It’s Spring Break this week for LPS, and while that doesn’t mean a whole lot of change in our weekly routine, it does mean that the Tredways are available for an adventure. When Rebecca suggested that we take a day this week and get out of town, I was all over it faster than you can say, well, I don’t know . . . something you can say very fast.
We chose Nebraska City as our destination, specifically the Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure (or “a great big treehouse” for ease of explaining to the kids). Simon was so excited the night before that he could hardly sleep, and I so wish I could see how he pictured it in his four-year-old imagination.
After a windy picnic, we were ready to head to the treehouse. There is a shorter, paved loop and a longer (2/3-mile) woodchip path. Rebecca and I easily decided on the longer path, thinking the hike would get the kids good and tired. And (foreshadowing) we also thought that we would be just fine ourselves—less than a mile walk? Easy peasy. We started off bravely.
There is a ton of neat stuff along the path—a willow-branch fort, stuff to climb on and stuff to climb through, several art installments, educational stations with information about the birds and other wildlife, gnomes (of course), a lesser treehouse, and bridges and kissing trees and loops that go nowhere. What I really like about the place is that it is fun for a wide range of ages—Ian at 2, Simon at 4, and Liv at 7 all seemed to be having equally good times.
It was a beautiful day, the kids were enjoying themselves and each other, and we felt like supermommys for having the kids outside and active for so long. And while all of that was true, our one misstep was underestimating the heat (it was in the 80s. In March). We didn’t bring any water with us, and we were all sorry for it.
About three quarters of the way through our 2/3 mile, we made the mistake of sitting down to rest. Ian started wandering down the path the wrong way, and there was little I could do to persuade him to continue with us. Finally, he asked, “Go my house?” And I realized that was the key to moving him forward. “Yes, buddy, we are going home.” So we marched on a little ways, and then I realized he was just kind of repeating the same words over and over: “My hooow [my house]. Thuhssy [thirsty]. Choc meee-o [chocolate milk or, you know, something better for him]. My hooow. Thuhssy. Choc meee-o.” It was awfully cute and rather pathetic. It was definitely naptime, and the sweet little guy quite possibly has never walked so far at once. Poor kid.
All of us were greatly revived by bottles of water from the gift shop and some more fun play at the Nature Classroom. (I didn’t get any pics this time, but they have a really fabulous xylophone that Ian especially loved.)
While Ian and I and Clara missed the actual treehouse in our desperate need for water and a diaper change, the big kids found it and from Simon’s account, it did not disappoint. Ian was really none the wiser, and we all had a really great time, hot weather and all. We piled back in the car satisfied and tired—the good kind of tired—and perhaps the best part was that Rebecca and I still had an hour of adult conversation to look forward to while the kids were safely buckled in and conked out in the back.
Visitor Information: The Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure is open Monday through Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 5pm (I believe the hours are longer in the summer). Admission is $6.50 for adults, $4.50 for kids 3 to 12, and FREE for kids 2 and under.
Twenty minutes in the butterfly house on our way out of the zoo this morning transformed a cranky, whiny kid who didn’t want to walk on his own into a compliant and helpful older brother who then didn’t throw the usual I-don’t-WANT-to-go-home tantrum and (after watching the train pass by twice) got into the van and let me buckle him in with nary a complaint. Amazing. (And totally worth this pregnant mama throwing up when we got home because I didn’t get my lunch on time and got too hungry.)
Despite the heat, we had a great day at Lauritzen Gardens and the Durham Museum for this year’s Railroad Days.
More pics of the day on Flickr.
I almost hesitate to gush too much about the Digging Park (known to most as the Natural Play Area at Pioneers Park Nature Center) because it truly is one of Lincoln’s best kept secrets, and there’s part of me that wants to keep it a secret. Truth be told, though, I think there’s some kind of space-time warp because it seems that I talk to plenty of people who know about it and love playing there and yet eight or nine times out of ten, we have the place to ourselves. In the two years since we first discovered it, we have spent more happy hours than I could possibly count digging, building, splashing (well, not so much splashing).
