Ten of my favorite things so far

Columbus in the summer is the BEST! I feel like I almost need to flip a coin to decide what to do because there are so many fun events happening every single day. I am fortunate enough to have a husband who loves adventure, as well as having a job where I get to explore the city through the eyes of two amazing kiddos. Life got busy and I haven’t been able to sit down in front of a computer for longer than 20 minutes at a time, which is why this is a list of my top ten favorite things from the past few weeks. My goal is to every week give you all a re-cap of my favorite five things from the week before. You can only post so many pictures on IG. This way, I will be able to share more details on my adventures, in hopes that I can inspire a few new spots for you!

1. Visiting The Short North Stage.

My husband and I had a fabulous date thanks to my membership with the CTA Network. We met up with a few other members at the The Short North Stage for a behind the scene tour and a sneak peak of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. If you’re like me, you have probably seen this theater numerous times, yet never knew what it was or the history behind it. The Garden is the second oldest surviving theater in Columbus. The Southern Theater being the oldest.The glowing green neon lights of the theater sign have been lighting up the Short North off-and-on for almost a century, yet, I have never taken the time to learn more. I highly suggest checking out a show or scheduling a tour of the theater. We not only learned the history of the theater, but, also a great deal of history on Columbus.

2. Discovering that Hoover has a new playground!

I live over by Hoover and love visiting. It is a great place for a work-out (killer stairs), disc golf, walking at sunset or just relaxing to the sound of the water. One thing I always thought it was missing was a great playground. The one they had was pretty old and anytime it rained, it was flooded for days. Every time my husband and I visited, I would always mention the need for a new playground. Well, we were running early to the Alpaca Farm and I decided to take my nanny kiddos to the dam. To my surprise, there was a brand new playground! We LOVE it! One thing it is lacking is shade. However, if go a few hundred feet, there is a nice shelter with picnic tables!

3. Wild Encounters at The Columbus Zoo.

I never get tired of talking about how amazing our zoo is. My very first job, 16 years ago, was at the Columbus Zoo! We are so fortunate to have it. I am sure we frequent the zoo at least twice a month. To kick off summer, we did an all out Zoo day (blog post to come on that!). One of the things we did was the Wild Encounters. I had NEVER heard of this! Basically, you get a behind the scene tour with your own zoo team member. You can choose from Discovery Reef, Manatee Coast, Giraffe Barn or the Animal Health Center. In honor of the new play area opening close by, we chose the Discovery Reef. It was an INCREDIBLE experience. My two nanny kiddos and I were the only ones on the tour. It was great because we could go at our own pace and the kiddos could ask as many questions as they wanted to. We learned all about the new projects they were working on. We saw the food that they feed the animals. We learned tons of different facts on each of the animals in the aquarium. The list could go on, but, my favorite part was getting a top view of the 90,000 gallon aquarium that we usually only see form up front. It was AMAZING! Such a cool perspective that we weren’t used to seeing. This is a MUST do at the zoo. You can register and pay for your tickets online. The price is $15 for members and $20 for non-members.

4. Taco Tuesday at The Kitchen

Have you been to Taco Tuesday at The Kitchen yet? I have been drooling over their weekly posts on IG for months. Finally, my girlfriend and I decided to go. DELICIOUS! What I love about this night is the fact that that change the menu every single week. They are so creative in their themes, too. I am still bummed I missed the Bill Murray and the Disney Princess themed week.

5. Visiting an Alpaca Farm

I love finding hidden gems in and around Columbus. Swisher Creek Alpaca Farm in Gahanna is one of those hidden gems! Their farm is home to 19 big-eyed Alpacas, as well has a fun gift shop filled with homemade items and a full line of alpaca products. The owners, Pete & Jude Klein, offer free, educational tours of the farm by appointment. Just give them a call at 614.939.1872. We had a blast!

