Peek-a-Do

*Peek a do has reopened  in the Renaissance Village shopping center near Southpoint Mall, hooray!


What it is: A child's first haircut only comes around once.  I always remember looking in my baby book and finding the page with a picture of me sitting in the salon chair looking a little nervous and next to it, the little lock of blond hair in the envelope.  For some reason, that was my favorite page in the whole book.  So, when it came time to get my boys' first haircuts, I wanted it to be a bit special.  That's why we headed to Peek-a-Do.  This is a salon completely catering to kids.  They have chairs in the shapes of airplanes, cars, or trains, TV's that your child can watch while they get a haircut, a play area for the siblings, and an area for purchasing little gifts or rewards for a successful haircut experience.

One of the biggest draws for me, however, was their first haircut package.  I liked the fact that they acknowledged that first haircuts were special.  They understood that this moment could reduce many moms to tears, so they made it a little special.  In addition to the other Peek-a-Do amenities I've already mentioned they gave us before and after pictures, a certificate, and that little envelope full of baby hair.  My boys both handled it pretty well, with lots of smiles and only a few tears.  It was a lovely first haircut experience.

What we liked: Like I said, they did a great job making the first haircut experience special for us.  In addition, it was fun for the kids because of all the kid-friendly amenities.  The play area for waiting and siblings was a brilliant idea.


What we would change: It is more expensive than a typical haircut ($20 for a regular cut and $26 for the first haircut package), so I don't think I can justify it for a regular haircut, but it was great for those special moments.


Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.peekado.com/

Address: 8202 Renaissance Pkwy, Durham

Phone Number: (919) 544-5775

Hours: Open Mon-Tue,Fri 10am-6pm; Wed-Thu 10am-8pm; Sat 9am-5pm; Sun 12pm-5pm

Photos: 

 (a view of the outside of the shop)

 (the reception area)

 (waiting/shop area)

 (little goodies for purchase)

(part of the waiting area)

FItness World

*Check out another great post from our Stir Crazy Dad about how to squeeze in a little exercise and keep your kids entertained at the same time!

What it is : Fitness World is gym, but more importantly to the Stir Crazy Parent, they have a wonderful kids' room. Our daughter has been playing there since she was 5 months old and needed lots of attention to get used to being away from Mommy and Daddy. The rules are pretty simple. They watch kids 3 months old and up. Under 1 year old, you can leave your kid with them for an hour; over 1, for two hours each day. Since they're not a daycare, you'll have to remain in the gym. It's a nice chance to get some exercise, but for this full-time dad, it's also a nice chance to be off-duty for a little while. If you go fairly regularly, you can look at your membership price as babysitting for $2-3 dollars an hour (plus playmates!)

What we liked: The staff is wonderful. I not only trust them with our daughter, but she loves seeing them, and they've done a wonderful job caring for her as she's gotten used to being around strangers. There is a separate area for babies so they don't get bumped into by the older boys and girls. All the toys are washed daily and the play areas have always been clean and tidy. As a gym, it's a friendly, laid-back place, with some exercise classes throughout the day. Lastly, Fitness World is in the same strip mall as Bean Trader's Coffee, so if you figure a muffin is 500 calories and you have 1 hour on the exerbike... well you see where this is going.

What we would change: The kids room is a little small. When enough little ones accumulate, they move to the basketball court to give everyone enough room, so it's not a problem, but it would be nice for the kids to have enough room to play in their kids' area when it's busy.




Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.fitnessworldnc.com/

Kids' Room Website: http://www.fitnessworldnc.com/childcare.shtml

Address: 105 W NC Highway 54 Suite 271 Durham, North Carolina 27713

Phone: (919) 544-9000

Moonberries

Seems like they're popping up everywhere.  The latest area frozen yogurt shop has just opened and added even more deliciousness to the local sweet treat scene.  These self-serve frozen yogurt shops are trendy, but for good reason.  They are healthier than many sweet treat choices, fun for the kids to design their own, and relatively inexpensive.

What it is: Moonberries is the newest self-serve frozen yogurt shop, recently opened in the Petco/Target shopping center off of Renaissance Parkway near Southpoint Mall.  We headed over there this afternoon after the soggy weather cancelled our soccer game, and it was a great way to lift our spirits.  Everyone was very friendly and welcoming on their grand opening celebration.  They offered us free samples and greeted us warmly.  We made our decisions-chocolate and chocolate M&M's for my oldest (of course), lemon and strawberries for my husband, and pumpkin spice, granola, and caramel for me.  We selected our portions and served the frozen yogurt ourselves, dished up our toppings, set them on the scale for payment, then ate and enjoyed.

