The Tree House...kind of.

Today we went to The Tree House.

It's located on Merrimon Avenue, between Artisan Catering and the Merrimon Avenue library.

Just to clarify, we went to the Tree House but we did not stay. They had an art class scheduled for this morning at 11 for kids from 18 months - 4 years. Great, right?

Here's the hitch, they wanted $17for this one class.

Penny-Pinching Mama, say what?? Yeah, we left.


Tomorrow? Mighty Mites!

Barnes & Noble Story Time!

Today we went to story time at Barnes & Noble in the Asheville Mall. I adore Barnes & Noble, if for no other reason than giving me an excuse to use an ampersand!

The story for today was Pete the Cat & His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin. This story is about Pete the Cat who has 4 groovy buttons on his shirt. Unfortunately, they pop off one by one. But does Pete cry? "Goodness no! Buttons come and buttons go!" After all the buttons are gone, Pete remembers he will always have his own BELLY BUTTON! This worked out great as Tate *loves* to play with his belly button :)

Story time started at 11AM and there were about 10 kids there - everything from babies (Coco) to 4 or 5 year olds. Miss Teresa led story time and she was great. :) After the story, we had a craft. We glued buttons onto Pete's shirt and then tied them on with string so he won't lose them again.

Pete the Cat with the buttons Tate glued on :)

Tate had a great time. Luckily, there was a song in this story so that kept him engaged:

"My buttons, my buttons. My 4 (then 3, then 2, then 1) groovy buttons. My buttons, my buttons. My 4 (then 3, then 2, then 1) groovy buttons."


Tomorrow! Speech therapy! :)

 

Activities for This Weekend

Today Tate had speech therapy.

He wasn't as into it as he was on Tuesday but he's still making great progress. I am so proud of him. :)

So, since we don't have an "adventure" to post about today, I thought I would share some activities for this weekend. There is SO MUCH  going on this weekend; you can tell summer is on the way! :D

This weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), in Hot Springs, it's the 15th Annual French Broad River Festival! Cost is $85 for the whole weekend or $45 for Saturday only. There is SO much to do: the river cleanup (of course!) - if you participate in the river cleanup you get $15 off tickets to the festival - lots of music, a bike race, a 9 mile raft race, and for the kids: ballooon twisting, a parade, juggling, storytelling, face painting, and fun with Hoopdance!

Also, this weekend Friday, May 4 - Monday, May 7 is the Appalachian Spring 2012 presented by the American Rhododendron Society and the Azalea Society of America. This is a must for flower enthusiasts. The concention will be held at the Crown Plaza Resort in Asheville, with flower shows and photo contests, as well as time to meet and chat with other flower enthusiasts.

Friday and Saturday (9AM - 5PM) and Sunday (10AM - 3PM) is the Sping Herb Festival at the WNC Farmers' Market. The festival will feature herb growers and vendors, natural gardening specialists and makers of herbal ointments.

Tomorrow (Saturday), there is a kids' fishing tournament at Lake Julian from 8:30 - 11:30AM. It's open for kids under 15 and registration opens at 8AM. The cost is $5 per kid and all you need to bring is a fishing pole and bait, buckets will be provided. This tournament is catch and release! Prizes will be given in 5 age categories for biggest fish, smallest fish, and most fish caught.

Sunday is Tiny Tykes Day at Martin Luther King Jr Park from 2 - 5PM. This festival is free for all kids under 5 and will have giant inflatables, Fire Engine #1, miniature train rides, crafts, face painting, and balloon twists!

Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Mighty Mites (again)

Today we were supposed to go to The Tree House but Tate asked by name for Mighty Mites. The fact that he enjoyed it so much last week that he wanted to go back again was reason enough for me to change plans :)

Tate in his "fort"

Mighty Mites is held at Asheville Gymnastics on everyday except Monday and Wednesday. It's $5 for 45 minutes of "free play." There's a foam pit, 2 trampolines, an obstacle course, cloth tunnels, balance beams, musical instruments, balls...just tons of stuff! This morning there were 7-10 kids, a pretty small group.

A view of the right side of the play area

And the left side

Tate climbing through the tunnel

Tate running by the foam pit and one of the trampolines

Checking out the instruments...

Playing in the foam pit

A cute little drawing on the chalk board

All in all, a great day. I love the fact that Tate is involved enough in our adventures to ask for one by name!

Tomorrow! Speech therapy!