Our primary activity most days, as you might have guessed, is digging. There is a huge sandbox (or dirtbox, more accurately), and you don’t even have to bring your own tools. They have plenty of shovels, rakes, trowels, yogurt containers, and those whatchamacalits, the plastic things that go under plants to catch water. And sticks. You do have to bring your own snacks, though.
Beyond the digging area, there are also bunches of other things to explore, including a stage, a fort, a great big fallen log, a table with chairs made of stumps, and lots of open spaces filled with bugs and plants and rocks and sticks and whatnot. In terms of opportunities for unstructured play, the place is a jackpot.
One of the things that I appreciate most about the Digging Park is that it works for all ages. Ian is as happy digging and stacking wood blocks as Simon is jumping off the benches and climbing through the log. And I’ve found that we can easily spend two to three hours at a time once or twice a week without the kids even approaching boredom with the place. It seems to keep us busy longer than playground-type parks (though we like those a lot too).
Another bonus in my book is that there’s always plenty of shade. I hate, hate, hate the heat of midsummer in Nebraska, and if I’m going to be outside then, it’s more bearable at the Digging Park than it is most other places.
We haven’t done much exploring around the rest of the Nature Center, but I understand there is a whole network of paths. Perhaps this summer if Ian decides he’s going to learn to walk, we’ll venture onto them as well.
Visitor Information: The Nature Center is open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
More Digging Park photos here.
Somewhere in my parents’ basement is a picture of me when I was about Simon’s age standing in front of the giant rhino they used to have in Morrill Hall. I missed the school field trip to Lincoln in fourth grade (lived in Iowa at the time), but I have several clear memories of visiting the museum over the years. (Does anyone else remember the space capsule that used to sit outside?) Earlier this year, we bought a family membership, and we have a great time every time we go.
We usually start out in the Mesozoic Gallery, where there are several interactive displays; the most interesting to Simon is the one that uses a pint-sized tower crane to lower a plastic dinosaur into a tank of water. I believe the point is to estimate the weight of the dinosaur by how much water it displaces, but, really, they had him at “here’s a lever to pull.”
In the next room (also part of the Mesozoic Gallery, I believe, is a Big Stinky Fish (skeleton) that usually holds our interest for a good three or four minutes.
Next we usually make our way upstairs to see the Jurassic dinosaurs (they say, “RAAAAAWWWWHHHHRRRR!!!”). We mostly skip over the rocks and minerals in the middle of the hall and head down to the traveling exhibits. Through November there is an exhibit of Joel Sartore’s amphibian photographs. It. is. amazing. Definitely worth seeing.
Then we turn around and head all the way back down the hall to the elevators and ride down to the basement floor. There we find the Hall of Nebraska Wildlife—a series of life-size dioramas with, well, Nebraska wildlife. Simon loves to push the buttons and hear the meadowlark, the rattlesnake, and the bison.
We spend most of our time, though, in the Discovery Center. It’s like a mini–children’s museum, with lots of things to play with, hide under, draw on, smell, and, most fascinating for my boys, dig. Specifically, there is a big pit that simulates the Ashfall Fossil Beds; Simon calls it the “big city dig,” after one of his books.
Back upstairs, as we make our way out of the museum, I always like to linger in Elephant Hall for a while, remembering the very happy day that I married Jason (we had our wedding reception at the museum) and marveling at the fact that we now have two new little people running/crawling around.
We usually spend about an hour and a half or so at the museum. We find that there’s a good mix of big, interesting things to look at (dinosaurs, elephants, all kinds of animals) and hands-on/interactive displays. With the boys being so young, much of the actual information goes over their heads (DNA model is just a big, twisty, blue ladder, e.g.), but the museum definitely keeps us busy and interested and coming back to explore some more. (There is also a planetarium, but we’ve never been there. I’d love to hear more about it, though.)
Visitor Information: Morrill Hall is on the UNL campus, at the corner of 14th and U (at the end of the stadium drive). The museum is open Sunday 1:30–4:30 p.m. and Monday–Saturday 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (and Thursdays until 8:00 p.m.). Admission for adults is $5.00 and kids $3.00 (under age 4 are free).
