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the minnesota landscape arboretum

My mom has been telling me about The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for years. Telling me I should really get there sometime. Then my sister-in-law, Lisa, started raving about it. Next my friend Rachel started posting pictures on her instagram and wrote that they got a membership.

Last Monday the whole Harrington clan went to the Arboretum for a picnic and my jaw was on the ground the whole time. I just had no idea. It was so awesome. It was so stunning. We walked through rose gardens and vegetable gardens, we saw giant lego sculptures and got sincerely lost in a hedge maze. The grounds are spectacular and Rory and I started dreaming of landscape ideas for all around our house.

As a life-long Minnesotan, I cannot believe it has taken me this long to get there. But I also believe that once I find something awesome, I must shout it from the rooftops. So hear me now: this place is AWESOME!

You know what else is awesome? Cousins. And Aunts and Uncles. And Family. After the Arboretum we drove to a cemetery nearby, surrounded by cornfields, where my Aunt Jan's ashes were buried. There were so many of us able to gather and it really was special. The day was glorious and it was good to be together. After her burial, we went out to Uncle Don's house on Lake Minnetonka, my first time to his home since Aunt Jan died, where we had a huge pot luck barbecue just like we used to. It reminded me of my favorite kids book, "The Relatives Came" when family all gathers together in one house. The books says, "You'd have to go through at least four hugs to get from the living room to the kitchen. Those relatives!" And later the book says, "And then everyone split into two's or three's where there was quiet talking and catching up." We lived that on Monday night and it felt so good to be all be together.

It was a precious time, and Aunt Jan would have loved every minute of it.

1 comment:

The Rings said...

Oh, I am SO delighted that you were able to visit!! Our offer still stands join us. Maybe late fall, after baby, to enjoy the colors. Maybe spring when all the new life is "spring-ing"!