New Experiences in the Old Hometown

Ale, Lil and I have lived in Columbus, Ohio for a combined total of over fifty years. This city is surprising in its depth and there are hundreds of places and experiences we have never had in and around our hometown. Taking inspiration from Kate's list of things she wants to do in Columbus, here are new things (or things we haven't done in a LONG time) we want to do this summer:

  • carousel at columbus commonsCheck out the Columbus Commons (Done on 5/27 before I even got this post out of the cue; can you spot me in Cbus Mom's review?)
  • Explore the Columbus Museum of Art Center for Creativity
  • Trek to The Wilds
  • Spend a day at Aha!, the Boonshoft Museum, or another children's museum nearby
  • Walk around Serpent Mound
  • Take an OEFFA Farm Tour or two
  • Read with the Columbus Metro Library Summer Reading Club I'm participating as an adult for the first time!
  • Visit the Franklin County Fair
  • View the COSI Dinosaur Exhibit (Done 5/31 on a fantastically not crowded day.)
  • Shop the Athens Farmer's Market
  • Camp at a new-to-us Ohio State Park (I'm thinking Kelly's Island)
  • Go bowling, ice skating, and/or roller skating Lil has never done any of these!
  • Watch a performance in a park

I will update this post as we check things off the list.

Do you have any must-see Ohio places to recommend? What are you up to this summer?

PS. I realize that it isn't officially summer until June 21, but with the stinking hot weather I think we can start planning, don't you?

Friday Five: Firsts and a Last

I intended to post this for Friday Five but didn't hit the publish button. Oh well, pretend it's yesterday again. This week was full of milestones at Hound Central. lambs at jorgensen farm 1) First time the three of us have slept under different roofs. On Wednesday night, Alex was in Fort Lauderdale for work, Lil was at my parents', and I was sleeping at home before waking up early for a flight to BlogHer Food '11.

2) First lamb tartar. On Tuesday I had the pleasure of visiting Jorgensen Farm for an Ohio Lamb media event. It was inspiring to tour the farm, sample six dishes created with lamb, and see an amazingly detailed butchering demonstration. I will share more about the farm and lamb recipes soon.

3) Rachel's first ipod. The smart and generous people at Moe's Southwest Grill emailed me a few weeks ago to offer a ride from the airport to the conference hotel. The convenience and company were gifts enough, I thought. I was shocked to find that the swag bag included an ipod shuffle. Wow!

4) Lil's last day of preschool. After four years at the School for Young Children, Lil will be an alumna after Friday's class. We love this play based pre-school; Alex and I are presidents of the advisory committee. There are still a few spots available for children who are 3-5 years old. See their enrollment page to give your child and family a strong emotional foundation.

5) First moments of our homeschooling. After weighing options for Lil's education, we settled on homeschooling. We look forward to continuing our flexible, adventurous lifestyle while learning as a family.

Raising a Painted Lady Butterfly

During the month of April, we watched a caterpillar grow, molt, form a chrysalis, and hatch into a butterfly. Observing the larvae became an exciting daily ritual for Lil, Alex and I. The caterpillar had perfect timing - it made a chrysalis during our new england vacation and emerged last weekend. We are pleased that Lil experienced the caterpillar life cycle first hand. Should we have been able to witness the butterfly life cycle, we might have seen a hawk eat it, or the butterfly starve without food. But we hope that our painted lady pollinated some flowers while drinking nectar and laid or fertilized eggs to hatch into new caterpillars.

We purchased our caterpillar for $4 from the Franklin Park Conservatory gift shop. If you are not local, Carolina science supply sells painted lady larvae. To preserve natural species, please only raise and release butterflies that are native to your area.

Added to Hearth and Soul 46.