The Park: Clayton Community Park

Goodmorning lovlies. Just a quick little snippet today about the Clayton Community Park located right next to the Clayton Community Center. Since my family lives outside of Raleigh this park is great for anyone living in the Clayton/Garner area. It's right behind the Little Gym in Clayton.

I love this park to take the kids to and have a little picnic and playtime. It has two playgrounds which is nice because one is a little bit bigger and geared towards the older kiddos and the other is a short walk away but slightly smaller for the slightly smaller ones. There's some great climbing structures for them to play on, slides, a large sandbox, swings and a pretty large shaded picnic area. Along with the playgrounds there is also two sand volleyball courts, baseball fields, tennis courts, and a half mile paved path that goes around the park and a large pond. 

The park isn't very shaded expect for around the pond so don't forget to pack and put on your sunscreen. Overall though, the park is great and a great way to spend a couple of hours with the kids. Sometimes I'll pack up their bikes to ride around the path while I trail behind :)

Clemmons State Educational Forest

I love Clemmons State Educational Forest!

 It is a great place to pass a couple of hours with D and enjoy the outdoors. A former CCC camp, Clemmons has four trails that loops around the forest and one takes you by a small lake located in the park.

D's favorite trail is the "Talking Tree" trail which is about a mile long. There are posts with buttons that when pushed talk to you about a tree that has marker on it. It's great, you learn a little more every time you go!

There is also a "Talking Rock" trail which is part of the larger geology trail and then there is the exhibition trail. I believe both the rock and geology trail are around a mile and the exhibition trail is the longest, a little over three miles.

All in all Clemmons is great! It's pretty much a shaded walk the entire time so we've never got too hot. It would also be a great place for an afternoon run. The park rangers are amazingly nice. The second time I took D there I lost my eyeglasses and no lie they called me and told me they found them almost a month later!!!

Please take your little ones here, have fun and learn a little bit about the outdoors while your at it!

Case of the Mondays

Ok, for those of you who know me, I hate Mondays. Not only because it's the end of the weekend and back to work, but also because most of the places to take the kids to are closed. I'm not sure why but Jumpin' Jax, Marbles, Tag Ur It, and on and on all close on Mondays... maybe they have the Mondays too. Anyways, on these days I usually struggle to find something to do with D.

We used to go to the Little Gym on Mondays for a morning class but D has outgrown them/taken most of the classes there so now I need to find a filler for that time. 

Here is just a little list of things we do sometimes on Monday and I frequently come to consult my list:

-Take it easy, relax, watch Nick Jr and snuggle for awhile and play.
- Go to the park and have a picnic lunch (if the weather is nice)
- Visit the train station or airport
- Go for a walk or bike ride
- Go swimming at the Smithfeild Aquatic Center or HealthQuest (also in Smithfeild)
- Story time at the library
- Bowling
- Go to the movies


I like to save things like bowling for when I have both C and D, that way it's a little more fun and the game doesn't go by so fast!

All in all, every Monday rolls around and I'm stuck saying the same thing every week. What to do? What to do?

Jumpin Jax' in Garner, NC

I love this place. It is so cool and fun for the kids. There are three bounce houses and my favorite, a two-foot climbing structure that will wear those kids out! I can usually take D there on a Friday morning and he will play and play and play for about two hours. After that we get hungry and hit the Andy's down the road.

But this place is cool. They do have a little snack bar with decent prices. Watch out for the little quarter game machines though, C and D both pester me to play the games every time we go and boy is that annoying! Oh well, the place is great. Take your kids, have fun, and look forward to the nap later that afternoon.






Also, there is an Andy's right next store and is D's favorite place to eat lunch now. Kid's meals come in a cardboard car which adds that special touch while were out.