A great place to go: Firefly Play Cafe

Terra G. shares with us a great new addition to Columbus, Firefly Play Cafe. Offering green play toys and wide open spaces for running and scooters, as well as free WiFi and coffee and lots of space for parents to relax... what's not to love about it?! Actually, there is more to love and Terra tells us all about it below.

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Firefly Play Café (www.fireflyplaycafe.com) is a new addition to Columbus, and offers a great alternative for moms (or dads) to another afternoon with the little ones tearing the house apart while you wish you could get out or accomplish something. The space is designed for kids ages 2 to 5 to run, climb, slide, bounce, read, draw or pretend play while parents or caregivers enjoy a coffee bar, tables, sofas and free WiFi.

Located in a storefront in Beechwold, Firefly is open and inviting, offering climbing structures, a slide, dress up clothes, educational toys, a chalkboard playhouse, scooters, books and a bounce house. I stopped in on a whim after an early release from preschool, knowing the alternative was a LONG afternoon cooped up in our house. This was a great option because I was able to pay my bills – which at home the girls would never let me get away with, but at Firefly they were so occupied discovering new things, they totally ignored me – have something to drink, and catch up on email while the girls played themselves silly. While I was there, a playgroup of about six moms showed up with their little ones, and it seems like a perfect place for it, especially when the weather turns cold and rainy.

In addition to free play, Firefly offers classes like mom-and-kid yoga, art, painting and clay.

Here are some photos of my girls having a great time (look at how wide open it is and how fun the toys are!):

Hours are 9:30-5:30 most weekdays, until 8pm on Wednesdays, and 10-1 on Saturday.

Pricing is $5 all day for the first kid and $3 for additional, if they are two or older. Younger kids are $3.

Classes are around $7-12 each.

Healthy snacks, coffee, juice and water is available for $1 each.

Address: Firefly Play Café 4822 N High St (next to the Verizon store) – enter from the parking lot in back

On Facebook: Firefly Play Cafe.

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Thanks Terra! Does anyone have other places in the Columbus area that are great to take the kids (of any age) during the quickly approaching colder months? Comment below or send us a post! columbusmultiples@gmail.com

Young's Jersey Dairy - a fun day trip for everyone!

Terra G., a CMOTC mom, is sharing with us one of her family’s favorite little getaway from Columbus places – Young's Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs Ohio.

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One of our favorite little getaways from Columbus is Young’s Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs. Just under an hour away, the Dairy features two restaurants, mini-golf, batting cages, a petting zoo, a little kids’ play area and a 30-foot slide for the bigger kids. Year-round the Dairy is known for its fabulously creamy ice cream, offered in a huge number of flavors. You could spend an hour visiting the animals and playing outside, followed up with lunch at the snack bar or adjoining Golden Jersey Inn restaurant, or a scoop or cone of their homemade ice cream. There are a lot of events year round, including a pumpkin patch in the fall.

The ice cream shop - which has a ton of fantastic flavors, along with Gelato and Sorbetto.

The petting barn is free and features cows and goats to pet and feed, many of which had little babies when we were visiting. Outside there are some tractors to climb on, and for a small fee, little kids can play in the Kiddie Korral. Featuring a huge sandbox filled with corn, little trykes, hay bales and slides and a bouncy house, this area is completely covered from the weather and offers a perfect diversion for the little ones. There is a modest entry fee, which includes a free ride on the Moovers and Shakers train – 10 cars made out of barrels pulled by a tractor around the farm and through the corn fields.

Charlotte at the petting barn.

Moovers and Shakers train.

Charlotte riding a tryke.

Charlotte and Veronica in the huge sandbox filled with corn.