What we liked: The toppings were plentiful, and it's always fun to create your dish yourself.  As we said earlier, the cost is reasonable and the yogurt itself is pretty healthy (if you choose the right toppings).  In addition, the yogurt was really tasty and seemed thicker and richer than some of the other frozen yogurt places we have checked out recently.  They have outdoor tables which is also a nice touch.

What we would change: It was delicious, so there's not much we would change.  The price is 40 cents per ounce which is ever so slightly higher (about 3 cents and ounce) than some of the other self-serve frozen yogurt places, but that doesn't really make for a meaningful difference. 


Website and other important information:

Website: http://moonberriesfrozenyogurt.com/

Address: 8200 Renaissance Park way Durham, NC 27713

Phone Number:  919-484-7700

Photos:

 

 1. The view of the storefront

 

 2. A view of the inside

 3. A few of the frozen yogurt dispensers

 4. Toppings, toppings, and more toppings

5. Mmmmm, sauces

 

Skytop Orchards

The weather's finally getting colder, and it feels like Fall is finally here.  It's time for all those great fall activities that we love like the State Fair, pumpkin patches, soccer games, and of course apple picking.  We've discovered that it's a little harder to find a place to pick apples around here, so we had to report on this spot that we've found even though it is a bit of a drive.

What it is: Located in Flat Rock, NC, Sky Top Orchards is a fall spectacle of apple picking fun.  The day that we went out there we were definitely not the only ones that had that idea and the parking lot was full.  Once we got out of the car we saw a two playgrounds with slides, swings, hay spiders, and more for your kids to play and pose on.  There were also several tractors to play on and investigate.  The first thing I noticed when I arrived, however, was the smell of freshly-made donuts.  So, when we got there I immediately headed through their shop, past the counter where you could buy apple slushies, apple cider, apple fritters, and more to the donut counter.  Their apple cider, cinnamon sugar donuts were just as good as they smelled and a perfect way to start our excursion.

We also picked up a basket and prepared to head out into the orchard.  There were about 5 different types of apples that were available to be picked that day.  There were some that were low enough for our little boys to pick them off the bottom branches and others where their daddy had to scale the trees to get the best apples.  Regardless, the kids had a great time running around and climbing the trees, as long as we kept them away from the fallen apples at the bottom of the trees.

What we liked: I always like exposing the kids to where their food actually comes from.  It was great for them to see where apples actually grow.  Plus, there's nothing better than running through the trees in the mountains on a crisp fall day.

What we would change: Of course, we would bring the apple orchard closer if we could.  4.5 hours is a long drive for apples.  However, it is only 30 minutes from Asheville, so it would be perfect for a weekend excursion to the mountains!



While we love Sky Top orchard, but we'd love to hear about your apple picking experiences as well and where else we could venture from Durham for some apple picking fun!

Website and other important information:

Website: http://skytoporchard.com/

Address: 1193 Pinnacle Mountain Road, Flat Rock, NC 28731

Phone Number: (828) 692-7930

Photos: 

 (Green apples-our favorite was the Mutsu variety.)

 (A few of the apple trees in the distance)

(Red apples-these were harder to find.)

  

(Fun on one of the play area near our picnic table.)

North Carolina Museum of Life and Science-A Tour

Stir Crazy Moms has posted on the Museum of Life and Science before, but that was a long time ago.  Since that time we have been to the museum many, many times, and we feel like we know it like the back of our hands.  We thought we had more information to share, so here we go...


What it is: The North Carolina Museum of Life and Science has been voted by our readers as their favorite museum in the area.  It is one of the best places to take kids in the area, period.  There are many different parts to the museum, and we will do our best to describe them. 

After we buy our tickets, our tour of the museum starts one of two ways.  If we would like to spend most of our time outside, we head to the right behind the ticket counter.  If we would like to do some inside touring, we head left.  When we head left we walk past the first room which can be filled with intriguing special exhibits, but is usually filled with tables where you can build block sculptures.  Up to this point, my kids have been a little too young to head into this room without knocking over something or chewing on it.  Perhaps soon we can explore it, but until that point we will move on to the next room, the weather room.

