I would love to meet you all. I'm also in NE Ohio (Lake County). A trip to Columbus would be fine--I could also check out my old haunts from college days!! I'm open to any location that would be a manageable trip with 5 kids and no hubby--that is if he doesn't mind we go!
hmmmmm...I am liking the sounds of this! I will keep my eye on this thread and see what works out. Toledo is great, I have family ther, as Ava said, but Columbus would not be too far either!
Ok ladies here are a few things I came up with if Toledo becomes the desired destination. FREE: The Toledo Museum of Art If we plan this for a Tuesday or Thrusday the Family Center is open. It is also free. It is a pretty nice sized area with one side as the playroom and the other a place for the kids to make art projects. There are different art projects every week that they provide all the materials for. There are so many materials that it is easy to do your own thing also. Moms are also encouraged to make something! lol. If we park near the Family Center and go in that way even the parking is free. Botanical Gardens This is a beautiful place. It is free to get in. There are little shops. Mostly it is a huge beautiful park. Nice place for a picnic. Erie Orchards. If we plan something in Septemeber or October we can go apple picking. Of course the apples will cost ya..lol...but there is no entrance fees. There is a little shop with fun stuff. There are animals to pet. Feeding animals is a quarter or a nickel..one of those gumball machine things. Hayrides are $3.50 per person if anyone would be interested. They have evening hayrides...can't remember the time. Ok..I was brainstorming. I can get more details. Of course there is COSI but that is not free. I am not sure what the admission cost would be. For big families it may be costly. There is a petting zoo by the Orchard but I think it is costly to get in...I will double check. It is not large....however the lady does have some interesting animals like a camel and the biggest rodent...forgot the name of that...what is it??? My kids have a pic by it...I don't think they could pet that one though. There were fennex foxes that they could pet. Small...funny looking..old looking..kind quaint...feel like you on a road trip kinda place..lol. We also have a restaurant that I have NOT been to...called...ugh...Toots or something. Your meals are served by on those electric trains...train theme diner kind of place. Oh geesh..I can't gather any words together this morning and I have an article due...what am I going to do!
COSI in Columbus is pretty costly, so it might be better to avoid that. My kids love apple picking, but down here we've been told that the late frost killed most of the apples, and they'll be few and expensive this year. I'd prefer not to do a Tuesday because I have staff meeting at church in the morning, but to be quite honest, if that works best for everyone else, I could miss it easily. The only really "bad" day for me would be Wednesday, because Rachael has her speech class. I'd hate for her to miss that! Oak Openings is in Toledo, too. And if anyone is doing Ancient History, the art museum Ava mentioned has a WONDERFUL collection of ancient stuff!
Kris I really think our Roos need to meet! Yep..Oak Openings is cool also. Not sure how the apples around here are doing to be honest. The Family Center is open on Thrusdays also. Maybe a Thrusday or Friday or something along those lines. Oh...I still didn't check COSI prices...but I know it is costly...I am with Jackie and say we avoid that. Besides it is also in downtown Toledo and the parking is outrageous. Nothing in downtown is inexpensive...either expensive or scary. LOL. The Toledo Zoo is another option. We have those baby polar bear cubs. There is a petting zoo and the Butterfly House (additional fee though for the butterfly house..yea..I know..silly) However...that is another entrance fee...not sure how much. It maybe too expensive for large families. I will check and see. If anyone has zoo memberships check and see if the Toledo Zoo is part of your plan. That would be cool. I do not have a membership but plan to get one. OH...parking fee! Maybe the zoo is too costly also unless you have a membership. I don't want anyone to spend a lot of money.
Ava, why don't you check out how much the zoo would be for a school group? That may be cheaper. I know in Columbus, the zoo is about $7 for kids, and around $10 for adults.
Oh, Ava, I told Phillip we were trying to work this out. He's now all excited about getting to meet Aaron!
Aaron is just as excited. I got a bit excited myself so I spilled the beans before I knew anything was concrete. lol. I will look into school rates now. I did email a few places for rates or special events for schools and homeschoolers. Hopefully, something will work out. I will also try to think of a date...then we will see what works for those interested in coming.
http://toledo-zoo.stores.yahoo.net/buyyourzooti.html Ok...that lists the rates. You can buy tickets online a dollar cheaper. I think the line will be shorter if we do purchase online anyway. I looked into group rates and the group has to be 20 or more. The admission is $8.00 per adult and $6.00 per kid for group. YOu will see that the online price for tickets is about that anyway. I am still waiting to hear about school rates but the woman said that as far as she knows the group rate would apply for that.
Do you have anyplaces that give discounts for hsers? I know that our State Museum is free with proof of hsing and we got in one of the paid exhibits for $3 as I got in for free under the educator exemption. Man, I sure wished I lived closer!!
