Peck Farm & Hawks Hollow Nature Playground

Today the kids and I went to a new playground that just opened last Fall.  It is a farm and nature themed park divided into several sections.  Overall, it's a huge park that includes several acres, but each section is fairly small.  We were there for almost three hours and it was plenty of time to do everything, feel like we had lots of time, but still leave while they were having fun and not bored and restless.  The park is in Gevena, so it is a bit of a drive, but it is free, and closer than some of the other places we sometimes go (it seems that everything is about an hour away, no matter which direction we drive).

My general impression is that is is a fantastic park and very well designed, but gets very crowded and a little dangerous for kids.  I would not recommend it for very little kids.  Dorothy, age four, did just fine, but there were several kids around Malcolm's age (7) and a little older who seemed completely unsupervised and the combination of huge sticks, rocks, and water was not the best with several of the small kids.

 When we got there, both kids made a bee-line for the tree house playground.  This chute system was easily their favorite thing.  Right next to it was a pulley system, but unfortunately, the fabric bucket had been ripped off.

 Dorothy sending down pinecones, sticks, and rocks.  Malcolm ran right in, on his way to collect more treasures.

 He liked being at the bottom and watching the stuff come down.

There were neat little rock trails to climb up and down to the different levels of the tree house.  There were also various rope ladders and bridges, but the kids didn't like using those.  Dorothy tried, but got stuck about half way up.

 Dorothy was really into the King Fisher Crossing, where they could create mud art on the walls.

Malcolm liked it too, but didn't do it as many times, or have the focus for it that Dorothy did.

 By far, the kids' favorite part was the water area.  They loved climbing in and out and getting their feet wet.

 Malcolm is in the water area in the front of the photo, and you can see the tree house playground behind him.

 You can see a little of how crowded it was.  The sidewalks weren't overly wide, so it was sometimes hard to get past the people just standing and watching kids.

 Malcolm really liked the little cascade where the water started and came down into the little stream.  The fence behind his head is where they were painting with mud.  There is a red water pump so they can wash their hands and he loved working it.

Behind the water pump is a "bird's nest".  Not pictured is also a beaver burrow that is very similar.  For both, there are long branches that the kids can use to build the nests.  It's a great concept, except that several kids took the really long (taller than me) branches and were swinging them around in the water area.  I saw a few little ones little ones get whacked and several near misses.

Right next to the little stream is a small spray fountain area.  Malcolm and Dorothy didn't do the spray area since we did not bring swim suits (I did have dry clothes in the car though).  It was overcast and not overly hot today, but I bet it feels great on really sunny days.

By 11:30, the entire area cleared out as several large groups left to have some lunch.  I let the kids play for a while while it was less crowded and it was much better.  It picked back up again by 12:30.

 The final little section of the play area was a music section.  I don't think Dorothy went in there at all, but Malcolm checked it out a couple of times.  Of all the possible instruments, these had the best sound quality.

 This pipe xylophone was up on a little stage.  I couldn't convince my two to do it, but there were often a couple of kids dancing up there to the "music."

 Bongos!  I kind of hated these.  They were the loudest of the instruments, and there was a constant thudding the entire time we were there.  Definitely bring some headache medicine.

In theory, this should make a nice tone, but it either isn't tuned at all, or there is too much crud inside.

 Off to the side, is an observation silo that we climbed up.

Looking out the window from the top of the silo, over the playground area.  The park is beautifully landscaped throughout.  You can also see one of the two covered picnic shelters in the lower right.

 They worked up huge appetites!  I had assumed that they might be extra hungry and I'm glad I brought some extra food, because they ate it all.  Both of them have bug bites on their poor faces from camping over the weekend. 

 There are two covered picnic areas, plus a few more scattered tables here and there.  We chose this quiet spot a little bit away from the chaos and it was lovely.

 Olive fingers!

 Sucking them off, one by one.

Malcolm finished lunch first, and while he was waiting on Dorothy, he went over the the "sheep herding" area.  He just used these as balance beams though.

 After lunch, we took a little prairie path down to a pond with a dock.

 I can't believe they both actually looked at me and smiled.  That never happens.

 Running out on the dock.

This was labeled as a "teaching dock."  I don't know what kind of classes they do out here, but it was a really nice set-up. 

We went back and they played at the playground (mostly in the water) for a little bit after lunch.  On the way out, we went into the butterfly garden which was really cool and possibly my favorite part.

 When we went in, the lady working there handed each kid a laminated chart to help them identify the butterflies.  They both loved matching the pictures to the butterflies they saw.

 Malcolm was able to read the names of each butterfly, but Dorothy did just fine matching pictures and asking me what they were called.  It is so great that he can read enough to be a bit more independent.