We love to stop in the weather room.  For a long time the cloud basin in this room was my son's favorite part of the museum period where he can dip his hand into the mist of a cloud.  There's also the platform where a tornado can be formed which I'm never sure whether the kids are aloud to stand on or not and several globes with swirly liquid to twirl around and explore. 

Next to the weather room is a room filled with all sorts of fun things to look at from sparking gemstones to dinosaur skulls.  When my son was younger, under two, we breezed past this room because there didn't seem to be much to hold his attention.  However, now that he's three, he's beginning to like to explore the room and examine all of it's exciting contents. 

Next to the rocks and dinosaur room is the Carolina Wildlife exhibit.  Both of my sons love this room.  You enter the doors and say hi to the owl.  Then you can enter the rest of the exhibit to say hi to snakes, alligators, frogs, turtles, possums, woodchucks, fish, and other North Carolina wildlife.  Many of the displays are conveniently set low to the ground so the youngest walkers and kids in strollers can take a peek more easily. 

After Carolina Wildlife comes the space area.  When my son was very young we didn't spend too much time in this area either because it didn't hold his interest.  Again, as he gets older he loves looking at the rockets, especially the one that you can actually walk into and press some buttons. 

From there you can choose to go upstairs.  Upstairs is an area that we haven't honestly explored as much as other areas of the museum.  There are some interactive exhibits with shadows, beads, sounds, and some other math concepts as well as a lab that is occasionally manned by museum staff.  It seems to us to be geared more for kids that are a little older, but please let me know if you have some favorite areas up there that we shouldn't miss.

From the space area and upstairs you can follow the museum around past the ant farm and bones exhibits which are fun to explore.  My oldest son has started to enjoy watching the ants while my youngest actually sat in the bin of bones and took a look at them for a long time last time we were there.

After the bones is one of the best areas for young children in the whole museum.  It's the kids' play area.  It is divided up into two parts, one for young toddlers and one for older kids.  The younger area is great because it's contained. This keeps this little ones in and the older ones out so that the young ones can get out of their strollers, stretch their legs, and play with locks on the wall, a little house and slide, and plenty of objects to touch, feel, and explore.  The older kid play area (which is still geared toward fairly young children) has a little rock wall, ball/pipe system on the wall, blocks, a kitchen area, and much more.  My kids typically spend a good amount of time in this part of the museum. 

After a stay at the kids area, you can stop at the nearby restrooms and drinking fountains and head outside.  When you first get outside you are greeted by a playground, which looks like fun, but my kids honestly haven't explored that much.  What does everyone think of it? 

The reason my kids don't typically explore the playground is because they make a beeline straight towards the pipes along the walkway where they can find sticks and hit them to make music to their hearts' content.  My sons usually make music all the way to the water fountain area which is off of the left where kids can pump and shoot water and even dip their toes into into a stream of water or head to the sandbox with diggers, shovels, and excavators galore.  Next to the sandbox is a real train caboose.  While the inside is nothing spectacular, this seems to be a must for any toddler train enthusiast. They love it.

After we've explored this area, we head on down the sidewalk to the farmyard.  In the farmyard, we enjoy saying hi to the donkey, goats, sheep, pigs, ducks, turkey, rabbits, and cows.  They are so used to people that they are, for the most part, usually out for everyone to view and not hiding.  This area is not quite as nicely paved as other parts of the museum, but it is still navigable for the strollers. While you're walking on the main sidewalk near the farm yard, make sure to look off to your other side and say hi to the museum train as is passes by, but we will tell you all about the train later.

After the farm yard, continue up the sidewalk to the butterfly pavilion.  We love this place!  There are two parts to the butterfly pavilion, the butterfly area, and a fairly large exhibit on creepy, crawly bugs.  There's also a gift shop where you can get all of your butterfly gear as well as restrooms and drinking fountains.  You enter the butterfly area through a series of doors meant to keep the butterflies in.  Once you enter you are in a rainforest complete with plants, a river, and butterflies flying all around.  There are even some birds that will scurry around your feet if you wait and watch closely.  It's a great place to sit on a bench and just watch.  You can even get lucky and show up when the caretakers are releasing new butterflies.  About half way around there's a wall where you can watch butterflies come out of their cocoon which is really interesting to see.  During certain seasons, you can head out a door at the back of the pavilion where you can see some more butterflies in an outdoor setting. 

