Category Archives: Crafts

Can I just skip Halloween? (10/31/2012)

Posted on by
Reply

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.

 

Festival in Motion (9/29/2012)

Posted on by
Reply

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 Park
  • Walnut Creek Wetland Center
  • Chavis Park
  • Rocky Branch Greenway
  • Walnut Creek Greenway
  • Little Rock Greenway

All 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:

  • Head out along Rocky Branch to Eliza Pool Park, where starting at 11am there will be a bike decorationg session.
  • Around noon (I guess), the decorated bikes will parade along Walnut Creek Greenway to the Walnut Creek Wetland Center with a police escort. Either ride with the bike parade, or head out a bit earlier and watch them ride by.
  • At the Walnut Creek Wetland Center you’ll find food trucks, live music and other assorted merrymaking, culminating in a 5K in the early afternoon
  • Head back toward downtown along Little Rock Greenway, stop for a snack and some more play at the awesome Chavis Park playground
  • Head back top downtown along Chavis Way and Lenoir St.

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…

ShopScotch and Saturday Market (9/8/2012)

Posted on by
Reply

The Saturday Market @ Rebus Works

Do you remember the “City Utopias” of yesteryear, wacky prophecies of skyscrapers that house everything from a farm to entertainment to work to living, with people never venturing outside anymore? Well, the trend scouts and city planners didn’t think it would look quite like this, but Rebus Works’ Saturday Market is very close. Music, Art, Food – you can easily stay the whole day if you want.

Saturday Market is taking place as usual from 9am to 2pm. Starting at noon, everything starts morphing into ShopScotch, which will go from 12p to 5p. In addition to the veggie stands and food trucks of the Saturday market, there will be a large craft vendor gathering (look on their facebook page for details), five bands and more food trucks.

If your kids are not quite ready yet for a full-blown Hopscotch Day party, head to Rebus. “Come for breakfast, stay for lunch, stretch it to dinner!”

Marbles Kids Museum (8/4/2012)

Posted on by
Reply

I would be surprised if anyone reading the Daddy Weekly hasn’t yet been to Marbles. So this is not to ‘present something new’, but to talk a little bit about Marbles and perhaps mention some of the lesser known corners of this large building.

First off, Marbles is changing from time to time. A relatively new exhibit is the corner one level above the gift shop, with a focus on health and sports; a similar topic was there before, but it was all redone a few months ago and is called Power2Play. The newest exhibit to open is “BB&T Toddlers Hollow“, a forest-themes exhibit for kids under 3. (We’ll check that out soon.)

Have you found the pirate ship? It is one of my favorite exhibits, and tucked away in the very back of the ground floor.
How about the garden? Exit behind the pirate ship to find nature and fresh air.

Did you know about First Friday Kids Camp? Drop off your pre-registered, potty-trained, well-behaved preschool or elementary school kid, and enjoy First Friday or just a night off. (Although I have to say, my son enjoys tagging along to various galleries just as much.) $20 for 3 hours is good deal; both for the parents and for Marbles.

Are you a member? For families visiting frequently, it does pay. A family of four (4x$5) will have paid for the annual membership ($100) after just five visits.

So what’s not to like about Marbles? It can get crowded. And while exhibits change, it is largely static. The corporate sponsorships are a tad too dominant, in my view. But these are details, given that Marbles is an excellent indoors playground.

Pirate Ship by chrisdaniel, used under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

Kirby Derby (6/23/12)

Posted on by
Reply

I assume that by now, everybody has heard of Kirby Derby, the annual event in the Kirby-Bilyeu neighborhood featuring men in dresses, experimental soapbox designs and a deadly 90-degree curve at the bottom of a hill.

Kirby Derby is for sure the best soap-box race I’ve ever been to, and the surrounding events (a pinecar derby, a drag [queen] race and a parade) turn this into one of the most exciting small-neighborhood block parties across Raleigh.