 
There were so many butterflies, I decided to see if I could get any good pictures.  My results were mixed, but a couple weren't terrible.

Overall, I really liked the park, but I'm curious to see how it holds up over time.  It just opened last Fall, and already there are several things that are broken (bucket for pulley and about half the mallets in the music area are gone), or showing a lot of wear and tear (the wood xylophone is missing chunks, the tunnel chute is flaking lots of paint).  Many of the exhibits were being abused, and I imagine there is going to be a lot of time and money spent on upkeep to keep many parts safe and functional.  The kids are already asking to go back and we were all wiped out and napped when we got home.  For a free, semi-close to home park, it was really nice and a welcome change from a typical playground.

Family Vacation (part 5, Arch Rock)

After our day spent in town, we were ready to get back to the national park.  When deciding which hikes to take, we looked for ones that were fairly easy and not very long.  Our first one, to Grotto Falls, is very popular and we knew it would be fairly crowded.  For our second, we wanted something a little less popular, but still with something that would interest the kids.  We settled on hiking the Alum Trail, but only as far as Arch Rock.  After Arch Rock, the trail gets much more difficult and a little over 4.5 miles round trip would be too much for the kids.  I would love to go all the way up to the bluffs some other time though.

 This was taken after our hike again.  We are just too eager to get started and don't remember to take a photo beforehand.

 How Dorothy traveled for the bulk of our hike.  It had rained the night before, so it was still pretty wet when we started.  Some water from the trees dripped on her, and she was D.O.N.E., declaring, "I don't like nature!"  What we didn't realize at the time was that she was starting to feel a bit sick and she came down with a terrible cough the next morning.  Luckily for Kevin, we both found this hike to be a lot less tiring than the one to Grotto Falls.

 Malcolm had asked to do a hike where there were bridges.  There were two regular wooden brides early on on the trail.  Later, there were three of these cut log bridges with a railing on only one side.  They were fine, but only having one railing made me a bit nervous with the kids.

 He really loved them though and thought they were pretty exciting.

 The first one we came to, I held one of Dorothy's hands and walked in front of her.  She held the railing with her other hand, and Kevin hovered behind her.  We were a sight.  After that, she was a lot more confident and just used the railing while Kevin hovered.

 She thought it was a lot like walking the balance beam at gymnastics class, and even did two foot jump down.

 I took this from the center of one of the log bridges because I thought it was pretty.

 Arch Rock is in the center.  The softer rock in the middle has washed away, leaving the harder, surrounding rock.

 There were steps carved into the rock to climb to go up through the tunnel.

 They look fairly wide with her on them, but they are really only one person wide.  You have to wait if someone is going the opposite direction.

 Kevin and Dorothy made it out!

 Going down was much more difficult than going up.  Both kids were a little unsure that the cable that was there to hold was going to support them.

 On the hike back, we encountered this little guy on the trail.  He was pretty cool, but I don't think he was doing very well.  We moved him over to the side with a stick.  We also found a slug on a log which the kids liked.


 After our hike, we headed back to the Chimney picnic area for lunch.  It was more crowded this time, but we did manage to get a table; just not by the water.

 After lunch, we climbed down to the river.  Malcolm liked climbing the big rocks.

Dorothy was still more interested in throwing rocks in the water.


After naps, we stayed at the cabin and had pizza and movie night.  I went and picked up the pizza and there was a DVD rental machine right there.  The pickings for family movies was pretty slim, but we watched Epic, which was surprisingly better than we thought it would be.  It was about the forest, which seemed appropriate, and there wasn't nearly the amount of cringe-worthy material like a lot of movies aimed at kids.  The slug and snail comic relief were the kids' favorites.




Dorothy had a really bad cough the next day, but was otherwise fine, so we headed out to the Arts and Crafts loop to see the artisans.  We ended up cutting it a bit short and heading back to the cabin for leftover pizza for lunch.  We tried to go out to cookout at one of the picnic areas, but turned around and went back to our cabin because she was so crabby and not feeling well.  It was a good choice, because she was much better by the next day.

 For years, Kevin has joked that he is going to get me a manatee mailbox.  This was right behind us when we parked the car, so we took a picture.  There was no price tag, so I'm afraid to know how much it costs.

At one of the many pottery places, the kids did a little rocking after watching the artisans work.

It was good to have a lazy day.  It let Dorothy feel better and all of us recharged a bit for our final day in TN.

