A Verdant Oasis In A Sea of Snow

It's cold outside. We just got 6 more inches of snow. Everyone in the house is cranky and tired of winter. The baby just screams when I try to set him down with his toys - he's tired of them and the four walls surrounding them. Liam is all pent up energy.

We need a break from winter. Preferably in Tahiti.

Instead we took the kids to Phipps Conservatory. We're members and it's one of Liam's favorite places. We haven't been in a while so I promised Liam that we would try to get there today. We managed to make it work and I'm so glad we did.

Phipps is always green and warm and full of exotic smelling plants so it was the perfect place to shed our winter blahs. When we got to the tropical room it was heaven. Lush green plants. Warm temperatures. Waterfalls. I could physically feel the stress of the week melt into the stream and be washed away. When we got to the bottom of the room and to the pond with the fish, we let Jamie out of the stroller so he could toddle around a bit with his brother - the fish are Liam's favorite part.

It was Tahiti right in the middle of Pittsburgh and it was exactly what we all needed.

The orchid show is going on right now so every room we went in had beautiful orchids - from the very large to the very small and in all the colors of the rainbow. It was so wonderful to wander around with the kids looking at green and blooming plants. It felt like, just maybe, one day this miserable winter would finally end.

So, if any of you in the Pittsburgh area are as desperately in need of a break from winter as we were, head over to Phipps and bask in the glory of green and growing things.