Family Time

One of the best things I ever did was purchase a membership to the Morton Arboretum.  Okay, well that might be a bit of an exaggeration. But, it was still a pretty darn good move!  After just 3 family visits, it has more than paid for itself. There is an awesome children's garden, which we visit a few times each year, great walking paths and amazing colors in the fall!  When we get a huge snowfall, it feels like you are wandering through a fairytale setting! And then, we get to attend cool events like the one this weekend.

Yesterday and today, the Arboretum had an event called Husky Heroes.  A film was shown several times throughout the day about the history of the Iditarod, followed by a series of photos from some of the recent races of the past couple of years. There were Huskies up for adoption and Huskies for the kids to pet.  Finally, a sledding demonstration was held in one of the open fields so we could all get a teeny tiny taste of what it looks like at the Iditarod. Though rather cold outside, i enjoyed every minute. Oh, and did I mention that my daughter loves Huskies?  I feel so lucky to have access to these unique events we get to do from time to time!

On our way to the demos - she stopped to play with the snow and her walking stick

A husky sledding demo

They were just beautiful - resting in the sun before their run

I did not know that Huskies came in more colors than just black and white

Look at those gorgeous eyes!  This is Murphy.

My daughter petting Murphy! She loved every second

Waiting for the "racing" to start

Here comes the first team...

Another team rounding the corner

And riding off into the sun... (note the pink booties!)

What a fun day and a great learning experience for all of us. While I don't think I'll ever head up to Alaska to watch the Iditarod, it was fun to get a small inkling of it here in our backyard.