As part of Artsplosure, the City has placed six artfully adorned pianos at various downtown locations. The public is invited to play them – no skills required! The pianos are placed at the following locations:
Photo (c) City of Raleigh.
Do you feel like the State Fair is a “must-see” for your kids, but do you loathe the crazy crowds? Try the Got to Be NC Festival instead.
Less crowded, less crazy, more family-friendly, more exciting. You still get all the main State Fair ingredients (rides, tractor pulls, lawn mower racing, farm animals, fried food), but in a more relaxed atmosphere.
The event kicks off Friday afternoon and continues through Sunday. Admission and parking is free.
Image (c) NC Department of Agriculture.
Briefly mentioned last week, Oaks and Spokes is a festival celebrating cycling in Raleigh. Events, mostly geared towards adults, have taken place all week, but on Sunday the kids will take over for a the “Kidical Mass” ride through historic Oakwood and Mordecai.
The event will kick off on Sunday at 10am at the Oak City Cycling Project, but the ride won’t start until 11:30am. Kids old and skilled enough to ride alone are encouraged to do so, with the watchful parents riding along. Two loops are planned through Mordecai and Oakwook, and you can expect to be done by 1pm.
The weather should also get better, with Sunday clear and in the 60s.
So your good friend at the office bragged about that they are going the Marbles sleepover, and how it is oh-so-sad that you didn’t secure tickets in time? (Registration closed Wednesday.) Don’t despair, Daddy Weekly to the rescue: The Museum of Life and Science has a sleepover too this weekend!
And while spending the night at Marbles in your favorite exhibit is a special treat (the money machine would be cool, or build your own big brick house for the night), going to the less familiar museum in Durham may be enticing as well. They do have a neat program, with multiple light-out times, and special activities before bedtime. Tickets are $35 (kids under 3 free), and that includes dinner and breakfast.
Canada Science and Technology Museum by cstmweb, used under the CC BY-NC-ND license. Spending the night sleeping next to a giant steam engine? Another good reason for having kids!
Preparation is everything, and with my own daughter quickly graduating from crawling to pulling up and jumping, I had to start looking into this whole Daddy Daughter Dance thing.
There are several Daddy Daughter Dances in the area, the biggest one being the Triangle Father Daughter Dance this Saturday from 6-9p. It is held at Marbles, but not directly related to or organized by the museum.
More information and tickets are available at http://www.trianglefatherdaughter.com/; it is $40 for a dad/daughter, and slightly more for dads blessed with more than one daughter. You can also make a donation so that a girl who does not have a father in her life can attend as a “Special Princess”.
The Triangle Father-Daughter Dance is not affiliated with any specific religious view and open to father/daughters of all races and ages (girls can be from 2 to adult).
Daddy Daughter Dance by Jamie Wallace, used under the CC BY-NC license
(On Jamie’s blog I learned that a Daddy Daughter Dance is “basically an hour and half of cardio in a suit” – good to know, haven’t thought of that!
“There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.” That’s what I heard a lot as a kid, especially during, um, bad weather. But as the temperature drops and more and more people start talking about snow, I say it is perfect timing to consider some indoor activity options that drop further down the list during the nine months of summer we have around here.
With this post I am introducing the “Indoor Fun” page, a list (to grow in the future) of places where kids can play nice when the weather doesn’t.
Let me make a safe prediction by saying this Saturday will not see heavy snow as in the picture above. With temperatures in the sixties and no precipitation, it may even be hard to imagine a winter wonderland at all. But the sleigh in Oak View has wheels (hopefully) and a glass of hot cider is always welcome.
“Sleigh Rides and Cider” at Oak View County Park. Saturday Dec-1, from 5p-7:30p. Free, open to the public, no registration.
I featured this park in a summer post and on Father’s day; a leisurely 0.8mi hike is published at http://goo.gl/maps/JXlt. Go early for the hike – stay for the sleigh ride and cider!
