Birds, Chuck E Cheese, A Carousel Ride, and Blueberries!

Typically, during the summer we try to get away for a couple of days as a family, just to spend some quality time together and do some fun things. Well this year we decided to stick closer to home and explore some areas that are not too far from our home.

On Tuesday, we took the kiddos to Mansfield, Ohio to spend the day. I found a ton of great ideas at the blog The Traveling Praters!

We started our day at the Ohio Bird Sanctuary. The Ohio Bird Sanctuary has several kinds of owls, hawks and other birds that have been injured in some way or raised by humans and they offer a safe refuge for these birds to live.

The kids loved looking at the different birds and they were even brave enough to walk through the aviary where the birds are not in cages. Jacob said his favorite was the ducks! The Ohio Bird Sanctuary also has several nature trails with beautiful flowers!

Then we headed out to lunch. We told Rebecca that if she read 10 chapter books AND journal them, that we would take her to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and to play. Well lo and behold she did and so we had to keep our promise. (If you don't know Chuck E. Cheese is NOT one of my favorite places!). So after we left the bird sanctuary, we headed to the restaurant.

It wasn't too crowded and once the kids ate they wanted to play, play, play! The kids had a blast and that is what matters! I loved seeing their smiling faces as they played the different games. And Jacob LOVED their pizza...he ate 4 slices!

After lunch, we decided to head to the Richland Carousel Park. This is a huge merry-go-round in the middle of downtown Mansfield.

It is a beautiful carousel with 52 different animals ranging from horses to giraffes to cats. We all rode one time and then Bill and Rebecca rode again.

After we had ridden the carousel, we headed out to the last stop of the day...The Blueberry Patch to pick blueberries of course! The kids had a blast when we picked strawberries and so we thought they would enjoy picking blueberries. And since blueberries are Benjamin's favorite, then we figured it would be a win, win!

The kids enjoyed it for the most part. It was very hot and humid when we were there, so we only picked a few pounds. Jacob was so excited to pick them. Personally, I do not like blueberries, but the kids said that they were delicious!

Overall, it was a fun-filled family day! As Rebecca said it "was 6 hours of family fun!" We have lots of memories and it was fairly lo cost.

It was a great way to spend a summer day!