The Dancing Bunnies

I was a little excited about starting this blog and decided to get a jump on this new adventure.

Our first "Un-official" excursion of the summer was to the bunny splash park. The real name for the park is Ballantrae Park, but most people just refer to it as the Bunny Park. (There are 3 dancing bunnies on top of the hill) But the bunnies are just for show, the real fun is the splash park at the bottom of the Hill. This really is one of the coolest ideas I’ve ever seen. There is a 15 foot waterfall that falls down onto tiles that have water squirting up out of them. The water sprays out at different speeds and at different heights and is constantly changing, it’s SO fun.

What I loved.
It’s FREE, clean, and well maintained I love that you don’t have to worry about one of the kids drowning and they can each do their own thing. If they want to stand in the waterfall and get drenched, they can… if they want to stand along the edge and just get their feet wet they can do that too. People tend to bring cups, buckets, and other water toys to scoop and throw water, but the parents are usually good at correcting their own kids so that it doesn’t get out of hand. Plus this is usually a younger crowd (under 10) so there is not a lot of the horse play that usually accompanies the tween/teenage crowds. This is a great park and worth the trip for anyone in Central Ohio looking for a fun and free day of water fun!

The Facilities:
I’m happy to report that there are bathrooms at the edge of the parking lot.(Especially Important to know for those of us Potty training). The park also has a few picnic tables that if you’re lucky you can score and claim for the time you are there. Even without the picnic tables if you bring a blanket to spread out in the grass you’ll have a perfect spot for eating lunch or snacks. There are also GIANT rocks that the kids can climb on, out in the grassy area. They put up a fence above the waterfall so that kids can’t climb up and on top of the waterfall area. (I was so relieved, last summer my then 8 year old got half way to the top before I saw him) And the dancing bunnies that my kids refer to are actually three 14 foot tall bronze Dancing Hares, that were created by English artist Sophie Ryder. (I found that out while trying to find the address online.) So you can give your kids an art lesson while following the path that winds up to the top. Plus the bunnies offer a good way to get the kids warmed up/dried off a little and a good distraction. You can go up and see the bunnies on your way to the car.

What I didn’t care for.
There is NO shade. Like I said above, there are a handful of picnic tables with umbrellas, but those are hard to score and really don’t offer that much shade. So if you want to get your kids out of the sun, bring your own sun shade. The other potentially problematic issue is that the area is not contained, meaning that there is no fence to keep your kids in the splash park. That being said it’s pretty far from the road and other “traveled areas” so as long as you keep you little one’s in sight you really don’t have to worry.

Getting there
The dancing bunny park…. aka Ballantrae Park, is located in Dublin.
From I -270 take the Tuttle crossing Blvd. Exit. Head west on Tuttle crossing Blvd. Turn right (North) onto Emerald Pkwy and then turn left (west) onto Woerner Temple Rd. The park is located just past Avery Rd. For those of you who want to Mapquest your way, the physical address is 6350 Woerner Temple Rd, Dublin Ohio

It's almost summer time

We are in the home stretch ladies and gentleman… only 3 days left until school is out for the summer. Part of me is Ecstatic! I am so tired of the school routine. The daily morning rush of getting everyone up dressed, fed, and out the door. I’m looking forward to a leisurely breakfast, letting the kids roll out of bed and let them stay in their PJ’s until noon.

But for as much as I want the leisurely morning, I have no idea what to do with them for the other 14 hours of the day. I’m a SAHM so it’s up to me to provide stimulating and educating activities that are free or very inexpensive to do. I went to Wally World yesterday and stocked up on water paints, play dough, and sidewalk chalk, that will get us through 1 day. Only 87 more to go. (Yes I counted there are 88 days from the last day of school until the first day back) I’ve checked into summer camps and they are out of our price range, and the little ones aren’t quite old enough anyway. So what’s a girl to do? Luckily I live in a Columbus and this town is FULL of metro parks, Rec centers, and libraries with tons of free activities. Plus there seems to be a festival celebrating something just about every weekend during the summer.

So join me as I explore all that Central Ohio has to offer an economically challenged family of five. The kids and I plan to check out as many places as we can and create some home spun fun and then write about our experiences as we survive summer break.