Garden Central

It's no secret to anyone that we, the royal we as in my entire brood, have been fighting the winter blahs.  This past weekend we planned a get together with the cousins and wanted to do something that would let the kids play and wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.  It seems as though my plea for some indoor parks has been temporarily satiated with a trip to a green house in downtown Toronto called Allen Gardens (less than a ten minute walk away from College Subway).  Allen Gardens is a park that hosts a free indoor botanical garden with six greenhouses in total.  It is open year round and added a bit of colour to our day.  We stayed for about 45 minutes before we moved outside for a quick play on their brand new playground situated behind the playground (I will write a review on the playground another time).

This is a popular location in the core of the city for people to get wedding and engagement photos, mainly because it's open from 10-5pm daily and it is nice and warm inside, year round.  The greenhouse also holds some nostalgia for Chris and his sister who would often visit when they came to Toronto for March break when they were kids.

 Making our way to the Greenhouse, there is some construction in the area, so not all of the entrances are open right now.

 Entering the First Greenhouse.

 Jack said his favourite part of the greenhouse was the toy train. 

 Molly checking out all the flowers.

There was some "discussion" about how we weren't allowed to pick the pink flowers.  The minions had to be reminded on a few occasions about the hiking adage: take only pictures, leave only footprints.

The other big "hit of the day" was the pond that had turtles and fish in it.  

What's your favourite way to beat the winter blues with the family?