The image is One horse open sleigh! By pmarkham, used under the CC BY-SA license
I’m sorry, no you can’t. Unless you stay home and hide, which may not be the worst plan given the rainy weekend forecast.
This weekend, you can pretty much go to any of your favorite hangouts and expect to find a Halloween-themed happening. Long-time readers will know that I often have outdoorsy, or science-y, or artsy, so here one event for each of these three categories:
Let’s start with the outdoorsy stuff: There is a haunted hike on Tuesday at Jordan Lake State Park; walk the 1/2 mile trail anytime between 7p-10p and meet real (and not-so-real) nighttime creatures.
New Hope Valley Railroad does haunted rides this Saturday at 4p, 5:15p, 6:30p and 7:45p. (The 7:45p ride not for small kids, I read.)
The NC Symphony is playing spooktacular music at 1p and 4p. Show up early to try out some classical instruments yourself.
Then there is a new event, Raleigh Living Dead taking place on City Plaza. The website states it is for all ages (before 8p at least) and it does have kids activities, but all the grown-ups walking around in zombie costumes might be a little bit too much. Tickets are $10, and $5 for kids.
The new Buffaloe Road Aquatic Center
Update: Buffaloe Aquatic Center is closed for maintenance until Aug-27, 2013.
Eagerly awaited, but it still took us a couple of weeks to get to check out the new indoor pool, also known as “Buffaloe Road Aquatic Center”. (Side note for map geeks: If you look at the location on Google Maps, the top-down view still shows forest, whereas the 45-degree view shows the center under construction; toggle back and forth to see how the location changes.)
Buffaloe Road Aquatic Center with water slide, river, vortex, toddler area, volleyball and basketball
I am impressed by how much was packed in a relatively small space; I would say the building envelope is about a third of the size of Pullen Aquatic Center. However, it does not feel cramped, even though you can find a wading pool with implements, toddler slide, water volleyball, water basketball, a river, a “vortex”, and towering over everything, a three-story water slide for “anyone between 48 in. and 300 lbs”. There are only 3 lap swim lanes, and they are not Olympic length. (However, an Olympic size pool is planned for phase 2, in an adjacent building.) The building features a nice, open design, and is equipped with the latest sustainable features. Solar heaters, green roof, etc.
Spacious family changing rooms
The changing rooms are of course also brand spanking new, and I was particularly pleased to find two family changing rooms. (In other pools, no children above 5 are allowed in the changing room of the opposite sex, and I will one day be slightly nervous about sending my 5-year-old daughter alone to the changing room.) So the family room is much appreciated, and is very convenient. (Not perfectly labeled, though: Just enter the door that says “Pool” next to the regular changing rooms.)
Not open when we went, but available in a month or so were a concession stand and a birthday celebration “room”; it can be reserved ahead of time.
We (2-year-old and daddy) both liked the pool, and for this age-group, it is well worth the 15-minute drive from downtown instead of going to Pullen with its “big-boy-pool”.
Toddler area with gradual entry, toddler slide, water curtain, tumble buckets
Hours: (check website)
Monday: Closed
Tue-Sat: 10am-7pm
Sun: 1pm-5pm
Admission: (check website)
Slightly more than other pools; $3 for kids, $7 for adults, and double that if you’re not a Raleigh resident. (It did cost $8 million to build.)
Directions:
“Up Capital and right on Buffaloe”. Or look up 5908 Buffaloe Road, Raleigh NC 27616.
Last year, I think I stumbled upon the Festival in Motion by accident on one of my green-way walks. This year, I’ll make a point to go again. If you haven’t been on the greenway system much, this is an excellent “show case” opportunity, Because with some planning, you can check out
Eliza Pool ParkAll in one loop! See a custom map that I’ve put together, which is a (long) loop walk for anyone living in downtown proper or nearby. Here is how you could spend your Saturday:
I’ve walked (and biked) this loop several times now, and it truly is an excellent cross section of Raleigh Parks and Rec; note that this is 6.25 mi, and thus 2-3 hours of walking, breaks not included. Plan to be out for most of the day…