Every Friday, we ditch the homeschool lesson plan and head out for a surprise field trip. Not every week will be super exciting, but the kids continue to look forward to these adventures and I hope it continues throughout the entire school year.
Yesterday, we loaded up the minivan, grabbed some Tim Horton’s Tim Bits and set off for Fairfield County in Ohio. It’s only about 25 miles south of Columbus, but an hour drive from our end of town. This is the second time we’ve made our way to Fairfield County. You can read about our first adventure to Lancaster: here.
This time, we left dad behind at work… and made our way to the beautiful historic town for some educational fun, sightseeing and delicious food! I had such a laugh listening to the kids guess where we were headed. At one point I missed my exit due to distractions from the backseat, so I had to turn around at the airport. They kept screaming: “DISNEY! WE’RE HEADING TO DISNEY WORLD!” Sorry kids.
That being said, when we hopped off the Lancaster exit they quickly remembered our time in the small town and started to get really excited.
Our first stop was the Fairfield County Visitor’s Center. There we met with Fran who was so incredibly nice and provided us with our welcome bag, gift cards, visitors guide, scavenger hunts and brochures for our day!
While we were downtown, we took a stroll around the main streets to check out the scarecrows, the kids LOVED this part of the day. They counted 30 some scarecrows all decorated for each participating business. Their favorite one was the minions climbing a building to get to King Bob. They laughed and laughed at the sight.
Our next stop was at Art + Clay on Main here we painted some pottery! Luke chose an eagle, Eden painted a puppy and Adam wanted a shark… but settled for a whale. Art & Clay on Main is an accessible art studio in historic downtown Lancaster, featuring Paint Your Own Pottery (PYOP), a wheel throwing studio and summer art camps for kids. Plus they have a delicious coffee shop inside too!
Our stomachs were growling at this point so I called ahead to order from O’Huids Gaelic Pub. We had a chance to experience their picnic menu which was perfect for us. We decided to stay and eat inside and chat with Judy, who was just the nicest person. The kids gobbled u p the house made turkey sandwiches and cheesecake for dessert.
Now that our bellies were full, we hopped in the car and made our way to Alley Park to begin our nature scavenger hunt. The kids also had the chance to see a log cabin from the 1800s, which fit right in with our current lessons on Pilgrims and the early settlers.
After we stretched our legs and spent some time hunting for the items on our scavenger hunt, we met with Trina at the Alley Park Nature Education Center. This was a tour that the kids absolutely loved!! Trina was so helpful and let the kids meet all kinds of animals like roaches, turtles, crickets and a possum! They had the chance to pet the possum and learn all about what they eat and how long they live. Trina even taught the kids about crickets and gave the three older ones a habitat and cricket to bring home. So yes, we now have 3 new pets in our house. 
After our visit with Trina, Fran joined us again to give the kids a quick kid-friendly tour of a nearby covered bridge. We learned they were covered because they are made of wood and the wood needed to be protected from the weather. A truly beautiful sight to see!
As our last stop out of town we made our way to Hunter Park. An all-abilities, multi-generational playground.
We had the very best time yesterday, thank you so much Fairfield County for hosting us!!
Have you visited Fairfield County?
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