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You Must Go To The Springdale Aquatic Center

July 24, 2008 | 1 Comment

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I took my boys to the Springdale Aquatic Center for the first time on Wednesday, and I was shocked.  The place is amazing — a competitive sized swimming and diving pool and a play pool with two long, twisty, curvy slides and plenty of fountains and playthings for the younger kids.  It has several zero entry areas and a large covered play pool with fountains for children under 4 years old.

Kids of any age will absolutely love the place.

  • Location:  on the corner of Pleasant and Watson Street in Springdale, next to the Springdale Public Library 
  • Hours:  Monday thru Saturday from 12–6:45 p.m., Sunday from 1— 6:45 p.m.
  • Cost:  $4.00 per person, under 5yrs old - $2.00

Learn from my mistake:  Bring cash or check.  No credit cards accepted!

Here’s a link to the Springdale Aquatic Center’s website.

Posted by Terri Chadick | Filed Under Blog, Outdoor Activities 

Looking for Something to do? Visit the War Eagle Mill

July 24, 2008 | 1 Comment

On Monday, my mother-in-law took us to the War Eagle Mill  – a local working water powered grist mill.  My boys had quite an adventure:  they watched the working mill, purchased a boomerang in the gift shop, then waded and skipped rocks in the river beside the mill. 

The drive to the War Eagle Mill is scenic, but not too long.  Once you get to the mill, the kids can walk along the wooden bridge, feed the ducks, and browse for trinkets at the mill’s store.

The Bean Palace Restaurant on the third floor features the Mill’s whole grains for breakfast and lunch.

If you go, be sure to purchase some of the locally ground organic flour and baking mixes. 

The mill is open 7 days a week (except in January and February).  Here’s a Map to the War Eagle Mill.  Here’s a link to the War Eagle Mill’s website.

Posted by Terri Chadick | Filed Under Hidden Gems, Outdoor Activities 

Young Eagles Flight Orientation Program: Free First Flights for Young People

June 11, 2008 | 1 Comment

The Experimental Aircraft Associationis offering free first flights for young people ages 8-16 at Drake Field in Fayetteville on Saturday, June 21, 2008.  Each child must be accompanied by a parent.

The children will fly with pilots that are certificated through the Federal Aviation Agency in the pilot’s own plane.  Children will usually be able to handle the flight controls and actually fly the airplane. It is a fairly short flight of about 20 minutes over Fayetteville.

Registration starts at 8:00am.  The children will participate in a short class of about 30 minutes to explain what is going to happen, then the flights will begin.  The children will receive a certificate after the flight.

For more information call:
Warren Jones  841-3791 or reply to :warren.jones1@cox.net

These flights are part of the Association’s Young Eagles Flight Orientation Program.

Posted by Terri Chadick | Filed Under Blog, Outdoor Activities 

Pick-Your-Own Farms

May 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Spending time on a farm picking fruits or vegetables is a great outdoor family activity.  But sometimes it can be difficult to find out about farms that allow you to pick your own produce.  Not anymore.  PickYourOwn.org lists pick-your-own farms and orchards by state and county.  Here is the page listing pick-your-own farms in Arkansas.  Scroll down to find a farm near you.  Be sure to read the picking tips page and call ahead before you go. 

If any of you have been to any of the listed farms, or know of others in the area, please let me know in the comments or email me directly at terri@lifepluskids.com.

Posted by Terri Chadick | Filed Under Blog, Outdoor Activities 

Leaf Collecting, Tree Identifying, and Geocaching

November 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment

This is the perfect time to enjoy the fall color of the Ozarks.  Did you know that there are two arboreta (I just learned that word — it is the plural of arboretum, a collection of specimen of trees) on the University of Arkansas campus?  The first is on the Old Main Lawn and the second is below the Poultry Science Building.  The arboreta include 140 specimen of trees.

I think a great family activity would be to start a leaf collection or journal identifying trees.  Who knows, maybe you have a future botanist in your family.  Start with the arboretum mapping project website to plan your route.  If you zoom in on individual trees, each one is labeled.  The book, Trees of Arkansas, published by the Arkansas Forestry Commission, would be a great resource as well.

If you have a GPS device, you might want to include some geocaching on your adventure.  Several caches are hidden around the University of Arkansas campus.  Here’s a list of the caches hidden in the 72701 zip code.  Not familiar with geocaching?  It is a 21st century worldwide scavenger hunt.  If you want to learn more, go to the “getting started” section of the official geocaching website.

Posted by Terri Chadick | Filed Under Outdoor Activities 

Walking Tour — Rememberances of Senator J. William Fulbright in Fayetteville

October 28, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Walking (or biking) on the University of Arkansas campus and Dickson Street is one of our favorite family activities.  My family is also into political history.  So, we created this walking tour to combine the two.  I hope you like it!  If anyone has additions or suggestions for this post, use the comments or email me directly.

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REMEMBRANCES OF SENATOR WILLIAM J. FULBRIGHT

Park near the east edge of the University of Arkansas campus.  (There is an inexpensive parking lot on the Southeast corner of Lafayette and Gregg Streets).

Old Main

Walk west on Lafayette Street, crossing Arkansas Avenue, up the steps onto the lawn of Old Main.  At the top of the steps you will find a historical marker briefly describing Senator Fulbright’s life.

