Category Archives: Outdoors

Awww, a raccoon! (3/24/2012)

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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.

St. Patrick’s Day with Kids (3/17/2012)

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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)

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Twirling with the kite by oddharmonic, used under the CC-BY-SA license_resized

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.

See Yates Mill in operation (recurring event)

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This is a frequently recurring event, and is a good idea for a nice day in the park. Mill Heritage and Local History tours (the link will take you to the current events list) are from 2pm – 3pm, and you can extend that as you wish with hiking and picnicking in this beautiful park. It is about 20 10 minutes South of downtown at 4620 Lake Wheeler Road, Raleigh, NC 27603.

This is one of our favorite parks, and you’ll read more about it.

This nice shot of Yates Mill is by Suzie T and licensed under CC-BY. She has a lot of nice photos, check out here photostream on Flickr.

A family outing at Blue Jay Point (2/4/2012)

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Blue Jay Point County Park is probably a well-kept secret among Falls of Neuse suburbanites and other folks on the outskirts of North Raleigh. To be honest, this is one of the few parks in the Triangle I know only from driving by. A good reason to visit this Saturday is that the park is celebrating its 20st anniversary with a big party.

According to the website, “This event is free, no preregistration is required, and all ages are welcome.” What more could you want? Well, maybe that it is a bit closer. It is about a 40 minute drive to the North of downtown. If you’re in North Raleigh, good, if you’re in South Raleigh or Cary, you may want to think twice. The Park is on 3200 Pleasant Union Church Road, which is off Six Forks.

Best of Playgrounds: Chavis Park

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The playground at Chavis Park gets 4 out of 5 stars. 4 because an upgrade/remodel is planned for the near future, and we need room for improvement, right?

Chavis Playground

My two-year-old particularly likes the suspension bridge on the play set and the large Jeep-shaped spring toy.

I like Chavis because it lies in a nice setting; the green way and a creek are nearby, and of course the pool in the summer. There are also picnic shelter and plenty of park benches. It has a quite interesting playset (pictured) with multiple slides and a second one for the little kids. Spring toys, diggers, swings, see-saws – it is all there.

The ground cover is sand, and I’m still undecided in the sand vs. rubber debate. Rubber is cleaner, but sand may be more fun.

Chavis is easy to get to from downtown; walk east on Martin / Davie / Cabarrus / Lenoir as you like, and then south on Chavis Way until you reach the playground. There is supposedly a nice antique carousel in the round building, but it is currently closed for renovation and should re-open later this year in a new building.

Fred Fletcher Park

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Fred Fletcher Park just might be one of those places that you will vaguely remember driving by, once somebody explains where it is. (Going from downtown to Five Points on Glenwood, it is on the left.)

If this is the case, the park is worth checking out up-close. Fletcher Park has just about everything you could want packed in one small-ish park. Some outdoor art, a large field, some hills and bushes to play hide-and-seek, swings, benches, open spaces and hidden nooks.

If you walk from downtown, follow Boylan to the North until it ends at the park entrance. If you drive, look for parking on the north side along Washington Street.

Note, this is not directly a kids’ destination like Pullen or Chavis with structured playsets and concession stand. But for running around and exploring, it is wonderful.