Boise, ID

If you see a white rabbit hopping through Boise this weekend, you might want to follow him down the hole (or up the hill, as the case may be) so you won’t be late, late, for a very important date. It’s almost time for the Mad Hatter Tea Party at the Idaho Botanical Garden, and I for one plan to take advantage of the last few days of summer weather (I hope) and get my kids outside for some family fun. That’s the plan, anyway. We enjoyed the event three years ago and have been trying to get back ever since. A trip to my computerized photo album took me down memory lane–it’s amazing how much kids can change in three years!–and reminded of me of some of the fun we can expect to have on Sunday, if everything goes as planned.

It was a beautiful early fall day and while my husband was involved in something else and couldn’t join us, the kids and I loaded up for an adventure. Arriving at the Idaho Botanical Gardens sometime early afternoon, we paid our entrance fee and found ourselves in Alice’s Wonderland.

Enchanting activities abounded within the gates—face painting, food, music, Alice and her friends, and of course, hat designing, all beckoned. We started by meandering through the place to get an idea of all the options, ending up at the hat designing tables. It is the Mad HATTER’S tea party after all, and how can one attend such an event without the proper head attire? A plethora of hat decorating materials glimmered, gleamed, and fluttered from several tables. These could be applied to hats that had been brought along, or to paper hats that were provided. We had not brought hats along so we nabbed a couple of the paper ones and my daughter went to work with her three-year-old artistic skills. I made one for her 9-month old brother who was mercifully non-critical of my lack of artistic abilities. Remembering his antics at that age, the hat probably got crumpled and one end stuck in the mouth anyway

 
The main event, a tea party, was scheduled for a certain time and we made sure we had the proper tickets to have a seat at the table. I have fragmented memories of a wild hare and a mad hatter entertaining the kids, and I think there was cake and possibly some type of craft. You would think I would remember this but there were a lot of kids, a.k.a. chaos, and I had a baby in a stroller to manage while assisting my daughter at the same time.

After the party, there were pictures with Alice, face painting, and meandering through the booths of things to sell. I managed to get out of the shopping area with only one purchase of less than $5 which was pretty good, all things considered. Finally we decided we had seen everything and headed out, where we found some live animals in portable pens outside the main gate. That was good for another few minutes of entertainment, and then we were ready head home, tired, but happy.

If you have kids, you’ll want to check out this annual event which happens this year (2008) on Sunday September 21 from 10:30-4:30. Tickets to get in are $7 for adults and $5 for kids 4-12. You might want a few extra dollars for miscellaneous things inside. I can’t remember how much was included in the cost to get in and how much was individually priced but I’m sure I didn’t spend much for this enjoyable afternoon. You can find more information at www.idahobotanicalgardens.org.

Hop on out and don a hat for this fanciful frolic.