FUN ON THE FARM! "Farm Animal Days" - Pre-registration Required

NC Farm Animal Days is back in 2013 from April 10 (Wednesday) through April 12! I missed this last year and was really disappointed.

This year I'm going and am already signed up. It's at N.C. State University's Agroecology Education Farm in the Beef Educational Unit and offers a chance for kids to see and touch farm animals and learn about agriculture. As a person who grew up in Minnesota, you would assume I had hundreds of opportunities, but I didn't! And I cannot wait to show my kids, who scream "Cow!" or "Horsey!" whenever we pass by a farm (or Chick Fil-A).

Here is the website for more information and to sign up (pre-register). From what I can tell, it is free. I will have also copied some of the information from the registration site directly onto this blog so you can see what it's about without leaving my site.

I hope to see you there! I can't wait.

www.cals.ncsu.edu/farmanimaldays/

FROM THE SITE:

WHEN: 2013 dates April 10-12
Wednesday through Friday (rain or shine)

TIME: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
(least busy times are 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.)

WHERE: NC State University
Beef Educational Unit
4505 Mid Pines Rd.
(2 miles south of I-40)

WHAT: Farm Animal Days gives children a chance to see and touch farm animals and learn about agriculture; tractors will also be on display. The event is designed for school field trips (pre-school through first grade). Families and individuals are still welcome to attend.

Practice roping for the kids.

Touch the animals: chicks, turkeys, ducks, pigs, sheep, goats, and rabbits

Other animals to see: Beef Cow/calf, Dairy Cow, Horses

Tractors on display

Molly the Cow

Grass area for picinic

Free Ice Cream!

Jr. Wolfpack Club

Daily Presentations (new this year)

• At 10, 11, 12, and 1 each day we will have a short presentation(approxametly 15-20 minutes) about animal agriculture, this will be an informal program for kids to learn from our NCSU Employees, Local Producers, and Students about Farm Animals

One hour is sufficient to see all exhibits

 

Things to Come! Back in action, broken leg and all!

My youngest broke her leg two weeks ago, so we've been very limited in what we can do and where we can go (and still have a good time). So we've taken a few weeks off!

But I am back in action and excited to find some indoor/inclement weather activities. But also, I've been nudged in a few directions by some readers (which I LOVE!) ... so I am going to break down and visit Hemlock Bluffs. I am not a huge trail hiker with my kids, but I hear this place is worth it. I have been hearing about it for a while. My old boss had a blog and I did a brief overview of the place then, but I just wasn't interested in going. Alas, you all wore me down!

Also, I saw a park on Saturday while running errands off of Walnut in Cary. I cannot remember the name other than "DAD" park was the nickname.

Also recommended, Harold T. Ritter Park (near Lochmere in Cary) is supposed to be wonderful and the NC Museum of Art apparently has trails and fountains the kids would enjoy. So, they are all on my to do list for the next few weeks. I am also going to try to get to the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, although I am afraid my 2-year-old (aka the Tazmanian Devil) may not sit still long enough to enjoy it, especially because she just got her cast off.

Also on tap, if I can figure out how to get tickets (I keep getting an error message on their website) the Carolina Tiger Rescue! We cannot wait. Spring break should be exciting for the little ones in our crew!

North Cary Park- What a Wonderful Place To Play!

So officially I am a park mom. My kids love them more than chocolate milk!

We drove all the way to North Cary, got lost too, I might add, so check out a park I heard about -- North Cary Park.

This place was beautiful, much like most of Cary's parks. They just take such beautiful care of their parks. The first thing we saw brought me to tears: four, pristine volleyball courts with perfect sand and nets almost at the right height. I am a volleyball player (or was a decade ago) and I was pretty geeked out about them. And my kids loved the second biggest sandbox they'd ever seen. (2nd only to the beach)

 After the courts excursion, we took a walk on a little trail to find a climbing wall. They are too young to climb it, but they played a little game or running peak-a-boo for about 20 minutes. I got to sit and watch and loved every minute. Then we found the playground, or at least part of it. It had a real sandbox, jungle gym, great slide and a little "house" to play in.

The moms were wonderful, bathrooms close and we played well into lunch hour. It was a total success. My only complaint was the slide & stairs leading up to it were really steep for my little one (2). She did fine but I was a wreck thinking she'd fall. She didn't! This park was worth the drive, and I will certainly go there again.

1100 Norwell Blvd
Cary, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: Clean park, great sandbox, climbing wall (for older kids to climb and younger kids to run around), friendly people, restrooms close by, two slides, balance toys on the jungle gym, and lots of space to run around away from the playground.

LOW LIGHTS: The slides were a bit "fast" for my littlest one and the stairs headed up were pretty steep. I held my breath most of the time she was on the stairs. My GPS also did not pick this up and I got lost (probably user error more than anything, but I had to share just in case).

COST: Free!

Cary Mom Group - Don't let the name fool you!

I know when I first started venturing out and visiting new parks and places to entertain my kids, it was hard to go on my own. My kids wouldn't entertain themselves long, even at the best places.

If I had known about Cary Mom's group, I probably would have joined. It is a group of area moms (don't let the Cary part fool you, they are all inclusive) who make age-appropriate play dates throughout the week. You get to pick and choose the activities you want to attend, but from what the members tell me, they are varied and almost daily!

The best part of this is the kids are around the same age, and the moms are all so friendly because they're pretty much in the same boat - trying to have fun with their kids and learn more about the area (and maybe make some friends for themselves at the same time).


I met up with the Cary Moms Group accidentally when I went to Davis Drive Park with my friend, Amanda. We both agreed the moms were so friendly, and it really was a great park and great group of people with whom we shared the park. (We even made some fun facebook friends we keep saying we should meet up with!)

My only hesitation about this group is there is an annual fee to join and visit the website and calendar. It's not that $24/year is too much for me, but I am sort of an unorganized person. When I make plans, they usually fall through. I am more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of person.

If you're interested in more information, visit meetup.com ...