Fall Activities 2014

A beautiful picture by Ed Ponikwia, see more of his photos of Kentucky HERE.

Trying to get some of the great Fall Activities that are going on in our area all posted in one spot!

Please let me know of other's to add:

Ongoing:
Through Oct 31 - The Todd County Bale Trail
Pumpkin Patch - Christian Way Farms - Christian Co KY
Pumpkin Patch - Honeysuckle Hill Farm - Springfield, TN
Pumpkin Patch - Trunnell Farms - Utica, KY
Pumpkin Patch - Jackson's Orchard - Bowling Green, KY
Fall Fun - Chaney's Dairy Barn/Corn Maze - Bowling Green KY
Circus - The Carson & Barnes Circus - Various spots surrounding us



October 2014:
4th - Harvest Festival - Elkton KY
11th - Trigg County Ham Festival
11th - Logan County Tobacco Festival
11th - Run for the Rebels 5K - Elkton
11th - Shaker Farm Day - South Union, KY
17th & 18th - October Night Walk - Dunbar Cave, Clarksville, TN
25th - Halloween in Oak Grove
25th - Trenton Halloween Carnival
25th - Lake Malone Halloween Bash
25th - Fright on Franklin - Clarksville TN
25th - Todd County Amazing Race - Elkton, KY

November 2014:

A Day Out With Thomas The Train - Nashville, TN ($$)

Our Guest Reviewer for this post is Crystal Putty.  She has lived in the area all her life.  Crystal is married, has a 3 year old son and works outside the home.

If your child adores Thomas like mine does, this is an event you must attend. "Day Out with Thomas" was in Nashville for 2 weekends.

Zig Zag Bouncers - Hopkinsville, KY ($)

Our guest blogger for the review of Zig Zag Bouncers is Andrea Howard Jones.  Andrea is a Todd County Native and has 2 sons, ages 10 and 14.  Her and her husband live in Allegre.

I really enjoy taking my ten year old son to Zig Zag Bouncers. We have been three times and I usually take a friend or two with us.

They offer seven bouncers of all different themes and sizes. My child prefers the obstacle course one since he is older.

GIVEAWAY - $25 Gift Card to Kids-N-Play in Clarksville, TN

Kids-N-Play in Clarksville, TN was awesome enough to provide us with our first GIVEAWAY!

We have a $25 gift card to Kids-N-Play to giveaway.

You can register below or on our Facebook Page.

The contest will run from August 28 - Midnight Sept 1 with the winner announced Tuesday morning Sept 2, 2014.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kids N Play - Clarksville, TN ($)

Our Guest Reviewer for Kids N Play is Hillary Bobbett.  Hillary is a mother of 4 who is in Nursing School, who I believe lives in Elkton with her husband and does photography on the side.

Rhonda here, I was able to talk with Cheryl at Kids N Play to share our review and she replied extremely promptly and wanted me to share a few more details about passes, cost, etc, so I'll do that below in blue!

I have 4 kids ages are, 7,7,3,1. Two boys and two girls. All of my kids love Kids N Play.

There are things to climb, slides to slide, balls to shoot, trains to ride, and a kiddie corner for babies to play with soft blocks and toys.

But the best part is the dress up stations. They have built little stores and houses such as, a beauty salon complete with mannequin heads, pretend curling irons and brushes.

They have a grocery store with play food and little grocery carts.

They do have food you can buy but we've never needed to buy so I can't tell you if it's any good.

But the best part is while your kids are having fun you can sit and relax on a couch!!

Oh and remember to bring socks because that's all they can have on. They do have ones there to purchase, but just bring socks : )

Admission is $9 for 3 years and older and $6 for those 1-2 years old.

Note that if you come with your kids below 12 months, their admission is free with an additional paying child.

They also offer membership packages that can vary in time for 3, 6 or 12 months, which would be excellent for summer!  There's a lot of options in the Membership Packages, so I'll give you the link to those HERE.

There are also Frequent Play Passes for 5 visits ($7.50 off retail) or 10 passes which is a $30 off retail savings, so those might be good options for Spring/Fall Breaks or Christmas Vacation.

Here are their hours of operation:

Monday – Thursday: 10:00am – 4:00pm
Friday & Saturday: 10:00am – 7:00pm
Sunday: 12:00pm – 6:00pm

Their Facebook page can be found HERE.

Tips:

• Be sure to bring socks because that is all they can wear in the play area
• It does get pricey for multiple kids, but they do really enjoy it and if you can devote a couple hours there, it's worth the cost.





Christian Way Farm - Hopkinsville, KY ($)

Our first guest blogger review!  This post is by Stefanie Sharp, also a Todd County Native who moved away from home but has been back in the area for around 6 years.  Her and her husband live in Elkton and have a 7 year old daughter.


