Our Free(ish) Summer - Week 2

Where do I start? Week two was filled with so many free (and not so free) activities!! The beginning of the week brought us to the Louisville Nature Center, so we will start there...

Louisville Nature Center
Cost: Free
Fun Level: 4
Mom Stress Level: 1

On Tuesday afternoon we made our way to the LNC in the early afternoon. This was sort of spur of the moment, so it was just me and the kids. I wasn't really sure what to expect; I had checked out the website, but it didn't really show many pictures or give too much info so we kind of went into it blind. Basically, it is just what the name says it is, a Nature Center. Everything you do here revolves around nature, being outside, looking at birds, bugs, flowers, plants, things like that. Good, if you have a kid who is "nature -y". Bad, if you have a kid who doesn't like getting dirty or who doesn't like walking or bugs. I happen to have one of each (plus one who is too little to know yet). When you pull into the parking lot this is what you will see:





a small cinder block building surrounded by trees and "nature". They have a lot of the plants and trees labeled in case you are interested in checking that out. Once inside the building you can...

check out your wingspan. Joe Finney happened to have the wingspan of a mallard. Or you can...

stick your hands in small boxes to figure out what sort of "nature-y" things are in the box. The boys loved this. I, however, am a little creeped out by sticking my hands into dark boxes. There is also a (very) small library inside, and that is about it inside. Then you walk through the building to the outside of the center. Here you have a couple of options; you can walk on the trail, which happens to be 1.5 miles long, or you can go into the bird blind. We did both. Well, we didn't actually walk the whole trail since it was just me with all three kids, but we did walk some of the trail. On the trail you could...

look at worms and bugs. Here joe Finney was attempting to step on a worm, which I quickly put a halt to. As much as I dislike bugs, they are God's creatures too and I don't need my kids trying to stomp them! Sidenote: if you go here, bring bug spray. Lots of it. The bugs are rampant here. We all came out with our fair share of bug bites each. You have been warned! You can also look and listen for different types of animals, birds, etc. They have signs around telling you what sorts of things you should be looking for. We ended up seeing some sort of woodpecker.

Next you can...

try to walk the trail. Or you can walk for about 5 minutes and then turn around like we did! Next time I will bring help so that we can walk the entire trail, which runs by Beargrass Creek.

After your trail walk, you can check out the bird blind. The Bird Blind is a small building (sort of like a shed or something like that) with a big window where you can watch birds. There is also a notebook where they want you to record what you see. I am assuming this is what the serious birdwatchers do. We, however, are not serious birdwatchers and actually did not see one single bird while we were in the bird blind. The boys were very interested in why the building smelled and looked the way it did, though.

There is also a gazebo and picnic tables, so this would be a great place to bring a picnic for after your hike. So, all in all, a good trip. Will I go back here? Absolutely. Will I bring help with me next time? You bet. That way we will be able to go on our hike!

Also this week we checked out Beef O Brady's on Tuesday for kids eat free night. We live right down the road, but for some reason, have never been here for kids eat free. We will be going back. They had a kids movie playing on the big screen t.v., the food was quick and the portions were generous. We were in and out in under 45 minutes and $20. Two thumbs up from the Saylor Camp!

More activities to come!