Cherry Crest Adventure Farm--Part I

We visited Cherry Crest Adventure Farm on a short trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to hang out with friends. The farm has a great variety of activities for visitors, including animal feeding, a corn maze, and shows.

Entrance to the farm

The shopping courtyard

The first thing we tried was a rain gutter runner where the kids pumped water to send a rubber ducky down the gutter to a u-joint and down a second gutter back to the pump. My daughter and little son enjoyed pumping lots of water.

Rain gutter racer

Pumping like crazy

Nearby was a kids' tractor ride that the boys enjoyed. It was a short trip through the corn field and for little ones only.

Pulled by a tractor

Then we tried out the corn maze. They've had several different themes for their mazes over the years. This year's theme was board games, so various puzzles were hidden throughout the garden. Also, the overall design, from overhead, showed dice and a pawn. We didn't appreciate that from our corn's eye view.

Heading into the corn maze

Checking the map/puzzle sheet

One of the challenges inside the maze

Another puzzle involving scratch offs

The kids really enjoyed the "find the hidden object" pictures.

Click to enlarge if you want to try it out

Punny puzzle

What to do?!?

A fun photo op!

We chose a flag to help the group stay together. We were instructed how to wave the flag to signal for help in case of emergencies like being lost or being too hot.

Carrying the flag

Bike-powered misting station--another heat solution

We discovered a random set of musical percussion instruments that our kids played to death.

Banging on the vertical xylophone

Several times we heard a local scenic train go by. The track cuts right through the farm but not through the corn maze!

Not the way out

At the end of the maze, they had displays of previous mazes and how they make the maze each year. The kids were not too interested so I only got to take a few pictures as we walked by.

Many Mazes

You can make a maze in your backyard with these 16 simple steps!

We ate some lunch and went to the butter-making demonstration. Rather than churning for a while, they gave us cups with lids that we had to shake to make the milk fat solidify into butter. The demonstration was fun and quick. And they handed out pretzel sticks so we could sample our own butter.

Making butter

We bought a cup of feed and started feeding the animals, always a popular activity with children and animals alike. Some of the animals were aggressive, especially the goats. Maybe they looked that way because of their appearance--the horns and the creepy eyes.

Feeding a goat through the fence

All the goats ready to eat!

A fence with less protection

The sheep were a little easier to feed. They looked more friendly. Our preschooler was brave enough to try (which wasn't true for the goats).

The face of serenity?

My daughter demonstrates feeding technique

The preschooler gets in on the action

The least interactive way to feed the animals was the conveyor belt to the goat walkway. Kids put some feed in a cup and then cranked until the cup made it to the top, where a bell rang as the food tipped over into a small bucket. The kids enjoyed cranking even if they didn't have feed to put into the cups. That probably made for some cranky goats.

Feeding the higher ups

Across the path were other animals, including a depopulated pig barn.

Pig barn

Close up of the sign

Feeding the pigs

The pigs had ducks for neighbors.

Ducks hanging out

Inside a big barn, our children got to hold baby chicks. This was another activity that was too much for our youngest one.

Lady demonstrating proper holding technique

Happy holders (and holdees)

More from the farm in the next post!

Playgrounds of August 2018

August was a time for us to visit many playgrounds, a last ditch-effort to have more fun before school starts!

In Pennsylvania, we stayed at a fancy hotel that had a fun playground. The kids really enjoyed an early morning session on the pirate ship!

Crew of a pirate ship!

At their stations

A happy pilot

The swing set attached to the ship

A castle

Sitting on the castle looking serious

Back home, while my oldest son was in a baseball camp at Cedar Lane Park, I took the other two kids to the playground on the park grounds. It had an outdoor theme that made for fun equipment.

Outdoor playground with outdoor theme

Honeycomb climber

Rockwall climber

Ladder climber

The classic slide

On the fancy swing

At a different baseball camp (at Blandair Park) we discovered a copycat Ninja Warrior course. The course has a start and finish line with buttons to time the run. Our kids tried several times, enjoying the challenges of the obstacle course.

Officially called an "Obstacle Course" though clearly patterned after Ninja Warrior

Checking out the challenges

The sextuple step

Charging through

Going over rather than through

At the end of one obstacle

Another "over or under" choice

The only problem with the course is that it can get overrun by too many kids at once. Especially when the parents don't supervise and the kids treat it like a playground rather than an obstacle course.

The park is so big that it is on both sides of the road. On the other side is a more traditional playground that the kids enjoyed, but not as much.

Another playground!

Climbing to the big slides

Going down the slide

Spinning around

Climbing

The 2-5 playground

On a bigger slide

We visited another playground, this time by the Dinosaur Library (so named by us for the dinosaur theme inside the kids' section, it's actually called the "Laurel Branch"). The playground is in Emancipation Park in Laurel and is pretty fancy.

Tough part of the playground

A fun, unconventional swing

Happy to be on the slide

Almost down

Another happy slider

Mid-slide

Playing inside the library

Book Review: Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 4 by Hiromu Arakawa

Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 4 story and art by Hiromu Arakawa

Ed and Al finish up their battle at the abandoned alchemical lab. Their enemies, Lust and Envy, leave them alive for some nefarious purpose. The brothers need a lot of recovery time, especially Al (he's the one who's just a soul trapped in a suit of armor)--he doubts whether he is a real person or not. They resolve some personal issues and decide to go back to their original teacher to get more information on the philosopher's stone. Meanwhile, the conspiracy around the philosopher's stone seems to be getting bigger and bigger as more members of the military are involved, including possibly the president?!?

The story is charming, funny, and dramatic in just the right mixture. I am enjoying it a lot and look forward to the next issue. Nothing too deep here but lots of fun.

Recommended.