, but not as much for picture taking. You’ll have to bear with me for the over-exposed photos!
The arboretum was full of sculpture. This one made noise:
Then we started down the walkway of their newest exhibit.
That walkway lead here:
which led to this!
Yes, that’s a giant nest. This installment is the newest addition to the arboretum, to the tune of several million dollars. I LOVED the nest in the trees, with it’s robin’s egg seats:
and windows peeking out into the treetops:
But someone wasn’t as impressed as her mama.
Maybe she’ll be more into it next year, when I can take her to the other side of the feature where they have nets to jump in:
It truly is among the tree tops. I have a pretty severe fear of heights, and they did a good job of making the entire thing feel safe and secure. I’m not sure if I could handle these nets, though. They are wayyyyyyyyy above the ground! (the little fellow on the left felt the same way, thank you very much. Never mind that he’s only three years old).
We came down out of the treetops and strolled the campus until we came to the next garden. I loved the architecture of these gates. So dreamy. Behind the gates was a formal garden with a parade of flowers that I MUST HAVE in my garden next year!
This Crape Myrtle tree reminds me so much of my beloved North Carolina. They are one of the things I miss most about the south. I didn’t realize they were hardy up here in zone 6, too! I think I need to look into getting one, because they are just. so. pretty:
While I snapped photos of plants, Noodle loved looking at the funny statues and fancy fountains!
Okay, so that look is less of “love” than “enough with the photos, mom!” But I can pretend that she’s enjoying it, at least until she can tell me otherwise. Which will probably be soon.
They had a model railroad that was pretty darn cute, too. Even the adults loved peeking around the corners and pathways to watch the trains. The tracks were intricately woven into the landscape, along with little houses and plants.
The trestle looks life-sized, but it was just tall enough to go over my head:
My personal favorites were the ladybug and bumblebee trains:
We passed a pretty neat sculpture made entirely out of branches. There are no nails holding this together:
Everything was just so GREEN!
And beautifully planned.
Speaking of planning, the timing worked out perfectly as one of us was able to sleep on the way home.
About that To-Do list:
- spending time with Noodle? check.
- getting outside to enjoy the beautiful day? check.
- strolling around and getting exercise? check.
- planning next year’s garden? check.
- snapping photos that will sustain me in, say, February? check.
The rest of my mundane tasks will have to wait until tomorrow. Although, the weather forecast does predict lots of sun and mild temperatures… hmmmm…
