Couponing - This is Pretty Helpful Site For Those Who Don't Coupon Well

So I just saw this blog about my recommendation to go to Jordan Lake's Ebenezer Church public beach area.

These women do the research for you and tell you how to get the best deals and where. The below link is a direct review of her own trip to Jordan Lake, but takes you to her blog where you can find those great deals.

http://trianglemoneysavingmommas.blogspot.com/p/family-fun.html

It's called Triangle Money Saving Mommas. I spoke with their writers and they said they would be posting deals to get into some of the areas kid-friendly places in the future and sharing them with me. In turn, I will be sharing those with you when they do! And hopefully it will take some of the cost out of the picture - especially for those of us on a limited income.  This does deviate a little from my normal blogging topics, but does the same thing - reduces the road blocks that keep us from having fun with our kids!

Holiday Express at Pullen Park - My Review

As I've said before, Pullen Park in Raleigh is my absolute favorite park to take my kids in the Raleigh area.  So when I saw Holiday Express At Pullen Park, I ran straight home to look it up. And I'm so glad I did because you have to buy tickets to attend. A month before the event, two of the days were already sold out. The cost was $8 per ticket and you can ride the train and carousel an unlimited number of times, but we certainly didn't get $8 worth of rides per person.

It was a lot of fun, the decorations/lights were gorgeous and when you were on the train it was spectacular! However, I am not going to rave and rave about it. In fact, I may not go back until my kids are a few years older. The biggest problem was the lines. You couldn't park at Pullen, you had to drive to the Dorothea Dix Soccer Fields, where you parked and waited in line for the bus to take you to the park. It was about 20-25 minute wait. Then, you wait in line to pick up the wristbands. You can do this the week of the Holiday Express event, but we live kind of far out so it wasn't convenient to go ahead of time.

Those lines were not the big issue, though. The issue is the train line. It seemed like a half-hour wait to get on the train, maybe more, but after waiting in the two previous lines, my kids were not in the mood to wait again. (They are 1 and 3). When we finally got on the train, that's where we got our monies worth. The train was lit up and there were wonderful, exciting (for the kids) displays around the entire track. My kids absolutely squealed with delight. But we weren't able to ride again because the line was even longer the rest of the visit. The carousel was fun, but the lines were pretty long and were even longer after our first ride. That's all we did. The line for Santa was pretty long most of the time, too.




What I really enjoyed was, of course, the train ride but also there were little craft stations. My oldest daughter made reindeer food, which we toted all the way up to Pennsylvania for Christmas and emptied on Aunt Chrissy's front lawn. Both girls made Christmas ornaments. It was so cute and absolutely wonderful to see my youngest (22 months) get to participate in a craft. Those, too, made the trip to Pennsylvania. My kids liked the clown with the little frog puppet, too.

Did we have a good time? Absolutely. Is it a must-do event? Sure, for the right ages. Will we do it again next year? No likely.

520 Ashe Ave
Raleigh, NC 27606


HIGHLIGHTS: The Train Ride, most of the regular Pullen Park stuff were still accessible, lights were gorgeous, people working were very friendly and seemed genuinely happy to be there, the clown, some of the crafts were wonderful and it's fun to experience the park at night.

LOW LIGHTS: Lines, we had to park at Dorothea Dix and ride a bus to the park, lines, the only food they had there was the standard concession fare (just OK). Did I mention the lines?

COST: $8 per person (under 2 are free)

Bond Park - Lazy Daze Playground is Wonderful

Shhhhh ... don't tell. We fed the duckies! I've been meaning to go to Bond Park in Cary for months but finally made it to play.

I took two toddlers and headed straight to the Lazy Daze Playground. What a great playground! There were two swing sets- one for babies and the other for big kids, two jungle gyms (one for big, and one for smaller kids) and two sandboxes. It was a lot of fun, and the parents and grandparents were so nice.

Then the girls and I headed for the boat dock. There is a trail, docks and even a little beach where we fed the ducks some bread. The hardest part was the parking situation. To park close to the playground meant you were a longer walk from the dock. I wish I had brought my double stroller because it was just a little too far of a walk for my rapidly tiring toddlers to hoof it on the way back. So we drove.

With older kids, no problem...  with the really small ones it's a bit more challenging.

Bond Park is wonderful, but the facilities are pretty spread out. Below is a list of features at Fred G. Bond Metro Park from the webpage on the Town of Cary website.

• Bond Lake
• Bond Park Boathouse
• Challenge Ropes Course
• Sertoma Amphitheatre
• Kiwanis Picnic Shelter
• Lazy Daze Playground
• Buehler Picnic Shelter
• Athletic fields
• Multi-use field
• 4.2 miles of trails
• Compost Education Center
• Screened Porch

801 High House Road
Cary, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: Beautiful park, lots of options for kids big and small, nice playground, great dock area and beach-like area to feed duckies, lots of sitting areas, very well maintained.

