Mommy Monday - New York Botanical Garden

It's Mommy Monday and time to tell you about another adventure Kaley and I took. Seriously this summer has been the best! On one hand I feel like I'm trying to make up for having to be indoors so much last year (and potentially again for the rest of the year) and on the other hand I feel like I'm trying to give her the experiences I would have liked as a kid. 

It took us a little while to get here from NJ. It should have only taken us 30 minutes or so, but due to some poor planning on our parts and a Yankee game we were delayed an extra 30 minutes or so. 

As soon as you walk in you are greeted by this beautiful Kusama installation. 

Note - due to our delay we were only able to see the outside exhibits/gardens. The indoors tickets were sold out. 

There was a really cute adventure garden for kids. 

Kaley liked it, but I think it might be better suited for toddlers. 

It really was an adventure!

We went from the forest, to the swamp, to a rose garden. 

We even saw some turtles - my favorite!

You are allowed to bring your own food/drinks in, but we bought some drinks and a pizza for just $18. Trust me for NY prices this is a STEAL. Plus the pizza was YUMMY.

We didn't realize there was a tram car that could take us around most of the gardens and we ended up walking over 2 miles till we figured that out. Oops!!!

Once we found the tram car though we went right to the rose garden. It was one of the most beautiful sites I have seen with my own eyes. It reminded me a lot of a garden I saw while in Ireland. Everything was just so lush and colorful. 

This adventure was a great success. 

If you plan to visit -  I would suggest taking the tram car at the beginning of the trip so you can get an idea of the layout and figure out the main things you want to do, bring plenty of water (we didn't see anywhere to buy drinks besides the two food pavilions), and of course comfortable shoes because even with the tram car you will be walking a lot. 

Have you been to the NY Botanical Garden? What was your experience?