Once you leave the butterflies you can head over to see the cages of creepy crawlies.  My son's favorite is always the colorful poisonous dart frogs, but you can also see ant farms, scorpions, centipedes, bugs that look like leaves, cockroaches, and more.  If you don't like bugs, this is definitely not the room for you!

After the butterfly pavilion, you can stop by Grayson's cafe and sit outside with a snack or meal.  Or you can just keep going to the train station.  Don't forget...you HAVE to buy your train tickets when you enter the museum.  You cannot get them at the station.  The train leaves every half hour and has a short 10-minute loop where you head through the trees, pass the dinosaur walk, then head through a tunnel (where you have to scream as loud as you can), and by the museum walkway.  The ride is short, but toddlers enjoy it.  I do have to say, however, that both of my boys cried when going through the tunnel when they were very young, so keep that in mind.  The museum offers several special events in relation to the train including the santa train and the new train ride to the pumpkin patch.  These are fun, but you have to watch out because they sell out FAST!

After the train, you reach the dinosaur trail.  The trail starts off with a model dinosaur that kids can touch and sit on.  Then, you follow the trail around and see models of many other dinosaurs that are just for watching.  I've found that the trail is a good length for new little walkers to practice stretching their legs.  We head around the loop to the left first which brings us back by the fossil dig area at the end of our loop.  This area is not so good for the littlest ones, but the older ones love it.  I think when my sons get even older they will enjoy it even more.  In the fossil dig area, you can take a shovel and dig for your own fossils.  I even occasionally get pretty into searching for a prize, including the shark teeth scattered in the area.  You can even take home your finds.  I recently read a story about someone that had found a fairly rare valuable fossil in the dig area.  Who knows what you'll find!

I have to say that we don't make it further than the dinosaur trail on a regular day, but the museum has plenty more to offer for the intrepid explorers.  From there, you can take one path to take a look at some animals or head the other way to explore the wind area of the museum.  This is all one big loop, but it is quite a bit of walking, so I would definitely have the stroller before attempting this part of the museum.  The animal area has bears, wolves, and lemurs and the wind area has some sailboats you can drive yourself and other experiments to explore the nature of wind. 

After the long walk back you can head inside the other door to the museum that you didn't take when you first went outside.  It's on the other side of the playground.  This one takes you back into the museum near the ticket counter.  It's the way we head when we want to spend most of our visit outside.  There's one more little stop before you make it back to the ticket counter and that's the music room.  They have a floor that tracks your steps and plays noises depending on the way you walk.  The kids love running around and playing some music on that floor.  Just a word of caution, make sure they don't go too fast because my son did have a pretty nasty collision with another toddler on that floor.

On your way out, if you're feeling brave, you can stop by the gift shop.  It's actually a nice gift shop, and I'm sure your kids will find all sorts of things they want there.  It's a pretty good place to get little, interesting gifts if you need them.

By this point in the day, you're probably hungry.  I know you probably wanted to bring in your lunch.  However, that's not allowed.  There is another option though.  You can head across the street past their overflow parking and they have a great pavilion with picnic tables where you can eat your picnic lunch after you explore the museum.  We've done this quite a few times.  If you do have time to combine your museum trip with another excursion, you can stop by Edison Johnson Park which is nearby, or get a sweet treat at the nearby Pelican's Sno Balls or Goodberry's. 

This is our take on the museum, but we would love the hear what you do when you go to the museum, especially any fun exhibits that we may have missed.  So, please share your comments!


What we liked: We LOVE the museum!  There's so much to do, and it's great to have a place where the kids can learn and explore so much right here in Durham.  Our advice would be to get the membership because admission can be expensive and it is definitely worth it $125 for 4 people for a year)!   They also have great special events and exhibits that are worth checking out, and kids can have birthday parties there for a fee.


What we would change: As we said, admission can be expensive (adults $12.95, children 3-12 $9.95, under 3 are free), but the membership can be a good option.  However, they offer free admission for Durham residents on Wednesday afternoons if you can't pay the admission price.  In addition, the outdoor areas can be a bit of walking, so be prepared for that if you want to check out those parts of the museum.

Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.ncmls.org/

Address: 433 W Murray Ave, Durham, NC 27704-3101

Phone Number: (919) 220-5429

Hours: Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 12pm-5pm (Closed Mondays at certain times of the year, so make sure to check before you head over on a Monday.)

Photos:  Coming soon! Hey, it gives us another chance to head back to the museum and have some more fun!