Toddler Time Story Time at West Asheville Library

Today we went to story time (Toddler Time for 18-36 month olds) at the West Asheville Library.


West Asheville Library is on Haywood Road just next to the police station. Toddler Time started at 11:00 and ran until about 11:20. There were 10 kids there (including Tate and Coco) - exactly 50/50 between boys and girls.


Miss Morna - AKA "The Story time Lady" - opened with a song about hands: "Open, close, open, close, give a little clap. Open, close, open, close, put them in your lap."  Super-cute and a great way to get the kids ready to listen. 


Then we read 3 books (Dot the Fire Dog by Lisa Desimini, Which Hat Is That? by Anna Grossnickle Hines and Firetruck by Peter Sis). After each story Miss Morna did a little activity - a song after one, playing with paper plates after another - to burn off some energy and keep the kids engaged.

Toddler Time at the West Asheville Library is held "under the quilt on the wall" in the Children's Section

Tate loves books, they are truly his favorite "toy." He loves being read to but today, I'm not sure if it was the distraction of the other kids being there or what but he was...uncooperative. Yeah, we'll call it "uncooperative." He just melted down when he couldn't turn the pages or run around at his own free will. BUT we made it through and Tate picked out one of the books (Dot the Fire Dog) to check out and bring home.

Tate reading Dot the Fire Dog



"Tate, do you want Mommy to read that book to you?"

"No 'tank' you. I 'gots' it."

Well, there ya go :)

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This  story time schedule is just for the West Asheville Library. Click here for the schedule for the other Buncombe County libraries.

Buncombe County libraries have lots to offer - not just for kids!

All in all, it was a great story time. The lesson learned was to leave Coco at home with Daddy as wrangling two kiddos was just too much for this particular adventure :)



Tomorrow! The Tree House!

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As a side note, West Asheville Library is a site for early voting!

 

The North Carolina Arboretum

The Arboretum!

Wow, 65 acres of cultivated gardens and 10 miles of hiking a biking trails! Whew! We could've spent all day there and still not seen it all.

The Arboretum is located about 2 miles past the Biltmore Square Mall just off of Brevard Road. It usually costs $8 per car to park and tour the grounds but the first Tuesday of every month is free!

The Baker Exhibit Center. In addition to an amazing fireplace and seating area, this building also houses the gift shop.

I think this is a rhododendron but whatever it is, it sure is pretty! :)

This tree just took my breath away...so gorgeous

My goofy hubs and Tate in the amphitheater

Another gorgeous one...azalea, I think!

The bonsai exhibit was my favorite. I had no idea that bonsai is the way the tree is cut and not the tree itself. Lots of trees can be bonsai trees: Japanese maples (pictured), juniper, even pine!

Another rhododendron (I think!) I really should've taken a picture of the plaque at each plant!

This handsome fella stands just outside of the "classroom" building

An awesome waterfall, also outside of the "classroom" building

Unfortunately for Tate, we weren't allowed to play in the waterfalls :-\

I just adore peonies <3

The Savory Thyme Cafe - in the "classroom" building - has sandwiches, soups, chips, and drinks

This is a "firecracker flower." Isn't it pretty?!

These look like huge dandelions to me. Blow and make a wish! :)

Overall, I had a a great time (besides the heat! Whoo! It was 85+ today!) The kids? Not so much. But hey, it was free!

Tomorrow? Storytime at the library!

 

Speech Therapy

I know I posted that we would be going to the Arboretum today - and we will be going this afternoon - but I just had to put up a little mini-post about my amazing baby boy! Tate had speech therapy again this morning with Miss Kaye.

They worked on matching shapes, taking turns, completeing a puzzle, counting, and naming things out of books using two word phrases. Tate was amazing! He answered every question, matched every puzzle piece!

Miss Kaye was couting little fish: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. What comes next, Tate?"

"8!"

She just looked at me like, "where did that come from?"

"Great job, Tate. 9...."

"10!"

My little man is awesome! :)

The Little Gym

Today we went to The Little Gym!

The Little Gym is located in the KMart shopping center just past Biltmore Square Mall on Brevard Road. We had a free introductory class for Mini Jacks, a “sports skills” class.  The class is for kids 3-4 years old and, including Tate, today there were 5 kids (4 boys and 1 girl). The kiddos today were 3-5 as this was a joint class.