Family Vacation (part 4, the aquarium)

We only had one day where is rained a bit (it cleared up by noon) and it happened to be the day that we had planned to go to the aquarium.  Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg is really great.  It is very well done and maintained, yet small enough that we could see most of it before we headed out for lunch.  We went back to the aquarium after naps and an early dinner, and we had the place almost to ourselves.  My tip is to go later, rather than earlier if you even make the trip.  Early morning wasn't too bad, but by the time we left for lunch, it was starting to get pretty crowded.  The aquarium stays open until 9:00, but by 7:00, there is hardly anyone there.

The main feature of the aquarium is their shark lagoon where you walk or ride the conveyer belt through a tunnel that winds through the tank.  It is a great experience, but Malcolm wasn't a fan because of the slightly ominous music they had playing.  It set the tone, but it was a bit loud; especially since when we went through there weren't too many people.  I imagine with more people in there, and talking, it would be more difficult to hear the music.

 We were waiting for the divers to come into the tank for the tank cleaning, so we popped Dorothy up on the ledge.  She wasn't so sure she wanted to be up there.

 One of the many, many sharks we saw swim over our heads. 

Dorothy and went through again when we went back in the evening, and had the tunnel all to ourselves.  It was pretty neat to experience it without anyone else around.


After the shark lagoon, we spent a good chunk of time in an open kids' area where there were lots of things to touch, levers to pull, and dials to churn.

 Sometimes, she doesn't want to touch animals, but she liked the horseshoe crabs.  I'm not sure if she understood that they were living creatures since they didn't do much and look a bit like rocks.

 Malcolm liked getting to touch them too.

 They have three different tanks shaped like doughnuts, where the kids can crawl underneath, and come up in a tube in the center.  They each did it once or twice, but I found them more impressive than the kids did.

 It took a little convincing to get her to stand up.  I wonder if she thought she would be in the water instead of dry.  Several times during the day, she would ask, "Is there glass?" as we were standing in front of a tank.


 Kevin got me a new camera for my birthday, back in February, and I had fun playing with the different settings while the kids explored.  My favorite tank was one of the ones kids could pop up in the middle of that was "Finding Nemo" themed.  The colors were so vibrant and there were so many fish in there, it was fun to try to get some pictures (some turned out better than others).

 It was a highly active tank.

 I loved the bright red shrimp (on the underside of the rock), but none of the close ups I took turned out very clear.  The glass was curved and distorted the view a lot of the time.

 Close-up of a starfish underbelly.

 I wish this one was a little more crisp, but overall I was happy with some of my results.

 Malcolm liked this little play area until he pushed a button and it made a really loud noise that startled him.

Dorothy wouldn't pose in the diver suit, so Kevin took a turn.

 They have a room that is a rotating exhibit, and while we were there, the topic was "Slime."  There were tanks with things like sea cucumbers, and moray eels, and little activities for the kids to do that were slime themed.  Dorothy's favorite was this tank of little jellyfish that they could touch with two fingers on their backs.  She went back to this tank over and over again.

There is a giant sting ray tank, and attached is a shallow section where you can touch the rays that come up.  When we were there in the evening, there was hardly anyone there to watch the feeding show in the big tank.  Afterward, the diver came into the touch section and brought some rays over for the kids so they could touch them more easily.

 Penguins!  The aquarium has a really cute penguin area that is both indoor and outdoor.  These are warm weather, African penguins, and we (well, Kevin and I) learned quite a bit during the talk the staff member did during the penguin feeding we watched.

 Like the tanks in the kid area, the penguin exhibit has a tunnel the kids can crawl through, then pop up inside the penguin area.

 This was part of the outside area.  Inside, there is a glass section of floor, so you can see the penguins swim back and forth between the inside and the outside.  We pointed it out to Dorothy, who would not walk across it.  She got her toes right up to the edge, then peered into the water.  This was another moment of her not being sure there was glass to keep the water where it was supposed to be.

 This is how Malcolm walked through the outside area, because penguins are stinky.  One of the things we learned during the feeding is that that poop about every 10-15 minutes.  We also learned that they are very picky and will only eat the male versions of the fish they feed them.

 Cute, bigger than life-size penguin.

He's making this face because he is holding his breath since we asked him to take him hand off of his nose.



These are just some more of me playing around with my new camera, but I liked how they turned out.  I took the first one during our morning visit, then went back to try some more in the evening.

We had a great time at the aquarium, and was a nice to break up our trips into the national park.  As a side note, we had lunch at the Village Pancake House.  Everyone else had pancakes, but I had their "Polish Aristocrat" sandwich.  If you are ever in the area, go and have that sandwich!  It was incredible.  It's corned beef with Swiss cheese and vinegar slaw, lightly grilled, and served with cucumbers and onions, horseradish, and a dill mustard.  Delicious!