We had indoor plans for my mom's birthday this weekend, but that all changed when we saw the 60 degree forecast for February 20th! Whaaat? I've been dying to visit the town of Yellow Springs forever and so has my mom, so we piled in the car with lots of iced coffee and iPads.
Our plans were to visit Glen Helen Nature Preserve and downtown Yellow Springs, but our plans seemed to be derailed at every chance. When we got to town, we saw big signs at the entrance of Glen Helen. The trails were "Closed until Monday" because of mud. I now know to check this kind of thing before leaving home, because they post it on their site. So, off to town we went...
A little advice: If you are going on a weekend, go EARLY. We had trouble finding parking, and when we left a few hours later, people were parked much further out than us.
Amazingly, the first store we found was a toy store. The selection of toys was high quality and the kids had a blast. You'll have to leave your stroller outside, as it is teeny inside and there are stairs. I think the person working was relieved when we left because of all the "fun" we had. They each left with a random toy (a pony puppet that provided entertainment for the rest of the day, and a taco truck that is already missing).
Next, Dino's Cappuccinos for some (more) drinks and a blondie that will live in my dreams. I loved how there was seating all over downtown, so we just found a table and camped out for a while. In that short amount of time, my mom made a new friend who invented and sells vertical rain gardens, I saw more dogs than people, and when someone sneezed, 3 strangers would say "Bless you!" What a vibrant and friendly little place.
So, there was the toy store for the kids, gift and pottery shops for my mom, and clothing boutiques for me! I could have spent about an hour more and a whole paycheck at Kismet, and Wildflower was gorgeous (but a bit more expensive and mostly winter stuff at the time). I will be back to both.
We got some picnic food from Tom's grocery and hung around for a bit. We planned to go to John Bryan Park in place of Glen Helen so that the kids could run around and "explore", like Larkyn hoped to do.
We found John Bryan, but their playground was nowhere to be found and no one knew what we were talking about. We were warned about muddy trails and some people suggested we keep driving to Young's, which sounded like a great way to end the day (ice cream, animals, and the play area!)
Ha! Everyone in the Western half of Ohio had the same idea. It probably would have taken us an hour to get our ice cream, and the play area was not open for the season yet. So...I decided with all the plans that went awry, it was time to see the animals and go home.
Annnnnnd that ranks right up there with my top 10 favorite photos of these 2. We had a great trip. Next time, Yellow Springs is happening on a weekday and I will check to make sure everything is open for the season!
Our plans were to visit Glen Helen Nature Preserve and downtown Yellow Springs, but our plans seemed to be derailed at every chance. When we got to town, we saw big signs at the entrance of Glen Helen. The trails were "Closed until Monday" because of mud. I now know to check this kind of thing before leaving home, because they post it on their site. So, off to town we went...
A little advice: If you are going on a weekend, go EARLY. We had trouble finding parking, and when we left a few hours later, people were parked much further out than us.
Amazingly, the first store we found was a toy store. The selection of toys was high quality and the kids had a blast. You'll have to leave your stroller outside, as it is teeny inside and there are stairs. I think the person working was relieved when we left because of all the "fun" we had. They each left with a random toy (a pony puppet that provided entertainment for the rest of the day, and a taco truck that is already missing).
Next, Dino's Cappuccinos for some (more) drinks and a blondie that will live in my dreams. I loved how there was seating all over downtown, so we just found a table and camped out for a while. In that short amount of time, my mom made a new friend who invented and sells vertical rain gardens, I saw more dogs than people, and when someone sneezed, 3 strangers would say "Bless you!" What a vibrant and friendly little place.
So, there was the toy store for the kids, gift and pottery shops for my mom, and clothing boutiques for me! I could have spent about an hour more and a whole paycheck at Kismet, and Wildflower was gorgeous (but a bit more expensive and mostly winter stuff at the time). I will be back to both.
We got some picnic food from Tom's grocery and hung around for a bit. We planned to go to John Bryan Park in place of Glen Helen so that the kids could run around and "explore", like Larkyn hoped to do.
We found John Bryan, but their playground was nowhere to be found and no one knew what we were talking about. We were warned about muddy trails and some people suggested we keep driving to Young's, which sounded like a great way to end the day (ice cream, animals, and the play area!)
Ha! Everyone in the Western half of Ohio had the same idea. It probably would have taken us an hour to get our ice cream, and the play area was not open for the season yet. So...I decided with all the plans that went awry, it was time to see the animals and go home.
Annnnnnd that ranks right up there with my top 10 favorite photos of these 2. We had a great trip. Next time, Yellow Springs is happening on a weekday and I will check to make sure everything is open for the season!
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