The last time I went to the park, I was probably about 8 years old and it was ok, but nothing special (although that was where we went for class field trips when I was little because there were not many options around!) Back then, they had a big lake with paddle boats, putt putt, a playground, a merry-go-round, and a mini zoo area. At least that is all I remember from when I was a kid.
Boy, was I amazed at how much the park had expanded and improved over the years! It is HUGE now and has tons of stuff to do and see! Thankfully, it was a beautiful day...clear skies, light breeze, and upper 70s (although a little chilly in the morning when we first arrived).
Now the park has 2 newly renovated putt putt courses (amazingly challenging I might add), a huge playgound area (with some equipment that I am certain I played on as a kid still there and an All Children's Playground area), a merry-go-round, small train that you can ride, splash park, larger than previous mini zoo, reptile center (with lots of snakes!), a petting zoo, large lake with paddle boats, camping spaces, picnic shelters and tables, and a gem mine!
The 1st thing Brayden wanted to do when we got there was to play putt putt. It was right near the parking lot, so off we went. We all had a great time and Lilly almost made a hole in one just by dropping her ball and letting it roll!
Then it was time for a slightly early lunch. Most of the other attractions were a little ways away, so we figured it would be better to eat a little early than have to walk all the way back to the car and waste time. My mom packed a picnic lunch (a huge one because that is how she does it...brings everything that you could possibly want/need on a picnic...and it usually all comes in handy at some point!). We ate out in a huge grassy field and when the kids were done, they got to run around a little. Perfect! Then we hit the playground for about 15 minutes. After that, we headed to the main part of the park.
We first saw the merry-go-round and Lilly got all excited which made my mom happy. Lilly and my mom rode the merry-go-round together. We tried to get Brayden to do it, but he was not interested. He is like me and doesn't like things that go in circles...I was getting sick just watching them ride!
Then we rode the little train around. It was not all that impressive but the kids enjoyed it :)
We went into the mini zoo area and saw 2 bears, 2 wolfs, some deer (which we see all the time so they were not very exciting), a few birds, and several other animals that I don't remember now. We then headed to the nature center (snakes, frogs, turtles, fish, etc). Brayden enjoyed this...Lilly, my mom, and I only stayed about 2 minutes. Not our thing!Next we headed to the petting zoo and saw sheep, pigs, donkeys, chickens, and a few other birds. They also had old wagons, tractors, plows, etc so we talked with Brayden about how farmers used to plow the fields, milk the cows, and about pioneers.
We then headed through the woods to the lake. Because Brayden is terrified of my dad's boat, I figured he would want nothing to do with the paddle boats, but I was wrong. My dad took him out for about 10 or 15 minutes and Brayden loved it. It wore my dad's knees out though! If we had known that 2 adults and a kid could have gone, Matt or I would have gone to help with the paddling, but they survived and had fun.
The last thing we did was to go to the gem mine. We bought 1 big bucket of dirt and sat at the troughs going through the dirt/sand with water and sifters. We found sevearl nice rocks/gems that we kept. The kids above us must have had a bucket with sharks teeth because I kept finding them...probably 8-10 in just a few minutes and I was scooping dirt/sand out of the trough instead of out of the bucket!
It was a fun day and we will definitly be going back to Dan Nicolas Park in a few years when Lilly can enjoy a bit more of the attractions!
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