6. Running Columbus 10k

Running has never been something I loved or chosen to do, well, unless there was a medal involved. However, the more races I do, the more I get why people love it. I think I am officially getting that runners high they talk about? Something about being out on the road, music on, taking in the scenery around. It just does something. It brings a certain type of peace you can’t get in our fast paced world. A few weeks ago, my little sister and I ran a 5k together. She loved it. I loved being able to experience that with her. When I told her I was running the Columbus 10k, she asked if she could join. I instantly said, “YES!” It is so fun getting to watch my younger sister experience things for the first time, as well as getting to spend time together and bond over them.

7. Velvet Ice Cream Factory

I have wanted to go to the Ice Cream Factory for a long time now. It just always seemed so far away! When we were out at Red Twig, I decided to check and see just how far away it was. It was only 28 minutes, which didn’t seem as far as the hour plus drive from Worthington. We decided to drive out there, on a whim. I am so glad we did! We had a blast and learned SO much about the art of making ice cream. Plus, I didn’t mind getting to eat the ice cream either. In the shop, you can do 1/2 scoops. Between the four of us, we had eight different flavors! This is one of those times I wish I wasn’t the adult and didn’t have to drive back home. 😉 There are so many different things to do while visiting. They have an awesome shop, with a self-guided tour, pefectly kid friendly. While in the shop, you can order lunch and ice cream. They have dining inside, but, we opted to sit by the Ye Olde Mill outdoors. One of our favorite parts was the guided tour. You start in an outdoor room watching a video about the history of the factory, followed by a walking tour, ending up inside of the factory. I had no idea they produced all of this ice cream in ONE ROOM at ONE LOCATION! God bless the ice cream makers of Velvet Ice Cream. One of my favorite things that I learned was how involved the family is. They work side by side the employees. They know each of the employees by name. The business gets passed down generation to generation. You could tell the passion and love each employee had for the business. On site, they also have numerous picnic tables, a duck pond (swimming in ice cream water, you’ll learn about that on the tour!), a play area, a nature trail and more! This is a great day trip!

8. X Marks the Spot @ Polaris

We are so fortunate to have so many events in Columbus geared towards families, a lot of them being free throughout the summer! One of those awesome free events is KidX Kid’s Club at Polaris – a new club where kids get to come together with FREE activities that inspire them to explore their world through fun, playful and educational experiences. Polaris Fashion Plavce partnered with Sunny 95 to bring us music, crafts, entertainment, characters, giveaways and more ALL summer long! Check the schedule – the theme changes weekly.

9. Visiting Red Twig Farms

I am sure you have seen the gorgeous peonies from Red Twig Farms all over social media. Gorgeous, right? I knew I had to go because I was having flower envy everytime I saw someone post a picture of their visits. Luckily, I had my sisters baby shower coming up to give me an excuse to buy a dozen or two. I took my nanny kiddos and one of my sisters with me. They loved helping me pick out the perfect flowers. The owners were incredibly sweet, giving each kiddo a full bloomed flower. I wish they were in season all year around because they bloomed out perfectly for her shower. Check out their facebook for pick-up times. Sadly, the season in almost over.

10. Lolli-Pops at Village Green in Powell

One of my favorite events of the summer are the Lolli-Pops concerts in Powell. I didn’t get very many pictures because we were having SO MUCH fun dancing and singing! The concerts take place at the Village Green in Powell, right near the Powell Splash Pad. Each month, they have a new musical guest for you and your kiddos to sing and dance along too. It is a very interactive concert, with the kiddos getting up close to the stage. We usually meet up with 6-8 of our friends, bring a blanket, a picnic and your swimming suits for the splash pad. It might be the perfect play-date. If you don’t bring a lunch, Jet’s pizza has you covered. Just make sure you bring cash! Kona Ice is also there to help cool you down. Make sure to get their early because parking fills up fast! Check out facebook for details on the next concert coming up on July 11th.

We have so many more fun things planned for the summer and I can’t wait to share them with you! Hopefully I can inspire a few new spots for your summer bucket list.

XOXO