...with Bookworm Gardens.

Last week I took the kids on a day trip to see my sister, an hour away, since she had a random day off and wanted us to come up and visit. It was a great day (sunny and warm) so we headed to quite possibly, the cutest place on earth.
A place called Bookworm Gardens.
Bookworm Gardens is a park themed around children's books, most of which the average person is familiar with (Charlotte's Web, The 3 Little Pigs, etc). You walk through the park and there are "exhibits" that pertain to a story book in some way. For instance, in a wooded area, there are three giant bears (made from some sort of twigs) and in front of the three bears were three chairs of different sizes.
Name that book.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears!
Here is Emanuel sitting in Papa Bear's chair!

There are also books throughout the gardens (they are laminated so they don't get ruined) that you can sit down and read with your kids. Here was Elena returning the book my sister read to her and Emanuel:

While Elena wasn't familiar with many of the books, Little House on the Prairie, for instance, she did have a great time sweeping the prairie house floor.
The gardens also made for an awesome backdrop for taking pics.
So I was that mom. The one who continually took photos of her kids.
My sister was hanging out with the kids, so I took advantage of the free moments to take photos without at least one of my kids crawling/hanging all over me!
Elena, sitting pretty:

My sister with the kids:

Old school desk inside the barn where they do story time:

Charlotte and her web:

Elena watering an apple tree. They even had an old fashioned water pump that worked! With my help, Elena pumped water into the watering can and then watered the various trees.

My sister reading Curious George to the kids. George was making pizza (which we ate for lunch after leaving the gardens!)

This was the magic school bus. Elena did NOT want to get on it. Even when we got on it and showed her that it was fun (I sat in the driver's seat and got to operate the door!) Elena stood outside the bus and yelled "I don't want to get on the bus"!

We didn't even make it around to all of the various parts of the garden, so I hope to visit again soon. I can't believe more cities don't have a place like this. I think it is a genius idea!
Did I mention it was free?!?