For a girl who LOVES the summer sun and swimming, 2011 is requiring a little more creativity in the fun department. My daughter had eye surgery at the beginning of summer and has many restrictions while she heals for the next 6 months. All the "normal play-dates" are excluded. There can be no swinging on monkey bars, no playgrounds, camps, pools, sprinklers, or sand boxes. We have to approach everything with caution - which is a quality Bela was not born with too much of. So here it is... inspired by my friend Donna's suggestions to check out Cincinnati Magazine's Cincinnati Summer Bucket List.... Our own Summer 2011 Cincinnati Area Bucket List. We'd love to have some company so feel free to let us know if you want to join in. If don't come with us maybe this list will spark some inspiration for you to squeeze a little more fun in for yourself this summer. Doing new things is proven to keep us all feeling younger and more vibrant.
The List!
- Today we are going to go to the Cincinnati Art Museum to get some inspiration for our own works of art at home later this afternoon.
- The Cincinnati Zoo is always a great choice
- Newport Aquarium - this is one of my favorite places to go with kids - I swear the water has a calming effect on them as long as it's not too crowded.
- Both the Cincinnati Parks and Hamilton County Parks have tons of events this summer http://www.hamiltoncountyparks.org/events/events.shtm
http://www.cincyparks.com/parks-events/calendar-events/index.shtml - Indianapolis Children's Museum
- COSI in Columbus - their current special exhibit is Dinosaurs - we must go for Hoyt!
- Go berry picking - Cincy mag had several farms listed but not many great websites - this one looked good http://www.stokesberryfarm.com/
- Young's Dairy Farm http://youngsdairy.com/
- Putt-putt
- Movies! and "don't forget the snacks"
- Just "going out" for snacks or lunch or ice cream is one of their favorite events - good thing there are plenty of snack shacks around
- I think the Omnimax at the Museum Center would be cool - but not sure about the current features?
- We went to drive-in and that was a blast. Something we definitely want to do again http://www.holidayautotheatre.com/
- Of course the Cincinnati Library - which is packed full of do-it-yourself fun and ideas!
- Fishing at Grannie + Papa's farm!
- A Red's game
- Glenwood Gardens
- Sunrock Farm
- We might even resort to Chuck E Cheese's (ugh! - anything for my kids though)
- I wonder if there is a good arcade around? oh yeah - at General Custer's where we putt-putt. I don't know what it looks like but we'll have to check it out. Sounds better than the Cheese. http://www.generalcusters.com/
- Paddle Boating - we did that at the Noble Farm but Miami Whitewater has a huge lake to explore
- Miami Whitewater also has great hiking and biking trails. Maybe we'll rent one of those silly 4 person bike type things. Jake will need to be there for that one! http://greatparks.org/parks/miamiwhitewater.shtm
- Visit and find new Farmer's Markets - one of my favorite market finds is Bee Haven Honey http://www.beehavenhoney.com/
- Visit new parks and explore new trails with our dog
- Cincy Mag suggests visiting French Park for fossil finding - Hoyt will love this!
- We visited the Mt. Airy Forest tree house which was cool but only for a few moments. They have frisbee golf there - we might try that out.
- Ault park summer dance and concert series
- For future summer's don't miss the Krohn Conservatory Butterfly Show
- Playhouse in the Park? Not sure if this appropriate for kids? http://www.cincyplay.com/
- Saturday, September 17th - http://www.bluegrassforbabies.com/
- I miss canoeing and kayaking - it won't happen this summer for our family but I can't wait to take them
- Another thing that looks fun that won't happen this year but I hope to do in the future is giant tree-climbing (with a harness) at http://www.climbtreeswithearthjoy.com/page002.aspx
- River Downs - in August they are having Weiner Dog Races - the kids will think this is hilarious!
- Dayton's Air Force Museum
- Cincinnati Fire Museum http://www.cincyfiremuseum.com/
- The Contemporary Art Center has a nice kids activity area but my kids aren't entertained there for too long.
- Paint pottery at the Mad Potter http://www.mymadpotter.com/Mad_Potter.aspx
- Cincinnati Zoo at Night! http://cincinnatizoo.org/education/kids-families/family-programs/family-nights/
- The simple stuff is good too! Did you know there is a Firefly Fairy? Apparently she comes to those houses who have fireflies left in jars after midnight. Good thing Bela's friend Sam told her about this fairy - she visited her last night;-) Hoyt wants to try to catch the fairy tonight!
- Kentucky Horse Park if there is any time left - maybe next year - this summer is looking pretty full.
Silly bikes - they also have them at Sawyer Point and you could ride to the Friendship Park - have you ever checked it out. No "playground" but beautiful landscaping, lots of geographical data and neat masonry featuring paw and leaf prints from which I want to one day make our own rubbings.
ReplyDeleteContemporary Arts Center has a guided children's art activity every Thursday. I am planning to hit that when swim team is over which is soon. I will send you more info if we make it happen.
Go to the top of Carew Tower.
Have you done Nature's Trading Post at the Cincinnati Museum Center? My kids love it. They can create their own account and make deposits by bringing in anything from nature (well, almost anything - some restrictions you can find out about there or maybe on their website) or by completing a scavenger hunt in the museum they will give you. Then you can purchase nature items there with your account or save up for something big. We would love to do that with you sometime in the next month. We bought a membership awhile back and haven't used it yet.
Time to put the pizza in the oven!
We actually made a bucket list with our kids when summer started and cross each thing off the list. Caroline loves it! :) Some of the things on ours include going to a church festival, catching fireflies in the backyard, family overnight campout at Winton Woods (wish me luck!), and running a 5K with daddy at her pace. We also went to a Florence Freedom game...much cheaper than the Reds, and you can sign up for free bowling all summer long at Stumps. Email me for the website. We go to Heids near the dance studio, but Stumps does it too. You only pay for shoes. Will and Caroline both LOVE this. Also, google "the long thread" and "summer list". We also bought a Usborne Art book and some real tubes of watercolor paint for C who wants to learn some "techniques". This summer I've finally set Caroline loose in the kitchen too...learning to follow a recipe and cook.
ReplyDeleteGood luck - have fun! I am loving this age!!
Holy cow. Sorry... I meant to go back and edit my grammar, but apparently I didn't do a very thorough job. LOL
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input ladies! Heather who has time for grammar on a blog response - especially when you have 4 kids!!!
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