I got some info from the Toledo Botanical Gardens. We can do a scavenger hunt. That is free. We just pick up the laminated sheets and return them when we are done. There is also a class on Pinoneer Living. That is costly. The class costs $75. So we would have to divide that between all of us. It is a 2 hour class. It sounds great. Again, that may be costly depending on the amount of people we have going. Athough the lady suggested $7.50 per child if 10 kids go...I am find with just dividing it by how many families are going..if that works out better. I have 2 kids participating. So that would be $15 anyway. I don't mind paying $25 if three families went. The zoo is around the same amount. OR....we can take the free option and do the scavenger hunt. We can also have a picnic there. Everything is outdoors and if it rains they still do the class...lol...from my understanding. There are also a few science type classes...basically nature classification. That is also 2 hours and it is the same cost. I will see how far in advance we need to make reservations. I thought it was 2 weeks.
Is tomorrow ok with everyone??? lol, Just kidding. It sounds like a wonderful time no matter where we go. Lynne and I talked about it on the phone and she is game too, depending on the date.
Hey, Ohio G'ma...your little Gianna is only a year older than Alyssa! How cute! I am thinking that the scavenger hunt at the gardens or the zoo are good ideas. The field trip at the gardens is a good idea but I don't want cost to be a factor. Afterall, you ladies have traveling expenses and food expenses to consider. So, we should keep our adventures a mininum in cost. The gardens or the art museum are free. The zoo...check my other post for the link that gives the prices. Anyway...I know that if I were traveling I would want to keep the expenses once I got there to a minimum...want to...would have to...so let's try to stay as close to free as possible.
Oh by the way...who all is giving this meeting consideration? Also, I think that if a Thrusday works for everyone that would be best. That way if our lovely Ohio weather betrays us we can have an indoor option. The Botanical Gardens is outside and the Art Museum is of course inside. Thrusday is the day that the Art Museum has the Family Center open. Of course we can tour the museum...but the Family Center does have a play area and an art area. This way no matter what the weather is we can have a plan. Does that make sense? Oh and best of all...both options are absolutely FREE! Now we can of course do the zoo or something instead. I just thought it was wise to plan for unpredictable weather.
Thursdays is OK. $7.50 per person is a little pricey for me. I am assuming you also have to pay for adults. That means over $30, plus transportation costs and parking costs. Do you think we could do something that would only be about $10 or $15 per family? How many families are we thnking? $25 would probably be tops for us. I do like the idea of the Pioneer Class, if we could get enough families. Would it be OK for both older kids, preschoolers, and all in between? Thursdays would work fine for us, too!
For the Bontanical Gardens you only pay for the kids because you are only paying for the class..no admission or parking fees. I do agree that we can't get to pricey. I think we can have a blast on a shoestring budget. The scavenger hunt at the Gardens is free...no admission and no parking fees. The Art Museum has a parking fee...I can't remember how much since I always go to the Family Center and if you there you don't pay for parking. The Family Center and the Museum are completely free. The Orchards are free...except obviously for the apples you pick. However, hayrides are an additional charge of $3.50 per person. Which to be honest I thought was pricey for that hayride. lol. The zoo and COSI are pricey also. I would like this to be as inexpensive as possible as I am sure everyone does. Traveling expenses alone can get crazy. Besides this is fun just to meet each other and let the kids meet each other. We don't have to spend money for that! I will look into things at the parks normally events there are reasonable. Like I said, I think Thrusday is a good day because even if it rains we have a FREE (I LOVE free!) and fun place to go. The art museum and family center are great for all ages. The Bontanical Gardens would be nice for all ages too. Now, the Pinoeer class I am not sure about. I have a two year old and can't see her participating in any real form. lol. The log cabin is located in the Gardens and can be seen regardless of the class. Again, I don't think the class is necessary...I just wouldn't want you all to drive a long way and be bored...lol. I am not sure how long you all plan on staying. We could possibly come by my house for dinner...tacos and mexican food..if that sounds good...or even spagetti or something like that. For lunch we can have a picnic or something. If anyone is driving so far that they need to spend the night they are welcome to at my house. We can have a slumber party! LOL. I don't have a large house so we will really get to know each other...lol. That is if we plan this when my dh is on his business trip...if not...I may have to take that offer back...lol...as he is working about 16 hour days. lol. We will see. Just want to make this as fun and easy as possible. Oh...I guess I am planning and assuming that you all want to visit the grand city of Toledo..lol...don't feel bad if another location works better for everyone. I totally understand.
I think the botanical gardens sounds interesting. How are the Metro Parks in the area? I know that here you can sign up for a naturalist-led program for free. They are REALLY nicely done! I don't know if they do that up your way or not. Let's see...you, me, G'ma I think are in for sure. Leslie, what about you? (I know...your kids are in school now, but....) KYZG, Melissa and Amy, what do you think? Does Toledo meet with your approval?