This is a great little getaway when you want to get the kids out of town and do something different. You could make a day of it by following your visit to the Dairy with lunch at the adjacent Golden Jersey Inn, a cute little family friendly country-style restaurant at the other end of the complex. Or, plan your trip via I-71 and visit the outlets at Jeffersonville on your way back. Just south of the dairy is the town of Yellow Springs, which is a cute little college town with a couple of nice restaurants (try the Winds Café), coffee shops and health food stores. Just outside of town is a state park and nature preserve, and the entire length of US-68 between Xenia and Springfield features a really nice bike trail.

Young’s Jersey Dairy

6880 Springfield Xenia Road

Yellow Springs, OH

http://youngsdairy.com/

Have fun!

Terra

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Do you have any family favorite day trips (or local)? Please consider writing something up to share with all of us! Contact us at columbusmultiples@gmail.com. Or comment below with with the name and details of your family fun spot!

Macaroni Kid: a great resource for local activities

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a great resource called Macaroni Kid. My neighbor actually tipped me off to this resource by forwarding the weekly email she got when she signed up to get their newsletter, which was packed full of fun things to do in our area.

From their website, they describe the site as "Macaroni Kid and its family of Publisher Moms are dedicated to delivering the scoop on all the family-friendly events and activities happening in their communities each week."

For our area, it appears they have NE Columbus (which includes the NE section of the city from Polaris/Sunbury all the way over to Reynoldsburg/Pataskala), North West Columbus (Worthington all the way over to Hilliard) and South Columbus covered. I have received two of these newsletter emails so far and love them. You will find everything from fun and free library and metro park programs, to kids eat free nights at local restaurants or free movie days at local theaters, to local festivals, to new exhibits at local attractions (like Franklin Conservatory, COSI, etc), to local festivities, and much, much more. It includes things for all ages from small children to teens, as well as child based to family fun activities/events/programs. All gathered and emailed right to you (if you subscribe to the email), how convenient and easy is that?! Or you can opt to check the website every week, rather than get the email if you prefer.

The other great feature is "My Macaroni." As you see events/activities that you like in the list, you can add them to "My Macaroni." Once you are done picking the things you want to do that week, you can click on "My Macaroni" throughout the week as needed for planning. Or you can create a pdf of that list and print it for your reference. It's great!

You can view your local events and activities on their website (what you see there is essentially what you will get every week in the newsletter as well). Here are the local Macaroni Kid sites:

NE Columbus

North West Columbus

South Columbus

There are also many other locations in Ohio that are covered, as well as most other states. Use the main website to find areas other than what I listed above. This would be great for finding fun kid activities where your planning to vacation too!

If you haven't yet checked this site out, you should. It is a great resource!

Farmers Markets

Farmers markets are great places to get the freshest and best quality produce, meat, eggs, cheese, bake goods, honey, maple syrup and preserves/sauces (as well as many other things!). Many times your produce, if not the other products too, are also cheaper than supermarkets. In addition to that, there are many more benefits. Like, you get to know (and trust) the people who are growing/raising/making the food that you feed your family, you are supporting local business, you are reducing your carbon footprint, and, in many cases, you are reducing the unneeded additives in your family's diet (from artificial coloring/flavoring, to preservatives, insecticides, hormones, etc) just to name a few.

Not to mention it's also great for your children. No doubt my five year old's favorite person is Ms. Sue of Sue's Kitchen at our farmers market. She makes the most incredible pies we have ever had (no kidding, they are amazing and I had never been a huge pie fan before). Aside from that, even though he is shy, when we are eating the food we buy from the market every week, he is talking about all the farmers or bakers that we bought it from. We have also visited a few of the farmers from our local farmer's market for their u-pick seasons, maple syrup festivals, fall parties, etc. This year we are going to visit them and help in the garden or the barn for an hour or two as well, as most farmers welcome you to visit and help (even if you aren't in a CSA). It's just a great way to teach your children so much, in additional to all the other fantastic benefits of buying from farmers markets.

Below is a comprehensive list of farmer's markets in Central Ohio, which was created by restaurantwidow.com.

