"Meet Me in St. Louie" Part 2

On the second day of our trip, we went to the St. Louis Botanical Gardens. They are absolutely breathtaking. I wouldn't have thought of gardens as a place to take Holden, but my parents suggested it and I'm so glad they did! It is so spacious there, with all sorts of open land where he could just run and explore, which of course he loved. There was a solarium with birds, waterfalls, and exotic plant life, as well as a neat indoor exploration area for kids. He loved the giant birds' nest and Jay got in the action with a Cardinal bird hat. =o) New to the gardens is a big outdoor play area for kids. There was a tree house, park with water sprayers, music area, rocks to climb, etc. My little music man loved playing the big xylophone. He didn't want to leave! The Japanese gardens have giant colorful carp fish that you can feed, similar to Union Station. The gardens always have different artwork on display. This time there were lots of neat mosaic pieces. We really enjoyed our time there....except that it ended up being over 100 degrees with the heat index! You would have thought we'd all jumped in a pool, we were so wet and sweaty when we left! Yuck! I'd love to re-visit in the fall when it is cooler and the leaves are changing.