The schedule of events is as follows:

4:00 Pinecar classic (a race for small boy-scouts-style pinecars)
5:30 Parade of all participants (drag race and Kirby Derby)
6:00 Drag race (as in drag queen, not as in dragster)
6:30 Kirby Derby (usually two runs and a final)
party with bands after that

Now mind you, while the Kirby Derby is decidedly a family event and while fans of all ages are welcome, all ages can have fun, including adults. If running drag queens, gory soapbox crashes and the occasional brown bag are too edgy for you, you might want to find an alternate program. But if this is all within your level of tolerance, you will have a wonderful Saturday afternoon that everybody will remember long after.

The event takes place in the Kirby-Bilyeu neighborhood, off of Western Blvd., where it intersect with Pullen Road. Check out the website for details.

Artsplosure/Kidsplosure (5/19-20, 2012)

Posted on by
Reply

Update: I added links to all the performers here.

Another annual event is taking place this weekend: Artsplosure. Centered around Moore Square, but with locations throughout downtown, this is a festival that celebrates the visual and performing arts. Art exhibits, three stages and of course the necessary food and drink offerings. For Kids, there is Kidsplosure, featuring three kinds of craft activities (weaving, paper flowers, and headbands). A dedicated stage brings music, theatre and acrobatics. The website unfortunately does not link to the acts. Taylor Slay, Acroentertainment and the NC theatre will certainly excite the kids. There are also some kids ensembles/band performing Jazz, classical and rock music. Kidsplosure takes place on Moore Square on the side towards Marbles. Art booths can be found around Moore Square and Blount Street, and there is an “Impressionist Garden” on City Plaza.

Learning to Work the New “Yo-Yo” (from Artsplosure 2007) by abbyladybug, used under the  CC BY-NC license

ClydeFEST (4/5/2013)

Posted on by
Reply

The original article below is from 2012; everything should be the same in 2013 except for the new date Apr-6 and some minor corrections.

Chatham Orange (oops) County does have its share of eclectic characters, and Clyde Jones is one of them. Clyde however, has the pretty unique distinction of having his own event, that annual ClydeFEST which is held for the 11th time in 2012 12th time in 2013. If you’ve never heard of Clyde, here an (older) video about him:

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/8196961]

As you can see in the video, ClydeFEST is not some high-brow art happening. This is an event for kids! The website of the Chatham Arts Council who organizes this event annually says that “ClydeFEST is an all day Kids’ Carnival Folk Art Festival of Art, Games, Music, Magic, Clowns, Hula Hoops, Local Food, and loads of other fun and excitement.” In addition, there are several performers scheduled on the stage, and food and drinks for several vendors will not be in short supply either.

ClydeFEST takes place in Bynum; Bynum is where 15-501 crosses the Haw river, and once you’re in Bynum, you can’t miss it. To get there, take 64 West and then 15-501 North, or 40 West and 15-501 South.

First Robotics Competition (4/52012-4/7/2012)

Posted on by
2
FIRST Robotics Competition by North Charleston , used under the CC-BY-SA license_resized

FIRST Robotics Competition

Every year in Spring, high school students around the world are in full-on geek mode as they prepare for the FIRST Robotics Competition. FIRST is a non-profit that encourages kids interest in science and technology.

This weekend hosts the regional finals at Dorton Arena. Building, programming and controlling the robots is decidedly stuff for high school kids, but watching the competition is fun for the entire family. WRAL has a video from last year’s event.

FIRST Robotics Competition by North Charleston, used under the  CC-BY-SA license. (This photo is from last year’s event in Charleston SC.)

Barbie Bash (4/7/12)

Posted on by
1

Love her or hate her, Barbie is here to stay and does not get tired. In this latest installment she is a successful surfer and mermaid. The movie is rated appropriate for age 5 and up at Common Sense Media, in my view by far the best movie rating website for kids & media. Read their review for details.

After seeing the movie at 10 in the IMAX, stay for the Barbie Bash where you and your child can make “surfer fashions” and “wearable mermaid accessories”.