Winterthur

Back in April Zach went on a field trip to Winterthur and brought home free passes not only for him but for family members as well.  We had to go before the end of June so this past Tuesday Zach, Kristin, Megan and myself went.  I've never been there except for field trips so this place was basically new for me.  The kids and I all know Longwood Gardens backwards and forwards because we've been there so many times but we were totally lost at Winterthur! 

I really wanted to check out the Enchanted Woods first and after studying the maps we finally found it.  Here they are going over the Troll Bridge:

Helping hatch some eggs in the Bird's Nest:

Skipping along the Fairy Flower Labyrinth:

There was also a Fairy Cottage, Tulip Tree House and other areas that we also explored.  We wandered away from the Enchanted Woods and wound up at the Quarry Garden and then this little mud hole that Zach and Megan were fascinated with. 

We went back to the Enchanted Woods and dared to step inside the Forbidden Fairy Ring.  Look what happened!

We walked around for awhile longer before heading back to the museum area. 

There was a beautiful area behind the museum called The Glade that had a waterfall and a series of ponds with koi swimming in them.  The trees created a canopy over everything which would have made it a very peaceful place if there were no kids nearby.  (I'm talking about my own!)

Megan and Kristin sat down next to the reflecting pool, well, to reflect of course!

We headed back to the Museum and went to the Touch-It room first.   Zach visited this room on his field trip and it was funny because he was excited about going again until we got there.  He said it was "boring this time."  I guess that's because it wasn't filled with all his classmates, it was just us!  They played store, pretended to make some strawberry jam, played the very boring games they used to play back then (all wooden) and had a tea party.

We had the whole place to ourselves for about 30 minutes before another group of kids came.  We decided to leave at that point to explore the rest of the museum.  Zach liked finding some of the things that he saw on his field trip.  I enjoyed learning in their new exhibit, "Uncorked!  Wine, Objects and Tradition" that there used to be a frog mug.  It was a mug that had a ceramic frog figure inside on the bottom.  As the person drank the frog was revealed.  It was kind of freaky looking. 

The kids were getting hungry at this point and since I had lunch in the car (we planned on a picnic lunch) we took the shuttle back to the visitor's center.  I'll leave you with 3 more pictures, 1 from each of the kids that they took while there. 

Kristin took this one while we were in the Enchanted Woods.

Zachary took this one while we were walking near the Quarry Garden.

And this one is my favorite, Megan took it.  It's of me trying to figure out how the heck to get to the Enchanted Woods!

I hate maps. My favorite invention is the Garmin GPS!  Here's an invention for someone, mini GPS units you can use to walk around museums and gardens.  I would be in heaven if that were to ever happen.  I obviously figured it out, but you know those signs that they post around the gardens?  They were very helpful too!