Tuesdays
Worthington:: This year marks the first weekday market in Worthington! 4pm - 7pm at the Sharon Memorial Hall, 137 E Dublin Granville (161)

Downtown:: Pearl Alley Market 10:30am - 2pm on Pearl between (and including) Broad and Gay Streets. This market features tons of food vendors and makes a refreshing change for lunch breaks. Park on Long or Spring and walk if you don't like looking for parking.

Hilliard:: 4pm - 7pm this market begins on June 15th, Corner of Main & Center Streets.

Wednesdays
Dublin:: 4pm - 7pm at the Dublin Community Church, 81 W Bridge St (161, just west of Dublin Road in Old Dublin). This market has grown to 15 vendors, and there is plenty of easy parking lot parking for those who might skip other markets because of heavy traffic. There is a gluten-free bakery, a bonus for many people.

Westerville:: 3pm - 6pm at the corner of N. State and E Home streets (uptown Westerville). Strangely, this is one market I have never been to, owing to the fact that I've worked Wednesday nights pretty consistently since beginning RW. I have a friend who lives in Westerville, however, and she likes this market a lot.

Creekside (Downtown Gahanna):: 4pm-6pm beginning June 30th. This market includes crafts and jewelry as well as produce. Going to Creekside is like a little vacation, especially if you live in an urban area. It's really charming. That being said, I haven't been to this market yet. If you go, please let me know how it is.

Athens Farmer's Market:: 10am - 1pm 1000 E State St in Athens (about 1 hour SE of Columbus) Athens is widely considered to be the Berkeley of Ohio - they have an amazing food scene for being a small college town.

Upper Arlington Farmer's Market:: 3:30pm - 6:30pm Mallway Park, 2096 Arlington Avenue.


Thursdays
Blendon Township:: 3pm - 6pm. this is a brand new market for 2010, so that's cool. This market is located in Southern Westerville, at 6350 Hempstead Road.

15th St Market:: I am super excited about this market, because it is the closest to home, and I have Thursdays off throughout this summer! woohoo! I am also excited that students might be encouraged to shop for local produce.

Downtown Powell Market (Far North):: 3pm - 6pm in the Municipal Building, 47 Hall St


Fridays
Carrousel District Farmer's Market (Mansfield):: 4 W 4th St 9am - 2pm

Downtown:: Pearl Alley Market 10:30am - 2pm on Pearl between (and including) Broad and Gay Streets. This market features tons of food vendors and makes a refreshing change for lunch breaks. Park on Long or Spring and walk if you don't like looking for parking.

Saturdays
Jefferson Community Market (NE side):: 9am - noon at Jefferson Community Park 7494 Clark State Road. This market begins June 12th. Yet another I haven't visited! I might have to take a road trip one of these Saturday Mornings.

Logan County:: 8:30am - noon at the corner of S Detroit and Chillocothe streets in downtown Bellefontaine.

Main Street Market::(Canal Winchester) 9am - 1pm 36 S High St in CW.

Athens Farmer's Market::10am - 1pm 1000 E State St in Athens (about 1 hour SE of Columbus) Pretty much considered to be one of the best markets in the state of Ohio. One of the only places I know of where you can buy shrimp at a farmer's market.

Worthington:: 9am - noon probably the largest in Central Ohio; definitely one of my favorites. It seems this market grows by leaps and bounds every year. You can find everything here and there is frequent entertainment. Numerous special events throughout the year and other shopping whilst cruising the market.

Clintonville:: 9am - noon Just south of High & North Broadway.

North Market:: 8am - noon and beyond, usually there is entertainment and there are also frequent special events with chefs cooking.

Another benefit that we take advantage of is that many of the meat/poultry and egg farmers will deliver to you all winter long. It might only be once a month, but you can continue to enjoy their farm fresh product and it's so worth it! In addition, many of the bakers or makers of other products (preserves, maple syrup, soap, candles, etc.), will also make product for you in the winter by request.


