We recently took advantage of a local Living Social deal and visited the Sarasota Children's Gardens. It was one of those places that looked interesting, and for under $20 for our whole family to visit for the day (with our Living Social voucher), it was worth checking out.
And I'm so glad that we did! The gardens are full of magical lands that delighted our children's imaginations and made us adults act like kids again for the afternoon.
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Follow the Yellow Brick Road... |
Before entering the gardens, the kids had an opportunity to visit the costume room and choose costumes to wear during their visit. Ian chose a cowboy vest, while the girls chose a variety of ball gowns and princess dresses.
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The entrance to the magical gardens. |
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Ian exploring the birdbath in the Fairy Garden area. The details in each section are amazing! |
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The little Simpsonites climbing Fruity Oops Mountain. You can see part of Snuffy in the foreground. Snuffy is a way-cool dragon! |
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Little pig, little pig, let me in... |
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Watering the flowers in the Butterfly Garden. |
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Eliza is taking her turn swinging from the rope and dropping into the hay bales in Hobbitville. |
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The sidewalk through The Land Of Od. You can see the "castle" that Eliza claimed for her kingdom at the end of this road. |
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Just one of the fellas that we met in the Monster Garden |
All told, we spent about 2-3 hours exploring the gardens, which was just about the right amount of time for our crew. If you visit Sarasota, this is definitely a hidden gem worth exploring. It's a beautiful, magical place where kids can freely explore and imaginations can run wild!