Right now I’m in (you guessed it) Oak Ridge, TN. My three kids (ages 8 and under) are with me. My hostess works until between 8 and 9 every night. Her house is not very kid-friendly. I need to spend as little money as possible while I’m here. And it’s hotter than Lucifer’s underwear outside.
I’m going to buy them bubbles and squirt guns (YAY dollar store!) and that should help some, but…
Does anyone remotely close to here feel like meeting up at a playground or a Burger King or ANYTHING? On Saturday my hostess will be off of work, but I’d kind of like to make it to the weekend without smashing my beautiful children’s precious little heads into a brick wall. Or, for that matter, smashing MY head into a brick wall and leaving them to their ideo games.
I don’t want to sit them in front of the stupid television (which includes movies and video games) the whole time we’re here. Plus, I only bite when asked and I’m reasonably sure I don’t have monkeypox, herpes, or rabies.
Social folk? In and around Knoxville/Oak Ridge?
None of those folk around here.
I don’t know playgrounds and the like - I’d suggest the Knoxville Zoo but that looks to be around $30 for four folks (plus an additional $3 for parking)
You could head down to the UT campus and check out the gardens for free.
There’s also World’s Fair park in downtown Knoxville - I don’t have the link (and I just realized I have to get out the door and head to class or I’ll be late!), but I’m sure there’s something online - I don’t know what’s in the Sunsphere these days, but they just redid the whole park.
I’ll check this during class, and see if I’ve come up with any other ideas. A friend just hosted her 8 YO niece for a week, so she may have some ideas too.
There are also several children’s museums in Oak Ridge - like the museum of science & energy (I think that’s the name) and the Discovery Center - those are fairly inexpensive and will be air conditioned!