Each class has "Skills of Focus," kind of an outline of what to expect in the class. The Skills Of Focus for the Mini Jacks class are: Target Practice Tally, Frisbee Catching, Front Support to Tummy Rolls, Sets of Tennis Hits, Cast to Horizontal, Overhead Tennis Serve, Shot Put Addition and Subtraction, Four Skill Tumbling Combo, and High Jump. The "sport" for today was Track & Field so there was running - lots and lots of running. Fortunately, that suited Tate just fine. He was the youngest in class today and had a hard time following some of the directions. Unlike Mighty Mites at Asheville Gymnastics, this class was not "free play." The kids had an instructor, Mister Chris, who led them through the different tasks. It was hard for me - being such a hands-on, be-right-there-all-the-time kinda Momma - but parents weren't allowed in. We all sat in the lobby and chatted while the kiddos played. There was a huge window into the gym so I could keep an eye on Tate but I just wasn't expecting that. (Thus the glare on the pics!)

A little warm up with the "shakers"

Wouldn't it be nice to have that much energy? :)



Working on the bars with Mister Chris



Just a good overall view of the gym

Tate loved this little station

"Riding the whale"

Aaaaaaand the dismount!

BIG FINISH! :)

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Overall, we had a great time. Mister Chris was awesome. He made Tate feel very welcome and gave "high 5s" (Tate's favorite!) right off the bat. He worked with each of the kids and gave lots of praise and encouragement.

Even though Tate is 3, Mister Chris said that since he's a "green 3" (meaning he just turned 3), we might be better off enrolling him in the gymnastics class for now. The gymnastics class is apparently a little less structured and it will give Tate a little more time to grow - he is a little on the small side for his age - before getting into the "sports."

The only thing I really didn't like about today was the timing. The class ran from 1:30 - 2:30, slap-dab in the middle of our usual nap time. By the time class ended, we loaded everyone in the car, got home and got everyone fed, it was nearly 4:00 before the kids went down for nap! Whooo! Tate was in sleep-deprived overdrive at that point.


In addition to the sports skills (3 - 8 years) and gymnastics (3 - 12 years), The Little Gym also offers dance (3 - 8 years), karate (4 - 12 years) and parent/child classes (4 months - 3 years).

The pricing for The Little Gym is a little confusing to me. Or maybe I'm just easily confused! Anyway, you pay $40 membership fee per year and then pay for each "semester." A semester is 20 weeks (though summer semester is only 10 weeks). You can join at anytime and the remainder of the semester you're joining is then prorated. For example, if we had joined today, we would've paid the $40 membership fee + $67 which is the prorated amount for the remainder of this semester (through June 4th). One good deal though is that if we sign Tate up for a class, Coco can go to the 4 - 9 month old class ("Bugs") for free. Free is good! :)


For the summer semester (10 weeks of classes; June 9th - August 17th) it's $159 plus the $40 annual fee.

Tate seemed to enjoy himself today and it would great to get him into a more structured class of following directions and taking turns but this one may be out of our price range for right now. Still, a great adventure!

Tomorrow we're off to The North Carolina Arboretum!

 

Roy Pope Memorial Park

Today we went to Roy Pope Memorial Park in Woodfin!

The park is located just beside Woodfin Elementary School and is open from 5AM - 10PM. No pets, bikes, or skateboards are allowed. It has lots to offer: 2 "castle" play structures, a covered sandbox, 4 "big kid" swings, 2 "baby swings", a special needs swing, a tire swing, a covered pavilion with picnic tables, restrooms, and though it wasn't on today, a water mister for hot days!

Tate playing in "Avery's Little Corner"

This portion of the park is dedicated in honor of Avery King, an Asheville native who was gunned down in a McDonald's in Covington, Georgia.

Joe and Tate playing on the slide

Tate playing on the larger of the 2 castles

The smaller of the 2 castle structures

The area around the castles has some kind of blue, bouncy flooring so if kiddos take a tumble, it doesn't leave an owie.

The covered sandbox

The tire swing

 

The park has 4 "big kid" swings, 2 "baby swings", and a special needs swing. It also has an awesome climbing structure and a covered pavilion with picnic tables.

 

The climbing structure

The swings and the climbing structure have mulch around them.

A view inside the pavilion

The pavilion has 7 picnic tables. A great place for a picnic lunch!

The restrooms and water fountain. Just visible in the left of the picture is the water mister for hot days. It wasn't on today :(

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Another great adventure! Tate had so much fun and slept like a champ at nap time :)

Tomorrow's adventure will be at The Little Gym!