Edmonton Corn Maze

Our route through the maze (on last years satellite image).

View Corn Maze 9/16/2012 2:49pm in a larger map

On Saturday we took the kids with Nana and Papa to the Edmonton Corn Maze, on the very west end of Edmonton.  It was busy, totally packed to the point you had to drive around and wait for someone to leave just to get parking.  The maze is big enough to make it challenging, but not too tough that we got majorly lost.  Including a large break in the middle for snacks it took us an hour and 38 minutes to make our way through the maze with a total walking distance of 3.07 KM.  The corn is very tall, maybe 8 feet at most places and the kids loved running through the maze.  There are other attractions at the maze too, a hay bale mountain, a petting zoo, a small race track, and a corn cob train, but the most popular seemed to be a giant jumping pillow.  Admission was a little pricy at $10 an adult and $8 for kids older than 5.

Where Getting Lost Means Finding Fun

Start of the Maze

View of the Maze From the Bridge in the Middle of the Maze

Resources

• official web site
• facebook page
• Prairie Gardens has a maze too

Family Hike: Wedgewood Ravine Beavers Are... Gone?!?!

We went on a family hike to see the beavers at the bottom of Wedgewood Ravine today.  Wedgewood Ravine is sandwiched between the Hawkstone area and Cameron Heights.  An old closed road runs through it down to a beaver dam and lodge, and there is a hiking trail running along the creek towards the river too, though that is less ideal for kids.  Usually we hike back up the North side and stop at the playground on the way back to where we park.  This is always a good hike because the kids are guaranteed to see a beaver dam and lodge, and one time we even saw a beaver swimming around, and eventually heard his warning slap...  However, it looks like the city (I am guessing?) has destroyed the dam and drained the beaver pond. Hopefully they come back again next year?

View of the Ravine on the Hike Down

The Destroyed Dam

The Empty Pond and Lodge

Bridge On the Cameron Heights Side

Jurassic Forest

Lisa and the kids went to Jurassic Forest near Gibbons (about 45 minutes north of Edmonton) the other day.    We've gone here a couple of times before and it is always a good time, though for me about one visit a year is enough.

The park features very nice wooden walk ways through a forested area with 23 different kinds of animatronic dinosaurs.  They are realistic enough that our kids thought they were real when they were very young.  The park doesn't feel cheap at all, they have done a very nice job building a quality attraction where everything is new and fresh.  There is also a large sand playground (with buried dinosaur bones like Wolf Willow Playground) the children love to play in and places to buy souvenirs and food.  Daily admission for a family is under $40, making it somewhat pricy but I think definitely worth it.

Resources

• official web site
• Facebook
• Jurassic Forest dinosaur information blog
• blog of someone who worked on building Jurassic Forest
• another blog review of Jurassic Forest with a ton of pictures

The Kids Take this Warning Very Seriously

Animatronic Triceratops

Fighting Dinosaurs

The Big Guy

Playground Fun

Nice Walk Ways

Kites Over Callingwood Edmonton Kite Festival!

While stopping by the Callingwood branch of the library today we noticed at least 50 kites in the air over a nearby field.  It could only be...  Kites over Callingwood!  We walked around and checked out the kites, very impressive, lots of booths and activities for kids and of course a ton of kites flying!  And the free admission was nice too, of course.  This was the 20th year anniversary of the event.  It was a little chilly, but the wind probably helped the kites.

Kites Over Callingwood

Spray Park is Empty Due to Cold Weather

Panorama Shot Showing the Kites

Resources

• Kite Festival list
• Callingwood Lymburn community league page (organizers)