A Day at Berheim Forest

Recently we had the opportunity to take a day trip to Berheim Forest in Bardstown, KY.  It took about an hour to get there but it was definitely worth the little drive.  We love getting outdoors and we were pleasantly surprised by how nice this place was!  I had only heard of it in the last couple of months and I don’t know how I had never heard of it before!  It really is beautiful!

Berheim Arboretum and Research Forest was started in 1929 by I.W. Berheim and it covers a whopping 14,000 acres!  (Very impressive to my husband who is a wilderness fanatic)They offer various programs and events, fishing, picnicking, hiking, biking and refreshments.  There’s a really impressive visitors center that we all enjoyed.  They have areas for kids to play and explore hands on.  We had a delicious (and huge!) piece of pie from the little café out on the patio.  

One of the things that I thought was cute and whimsical were the faerie houses.  They are little structures that have been created out of things lying around in nature.  They’ve been placed along a concrete path and we all enjoyed looking at those and imagining little fairies living there. 

 

There are numerous little ponds and the arboretum area is very beautiful.  Everything was so lush and green in the forest and I would imagine that if you were there at the right time you could view plenty of wildlife.   It would also be a gorgeous backdrop for family pictures…which is another thing that we need to do asap!  

One of the most important aspects of education, in my opinion, is getting hands on experience.  If you’re having fun, your mind is open to learning about what you see!  Although I am not homeschooling my daughter this year, I still realize that I am the most influential person in her life right now and her learning experiences begin with me and her daddy.  So, we take every opportunity to take her to exciting places and activities and teach along the way.  We teach her about plants, animals, weather, history or just anything we come across.  Of course, we do it on a child’s level and we don’t push her.  We just have fun and the info will sink in!

Getting outdoors and exploring is one of our favorite activities to do as a family and Berheim Forest was an awesome place to do that!

My Old Kentucky Home

This past weekend my husband and I were blessed to have the opportunity to get out of town for a night.  My parents offered to babysit and since Olivia adores spending the night with them, we jumped at the chance for some “couple time”.  

 At my husband’s company picnic on July 4^th, he and another co-worker won the cornhole tournament and the prize for each was a gift certificate to My Old Kentucky Dinner Train for 2!  I had wanted to do this for years but due to the costs, we never made it.  So, that was a wonderful surprise!  The dinner train is in Bardstown, KY which is about an hour from where we live.  Also in Bardstown is The Stephen Foster Story, an outdoor drama which I had also been interested in attending.  The two together would make a perfect little getaway!  

Everything was so beautiful!  The drama was amazing and being outdoors under the stars made it that much more magical.  The dinner train was gorgeous and the food and service was outstanding.  It was certainly a time of refreshing for us as a couple to be able to enjoy each other’s company and our activities.  At the end of our time, I was excited to get back to our daughter but I was also a little sad that it ended so quickly. 

I believe it is so important for couples to spend “alone” time together, without our children.  Children are blessings and I love being a mommy but we must take time to nourish our relationship with our spouse.  It can be difficult on an everyday basis so I would encourage everyone that can, to find a way to take time out for your husband.  Whether it’s a regular date night (oh, how I long for that!) or the occasional weekend getaway or even a nice extended vacation.  I am so thankful for my husband and when we take time out for each other, it only strengthens our feelings for one another.  I am also thankful for my parents for being our babysitters and giving us the chance to get away on our own!