If you haven't been to a farmer's market yet - go! If you frequent one, or many, and have some tips, advice, favorites, missing info, please share!

Strawberry picking time!

One of my all time favorite things to do with our children is visit pick your own farms. We love berry (any kind) picking, apple, pear and peach picking and pumpkin picking... of course! It's a fun family activity that not only supports local farmers and reduces our carbon footprint, but also gives us the freshest and best product at a fraction of the price. Can't go wrong there! Additionally, these annual fruit (of all types) picking adventures have also become a much anticipated fun family tradition.

We took our three boys (5 and twin 2s) strawberry picking last weekend and they had a great time both picking and eating... okay, more the latter. For this outing we went to Legend Hills Orchard in Utica, OH., which we have also been to for apple picking in the past. They have a large field with many ripe strawberries. This is the beginning of their season, so there are a few more weeks to take advantage of their strawberries.

I like this orchard because it is more remote than some of the other strawberry fields in the Central Ohio area and therefore tends to be less crowded. Another key: the earlier in the day you get there, the better not only for crowds but also for the best berries (in the afternoon heat they get softer and more delicate). They also have a farm market where they sell cheese, pre-picked berries as well as other fruit, jams and a lot of other items. As well, there is an Amish family that sells their baked goods and other products right in front of the store.

If you are looking for that great place to pick strawberries near you, the website that I have used for years to find places to pick fruit is Pick Your Own. This site breaks down by county. When you find the county you want, read the description of what each farm grows to find the ones with strawberries. The vital info on the farms will be listed, as well as customer comments and links to their websites.

Though I haven't been to these specifically for strawberry picking season, I hear that Circle S and Jacquemin Farms are both good places to pick strawberries as well. I have also bought great strawberries from Doran's at our local farmer's market, they have pick your own at their farm too. All four of these, including Legend Hills, (and more) are listed on the Pick Your Own website.

I also found two helpful links on strawberry tips, here and here, which include best times to pick, what to look for, how to store and freeze, how to make jam and many other things.

Happy picking!

Wendy

www.themooressix.blogspot.com

My family enjoying our strawberry picking adventure:

How about you? Do you have a favorite strawberry farm? Or a favorite strawberry season family tradition? Tell us about it!

More Fun With Kids!

The Works- http://www.attheworks.org/
This is similar to Cosi but on a much smaller scale. The cool thing about The Works is that a family membership is only $60. With this membership you are able to get into Cosi and thousands of other science museums around the country and several other countries. We have used it for ones in Cleveland, Nashville, Dayton and Helena, Montana. We have paid for the membership several times over with getting in free at all the different museums.

Columbus Metro Library-
The downtown branch has several great activities through the summer.

Alum Creek State Park
Many great areas to go exploring, fishing, boat rentals and the beach. I have found that this beach gets a little crowded for us, but we have usually been there on the weekend. It may not be bad during the week.

Columbus Museum of Art -
Admission is free on Thursdays.

Discover Ohio- http://www.discoverohio.com/
The website is filled with lots to things to do. For instance I found that this weekend in Cincinnati there is an exhibit on butterflies of Japan down in Cincinnati. They will also send you a free packet with tons of info and maps.

Rising Park -Lancaster, OH
We go here often. My parents moved down here about 2 years ago. The city has completely redone the playground and it is wonderful and picnic areas. My boys could play here for hours. There is also a pond for fishing, tennis courts, basketball, and horse shoes. And don't forget about the hike to the top of Mount Pleasant. Just a word of advice. This hike is really steep and there are very limited hand rails when you get to the top. So please watch your children very closely.

Thanks to CMOTC mom Mahala for sharing these fun summertime activities with us!

AHA Museum - a hidden treasure in Central, Ohio

Michelle S., a CMOTC mom, is sharing with us one of her children’s favorite places – the AHA (A Hands-on Adventure) Museum.

