Just 5 minutes up the road from where I work there is a Denver Botanic Gardens preserve with a pond, grasslands, trails, a farm - an entire ecosystem that can be explored. We were here last Fall to experience their amazing corn maze, but it feels like a completely different place seeing it in Spring.

The last few days in Denver have been beautiful. Temperatures in the high-70s, low-80s. And, of course, having recently moved back from the East Coast, I have to repeatedly point out - NO HUMIDITY!! :)

Spring is in full swing, vibrant colors are everywhere. So, this past Friday, we ended up spending the entire day outdoors, with the morning and early afternoon spent at the Botanic Gardens at Chatfield.

We played through lunch. I guess Kayleigh was telling me it was lunchtime when she started munching on sticks!

We are definitely not allowed to pick flowers here and I reminded Abby so many times, but it was impossible for her to resist when she saw these tiny purple beauties near the pond and she plucked one before I could stop her.

Kayleigh and Abby both loved the chicken coop, admiring the huge variety of birds, including some gorgeous roosters with spectacular plumage. Until Abby saw the hen in the picture above - I believe it was a hen - and jumped back in surprise. "That hen doesn't have any eyes!" "Why, sure it does," I assured her. We looked and looked, though, and couldn't find them! Must be under all the feathers because she could obviously see.

We walked to the pond and watched a pair of geese and their little goslings floating across the water.

There were a few school groups there and several educational stations set up all around the area. A swarm of kids were by the pond, studying wetland wildlife, scooping samples of pond water and observing the critters living in the water under microscopes. Abby was so intrigued by what the kids were doing she's anxious to become older so she can participate.

Kayleigh took a great afternoon nap as Abby bird-watched and discovered a variety of butterflies.

This whimsical tree house was in a children's play area and Abby spent ages there while Kayleigh napped, rock-wall climbing (until she fell and scraped her knees), "baking" cake out of rocks, bouncing on logs, and playing in the brook.

We got to visit the little farmhouse, but Abby was very disappointed that there were no animals housed there.

So, back to the tree house where she and I sat on logs and enjoyed some shade while we watched Kayleigh continue to nap.

The last thing we did before heading out of the garden was stand on a little bridge and toss some rocks into the brook. While Abby tossed, I tried to take a picture of these flower clusters on the tree that hung overhead. This bumblebee came into the shot just as I clicked the shutter, which is probably the only way I will ever get a photo of a bee! Seconds later, I was scurrying as fast as I could with the girls back to our car!

I never imagined we would have so much fun at the place. It is definitely worth many, many future visits. A very different experience than the Denver Botanic Gardens up in downtown Denver, though, where the abundance of flowers is a picturesque backdrop for countless weddings. The Chatfield preserves were definitely more of an ecosystem exploration than a walk through gardens. I can't wait to take Abby and Kayleigh to the Botanic Gardens downtown someday soon to see all the blooming flowers, however, for now, there is still a lot to enjoy at Chatfield.