There is a newer post about this for 2013
The Strawberry page has been updated with the latest news about local “Pick-your-own” farms.
Pick your own strawberries! (2012)
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Category Archives: Outdoors
Capital City BMX race (4/29/2012)
Go 838!
Did you know that there is a BMX race track inside the belt line? If you think the sport of BMX racing went out with Monchichi and Aerobics Leotards some time in the late 80s, you are mistaken. BMX (unlike Monchichi and Aerobics) is alive and kicking the pedal. And while there are adults and even professional riders using this course, there are races are for all age groups. (I wasn’t able to find out what their specific groups are, but the youngest nationally sanctioned age is “under 5”, and some of the photos on website show kids that could fit very well in this group.) [I heard back from Capital City BMX.]
Capital City BMX has riders as young as 3 and as experienced as 65, but most are somewhere between 8 and 15. Also, BMX is certainly not just for boys, and a professional woman BMX rider recently held a clinic at the course. According to CCBMX, about 1/3 of the riders are girls.
But just watching the race is fun for every age, and probably a good way to determine if that sport is something for your youngen – or for you!
Sunday, registration at noon, racing at 1pm. (There are races most Sundays.)
The track is located in Lions Park at 516 Dennis Ave, Raleigh, NC 27604. (Between Capital Blvd and Raleigh Blvd, 5 minutes NE of Downtown Raleigh) Lions Park is a nice but little known park, so if you get tired of BMX you can always head over to the playground, which has a pretty awesome play structure.
Update: I edited the age group and the gender ratio after CCBMX replied to my last-minute inquiry. They also shared that will add strider bikes this year for the under 4 crowd. Rest assured that The Daddy is very excited about that and will keep you posted on that topic in a future post!
838 by Scott, used under the CC BY-NC-SA license
Mount Olive Pickle Festival (4/27-29 2012)
Pickles!
If you love pickles, this is your weekend! Mount Olive, NC is the unofficial “Pickle Capital of the World”, complete with a Pickle Drop on New Years’ Eve and a Pickle Festival in Spring. It is taking place this weekend, and if you’re longing for a present-day Mayberry Town Fair, this is the place to be. There is live music, there are dance performances. There is food (not just pickles), there are craft vendors.
For “little girls (any age) and their very special guest” there is the “Pickle Me Pink Tea Party“, a “dill-ightful occasion” for $25/couple. 2p-4p, tickets required.
For the less pink inclined, there is the Antique Car Show taking place on Saturday as well.
Finally, don’t forget to bring a can of food for their food drive – Mt. Olive brand or other!
The picture of Cucumber and Vine is © Debbie Craft, used with permission.
Shakori Hills Festival (4/19-4/22 2012)
Shakori Hills (2008)
If you’re one of those folks who used to go to festivals in the BC era (Before Children), this is the season where you start thinking back to the good old days of outdoors live music, bonfire-roasted marshmallows, beer spilled on your sleeping bag and not-finding-your-tent-anymore at three o’clock in the morning. But we’ve grown up, moved on, and little kids and rowdy festivals don’t mix well. Or do they? If you want to Continue reading
ClydeFEST (4/5/2013)
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.
Hula Hoop @ NOFO (3/31/12)
This just in: Yesterday, I came across a Hula Hooping event at NOFO, the store/restaurant at Five Points, but I could not find enough information on NOFO’s website to feature it. Thankfully, a Daddy Weekly subscriber just notified me about that very event, so here goes a quick add-on to this Saturday’s busy roster: If you’re not into frogs and cows, head north to NOFO for lunch, fun and a Hula Hooping contest! Dolly Dozier, a local children’s book author is there and signs her new book “Peggy Noodle Hula Hoop Queen“. From 11a-2p. NoFo @ The Pig.
Ribbit! 13th Annual Frog Fest (3/31/12)
Note: This was written in 2012. In 2013, the event is on Apr-5 from 11-3p.
