How to Beat the Winter Blues Part 1

Though the temperatures have been consistently cold, and sometimes downright frigid, we have managed to stay warm and (mostly) fend off the winter blues around here.  We moved to a much larger apartment back in November, so the added space has certainly helped in preventing us from all going crazy.  I thought I would chronicle our winter with a series of posts about the fun things we have done to keep busy this winter. 

At the end of January we spent a Saturday morning at the Garfield Park Conservatory.  It's part of the Chicago Park District, so it's totally free!  We discovered this place last spring break, and while it's a little bit of a trek to get to the West side of Chicago and through some rough neighborhoods, it's worth the journey for a little bit of tropical warmth.  We have still not seen a few of the rooms (fern room and desert room) since these are in the process of being repaired after getting damaged from a hail storm several years ago. 

Max especially enjoyed being able to walk all over and splash in the puddles; he was soaked by the time we left (and we didn't think to pack a change of clothes!), but he had the time of his life.  The nature-loving side of Jesse really loves exploring all the hidden paths and finding fallen oranges.