Shiki Sushi

My husband and I actually lived within a few miles of this restaurant for many years without ever stopping by.  We headed on over for our anniversary based on recommendations that we kept on getting from different people and had a great time.  I'm including it on the blog as a place to go for a great Moms Night Out.  However, I've heard from several people that they have taken their kids.  The verdict's still out on that one, so please weigh in and give us your comment if you have an opinion.


What it is: Shiki Sushi is a restaurant located in a the Homestead Market strip center, and it doesn't look like much from the outside. That's maybe why we waited too long to check it out.  However, when you walk inside it is much larger than you think and the ambiance is that of a nice restaurant.  They serve sushi and a wide variety of other Asian food.  We sampled several of their sushi selections as well as other entrees.  All of the food was delicious and we had a great date night out.

What we liked: We loved the surprise of finding this great restaurant hiding in our local strip center.  We also thought the atmosphere and quality of the food made this a great place for adults to have a nice relaxing night out.


What we would change: While we were there, we did see some families eating there.  However, the verdict is still out on whether this is a kid-friendly restaurant or not.  I don't think I would take my son because he is such a picky eater, but some kids might enjoy it.  Let us know your opinions.


Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.shikisushionline.com/

Address: 207 West Nc Highway 54, Durham, NC 27713-2491

Phone Number: (919) 484-4108

Hours: Open Weekdays 11am-2pm, 5pm-9pm; Weekends 12pm-8:45pm

And the Winner of our September Giveaway is...

I'm so happy to announce the randomly selected winner of our September giveaway, winning a birthday party at The Fun Zone, is Maureen Churchill!  If this is you, and you commented...

"What an amazing place. We would love to have a party there. I'm on my way to Facebook now to follow you!"

...simply send us an e-mail at scmomsgroup@gmail.com to claim your prize.  If you didn't win, don't worry, just wait till next month, we've got another great local giveaway in the works that you're bound to love!

North Cary Park

What it is:  As park season continues, we continue our exploration of any new and interesting park we can find.  This time we headed to North Cary Park.  It was a new and interesting park to check out and definitely had some different features that we hadn't seen before.  There was a good sized play structure to climb on, complete with mini zip rail for the older kids.  On the other side of the play area was a large sand pit with a house to play in and two diggers to sit on.  There were also two slides built into a hill so that kids could either climb steps to get to the top or just run up the hill to take their turn sliding down the slide.  Nearby there were several steep boulders for climbing.  This would definitely be for older children as the rocks were steep and tall.

What we liked: Our favorite part were the slides.  My son is a little scared of heights, so normal slides scare him a little.  Since these slides were build into the hill, they didn't feel like they were as high to him so he confidently ran up the hill and down the slide over and over again. 

What we would change: The boulders were an interesting feature, especially if you like rock climbing.  However, we would have liked it if there were some that toddlers could play on.  As an adult, I even had trouble climbing them.


Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.townofcary.org/Departments/Parks__Recreation___Cultural_Resources/Parks_and_Greenways/Parks/North_Cary_Park.htm

Address: 1100 Norwell Blvd, Cary, North Carolina 27513

Photos: 

 1. Slide built into the hill

 2. Sandy area

 3. Play structure

4. Boulders

Trader Joe's

**Welcome to our newest Stir Crazy Mom, Helene!  Here's her take on her most recent visit to Trader Joe's.  Thanks so much, and welcome to Stir Crazy Moms!

What is it: Trader Joes is a grocery chain that recently made its way to the Triangle. Trader Joe's is known for its low cost, high quality and wide variety grocery items. I always find something new and different to try. The store is also very kid friendly which makes it easier to get your shopping done too. They have a fresh produce section, packaged fresh meat, nuts and crackers, deserts, frozen dinner items galore, and a nice wine/beer section for the grownups (they are often sampling some too!). Their frozen meal options taste fantastic and are quick and easy for that busy day when you just don't have the time to cook. They also have awesome inexpensive (but high quality!) fresh flowers just when you walk in the store. It's always fun to stop and let your child smell the roses. There is always something new and different to try, so shopping is anything but boring!

Located in the Eastgate shopping plaza in Chapel Hill, Trader Joes is easily accessible from 15/501 and I-40. There is also a plethora of other interesting shops nearby.