Christian Way Farm is a fun place for kids and the whole family. We have been 3 times, twice in the fall for the annual pumpkin patch visit and once during the summer for a company picnic.

The annual Pumpkin Patch visits are fun for the kids. Both times we went on a school field trip. They start out the adventure with the story of the pumpkin. Beginning with how the bees and pollination help the pumpkins grow and ending with using the pumpkin to tell the story of Jesus.

After the story the kids have time to explore a bit. There are animals to feed, corn to grind into feed, a corn maze, tricycle track, lots of animals to look at, and a good ole playground with swings and slides.

 

 

When it is time for the pumpkin patch everyone climbs on a trailer pulled by a tractor for a hay ride out to pick their very own pumpkin. Don't worry, the ride is safe and there are benches to sit on.

It costs around $6.00 to get a pumpkin. I think the price may vary if you get a much larger pumpkin.

During the summer, mini golf is a fun option. We played the course with several kids and adults and everyone had a great time. The course has lots of hills and some water features to make it challenging.

It was a great place for a field trip. The staff at Christian Way Farm really knows how to engage the kids and keep them organized. The company picnic we had was also a great time. There was a barn like structure that was more like an outdoor pavilion where we ate at picnic tables. There were probably 100 of us at the picnic, adults and children, and we were not overly cramped.

One more fun thing we got to do during the summer that the children absolutely loved. The farm has a lawn mower train. They hook 5 or 6 mowers (with the motors removed) up to a tractor and pull them. Each child sits on a mower and gets to pretend to drive it. They love it. Our daughter rode the ʺtrainʺ for probably 30 minutes. I must admit, it was pretty cool.

 

Since we have been 3 times, our daughter was age 3, age 4 and age 6 and loved it each time. My grandmother took her once and enjoyed it and my husband and I have both been and also enjoyed it. Christian Way Farms is really fun for the whole family. 

Another note, and to help make the day that much more economical, they will allow you to bring your own lunches/food!

Their Facebook Page can be found HERE.

Tips:

* Check the weather and dress appropriately. It can be very windy
* Wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty. It's a farm!
* Plan to spend 2-3 hours exploring
* It is located on a back road. If you think you are lost...you are almost there.

Jefferson Davis Monument State Park - Fairview, KY (FREE)

The Jefferson Davis Monument is probably somewhere that most everyone has been to at some point but rarely ever goes.

I started taking M there about 2 years ago.  She was fascinated with the monument when we would drive by......and according to her Goofy lives in it.  Weird, Rapunzel would make much more sense, but regardless, we had to go.

I'm considering this FREE because once you go up, I don't see a need to go up in the monument every time, but if it is new to you and the kids, its worth the $3 for you and $2 for kids to get to say they went up and got to point out Pilot Rock and see Elkton from afar.

Since we are past going up in the monument, what do we actually "do" there?

I just really love the wide open space and it's fun to walk, run, skip around with the kids and see what all you can find.  One particular spring day we just sat around in the grass and made clover necklaces, bracelets and crowns and watched the clouds go by.  In my opinion, these are what memories are made of!

It's just a good place to let their imaginations run.

Obviously there is the play ground, and it's actually in really good shape, some of the grills that surround the pavilions are not that great, and a few of the benches have seen better days but it always seems to be clean and pretty well kept.

They do rent out the two pavilions if you want to have an event there.  There's a smaller one and the larger pavilion.   I actually opted to have M's 4th birthday party here, the kids were able to play on the play ground and run around and fly kites I brought (another great thing to do there in the spring especially on the front lawn), we grilled hot dogs and had an Easter Egg Hunt for the kiddos.

It was perfect, cheap, and I didn't have to clean my house : )  For a bunch of 4 years olds, it was "awesome."

The bathrooms on site now are also pretty clean every time I've been in them, so that's also a big plus!

One of my favorite things as a kid, and M does the same thing now, is to jump around on the exposed limestone rocks in different areas of the park.  There's a ton up around the playground and others down on the East side of the park.  M had me playing Captain Hook and Wendy with her last night when we stopped by after school for a picnic and to play.

It's probably not somewhere that you will spend hours and hours, but it's a great place for the kids to be kids, to use their imaginations again and unplug from technology and just play.

Take some time one afternoon and just let them be kids.

Also, this time of year by around 5:30 the playground is actually shaded by the trees and it was a great time to be there.  No one else was even at the park, we had it all to ourselves : )

They don't really have a true Facebook page, but there are some details listed HERE.

Tips:

• Good to take a blanket, have a picnic, let the kids play on the playground
• Going up in the monument is a sight to see and worth the $3 to do it at least once
• Take plenty of drinks
• Have a scavenger hunt or fly some kites, having a slight plan will make it that much more fun