Troll Hunting and Monkeying Around at The Morton Arboretum

We tagged along on a work trip with Kevin last weekend.  It's kind of become our Spring tradition to join him for conferences that are close to home.  We've been to Las Vegas, Savannah, Chattanooga and now Chicago.  They were all within driving distance of where we were living at the time.

We stayed out in the Downers Grove suburbs of Chicago and had a wonderful time.  There was so much to do within a within a 20 minute radius which I appreciated since I'd be solo exploring with the kids during the days.  I'm really more of a hang out and enjoy the suburbs girl than explore a big city on my own girl.

We loved The Morton Arboretum so much that we went TWICE.

The first time we went the Children's Gardens were closed.  We spent our whole time troll hunting.  Spoiler alert: They were amazing!!  The second time I went back solo with the kids to check out the Children's Gardens.  They were filled with the most fun things for kids - climbing, exploring, learning and adventuring.

Both visits happened during discounted times.  Wednesdays are their discount days and then I went back with the kids on Arbor Day and kids were free!  We had no idea about either discount until we arrived.  What a wonderful surprise.

Let's go Troll Hunting!  Day 1:
We were able to drive through the park and find 4 of the trolls.  They were just amazing.  And hilarious.  We had the best time troll hunting.  There are six trolls total so we'll have to go back to find the other two someday.

 This troll was overlooking the beautiful daffodil grove above.

Let's explore the Children's Gardens!  Day 2:

Olive was a really great helper to me and to Fletcher.  She looked out for him and helped him all through the play structures.

It was fun to look for turtles and frogs in the pond.  The flowers were really pretty, too.

Isn't this place amazing!?!?!  We'd definitely have a family membership if we lived here.  There were so many things for the kids to do independently.  They were able to safely explore, learn and were surrounded by so many interesting opportunities.  I can't recommend this place enough if you're going to be in Chicago with your family.