Today, we finally, at long last, made a trip to the SA Botanical Garden, and it was soooooo lovely.
If you’ve followed along on this here blog for any length of time, you know that when we lived in the Dallas area, we absolutely loved or yearly (at least) excursions to the Arboretum. Typically in the Fall, when the massive pumpkin displays are at their finest.
I have sooooo many memories of my babies there (the earliest of which was when Chica was about seven weeks old!), and we were so very sad to leave that seasonal treat behind when we moved.
For a trip down memory lane, here’s one of those typical autumn posts—from when Little Man was only a few weeks old. :)
So.
Knowing our longtime love for the Arboretum, it’s an extra-special delight to finally feel like we have an equivalent here in SA.
And I’m extra-extra grateful we made it out there today, as I think it was the latest quasi-bearable weather day for my crew, until the Fall rolls around again. And even so, we were humidity-soaked to the bone, ha.
Luckily, we snagged an annual membership, and I’m already looking forward to a return at a time when we can bring Daddy—and we’re definitely going to make it out there during a special holiday lights display they’ll be having.
For some quick points of comparison with the Arboretum back in Dallas, I can honestly say that I love them both equally.
While I adore the Dallas kiddo section—it’s really top notch and has a lot of fun, hands-on items and an awesome treehouse climbing area—this one is lovely, but in a really pared-back, simplistic way.
This arch felt so magical to me. Like a secret garden.
A fantastic tidbit was this really cool (really, really cool, for kiddos) tadpole pond that my trio adored. They could watch hundreds of little tadpoles swimming around, and even see some that were already morphing into tiny frogs.
And again, another super-simple pleasure: a hill JUST for rolling.
I mean, talk about an underrated classic. :)
I know our experience might not be representative of a typical outing, since we were there on a random Monday morning, but when making comparisons with Dallas, I also love how this SA version feels so much less crowded and more manageable!
There was a really lovely man-made splash creek area that was just being activated for the day (via waterfalls that eventually fill up the area). And, again, it was another simplistic bit of fun just to let the kiddos take their shoes off and go nuts for a bit.
I’d say one of the major bonuses of this place over Dallas is these amazing interior atriums that you can see in the background of this pic. Super-cool little ecosystems unique to certain vegetation. Tropical, cactus, fern...there were about five of them, I think. And each one was so different.
And they’re all centered around this gorgeous little pond area that I could definitely hang around for a long, long while.
Here are some of the pics inside the atriums...
One of the highlights of Chicklet’s day was sighting a turtle beneath the water in one of the atriums. Good eye!
And a bonus of our visit today was a special Frida Kahlo exhibit that involved various sculptures throughout the property.
This one was Chicklet’s fave, tehe.
And talk about a stunning setting for a wedding that was being set up...
In total, we only managed 2.5 hours before we were a bit too hot and had to return home in time for a scheduled contractor anyway. So we didn’t even make it to the lovey restaurant on site, which will be something fun for next time, as well.
But, in all, it was such a lovely, exploratory little day! It’s just made me realize, yet again, that we only lived here for a year before pandemic life changed everything. So we had one, brief Summer with some extra free time to work in these excursions, and then a lot was on hold for so long.
So it’s been such a beautiful thing to return to the Riverwalk, and now discover this new oasis. And if those are the only things we manage in the area before the heat destroys our outdoor adventures, I’ll still be SO grateful to have added a new discovery to our family list.
We’ve got a couple more things on the agenda for the next two days that will keep us from having truly lazy days, but I’m hoping by Thursday or Friday, we can tuck in for some snuggles and low-key time!
In the meantime...Happy Monday, peeps!
Over and out.
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