We Love Durham NC

Paperhand Puppets ~ Nasher Family Fun Day Sunday

Summer Reading

Sign-ups for the summer reading program have started at the Durham Public Library website. This year, you can keep track of your log online.

Reading is, of course, its own reward, but you can also earn some nifty tickets for summertime play:

Ages 0-11: “10 days of reading - Stickers and a Read ‘N’ Roll pass to Wheels Family Fun Center. 20 days of reading - Bookmark and a Durham Bulls Game ticket. 30 days of reading - Reading badge and a kid’s meal coupon. 40 days of reading - Reading certificate and an admission voucher to Museum of Life and Science. Monthly prizes include gift certificates, t-shirts, CD players and more. Grand prizes include: Laptop Computers and MP3 Players.”

Ages 12-17: “Monthly prizes include gift certificates, t-shirts, CD players and more. Grand prizes include: Laptop Computers and MP3 Players.”

Ages 18+: “Monthly prizes include gift certificates, t-shirts, CD players and more. Grand prizes include: Laptop Computers and MP3 Players.”

More fun things for kids this summer in DurhamÂ

PEEP at NCMLS

Through a combination of Science, narration by Joan Cusack, and cuteness, PEEP and the Big Wide World earned Favorite Show status a few years back. In June, the Second Saturday event at NC Museum of Life and Science will include a hands-on PEEP event, Explore Structures! (build towers and bridges).

Lexile Scores at Durham Library

I just noticed (perhaps it is new) that you can search for books in the Durham Public Library based on your child’s Lexile score.

Duke Gardens Field Still Blocked

The Boy reports, from his field trip, that the big field with the lily pad pond and climbing magnolia trees is still blocked off. That is a bummer, but there are many other things to do at Duke Gardens, like see baby turtles, feed ducks, walk across bridges, run down hills, smell the flowers.

Honestly, this is a bit of a relief, because… can I use the phrase “nerve-wracking” more than once a week?… seeing him clamber up those trees really does it. Once when he was about 3 years old, we saw some “big kids” up at the very top, and I declared that he would not be allowed to do that until he was, like, 8. I hope he has forgotten this conversation.

List of parks in DurhamÂ

Creperie

The Girl and I had a light lunch at Shade Tree Coffee to try out the crepes. Shade Tree is located on Erwin Road, down the street from Dunkin Donuts.

I had gruyere and she had chocolate with powdered sugar. We both ended up eating my cheese crepe (which was wonderful) because hers was a bit Hershey’s-syrupy. I like to put chunks of chocolate in my chocolate crepes, but at $2.95, the syrup makes sense. Shade Tree Crepe Menu at Lenore’s

Shade Tree appears to be a Duke-student-studying hangout, but there were a few hospital visitors with children; it is only a few blocks from the Children’s Hospital. I’d love to see them stock a few juice boxes for the little ones. It is cheap and easy to do so, and makes for less spills. There was only Odwalla, which can evoke a “Mommy! There’s something floating in my juice!” reaction. Obviously they have a variety of coffee and tea for the adults.

Plenty of seating indoors and out. On one side is an enclosed sidewalk area, which may be fun to run and jump on. On the other side are multiple flights of stairs, which can be pleasantly distracting or nerve-wracking, depending on how old your kid is (and how recently a family member has broken an arm).

Quizno’s Subs are right around the corner~you could easily share an outdoor table~if you need heavier fare.

A big list of Durham restaurantsÂ

EOG Testing Week

Good luck to all the little ones taking EOGs this week! Get a good night’s sleep, eat a good breakfast, and relax. (Don’t forget to breathe.)

School Choices in DurhamÂ

Sarah’s Compost Bucket

My dad sent money for my birthday a while back and I knew immediately what I would spend it on, this compost bucket from Sarah’s House of Clay. I finally got around to doing so at the Durham Farmer’s Market on Wednesday.

My dear Granny, also named Sarah, would make her biscuits in an old brown melamine bowl ~ massaging shortening into the dry ingredients and then quickly and gently squeezing in buttermilk ~ then use the bowl for other dinner scraps to toss over the railroad tracks. She’s my composting inspiration, and this bucket is going to remind me of all kinds of nice things when I use it. I hope it will survive long enough for my own grandkids to remember.

I feel bad showing the world I threw out perfectly good spinach, but it was not; it was uncharacteristically bitter (not from the DFM).

Artists in DurhamÂ

Duke Family Day

Duke invests quite a bit of time and money in family fun perqs. Each year we attend a Santa event, Halloween event, (usually) an awards ceremony of some kind, and (every 5 years) a time-of-service event. There are others that we don’t make it to; until this year, we had not attended Duke Family Day.

