A Warm Day at The Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden

Back in the middle of October, we were at the Dallas Arboretum for family photos on a Saturday. I decided that it would be a good day to go ahead and check out the new Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden while we were there. We got free passes since we are Arboretum members, so there wasn't even any extra cost. What we couldn't have anticipated about that day was that it would be overcast...and so hot! Texas can be like that even in the middle of October.

My first impression of the Children's Garden was that it was so much bigger that I had thought. And very cool. My takeaway after our visit was that it's awesome and we are definitely going back when we can spend more time there. By the time we got there on this Saturday, we were already tired, sweaty, and getting hungry. So we only spent about 45 minutes total there...not enough time at all!

The boys loved the tree house and all of the netting to climb on. Ethan made it almost all the way to the top.

Logan climbed a little but really made more use out of the bottom net as a trampoline.

Both of them spent a long time at the rock tables. There is a lot to read and experiment with in the garden. I really think it appeals to all ages of children. Younger ones will have a ton of fun just playing with all the hands-on stuff and play structures. Older children may enjoy reading the information as well.

Logan particularly spent a while at the rock table. Here he is chopping up a rock. He also weighed and measured some. And you can see just how hot we were by his sweat.

When Ethan spotted this huge continent map, his eyes lit up. He loves a map. Any map. The pieces were a bit heavy for him to move by himself, but he loved it.

The area about the solar system was very cool...the large planets display really showed the size difference and placement of all the planets. The boys loved it...and who am I kidding? I love this stuff too. It really is just like a museum, but outdoors.

Here, the boys are spinning the blocks to match up the photos of different kinds of environments.

Aside from all the cool learning stuff, the garden itself is beautiful, modern, and creative.

This is the entrance to the Secret Garden Maze...probably our favorite part of the garden that we visited.

Casey and Ethan attempt to pull the sword from the stone. Yes, there are clues throughout the secret garden that lead to the stone...so cool.

This is what the path to the sword in the stone looks like...lined with dragons. I don't think I have to tell you how awesome the boys thought the mist-breathing dragons were.

There's an observation deck somewhat above the maze garden where you can watch people make their way through. Don't let those dark clouds fool you...it was so muggy and hot.

Logan is checking out the periscope with a view of the garden. He could barely reach it even on his tip toes!

At this point, Logan retired to the stroller...too tired and hungry to continue. I let Ethan stay for about 10 more minutes and he got to see a few more displays.

Cracking open an artichoke...

He spent a quick 5 minutes on the celery play ground. There is actually another play area that we didn't even get to see with more play structures in it. Next time...

Even though our visit was hot and fast, we really loved seeing what the garden has to offer. And as I said before, we will be back.