  • Senator Fulbright spent his childhood in Fayetteville (mostly in a home on Mt. Nord) where his mother, Roberta, was the editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times.  Fulbright played quarterback on the football team while he was a student at the University of Arkansas.  Less than two decades later, he served as the University’s President.

Let the kids run around on the lawn of Old Main (which is the University’s arboretum).  If the weather is nice, you will likely see college students and others walking dogs, and playing frisbee or touch football on the lawn.  On the sidewalk directly in front of Old Main, notice the names etched into the walkway of the University’s earliest graduating classes.

Fulbright Statute and Peace Fountain

Walk either around or through Old Main to the building’s “back” or west side.  There you will see a statute of Senator Fulbright.

  • A few years after being elected to the US Senate in 1944, Fulbright co-sponsored a resolution censuring Wisconsin’s Senator Joe McCarthy (of Hollywood “black list” and anti-Communist hysteria infamy) — a gutsy move at the time.

To the west of the Fulbright Statute is the Fay Jones-designed Fulbright Peace Fountain.

  • Senator Fulbright chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — which represented the center of national debate over foreign policy and particularly the Vietnam War in the late 60’s and early 70’s. 
  • Of course, Fulbright sponsored the bill that created the Fulbright Program for International Exchange, which has benefited hundreds of thousands of scholars from the US and more than 50 other countries.

Walk to Dickson Street for lunch or a snack.  You have several options, including Smiling Jack’s Sandwich Shop (just behind the Dickson Street Bookshop), the Flying Burrito or Haagen-daz ice cream. 

Fulbright Grave site

Return to the intersection of Dickson Street and University Avenue.  Head south on University Avenue, a half-block to the historic Evergreen Cemetery.  Turn right on the small alley called Whiteside Drive.  The cemetery (which will be on your left) has two entrances on the north side.  Use the second entrance. 

After you walk through the gates, immediately turn right (West) and pass through the grave sites. 

  • You will get a sense of this cemetery’s historical significance as you pass markers of a few of Fayetteville’s famous names like Lemke, Campbell, and McIlroy. 

Walking about 40 yards west, you will arrive at the Fulbright family site, and see the stone marking the life of Senator Fulbright who died in 1995 at the age of 90.

If you are interested in learning more about Fulbright, purchase University of Arkansas Professor Randall Woods’ definitive work on the Senator — Fulbright: A Biography.  The first chapters of the book, in particular, provide a good flavor of Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas in the first half of the 20th century.  You could also borrow from the library or purchase Senator Fulbright’s own book, The Arrogance of Power, which addresses issues of foreign wars and international diplomacy.

Finally, you might decide later to ask for an introduction with the University of Arkansas’ Woods, the Fulbright biographer, or Hoyt Purvis, a long-time aide to the Senator.  Both of these men teach at the University and are a wealth of knowledge in many historical and political subjects, including Senator Fulbright.

Hopefully, this short tour will show you that Bill Clinton was not Arkansas’ first contribution to national politics — but he did get his first job on Capitol Hill from Senator Fulbright in 1966.  Of course, that’s an entirely different story . . .

Posted by Terri Chadick | Filed Under Outdoor Activities 

Looking for a place to swim?

July 21, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Alannah sent me this cool link to a website with information on Arkansas swimming holes.  The site includes details on several places near West Fork and Eureka Springs you would likely never find without directions.  Look for the Walden’s Pond icon attached to family-friendly places.

Becca Martin at Down Dickson includes hours, rates, and contact information for several local public pools in her post about What to Do on Monday, July 22.

Posted by Terri Chadick | Filed Under Outdoor Activities 

Fayetteville’s Mud Creek Trail

May 14, 2007 | Leave a Comment

We purchased a new bike on Saturday at the Fayetteville Bicycle Company for our oldest, and our youngest began to ride for the first time without training wheels, so this was a big biking weekend for our family. 

On Sunday, we rode the Mud Creek Trail in Fayetteville and had a great time.  You can park at the trail head on Old Missouri Road, near Joyce Blvd. and ride all the way to Steele Blvd.  We detoured from the trail to the Red Robin restaurant (on the sidewalks) and then back to the trail, and our car after dinner.  The weather was perfect, and we all enjoyed the ride. 

The trail has just enough compacted gravel and dirt spots to make your kids think they are off-roading.  And best of all for me — no hills!

Here’s a map of the Mud Creek Trail.  Or, check out Fayetteville’s other trails on the city’s new website.

Posted by Terri Chadick | Filed Under Outdoor Activities 

Take a Train Ride on the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad

April 5, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Does anyone in your family love trains?  The Arkansas & Missouri Railroad provides a passenger service with excursions in refurbished passenger or parlor cars.  Here are the timetable and schedule.  The railroad also offers several shorter special excursions throughout the year.

Posted by Terri Chadick | Filed Under Outdoor Activities 

Wild Animals in Northwest Arkansas: Wild Wilderness Drive Through Safari and Turpentine Creek

March 8, 2007 | 2 Comments

Kids love the Wild Wilderness Drive Through Safari in Gentry.  Where else can they see these animals just outside the car window?  Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the 3 mile drive through safari and petting zoo. 

Northwest Arkansas is also home to the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge and Foundation, a USDA licensed shelter for abandoned, abused and neglected ‘Big Cats’ with an emphasis on Tigers, Lions, Leopards and Cougars.  For a truly unique experience, spend the night in a Tree House in the middle of the refuge.

Posted by Terri Chadick | Filed Under Outdoor Activities 

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