Elm-ily

Today I took Morgan to the Morton Arboretum. If you haven't been before, you're missing out. It's a slice of paradise in the Chicago 'burbs.

To mix things up a bit, I told Morgan that we'd be taking the tram today at the Arboretum. I had to explain the concept of tram: neither car nor train, but a combination of both.

Once we boarded the tram, the friendly tour guide/driver welcomed us to this "50 minute tour of the Arboretum". Yikes. I hadn't known that it was nearly an hour. Crikey. We were already moving. How in the name of photosynthesis was I going to keep Morgan interested in this? "Look, Morgan! There's a tree! And another tree! By jove... there's a whole GROVE of trees!"

To her credit, she kept herself preoccupied with her lunch for the first 20 minutes. About the halfway mark, however, she paced back and forth in our row like a caged lion. She wanted out. She started hanging off the side in a gesture of defiance.

Meanwhile, the tour was excellent. The tour guide was a retired teacher who made a bunch of trees *yawn* seem very interesting. His enthusiasm was genuine and contagious. I desperately wanted to hear every word he said which was difficult because 1) Morgan would have none of that and 2) I realized that I was becoming older. Memories of past vacations with parents taking boring tours suddenly came to mind. I'm embracing my aging better than I thought I would.

After the tour I very much wanted to ask Mr. Tour Guide some tree questions, but I had already "released the hounds"... Morgan was running hysterically around the premises like a jackrabbit.

She unofficially forgave me when I took her to the Children's Garden which is full of edutaining fun.

It was a full morning, friends. In summary:
I do recommend the tram ride.
I don't recommend bringing small children.
And I do recommend getting a good sleep the night before.

Signing off!