Crabapples and Tulips and...

I've been wanting to get outside a lot in the past few weeks. We got a taste of late spring/early summer last month, and I've been anxious to play in the grass and dirt. However, April has been a more typical month for Minnesota, with quite a few days just chilly and windy enough to keep Mom and me indoors most days.

Yesterday morning we all (Mom, Dad, and me) decided we had had enough of being at home, and Dad suggested we go to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. It was cloudy and in the low 50s, but there was only a slight breeze, and the sun would peak out from the clouds from time to time. Of course, the weather affects Mom and Dad more than it does me. I don't really care if it's cold or chilly outside. I'm still happy to run around and play.

Between the parking lot at the arboretum and the visitor center, there is a line of crabapple trees with hundreds of daffodils planted beneath them. With the blossoms on the trees at peak and the daffodils in bloom, it was quite pretty. Of course, soon after Mom grabbed the camera to capture a few pictures of the flowers, I announced that I had to use the bathroom. It was my first big trip out of the house without my diaper, so Mom only captured a couple pictures before we ran into the visitor center to find a bathroom for me.

It was well worth having to go into the visitor center next, as there is an orchid exhibit there, which runs until the 29th of April. Mom loves orchids for all the different designs and colors these flowers have. Mom and Dad also wanted to sign up for a membership to the arboretum so we can go more often.

We walked through a small conservatory with other exotic looking flowers...

...before heading outside to view tulips, which were also in full bloom.

Behind the visitor center is a landscaped area full of gardens, including dwarf conifers, roses, lilies, perennials, herbs, and on.

Rosebuds were in full bloom.

This bleeding heart was in full bloom, too.

We walked past the conifers.

And we encountered more crabapple trees, these ones with vinka planted below them.

We also came across more daffodils.

Mom isn't sure of the name of the tree with these blossoms.

After walking through some of the gardens, we ate a snack inside the visitor center, then drove a loop called Three Mile Drive through the rest of the arboretum. Before leaving to go home, we stopped for a few more photos in an area where many more crabapple trees are planted together.

Of course, the sun came back out just as we were walking back to the car.