Stone Zoo, Stoneham MA

Stone Zoo, part of Zoo New England is the smaller of the two zoos.

So despite it being school vacation week, we did venture out to the zoo on Monday with Nana and Papa. We opted to avoid Franklin Park due to the Marathon and all the chaos that it brings. Instead we went to the small, but pretty kid friendly Stone Zoo. Last time I went to the zoo, I used my double wagon. This time, we used the double stroller. The Zoo is on the small side for zoo, for toddlers and preschoolers, I think its just fine. They aren't all that interested in what animals are there anyways! The two big kids were really excited seeing the bear, and Cecilia loved the monkeys.

So first off, parking....plenty of it! I've never known it to be a problem. When we go, we always go to the left to check out the animals. (I think if you go to the right, you are just so quickly at the playground and that might be the end of the trip if your kids are anything like mine! :) ).

While it is a small zoo, and there aren't a huge amount of your 'impressive' zoo animals (Zebra/elephant/Lion/Gorillas etc) it's still a good excursion for the little ones. For the 'bigger' animals, there are bears, llamas, monkeys, flamingos, and wolves. (See the map above for a better list) Some of the walkways are a little narrow and hard to navigate with the double stroller when it's crowded, but overall not too bad. When we went there were lots of animals that were not out on exhibit due to the weather. It was a nice day, but April can be pretty unpredictable. This was disappointing, and I do remember this happening last year as well. I'm guessing we were there around the same time of year. Hopefully when we go back this summer, there will be more to look at. Right around the 'River Otters' there is the Dino Dig. I think this might be my kids favorite part of the zoo! There's a box that's pretty equivalent to a large sandbox. It's filled with gravel and under the gravel are 'dinosaur bones'. There's also a table right nearby with a bunch of different types of skulls. I have to say it's pretty cool, and the best part is that there are bathrooms right there!

After this area we've always walked over to the 'barnyard'. I find this area so disappointing. By its name, I would expect that there might be some chickens, goats, sheep, etc. There aren't. But right next to the barn is a good sized playground. I'll hold my decisions on this playground for little ones until our next visit. It was just so overrun with bigger kids on vacation that my little ones were getting run over.

On the way out the door are a few 'rides'. My kids love it....there's a train, and a twisty type of ride. There's also some coin operated ones. The train was $2.00 and the other ride was $3.00.

Costs: For a family of 5, I think the zoo is a little expensive for what it offers. $11.00 for an adult, and $7.00 for kids 2-12. You can get passes from the libraries, and there is a buy one get one free coupon for the Stone Zoo in the 2011 Entertainment Book. Since this zoo is just down the road from us, and I went a few times last year, I did opt to purchase the family plus membership. The regular family membership which covers two adults and up to 4 kids was 75. For just $20.00 more, it included 4 adults, 4 kids, PLUS two guests with each visit! This was definitely worth the extra money.

Mall Tots, Danvers MA

Update: For those of you that are familiar with Mall Tots at the Liberty Tree Mall, they moved this week! You can now find them where K & G used to be!

Cy Tenney / Ross Memorial Park, Peabody

This past weekend we took a trip to Ross Memorial Park on Johnson Rd, Peabody MA (formerly CyTenney Park). This park is one that is near and dear to my heart, and I just love taking the kids there! I grew up just down the street. I'm not quite sure that there actually was a playground when I was younger, but a woman I used to babysit for spearheaded an effort to build a new playground at the site. So I've been involved in the construction of this park from the beginning. I volunteered at many of the events, and babysat for the planning meetings. Our family has a brick on one of the walkways, and my father was actually on the building committee and literally helped build the park. As time moved on, the park continued to evolve. Several years ago there was another group that built an accessible park on the site as well! Just a few years ago the City of Peabody began building a bike trail throughout the city, and this park is part of that bike trail! Awesome!

So, the park includes some baseball fields, a bike path that brings you out to Lowell St, by the Hannaford Shopping Plaza. (this trail continues through to the Middleton line if interested!) Plenty of parking here and it is not even close to the main road. (another plus!) Playgrounds are entirely fenced in.

As for the playgrounds, there are essentially three playgrounds at this location. For three toddlers, I prefer the kids to stay on the newest, accessible one for a few reasons. First, I like the surface much better. It's a rubberized surface so I don't have to worry about splinters or Cecilia eating it! I can easily stay on the structure with the kids if need be. The one downside, it is a little easy for the little ones to fall off. This happened to us last week, but with the soft surface, Cecilia was just fine. There's a great sandbox that's in one corner of the park. The swings in this part of the park are large swings so that most kids can enjoy them, even with various disabilities. This section of the park is mostly fenced in and seperate from the rest of the playground and there are a few benches scattered around. The walkway to the older portion is not gated.

The older (and more sentimental for me!) playground is located to the back and side of the Angel Playground. The structures to the side are for the smaller kids. Lower level slides, wheels, balancing boards, monkey bars etc. Cecilia likes this section, but other than the wheels, Patrick has no interest in it! He, of course prefers the large wooden playground! I certainly do get nervous with him climbing this section, but so far he does pretty well. There are two very high slides - one regular slide, and a tunnel slide. Patrick climbs up to both, but really can only go down the tunnel slide. He does pretty well on it, but this is just much to big for Cecilia.