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My children love the AHA museum and therefore I wanted to share it with all of you, as it is hidden treasure that not many know.

I’ll start with the general information:
It’s located in Lancaster, OH and the drive is a little less than an hour from Columbus, depending on where you live.

Cost: $5.00 per person
Discounts: COSI members get $2.00 off and there is also a coupon in Entertainment book for a $1.00 off

Website: http://www.aha4kids.org/
There is a calendar on the website which lists special events/activities. Hours: Monday through Saturday 10am-4pm

Now onto some of my tips:
No food allowed in play space, although we packed a snack and ate at the craft tables. They do have picnic tables outside if you would like to pack a lunch or eat snack there. They also have lockers and they are free for use.

There is one entrance into the building and it is easy to keep an eye on both (or more) of your children at the same time, which is a huge bonus (and relief if you brought them by yourself).

There is also free parking on the side of the building.

In addition, there is a Metro Park (Chestnut Ridge) a short distance from the museum on Rt. 33 which would be a great place to take a picnic and eat on your way home from the museum.

Kid endorsed:
My twins are 2 1/2 years old and LOVED the AHA museum. They enjoyed the honeycomb climbing set, theater, pretend play (bank, market and pizza shop), garden zone, fishing boat, sand play and legos. Actually there wasn't anything they did not like, in fact I had to take them out of there kicking and screaming.

Enjoy!
Michelle

My twins thoroughly enjoying the fun:

I'm Bored...Relieving the Summer Blahs

This is the beginning of what we hope to be a multi-part post regarding the Summer Blahs. If you have kids (and we know you do!) you know what we mean. School is out for just a few days and kids are already stir crazy.

Member Holly Bowman has posted a few ideas to keep those Summer Blahs at bay. If you have a few ideas of your own, we'd love to hear from you.

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In our family we spend the weekend on adventures. We pick an activity from some of the choices below and go see what they have to offer. We usually pack a picnic to save money and enjoy finding out more about Ohio. I was asked to post some of the suggestions so here they are. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Factory Tours: http://www.factorytoursusa.com/
Ohio Festivals: http://www.ohiotraveler.com/

Buck Creek State Park: www.ohiodnr.com/parks
has a large beach, camping and many other activities- it is about 45 minutes west of Columbus off of I-70.

Hocking Hills State Park: In addition to the great trails there is a nice pool there too. I believe it was $12 for 4 of us last year. They have a large section that is only 2-3 foot deep then it gradually gets deeper and then has 2 slides in the deep end. We like to go for a good hike and then spend the afternoon at the pool.

Young's Dairy- http://www.youngsdairy.com/
If you go to Buck Creek you must travel the additional 20 minutes to this great ice cream place. In addition to great ice cream you can see them milk the cows whose milk they use for the ice cream and pet goats. They also have many other things to do that are free. They also have putt-putt and some other activities that they charge for. They have to restaurants one is a fast food type in with the ice cream parlor. The other is a sit down family friendly restaurant called the Golden Jersey. They have really good food.

Slate Run Metro Park-http://www.metroparks.net/
Really any of the Columbus Metro parks are great. They offer lots of activities to do. We have tried several of the things lead by the naturalist and have really enjoyed them.

Wright Patterson Air Force Museum- Dayton.OH
Admission is free. They just ask for a donation at the end. If you can great if not they don't mind.

Disc golf- http://www.pdga.com/
There are hundreds of disc golf courses in Ohio and all over the country. My husband has been into disc golf since the 80's when he was stationed in California. We have been taking our boys out with us since they were 2. It is a great way for the family to get some lite exercise and enjoy the outdoors. If anyone has any questions about this sport let me know and my husband will be happy to answer them.

KINGDOM of BOUNCE

Here is a deal I found at 610WTVN.

Half price Kingdom of Bounce. Spend $25 and get a $50 gift card to use on birthday parties, Open Bounce and more.

Great deal if you plan to go here a lot.