Preview Post: Red Arrow Park

This is my first preview post!  With school going on again, we aren't able to go to new places as often, so I thought I'd try to research and feature some places we aren't likely to get to in the near future.  If anyone has experience here, let me know your opinions, and I will gladly feature them here.  Feel free to send pictures or add details as well!

Red Arrow Park appears to be Abbotsford's largest park.  There is a baseball diamond, a disc golf course, and a volleyball court.  Red Arrow also has a playground and a shelter to rent.

Red Arrow Park
407 W Hemlock St ~ Abbotsford, WI ~ 715-223-3444

Wilson Park

Wilson Park is nestled right next to St. Norbert College, which is how we came across it.  It would have been easy to miss!  It is a set of swings.  On a little piece of grassy land with lots of trees.  That's it.  Didn't even get a picture.  If you happen to be at St. Norbert, it's a place for the kids to take a break and swing.  Otherwise, don't bother!

Wilson Park
335 College Ave ~ De Pere, WI

Waldvogel's Farm

Waldvogel's Farm is a full-experience fall adventure!  There's plenty to explore and play.

 Duck races

 Hop-along Rodeo

 Inside the hay barn, there's also a hay maze to crawl through.

Other big hits for my kiddo were the train ride around the farm and the underground tunnel slide.

Of course, make sure you take a ride out to the pumpkin patch to pick that perfect pumpkin!

We can't wait to go back this year!

Waldvogel's Farm
N7416 County Road I ~ Juneau, WI ~ (920) 885-9590
Admission: $9 per person, 2&under free, some additional attractions available for additional fee

Lapacek's Orchard

I took my Kindergarten classes to Lapacek's Orchard for the past 4 years.  Unfortunately, they don't allow u-pick apples, but they do have some other produce you may pick yourself.  Plus, there are other fun things to do!

Lapacek's has an orchard walk, a sunflower field to play in, and two play areas.  One is made entirely of tires, which was always a big hit with my Kinders.  They also enjoyed the animals!

If you're looking for one adventure after the other, you'll probably get through everything in a couple of hours, but we always made a day of it.  We did most in the morning, ate a picnic lunch, then played on the equipment until it was time to head back to school.

Lapacek's Orchard
N1959 Kroncke Road ~ Poynette, WI ~ (608) 635-4780

Betty Brinn Children's Museum

Betty Brinn Children's Museum is quite an extensive place!  We spent the whole day, and there was a whole lot we never got to.

My kiddo enjoyed the mock community businesses.  There were pizzas to make, buses to drive, shows to host, and more.

The indoor park was lots of fun too.

My kiddo also really enjoyed the golf ball area.  There were all sorts of ramps and such to experiment with.

Betty Brinn Children's Museum
929 E Wisconsin Ave ~ Milwaukee, WI ~ 414-390-KIDS (5437)
Admission: $8 per person, under 1 free

Staude's Apple Blossom Acres

 We spent the day at the farm picking apples - and by day, I mean about half an hour!  It was great!  We got the whole apple-picking experience without taking up our entire day.

Apple Blossom Acres is a family farm.  They do honey and pumpkins too, although I don't think they allow you to harvest your own honey :)  Pumpkins I'm not sure about.

Mr. Staude was great with my kiddo.  He took us down to his apple trees, suggested the best kinds for what we were looking for, and then he helped her pick her apples.

When we were done, Mr. Staude showed us around the farm a bit and sent us on our way.  Pleasant experience :)

Staude's Apple Blossom Acres
N1475 Hwy M ~ Watertown, WI ~ (920) 261-6729

Country Springs Hotel & Water Park

We had so much fun at Country Springs!  It is on the smaller scale as far as indoor water parks go, but it had plenty to keep us occupied for the morning.  I think young children could make a full open-to-close day of Country Springs, but older kids would probably get bored after a few hours.

There is an "interactive" water play area: small water slides, water guns, dump bucket, and the like.

This picture is a little bit of a broader shot of the back end of the water park.  The blue tunnel carries tubes to the top of the staircase.  The large slides start & end inside, but the structures themselves are all outside the building.

There is also an activity pool with basketball and balancing lily pads, plus there's a hot tub.

One of my favorite things about Country Springs were that my kiddo could wear her own floatie!  Wouldn't have seemed like a big deal except that I discovered this summer our nearest community pool didn't allow them.

My other favorite part was that there was no height or age requirement for the tube slides!  This really surprised me, but we were thrilled because my kiddo LOVES water slides.  Daddy may or may not have accidentally taken her on an unsupervised one this summer for which (we later discovered) she was technically too little, thus spurring her love of them.  Whoops!  Anyhow, at Country Springs it was no problem; as long as she was with an adult, she was good to go!

Country Springs Water Park
2810 Golf Rd ~ Pewaukee, WI ~ 262-547-0201
Admission: $15/weekday pass, $25/weekend day pass, but check for specials, especially during certain days/hours; under 2 is free

The Mineshaft

The Mineshaft is actually a restaurant, which is not exactly what I'm hoping to cover in this blog, but it really could be done without even eating at the restaurant part.  I will throw in there that they have a very extensive menu and pretty reasonable prices if you are interested in eating during your visit.

The main attraction to The Mineshaft is their huge game room! 

You buy tokens, play games, earn tickets, and cash in for prizes.  The great part about this place is that, while there were definitely plenty of kids playing games, it doesn't feel awkward for adults to play too.  In fact, when we visited with my family, we all played games - and my 2-year-old is the only one of us under the age of 16!  There is lots of fun to be had no matter what age you are, which makes this a GREAT place to take the whole family!

The Mineshaft
22 N Main St ~ Hartford, WI ~ 262-673-5416
Admission: Depends how desperately you want that giant prize :)