What we liked: We love the "Customer in Training" shopping carts. They are a perfect size for your toddler or preschooler and allows them to push their own cart of groceries - surprises for Mom and Dad are sure to be picked up! My daughter loves to "help out" with our shopping, get her own snack and drink and tote them around the store. We also love the lively atmosphere, food sampling in the back of the store, and pocket friendly prices! You can enter to win $100 if you bring in your own grocery bag too. The Trader Joes team is super friendly and it's never hard to find someone to help you find what you need.

What we would change: The store can get pretty busy on the weekends making navigating the store difficult for your child and their cart. The store is also on the smaller side as well so that adds to the crowding and long lines/waits at checkout. The shopping center can also get pretty crowded making getting out (back onto 15/501 or Franklin St) take a bit longer. There aren't that many "Customer in Training" carts so you may need to ask if you don't see them.

Website and other information:

Website: http://www.traderjoes.com

Address: 1800 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill

Photos:

1. View from parking lot

2. Fresh Produce

3. Frozen food isle, some snacks and treats on shelves above

 

4. Toddler-in-Training cart out front

Lowe's Hardware-A Stir Crazy Dad's Opinion

**Take a look at our newest Stir Crazy Dad, Scott's take on a trip to one of our favorite stores-Lowe's.  Thanks, Scott!  Turns out it's a great place for toddlers to explore (with a little adult guidance).  For a little more Lowe's fun, check out our post on their "tractors".

What it is: Almost everyone knows what a Lowe's is, but now that we've got a toddler in tow, we thought we'd take her along to enjoy it and gain a fresh perspective on home improvement. It turned out to be a pretty good place for kids to learn and play!

What we liked: The paint aisle was fantastic. Our little one had the opportunity to get ahead of her peers by learning all the colors. Talk about prepared for Preschool! In the lighting aisles, our toddler enjoyed riding on Daddy's head and pulling on the sparkling chandeliers to hear them rattle. Lowe's also has an excellent selection of wooden blocks - some of the biggest we've seen. Many of them were too high up for our little one to grasp, but they provide a forklift for retrieving them and stacking them... and knocking them down again!



What we would change: Near the front of the store there was a good selection of our favorite Makita and Doug toys, but most of them were placed out of reach. We would have enjoyed letting our toddler try cutting out her alphabet with the skill saw, but holding her up that high gets pretty tiring.





Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.lowes.com/

Address: 4402 Fayetteville Road, Durham or 117 William Penn Plaza, Durham

Hours: M-Th 7 a.m. - 9 p.m., Fri-Sa 7 a.m. - 10 p.m., Su 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. (These are the specific hours of the Fayetteville Rd. location)

September Giveaway-Birthdays at The Fun Zone

At last, it's time for another awesome giveaway from a fabulous local Durham business.  We are so lucky that The Fun Zone is generous enough to offer us a giveaway for the second time!  The Fun Zone offers drop off child care in downtown Durham as well as birthday parties and continues to be one of our most popular postings of all time. 

For our September giveaway, The Fun Zone is offering one of their basic birthday packages.  With this package you can have 2 hours of birthday celebration at The Fun Zone for up to 10 kids.  There, they can have fun with all the great toys and activities that The Fun Zone has to offer.  When the weather is nice they can also bring the fun outdoors for more riding fun.  This birthday party package is geared toward children ages 2-6 years old.  Check out their website for all the details! 

To enter this awesome giveaway simply comment on this post.  If you are a facebook, twitter, or blogger follower/fan, let us know in your comment to gain an extra entry for each.  If you're not a follower or fan, simply become one and let us know in your comment to gain those extra entries.  You will have until next Wednesday September 14 at midnight to enter.  Then, the winner will be drawn randomly and announced.  Once the winner is announced they have a week to respond before a new winner in chosen.

Thanks for being such wonderful readers, and enjoy this great giveaway from a great local Durham business!

Navitat

With Labor Day, came the itch to get out of town and go on an adventure.  So, this Stir Crazy Mom decided to head out to the mountains for a little vacation.  This destination is a little further afield, but great for an adult's getaway adventure or a new experience with your family with older children.


What it is: Navitat offers canopy tours in the mountains of North Carolina via zip lines, rappelling, and suspension bridges.  It is located about half an hour north of Asheville.  So, it's probably about 4 hours away from Durham, great for a weekend getaway.   We headed out there on Saturday morning and had a fabulous experience.  They've only been open about a year and a half and stress an environmentally friendly adventure experience.  While I went with my husband and left the kids at home, you can take anyone over 90 lbs on the trip.