Attendance was controlled tightly by DukeCard to Duke employees and a maximum of 2 adults with 5 kids. There’s certainly an incentive to try to crash the party, since all rides and food are free. Security and emergency personnel presence ensured that everyone had a fun, safe time.

One area was devoted to rides for “kids of all ages”… including a roller coaster, Skat twisting ride, rock and “tree” climbing, another twister, a slow-for-preschoolers Crazy Tugs ride, and a swinging flags ride.

Another area had more inflatables than I’ve seen in one place since Pump It Up: bouncy castles (princess, Mickey Mouse, Spider-Man, and Cars), slides, boxing ring, bungee, an inside-the-alligator obstacle course.

The third area was set up for food (fried fish, BBQ sandwiches, hot dogs, potato salad, slaw, and four different vegetarian options). Also available were sodas, cotton candy, and funnel cakes.

The entertaining announcer, clearly hired from a pool of State Fair hawkers!, led a limbo contest, hula hooping, Cha Cha Slide dancing, and more for prizes.

There was Bingo and FlexMan made an appearance. The Bouncing Bulldogs–national jumprope champions–thrilled with their athletics.

If you go next year…

• The event is fun for kids at least from preschool through middle school.
• Go early, since nearby parking fills up quickly and the lines get a bit long towards the end.
• No need for money; it’s completely free.
• Food and treat options were nicely varied, but if you want something to drink other than sodas, bring along a water bottle.
• Bathrooms: coed porta-potties were clean, did not have long waits, and had full handwashing units outside. I did not see diaper-changing stations.
• There was lots of shady seating under trees and tents, but you probably want to bring a hat or umbrella for the sun and heat.
• Let the kids wear sandals or Crocs they can slip off and on quickly for the bouncy castles–the ground was a little muddy from the rains.
• It’s prime naptime (2-6pm) so if your littler ones will conk out, take a stroller or carrier.

Photos from the Durham Mothers Club Yard Sale Spring 2008

There were 15-20 tables full of toys, baby gear, household items, books, and clothes this year at the Durham Mothers Club yard sale. Traffic was heavy throughout the day, starting with early birds around 7:00 to stragglers at 11:30. The Durham Mothers Club bake sale table was popular, with a variety of baked goods donated by members and lemonade to drink, and proceeds going to the Welcome Baby program. Kids enjoyed playing on a small hill, watching dogs play at the dog park, and climbing on a play structure tucked into the woods nearby. (A great feature at Pineywood Park is the bathroom setup… each stall is individually accessed, and coed.)

Here are a couple of snapshots:

Durham Mothers Club Yard Sale

The Durham Mothers Club is having a yard sale tomorrow at Pineywood Park 8am to noon. Pineywood Park is off of Woodcroft Parkway. Go to the Woodlake subdivision and look for signs. Last year this yard sale was very busy and there were lots of good deals, especially on items for kids… toys, puzzles, clothes, shoes, baby equipment. I expect the same this year.

Check out the new Durham Yard Sales page, and feel free to post yours there.

Buh-Bye Cast

The Boy’s cast came off today. We saw the same doctor and staff at Lenox Baker Children’s Hospital. The assistant promised the really noisy saw would not cut his skin, and even demonstrated it was safe by rubbing it sideways on her hand (convincing trick). It was a fast saw, though, and caused enough friction to make his arm hot. Then an x-ray… bone is healing nicely and now he can wear a removable splint (at school and outdoors) for the next 2 months. His wee arm is pale and thin, but will recover quickly.

In the waiting room, he read a Junie B. Jones book, played another little boy on Nintendo Mario Bros., and watched Scooby Doo. That makes it sound like we waited a long time, but it only took about an hour total.

Fair Trade Store

Visit Twig this Saturday and you can designate your favorite nonprofit to receive a share of 20% of that day’s receipts (or 5% of the week’s receipts). Don’t have a favorite nonprofit? Choose the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science here in Durham.

More local shopping in DurhamÂ

Homeschool Activities in Durham

Searching for used Bob Books, I stumbled onto a listing of local homeschooler group activities, classes, playdates. Check these out:

Swim club at Edison Johnson

Swim team Durham Dolphins

Custom Durham Parks & Recs programsÂ

More homeschool activities in NC

Chillin at Brightleaf

As Jessica commented the other day, Amelia’s at Brightleaf Square has added gelato to their dessert offerings. The chocolate hazelnut is perfect–thanks for the tip!