Mother’s Day – Last Minute Gifts (Sat 5/12/12)

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Yes, it is definitely Mother’s Day this Sunday, May-13.
No gift today? No problem!
No gift on Sunday? Big problem!

For some unique gift ideas that are NOT Made in China, let’s head to our local markets:

First I’d like to mention the Saturday Market which has become a Boylan Heights institution during its first season last year. They have food and drinks, some of it “giftable” (not the tacos though), but there are also some crafts available.

For a much wider selection of crafty gifts, go to the Designer’s Downtown Market. It has moved to the parking lot next to the Clarion (that would be the big round hotel) on Hillsborough and Dawson.

Finally, if that does not help either, head on over to Sadlack’s Heroes Arts and Crafts Sale. Among others, Johnny Swank has announced that he will be there, and you’ll never be wrong with one of his NC-themed T-Shirts.  However, it will be entirely up to you to explain to your wife how you headed out to buy her a gift and ended up at Sadlack’s Heroes!

Saturday Market: 9 am – 2 pm (Dupont Circle & Kinsey Street)
Designer’s Downtown Market: 9 am – 3 pm (Hillsborough Street & Dawson Street)
Sadlack’s Heroes Arts and Crafts Sale: noon – 6 pm (2116 HIllsborough)

First Friday: Circus and Art (5/4/2012)

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CircusSPARK Parade

CircusSPARK Parade

This is another First Friday where the warehouse district is drawing all (our) attention. You may hesitate to bring your children to a “PBR-inspired art show”, especially once you realize that it doesn’t stand for Parents Best Reasoning, but simply Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Fire Performance

Fire Performance (CircusSPARK)

But read on. The PBaRt event on Martin street also features several street performances. First on, at 6:30 and 8:00 is Cirque de Vol, the newly opened/opening Aerial Acrobatics Studio in Hue. (Note: They have circus camp and kids yoga!) Finally, if your kids last until 8:30 they can see a fire performance by the CircusSpark team.

In addition to the abundant regular food options in the area, Baguettaboutit will be at CAM and Klausie’s Pizza at PBaRt.

F as in Fun…draising (4/28/2012)

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Fundraising for education, a constant topic across the nation.

Two events I came across have as goal to raise awareness and raise funds for schools, and both are part of the Wake County Public School System.

First, Project Enlightenment holds its now annual Project Palooza, a “…community-wide family fun event celebrating Project Enlightenment’s forty-three years of outstanding service…” If you always wondered what Project Enlightenment does, read a more conceptual explanation or some real-life examples. With all the changes in WCPSS, its future seemed threatened for a while, and they can always use support for their work. Saturday, 4/28, 10am-1pm.

Second, similar but different, Middle Creek Elementary School in Apex holds its annual PTA fundraiser, the MCES Spring Carnival, also on Saturday. Maybe I don’t know enough about PTA’s, but this seems to be the “Rolls Royce” of PTA fundraisers. (A quick search at other Wake schools didn’t bring up anything similar.) They have food vendors, a ton of games (Lollipop Tree! Lego Speed Build! Nail/Tattoo Shop! BeanBag Toss! and so on…), many of them tied into a raffle that will yield cool prices, but also some spare change for the PTA’s initiatives. Again, with the future of the WCPSS assignment plan also uncertain, it might as well be that your Raleigh child will end up in an Apex school. Why not check them out, and have some fun while doing so!
Saturday, 4/28, 4pm-8pm. (So you can go to both of them!)

Lemonade Stand with staff by Harris County Public Library, used under the  CC BY-NC-SA license

Capital City BMX race (4/29/2012)

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838 BMX

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)

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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.

Grand Opening of the Nature Research Center (4/21/2012)

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Finishing touch on the Daily Planet Theater of the Nature Research Center

If you’ve been in downtown Raleigh lately, you’ve surely seen the construction of the Nature Research Center. the new wing of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. (Some views Before, During, and After). I had the privilege of participating in a behind-the-scenes-tour (#instawalk) last week with David Kroll (the museum’s Director of Science Communications), and I have to say: If you’re raising kids in Raleigh you will spend a lot of time at this place in coming years. The Nature Research Center is Continue reading →

Earth Day 2012 (4/22)

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You are here

Sunday, April-22 is Earth Day, a day to celebrate how far environmental consciousness has come since 4/22/1970, and to reflect how far we still have to go. We all know that two-year-old kids are nature-lovers and environmentalists by default, and here are some activities for this Sunday, ranging in hue from a neon-tinted light green to a very somber, earthy, through-and-through dark forest green.

The lighter route may lead you to the IMAX at Marbles, where you can watch “To The Arctic 3D” and after the movie participate in a “family learning lab”. $7-$9.

Not on Sunday, but probably the biggest “earth day event” is the grand opening of the Nature Research Center on Saturday, see separate article.

If you take environmentalism seriously and want to meet others who view it as a religious maxim as well, head out to the Buddhist temple on Tryon Road. The (older?) kids can watch “Dirt! The Movie” and do arts and craft, while the adults can take classes in composting or organic vegetable gardening. Vegetarian food is also available. Make sure you pre-register. Sunday, 4/22 10-3:30.

Picture courtesy of NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Shakori Hills Festival (4/19-4/22 2012)

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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 →

Touch-A-Truck (Sun 4/15 2012 12p-4p)

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This article was written in 2012. In 2013, the event takes place on Sunday, 4/14/2013; everything else is the same.

Well Touch-a-Truck sounds pretty cool, but it is actually an understatement: This more “touch a truck, armored vehicle, bus, backhoe, digger, helicopter day”.

The event takes place in Chapel Hill, on University Mall. Have a look at the slide show from 2011. Your kid sitting in the driver seat of a back-hoe? See an ambulance from the inside? Look up-close at a helicopter? A boy scout troop is organizing this and they think that “[…] young children ages 2-6 are especially thrilled by this event […]“. I couldn’t agree more! (And as they point out, kids and adults of all ages are welcome.)

University Mall, Chapel Hill, NC, 12p-4p. $5 for everybody over 2.