we are very fortunate to have such beautiful parks in atlanta! one of our favorites is called deepdene park and is part of atlanta’s olmstead linear parks. it’s also right down the road from our house, which makes it even better. these parks were designed by frank olmsted, who also designed central park in new york city, prospect park in brooklyn, the emerald necklace of boston, the biltmore estate in asheville and the nation’s capitol grounds. not a shabby resume!

deepdene features a large field with a surrounding track, as well as 22 acres of canopied forest filled with creeks and bridges for exploring. it’s a lot of fun for both adults and children and a great escape from the surrounding business of atlanta.

– ryan & gub

deepdene park

north ponce de leon avenue ne
atlanta, ga 30307

our tulip tree did surprisingly well this year. a few early warm days combined with late freezes caused some worry, however it powered through. i would say general beauregard lee made the right prediction with how cold it’s been.

the blooms were still quite beautiful even with the frigid temperatures. they always stand out against the dormant late winter landscape. be sure to check out more photos from previous blog posts: spring 2012, late winter 2012, spring 2011, late winter 2011 & spring 2010.

– ryan

here are a few photos of our holiday decorations this year!!! clementine helped with the wrapping!

– ryan & gub

for the second year in a row, we went to kinsey family farms in search of the sterritt family christmas tree! it’s about an hour outside of atlanta and offers some great winter agritourism. besides picking out a tree, there’s plenty of holiday fun to be had! they have tractor rides, a petting zoo, and even hot cocoa & s’mores by a bonfire.

kinsey farms offers lots of christmas tree options as well. there are pre-cut firs, living trees, cut-your-own trees, as well as small charlie brown style ones and various wreaths. we went with a cut-your-own leyland cyprus like last year. clementine was a big help cutting down the tree, as you can see in the photos.

check out our post from last winter when we first discovered kinsey family farms. we are glad we’ve made it an annual family holiday tradition!

– ryan & gub

kinsey family farms

7170 jot-em down road
gainesville, ga 30506
770-887-6028

we took clementine to washington farms this weekend for some fall festivities and had a blast! there was a pumpkin patch, a huge corn maze, a petting zoo, pig races, slides and plenty more. clementine loved all of the outdoor space to run around and being able to pet the goats, bunnies, chicken, horses, donkeys, peacocks & more. she also enjoyed trying to lift the pumpkins, although they were mostly too heavy.

the patch still had ripe pumpkins on the vine, which was exciting! we grabbed a wheel barrow and headed out in the field to pick our favorites. we ended up getting 3 pumpkins, including a huge 30 lb pumpkin!

if you are looking for some fall festivities that are close to atlanta (about an hour away), definitely consider washington farms. we had a lot of fun and will be heading back next year!

be sure to also check out our fall outing post from last year to see how much clementine has grown.

– ryan & gub

washington farms

5691 hog mountain road
watkinsville, ga 30677
706-769-0627

people in new england take their window boxes pretty seriously! you see beautiful, lush boxes everywhere; from dockside lobster shacks and trailer parks to elegant century-old homes.

– ryan & gub

there are talks of closing the fernbank science center. at the least it will likely be scaled back quite a bit. just so you know, this is not the fernbank museum of natural history, which we often write about on the website. it’s still a great atlanta attraction though and it would be a shame to see it close.

the fernbank science center is only a mile and a half from our house and is free to the public. it has lots to offer both adults and children, so you can’t go wrong. there are outdoor activities like a huge canopied forrest with paved walkways and a composting area with helpful tips and pointers. there are also indoor activities, including an exhibit hall with the apollo 6 capsule, an observatory and a planetarium!

the exhibit hall and observatory are both totally free! the exhibit hall is open monday through friday from 9am to 5pm and saturday from 10am to 5pm. the observatory is open for public observations on thursday and friday nights from 9 to 10:30pm, weather permitting. an astronomer is on hand to answer questions and position the largest telescope in the southeast. we definitely want to check this out!

the planetarium has adult and children programs from thursday through saturday. there is also a saturday morning program called the night sky, which goes through the current constellations, planets, etc. in the current evening sky. shows are $4 for adults and $3 for children, students, & seniors and free for fernbank museum of natural history members.

although it may not be as exciting as the fernbank museum of natural history, the fernbank science center is both fun and educational and is totally worth keeping open!

check out our post on the fernbank science center from a couple of years ago!

– ryan & gub

fernbank science center

156 heaton park dr.
atlanta, ga 30307
678-874-7113

the star jasmine on our front porch has been blooming recently and smells amazing!

we heart spring!

– ryan & gub

we just became members at the atlanta botanical gardens and totally love it! there’s lots to do and see, especially with this beautiful spring weather. it’s the perfect place to go on walks with clementine, including on the new canopy walk.

the orchid house is really amazing, you should check it out while everything is still in bloom! there are way more varieties than i expected, including lots of exotic colors and sizes. the misty, tropical atmosphere in the orchid house made you forget you were in middle of the city. i kept thinking of the movie adaptation while walking through the rare display of orchids.

last month was my first time ever to the gardens, i’m not sure why it took so many years to check it out. if you’ve never been, you should definitely make a trip before it gets too hot.

– ryan

atlanta botanical gardens

1345 piedmont avenue northeast
atlanta, ga 30309
404-876-5859

our japanese magnolia had some amazing blooms this spring, although a late freeze shortened their visit.

– ryan & gub