Skokie Lagoons and The Chicago Botanic Garden (with Video)

On Sunday we went for a hike! We decided to hike around the Skokie Lagoon on a trail called the North Branch Trail. It was a 4.4 mile trail that went through the Lagoon. It ended up being more of a long walk than a hike as it was on a paved bike trail, and it wasn't too scenic. There were lots of wild flowers and trees, but there was no where for Maddie to run and play along the trail, and the busy road was on the other side of us.  We did see 3 deer along the way though!

We were a little under a mile away from the car when we noticed a sign for the Chicago Botanic Garden, and Joseph remembered we didn't have to pay if we walked in, so we did! It was another long walk to the actual garden but it was very beautiful once we got there.

Maddie absolutely loved walking up to all of the flowers and smelling them. We had to watch her to make sure she didn't pick any as she loves to pick flowers.

We walked towards a pavilion where a group was playing the Japanese drums. We sat down and devoured the lunch we brought with us - we were starving!  Maddie enjoyed being able to run around after being cooped up in the stroller all morning. She loved eating her lunch standing up and would plop back on the ground after getting an other bite of food.

She also LOVED the drums and danced so much!

It was a long morning and we were glad to make it back to the car. We will definitely visit the Botanic Gardens again, but will skip the 4 mile hike beforehand!