LOW LIGHTS: This park is really spread out, so you have to park and walk if you're going to visit more than one hot spot, bathrooms were not close to the playground.

COST: Free!

Fuquay-Varina Library Park

Library Park in Fuquay is not much; it's a small jungle gym that would hardly keep my 3-year-old's attention and is not terribly clean or maintained but there's open space to run and burn off some energy. It's passable from my limited experience.

I'd love to give you a thorough review, but my little one (about 22 months) watched another boy throw mulch and decided to copy him. I warned her twice and then said if she threw mulch one more time, we would have to leave.

Guess why I cannot tell you a whole lot about this park?

She liked the climbing apparatus, and she liked the mulch. I am sure it wouldn't take long for her to get bored, too, and start running around the trees in the park. But that's just a guess.

Here are a few pictures of the jungle gym and our little stinker (pre-mulch throwing of course). Also, the website (click here for more info) said it's a 1-acre park adjacent to the Fuquay-Varina History Museum Complex. Hmmm, I feel another blog coming on.

116 South Aiken Street
Fuquay-Varina, NC

HIGHLIGHTS: It's small, convenient to the library for post quiet-time running around and my kids love wide-open spaces.

LOW LIGHTS: It's not particularly well kept, it's really small so won't hold attention for long and the parking situation is less than desirable when the library lot is full.

COST: Free!

Halloween Activities That Give Me Shivers!

I wanted to share all of my favorite upcoming Halloween events in the area, but OH MY there are so many. I got overwhelmed at the thought!

However, I did find a great link from WRAL that had tons of activities. I have a couple issues with the link, though. It's not organized by date of the event. The activities are listed in alphabetical order according to the location of the event, and some of the events have already passed. So, I picked out my favorites for your convenience. This is truly just the tip of the iceberg, so I recommend visiting their site anyway.

Family Fun Night Spooktacular at Marbles is an event exclusively offered for special needs kids. It's designed to offer a calmer, quieter version of Marbles. This event is free for kids with special needs and their families and kids are encouraged to wear costumes. It's from 5-8 p.m. Oct. 25 at Marbles in downtown Raleigh.

Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary has been showing night time scary movies since Oct. 23 and will continue through Oct. 27. Movies start at dusk but the gates open at 6 p.m. and the cost is $3 per person. Kids under 12 are free. Some of the movies are Rated R, so they're not all kid friendly. Visit their website for more information. The Spiderwick Chronicles shows on Friday, Oct. 26 and is PG.

Gobblins Groove Family Dance is at Halle Cultural Arts Center in Apex on Friday, Oct. 26 from 7-9:30 p.m.  It's a family dance party! Youth and teens must be accompanied by adults. Costumes are encouraged. The cost is $5 per couple and $2 per additional child. There will be a dance contest, and snacks and punch will be provided.

Trick of Treat in Downtown Fuquay-Varina is Friday, Oct. 26, from 2-5 p.m. on North Main Street in, you guessed it, downtown Fuquay-Varina. The downtown merchants will hang signs that say, "Trick or Treat Here!" and will pass out treats along the business district. Want to enjoy Halloween early, this is a great way to kick off the trick-or-treating fun.

Boo at the Zoo is Saturday, Oct. 27 & Sunday, Oct. 28 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the NC Zoo in Asheboro. There will be trick-or-treat games, a kids' costume contest and live entertainment throughout the park. The cost is $12 for adults and $8 for kids 2-12.

My little pumpkin at Marbles.

New Hope Valley Railway's Halloween Express is a Halloween-themed train ride on a real diesel train and is on Saturday, Oct. 27. Trains depart starting at 4 p.m. and are about an hour. The last train runs at 7:45 p.m. The cost is $10 per rider. Click the link above for more details. Tickets must be purchased in advance, click here for their website.  

The Kooky Spooky Halloween Party at Marbles is Saturday, October 27 from 6-9 p.m. Advanced tickets for non members are $10 and at the door they are $12 per person. Wear your costumes to Marbles Kids Museum and enjoy family fun, including wrap mommy or daddy like a mummy, a Monster Mash Dance Party, hide-and-seek maze fort, Potions fun and so much more. 

Natural History Halloween is at the Natural History Museum in Raleigh on Saturday, Oct. 27, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is free for all, but designed for those 2-12 years of age. There will be a costume contest for the kids, live spooky animals, face painting, crafts, games, prizes and more. The Natural History Museum is located at 11 W. Jones Street in Raleigh.
Hays Halloween House Drive by in Cary and Halloween Light Show in Holly Springs are incredibly decorated homes (or so I've heard) you can drive by and check out most nights through Halloween. They're already decorated and ready to go, so you can visit tonight! The Hays Halloween house is located at 4309 Hawksong Place in Cary and can be viewed from dusk to 10 p.m. on weekends and dusk to 9 p.m. on week days, weather permitting. The other is at 804 Linden Ridge Drive in Holly Springs. I haven't had a chance to do this, yet, but the website shared that if your radio is on 93.5 FM, the lights sing you a couple Halloween songs. I'm not sure what that entails, exactly, but it's worth checking out!


