The 577 Foundation

We have stacks of the Toledo Parent publication delivered to my work each month and I always like browsing them for local activity ideas to do with the kids. The 577 Foundation in Perrysburg, Ohio always hosts lots of interesting events that I've longed to check out if only they weren't offered exclusively during the week days while I'm at work. Activities such as educational nature hikes or holiday crafts are common examples and I always feel a healthy dose of "working mom guilt" when I realize that I'd never be able to make it to any of those. So until recently, when a very clever friend posted about her family's visit to the actual property, I was completely unaware that the 577 Foundation is actually an interactive, community-lead project, located on the grounds of a historical home in Perrysburg. They have more to offer than I ever realized! You can actually go there and check out the beautiful property and there is so much to see and do.

The center of the property is a huge community garden. I've read about community gardening (typically done when individual homes do not offer adequate space for gardening or just when folks want a shared gardening experience to learn and work alongside fellow gardeners) but I wasn't aware of any around me. The requirement is that everyone will garden organically and use all natural materials, as well as that they will plant a portion of their produce to donate to local Food Banks.
When I planned our visit, I invited my sister's family to join us for a fun morning and picnic at the playground after. Craig's been so busy lately doing this, that and the other favor for friends and family. He's building cabinets, cutting down trees, doing electrical work, looking at car problems and mowing his grandpa's lawn all as a kindness to people who ask him for help. He amazes me... but because of that, I'm often on my own for outings like this. So I was glad Casey & Wes and the girls were able to meet up with us.

All of the community gardening scraps are collected in these composting bins right near the gardens to create a rich fertilizer that is then put back into the gardens. I've been reading about various methods of composting lately and really wanting to start doing it myself, even if only in some small form.

And, oh I would just love an herb garden like this one! Though I'm not sure I would use enough or as many varieties as would make this necessary. It looks pretty though!

Casey and Mya arrive with shades on and snack in hand. ;)

Before Casey's crew arrived, the kids and I browsed the gently used bookstore and I overheard this staff member talking to her friend about taking a class at Owens that was all about natural and sustainable gardening, farming and eating. So cool. Why didn't I know more about this stuff when I was in college and had the opportunity to take an elective like that? Someday, if I ever have the time, I'd love to take a class or two again on things that interest me. Like this, or like photography. Wouldn't that be nice? Anyway, after my sister's fam arrived, that same staff member stopped to tell the kids what the different varieties of flowers were called that were planted nearby. Will didn't let her get off easy either. :) He kept asking "And what's this one?" over and over.

Inside the Biodome (a year-round greenhouse), the kids absolutely loved watching and feeding the fish.

A cute pic of Casey, Mya, Stella and Wes.

Every where you turn, there is another little niche of the property that is set up for educational exploration and imaginative play all while embracing nature. It's absolutely enchanting and I kept wondering, "is this really free"?

This space was for instrumental play, much of it with natural materials. Sophie beating a drum set:

A wooden xylophone.

This one sounded like a rain maker. Just spin the wheel and listen.

Another drum shaped like a turtle.

This one was my favorite. The neat thing about all the instruments was that no matter how hard/wild/crazy the kids beat/played on them, the noise that was made was always pleasant! ;) A far cry from the noise I listen to with the Melissa and Doug Band in a Box that my kids play with at home. Haha! The chime-thing here was especially beautiful sounding and not at all ear-piercing. We need this at our house in place of the standard kiddie musical toy!

Forgive me. There's about to be a LOT of the same type of picture. The drums were the perfect prop to get them to sit still. None are perfect, but I just love them all.

The three girls all have the same leggings on today - unplanned!

Stella Grace and Mya Alyse - age 2 years and 2 months.

There's a smile from Mya!

Love this one of my sister and Wes.

Faux "Senior Pic". :)

Tunnels through a rock hill.

Guess what they're all looking at...

A fuzzy yellow caterpillar!

Just a few steps away is a neat jungle gym area.

This was a space set up for puppet shows with a large viewing area complete with benches on the other side.

Aww - love.

Getting a drink of water.

This is such a neat and simple idea that I would love to recreate at home. It was just a large, smooth, stone slab with a tin pail and some small paint brushes sat on it. The pail was filled with water and the kids could "paint" on the stone and it showed up very clearly.

This was the only picture I could get of the three of us. They often refuse to cooperate when the cameras are out.

Isn't the color combo of these flowers so pretty?

This collage of individually painted tiles is in the breezeway between the old barns and the gardens - so pretty.

Walking into a log cabin that was built in the early 1800's and preserved to represent 19th century living. It was donated to the foundation and is another educational space to explore.

Sophie's standing beside a baby cradle.

Even though we saw quite a bit, there's still so much that we didn't get to. I'd love to go back and do the river walk, check out the tree house and the bird blind, dig for fossils in Did's Dig, etc. What an awesome place. I admire the founder's vision and the dedicated staff and volunteers that maintain it.

From there, we moved on to Fort Imagination park for some playground time before eating lunch.

Wow! That's Sophie at the top of the that super tall spiral slide!

Another crazy tall slide. This time it's Will climbing up there.

Sliding down! Isn't this playground incredible? I wish it were just a little closer to home.

Jumping down at the bottom.

Lunch time!

Love these next two. Will put his arm around Stella to point something out to her. A squirrel or something?

And here he's trying to mimic Uncle Dub's standing position. :)

After lunch, we drove over to O'Deer Diner for ice cream outside to cap off our outing.

Oh, wait! One more thing. We also purchased a car wash coupon from our babysitter's daughter who was raising money for her soccer team. So I stopped to get that done on the way home and the kids thought that was very unusual and funny that the girls were spraying water on our car and soaping the windows with sponges. Haha!

Such a fun day! Thank you so much, Kelly, for suggesting The 577 as a cool place to visit. We loved it and will definitely go back! And thank you to the Rethman fam for enjoying it with us.