We spent 3.5 hours hopping from tree to tree in the beautiful North Carolina forest.  There were 10 zip lines ranging from 100 to over 1000 feet.  The tallest tree platform is 50 ft. and the highest off the ground that we were on a zip line was 250 ft, but don't worry, there are plenty of harnesses and buckles to keep you safe.  You don't need any particular skill to enjoy the day, just a willingness to learn.  When you're soaring between the trees at speeds of up to 40 miles an hour, you realize how great of an experience your having.

What we liked: The experience was great!  It felt relatively safe while still exciting at the same time.  We liked how we were also able to learn something about the forest while we were on the tour.  We enjoyed this as a chance to get away as a couple and reconnect.  However, I can also see how this would be a great experience for the whole family to do together.


What we would change: Of course, the most difficult part of this adventure for us Durhamites is the distance.  It's a bit of a trip, but it's worth it.  Besides, there's so much to do in the Asheville area that  there will be plenty of other activities with which to fill your trip.  In addition, it's not cheap.  The 3.5 hour canopy tour is $90 a person.


Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.navitat.com/

Address: 242 Poverty Branch Rd., Barnardsville, NC 28709

Phone Number: 828-626-3700


Photos: 

 1. One of the suspension bridges

 2. One of the highest zip lines on the course (The tiny speck in the middle is my husband flying across.)

 3. One of the platforms

4. Our guide zip lining across

Kelly Road Park

What it is:  One of our friends spotted this park while on a bike ride.  Even though it was a bit of a drive (off of Hwy. 64 in Apex), we decided to check it out, and boy are we glad we did!  This has got to be one of my favorite parks in the area already!  Kelly Road Park is made mostly of wood.  There are two different sections-one for the bigger kids, and one for the toddlers.  Both areas are full of wooden platforms, pathways, bridges, ramps, and countless hiding spots.  This playground has swings, sandboxes, a model wood boat, cargo nets, rings, covered picnic tables, vending machines for drinks, restrooms, and anything else you and your child's hearts could desire in a playground.  We loved it!  There were so many different nooks and crannies to hide and play in that we definitely didn't discover them all in one trip.  We will certainly be heading back there soon!


What we liked:  It is such a unique playground.  I haven't seen any other ones like this in the area.  The sheer amount of *stuff* to climb and play on will lead to endless entertainment for kiddos.  It was also nice that they had two separate play areas for the different ages, but my little ones spent most of their time on the big play area anyway.

What we would change: It is a sunny playground, so make sure to have sunblock and a hat.  It would be perfect for a shady or cooler day.  Watch out for the ants!  We made the mistake of setting our diaper bags down on the ground.  When we picked them up, the ants had already made their way in and found the snacks.  Closed-toed shoes would also be recommended for that reason.

Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.apexnc.org/services/parks-recreation-cultural-resources/park-facilities/kelly-road-park

Address: 1609 Kelly Road, Apex, NC 27502

Photos:

 1. The play area for older kids-doesn't that just look fun?

 2. Another view

 3. The area for younger kids

4. A close up of one of the structures

Whippoorwill Park

What it is: We hit this park up on a day when we were exploring all of the fun that North Durham has to offer.  It definitely would have been great to pair up with a stop by Pelican's Sno Balls which is just around the corner!  This was a nice big playground set back away from the road in the trees.  It also has some tennis courts and a baseball field.  The playground itself has two structures-a bigger one for the older children and one geared towards the younger kids.  There were also swings and benches for everyone to enjoy.  My kids enjoyed both structures-the younger one was definitely good for my one year old.  They were fairly typical play structures, but the kids enjoyed them.


What we liked:  The playground was big and had a lot of space.  The structures were also interesting and had enough to keep our kids entertained.


What we would change: We went the day after Hurricane Irene visited and there was a lot of mud that had drifted down from the hills to the edges of the playground. While I feel like it wouldn't be that bad if the weather was drier, I don't think that mud was just a result of the recent rain and it might be a little bit of a problem at other times.

Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.ci.durham.nc.us/gis_apps/parkapp/park.cfm?selVal=park&ParkNam=WHIPPOORWILL+PARK

Address: 1632 ROWEMONT DRIVE 27705

Photos:

 1. A view of the whole playground

 2. The structure for the big kids

3. The smaller play area