Also of note was the Raleigh Living Dead party on Saturday, Oct. 27 from 4-11 p.m., and the Tricks and Treats Halloween Bash in Cary on Saturday, Oct. 27 from 5-9 p.m.

Have fun and enjoy what our area has to offer this Halloween! I know I will!

Apex Community Park - Great Trail & View!

Apex Community Park is pretty nice, and the walking trail around at 50+ acre lake is wonderful. There are fitness trails, softball fields, tennis courts and volleyball courts and a lot more. That's all well and good for the "big kids" like you and me. But it's not awesome for the little ones, unless you're on a walk or bike ride around the lake on the trail.

There's also a jungle gym. It's nice enough, pretty new looking and close to parking, which is key for me and my little ones when it's time to pack up and go. But alas there are a few quirks. First, the swings were packed when we went and my little one, who prefers the big girl swing, was stuck in the baby swings. She still had fun. She always does, but there were three and four kids waiting for the other ones. I think the track-out programs/camps like to go there. Also, the jungle gym itself was clean and fun looking, but when my 1 1/2-year old tried to play on it, she couldn't get on or off it without a lot of effort. For some reason, the initial step to climb up this thing is almost two feet off the ground. And the slides and other climbing equipment was not made for the little ones. In fact, she went down one of the slides and got going so fast she fell face first into the wood mulched ground and got a bloody lip and mouth full of wood chips. So we left. I'm sure my 3-year-old would have enjoyed it more, but it was just a bit too much for Dani.

Also, unlike many of Wake County's parks, this one was not well marked. I've been there three times, and there are several entrances and I had trouble finding the different entrances all three times. You're going to want to put this one in your GPS or mapquest it.

2200 Laura Duncan Road 
Cary, NC 27511

HIGHLIGHTS:Gorgeous walking trail around the lake, friendly parents, lots of options for the older kids (volleyball, softball, tennis, basketball, picnic shelters), beautiful wooded park, wonderful 50-acre lake.

LOW LIGHTS: It's not the easiest place to find, the playground is made for slightly older kids (my guess would be 4 and older), and the swings are often pretty crowded.

COST: Free!

It's a Park; It's a School - STOP You're Both Right!

I packed up the girls and a small lunch and headed out for a picnic at Middle Creek School/Park, which is in that part of Cary, NC that really could be Holly Springs or Apex, too. I was a little worried that I was driving to a school that wouldn't let you play during school hours. But this was a true park, and it wasn't an issue.

I really liked this park! I cannot believe how many times I've driven past it and never knew it was there. I don't think it's far from Crowder Park, which is Apex but could be Cary or Raleigh, too. As the crow flies, it looks like they're about 1-2 miles apart.

Of course, if it has a sandbox my kids love it, especially the 3-year-old. Also, there were two separate jungle gyms. Both were wonderful. The larger of the two had a bridge, several slides, monkey bars and slides. But I loved the other one because it was shaded by a large, permanent umbrella. The slides on the bigger one got a little hot so we cruised on over to the other one. There are lots of places for parents to sit that are really close to the equipment. There is a nice-size grassy area where you can kick around a ball or just play tag, and some people brought a little airplane and were flying it around behind us on what looked like a field. I wish I'd payed more attention to my surroundings. I think I was a little groggy. It really was a nice park. Also, something I hadn't seen until today, there was an actual rock for climbing. It was a huge draw for the older kids. J (3-year-old) had a little trouble with it but tried anyway, which I love.

I loved the shelter. It was very clean. I will definitely go back when I have more energy!

123 Middle Creek Park Drive
Cary, North Carolina 27539

HIGHLIGHTS: Beautiful play area, grassy spot to run around or kick a ball, shaded jungle gym, very clean sandbox, swings for big and very little kids, clean shelter, rock to climb (VERY COOL).

LOW LIGHTS: It got a little hot when we were there, and most of the area isn't very shady. Also, for my 1-year-old old, it's too easy to get to the parking lot quickly and since the school is nearby, there was a bit of "lunch break" traffic.

COST: Free!

Keep an Open Mind - Make a Friend!

Don't be afraid to do something new or find a new friend. Get out of your comfort zone.

"friends are like chocolate cake, you can never have enough ..."

That's a bad simile for a woman on a diet.

I had a playdate with a book author who lives in my neighborhood today who was giving me self-publishing tips. It was really fun, and she was so nice. Jordan made a new little buddy. They played really well, and both girls were introduced to new toys.

HIGHLIGHTS: New friends, new experiences, new ideas and a change of pace and you can do it anywhere.

LOW LIGHTS: You never know how your kids are going to get along with the new kids. Sharing is sometimes an issue, but that's an every day issue at our house anyway. 

COST: Free!