I continue to be amazed about some of the more outlandish “Annual xyz events” I come across. This one looks promising though, for a couple of reasons: First, if an event has lasted for 13 years, it must be good. Second, I’ve had Crowder District Park on my list-of-parks-to-visit for a while, and this will be a good reason to do so.
The event promises educational activities for the whole family centered around frogs and clean water. Hours are from 11am – 3pm and ‘food is available for purchase’, whatever that means. (Hot dogs and snow cones, I guess!)
The park is a 25 min drive south of downtown, at 4709 Ten-Ten Road in Apex.
Ribbit!
Awww, a raccoon! (3/24/2012)
I know you’re not going to say that, but your child will! Besides the quirky events on the
fairgrounds and the Mythbusters show, this is perhaps a quieter, more regular way to spend Saturday morning with your child. These classes take place at the Stevens Nature Center at Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve in Cary. An age-appropriate book, an ‘investigative stroll’ and finally a crafts project all related to the topic. This Saturday, you and your little one (age 3-5) will learn about the cute little raccoons that inhabit our parks, streets and backyards.
PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED! If you’re planning to go, you should sign up as soon as possible this afternoon (course code 56377). If you haven’t used the somewhat cumbersome sign -up system, well, good luck. (The first time is complicated, but after that it quite easy to do online.) As of this writing, spots were still available.
The picture is Raccoon (Procyon lotor) 2 by Darkone used under the CC-BY-SA license and found on the Wikimedia Commons.
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St. Patrick’s Day with Kids (3/17/2012)
Yeah, I’ll jump on the bandwagon. But I won’t color my hair!
St. Patrick's Day
Instead of focusing on one event, I’ll give you a list of several St. Patrick-themed events, running the gamut from kids’ event with a St. Paddy theme to St. Paddy events where you could bring kids (to meet many adults celebrating it in the good old way, i.e. involving lots of drinking…)
First off, I’d like to mention Building Fairy Houses at Wilkerson Nature Preserve. from 10:30-12:00. This looks like the ultra-cutesy way to do something St. Patrick related. It’s for kids aged 3-5 years with a parent, and all about building “a fairy house in the woods for a mouse, bug, toad or other woodland fairy” using “our imaginations and natural materials”. I made a note to myself to check that out next year. NOTE: Pre-registration was required by yesterday. But if you’re nice and call, they may still let you in.
Next, still very kids focused, at the Leesville Regional Library from 10-12, kids of all ages can build a St. Patrick’s Day themed mobile at the Drop-In Craft event.
Then of course we have the big parade and festival in downtown Raleigh. This is also for ‘all ages’, including (and primarily for?) adults. But kids love parades, music and the dance performances usually delight toddlers. There are ‘childrens activites’, without further specifics. This sounds like a great afternoon program. You might want to head home as thunderstorms (and inebriated leprechauns) take over later in the day.
Lastly, if you feel St. Patrick’s day and kids don’t go together, S’Kids in Apex (a drop-in childcare center) has something for you. As posted on Carolina Parent (but not their own website), they Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with facepainting and a treasure hunt from 5pm-9pm, presumably while parents are out celebrating as well. I’ve never visited S’Kids and can’t say either bad nor good about their program.
The image above is leprechauns by garryknight , used under the CC-BY-SA license
Cary Kite Festival (Sat 3/10/2012)
Kite flying is fun!
Don’t let the rainy Friday fool you – tomorrow will be sunny. It will be a bit cold and not very windy, so I’m curious to see how the “expert kite flyer” will do his or her “stunt flying demonstration”. The kiting competition does not seem to be too fiercly competitive; there are awards for best crash, smallest kite, most un-flyable kite and so on. The event is at Bond Park in Cary – even if the kite flying is a lull, there is a lot of other stuff to do in this large park.
The picture is Twirling with the kite by oddharmonic , used under the CC-BY-SA license.