In between the two sections are the swings. There's 2 baby swings and two tire swings. Since none of my kids are old enough use a regular swing, I didn't think to look for them!

I took some pictures of the park, but haven't had a chance to upload. After the big wedding this weekend, I'll get all my pictures up on the computer.

Currently, this is one of my favorite parks for the kids. When the weather is nice, I plan to park at Hannaford and walk/bike over with the kids. Right now it is a bit hard with the two mobile ones, since it is such a large area and the kids never want to do the same things. Patrick does end up being a bit more daring than I'd like since I'm stretched so thin with the girls. I'm not quite sure I'll be able to do this park once Riley's on the move. Although, Patrick will be a bit older, so maybe it will be fine?

Upcoming stops: Mall Tots, Liberty Tree Mall, Danvers MA; Ingaldsby Farm, Boxford; New Hampshire Children's Museum, Dover NH; The Butterfly Place, Westford; Ackerman Park, Boxford.

And send me ideas of places to go with my 'crew'! We love checking out new things!

Endicott Park, Danvers MA

I planned on doing a review of aMAZEment in Haverhill for my next blog. Unfortunately as you moms know, even the best plans can easily fall apart when dealing with kids. We didn't make it to aMAZEment with the snow predicted last Friday. Then we dealt with Riley being sick, so we haven't really been out, other than several trips to the doctor's office! (Not fun or easy with just one kid, let alone three! - however I will say that these docs are fantastic for anyone in the Greater Haverhill area!)

We've certainly been to aMAZEment several times, and I probably could give a pretty good review off the top of my head, but I think it's a hard place to describe. Pictures would definitely be beneficial so that will have to wait. :)

Instead, we did manage to get out to Endicott Park in Danvers on Sunday for a couple of hours. Endicott Park (www.endicottpark.com) is owned and operated by the Town of Danvers. It's actually quite a large haven for a number of activities. Endicott Park is 168 acres. We certainly have not taken advantage of all the activities available, but the children just love 'animal park' as they call it. So here's some of the highlights:

Children's Barn: There's a small barnyard for the kids to explore (no petting or feeding the animals) They have 2 horses, sheep, a goat, a pig, some chickens/roosters, swans or ducks (I'm not quite sure what they are), and some other birds. These all go inside the barn or outside in the pens. The last two times we were there the chickens were roaming free and Patrick was absolutely thrilled! Inside the barn there are also some bunnies. The barn is fairly stroller friendly, you do have one step to go up, but its not too bad. The backside of the barn has a little 'deck' so to speak. This makes me a little nervous because on one side the kids could climb through and it's probably a 3 foot drop.

Right near the Barn is the Carriage House. There are bathrooms here, clean bathrooms. :) This building houses the Park Rangers, a 'classroom' type space (no strollers allowed) with some books and some interesting things for older kids to check out. (all artifacts found at the park such as deer antlers, different animal skulls, etc) Here is where you can find all the flyers for different events held at the Park.

Playground: Across the picnic area and parking lot is the Children's playground. From the carriage house you can take the road around, or cut through the grassy field. We've done both, I prefer walking around so the kids can do a little exploring, but you need to be careful of cars. In the summer I believe the horses are kept across this road. The fenced in playground is brand-new. There are two sections, one for the little ones and one for the bigger ones. Each section has it's own set of swings. Both playgrounds are on mulch. The space in-between is a sand/dirt combo. There are benches along the fence for parents to sit on. It's a little tough getting a stroller across the playground, but it's doable. The new playstructures are nice, each has multiple slides, climbing walls, and other things for the kids to check out. I will post some pictures the next time we go. It is a large area, with some picnic tables and a grassy area. Depending on the age of your kids, it could be somewhat difficult to manage at this park with three. I find that mine often split up and they are each on a different playstructure. Because they are so young, it's hard to keep them all safe. Cecilia thinks she can do everything Patrick can, and he thinks he can do everything! The big downside I've found to this park is the fencing. you would think that after redoing the playground, that they would fix the fences. It's a chainlink fence by the parking lot. The handle on the gate has been broken off, so the gate is not secure. There is also parts where the chainlink is torn and/or detached. Last time, Patrick climbed through a large hole and out into the parking lot. If they fixed the fence, it would be a great place to go!

Trails: I can't comment about the quality of the trails since we haven't checked them out yet, but there appear to be a number of trails, one of which is the Life trail. I'm hoping to check that out soon, but I don't think it's stroller friendly.

There's also a fishing pond, and community gardens according to the website. Glen Magna Farm is located here as well, but is considered property. (We did walk through here and it's gorgeous! This would be a great place to take photos of your kids in the spring/summer!)

Again, check out the website....there's tons of different activities, classes, camps here. There's also the option to have a birthday party year round! www.endicottpark.com

There's a lot to this park and it's definitely worth a trip. Pack a picnic lunch and enjoy the day. :)

Endicott Park
57 Forest St.
Danvers MA

Hours 9:00 - sunset

Cost: Weekdays no fee. Parking on the weekends is $1 for Danvers residents and $3 for non-residents

Next Stop: Not sure....we'll see where this week takes us!