The recent cold snap has had our family sequestered inside for the last few weekends, and the ratio of pajamas to real clothes is becoming disturbingly disproportionate. This past Saturday Taylor was heading to the science museum with a friend, so I wanted to find something outside of the house that Ella and I could do together. We headed to Tonkadale Greenhouse, which is my favorite place to purchase plants in the growing season. The experience at this nursery is always delightful, with its wide rows, helpful staff, beautiful plants and let’s not forget – complimentary popcorn and bottled water. But I will admit that a majority of my past visits have a fair bit of stress built in, since it can be busy, I have a limited time frame, and I usually always miscalculate how much is in my cart – over purchasing from a budget perspective or in the sense that my eyes are bigger than the available garden space. This little visit with Ella was perfect in expected and unexpected ways. I was counting on some pink flowers and free popcorn to make our late morning a success. Those two things were definitely present, but there were so many other experiences that made for a lovely morning.

Ella’s outfit details with links: Boden dress (on sale), tights (on sale) and socks | Tsukihoshi shoes

At the front of the greenhouse is the cutest gift area. Plenty of darling things caught Miss Ella’s eye.

A cold day at the end of February isn’t exactly high season at Tonkadale, so we basically had the place to ourselves. The staff was at full force, attending to the plants and being very understanding of a little girl who was using the aisles as her personal, colorful, indoor, sunlight filled, track.

When she wasn’t running out of sheer joy, Ella would leisurely stroll around, looking at the various plants or calling out for grandma, who met us at the greenhouse that morning.

I spy Ella! Do you?

Did I mention they have free popcorn?

Plants the perfect size for little hands.

The perfectly spaced plants were neatly arranged and starting to get ready to hit the Minnesota gardens. Not a dried leaf or tangled stem in the entire building.

I can honestly say that I have never even stopped in the “Fairy Garden” area of the greenhouse. Ella could have spent all day looking through these tiny treasures.

Reality Check. For perhaps the first time, my visit to Tonkadale was for pure enjoyment, not to cross an errand off my list during naptime. Never has the saying, “take time to stop and smell the roses” been so true.

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