Day at the Park!

July 7th was Emily's last day before starting third grade. We decided that we needed to end her always too short summer break with a fun day. We planned to go see my grandmother and looked for something that all three kids could enjoy in the same area. We finally decided on Dan Nicholas Park. I had been to that same park years before for one of Dad's high school reunions and back then it was just an ordinary park. Oh how time changes things. We started the day off with Alex's favorite thing- a train ride. He was so cute, looking at everything with an open mouth, look of awe on his face. The whole time thinking he was riding Thomas going through the tunnels. One of the tunnels was named the Cheerwine tunnel, after all we were in the heart of Cheerwine country.

Next we headed to the Animal reserve and were all excited to meet the animals native to Rowan county. We all learned something. I for one would never have thought a black bear would be native, but as I said we all learned something. I mean did you know that the largest black bear on record in the US was from Craven county in NC, I had no idea. Alex learned a new word- bobcat and Drew wanted to take one home with us, hmmmm... is he allergic to a bobcat?

On to the petting barn, which really wasn't a petting barn. I was completely fine with that. We got to see some really smelly farm animals which the kids found cool. I got some great shots of a butterfly outside in the garden . I just may blow one up for Emily's wall. I think at this point the kids were starting to fade on us. It was only 99 degrees that day. We quickly went through the barn which also had a lot of old farm equipment in it. It was actually kind of neat to see the old plows, seeders, and fertilizers. It made me wonder if my great grandpa Brantley Adolphus use implements like them when he farmed the family land.

The carousel was beautifully painted with animals ranging from horses, zebras, giraffes and llamas to tigers and lions. We quickly took two rides around. Alex could have ridden all day long if we would have let him. However the two older kids had their eyes set on the water park. So we headed over to the water feature which was a little park with the water that shoots up out of the ground in different intervals and strengths. I must say that on a day like this I think that was most kids favorite place to be, including my three. So they splashed, sprayed,and sat in the streams of water that shot out of the ground. Alex was a little cautious at first , but quickly joined in with all the other children there. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back sometime soon. Do you know what the best part of the day was. We ended it with my favorite lady. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day

Here are some more of my favorite pics from the day