Great Plains Nature Center

Originally posted March 28, 2009

The city may be covered in white right now as we endure a spring snow storm, but my mind is on true spring weather. Warm temperatures, sunny skies, and of course the Kansas breeze.

One of my favorite things to do with the kids in the spring is go on a hike at Great Plains Nature Center. We get to enjoy the fresh air, get some much needed exercise and spend time talking as we hike.

There are both paved trails and dirt trails throughout the park. The paved trails are perfect for pushing a stroller or walking with smaller children. However, when it is just my older children and I we prefer to be a bit more adventurous and explore the dirt trails through the woods.

On our last hike (over spring break) we decided to take one of these little paths. The scenery was simply beautiful. As you can see in the photo below, the trees have actually grown in curved arcs, forming a sort of tunnel over the trail.


Not too far off the main path we were lucky enough to experience another beautiful bit of nature. If you look very closely at the center of the photo below, you will see a deer. We encountered a pair of these and simply stood quietly and watched as they foraged in the woods.


Of course the trails and hiking are not the only thing that Great Plains Nature Center has to offer. There is the nature center itself. Inside you will find the Koch Habitat Hall which is 3500 square feet of wildlife displays. Included in this are various animal and plant life exhibits, a hands on area for inter-active learning and a 2200 gallon aquarium.

In the photo below you can see a bit of the aquarium. This is housed in it's own small room with a bench along the wall. It is the perfect place to sit and relax while the kids marvel over the fish.


The photo below is of one of the hands on activities. This one gives the kids the chance to feel the fur of many different Kansas native animals.



Another highlight of Great Plains Nature Center is the Coleman Auditorium. Seating nearly 200 people and featuring state of the art audio-visual equipment, the auditorium presents special features relating to wildlife.
The GPNC also has programs for families including Crunchy, Munchy Icy Tales and Little Nature Lovers.
If you are looking for a wonderful way to spend time with the kids, enjoy the weather, and have a good time, I highly recommend the Great Plains Nature Center.

Why Ahs?

I moved to Wichita at the age of 12 from a very tiny town in Nebraska. I mean tiny. My school had two classrooms and each room had three grades mixed together being taught by one teacher. The summer after sixth grade we moved to Wichita where I would soon be starting my first year of junior high (yes, we had junior high then instead of middle school) in a class of 500 rather than a class of 5 like I was used to.

For me, Wichita was a big city. For many the mention of anywhere in Kansas brings only one thought to mind... The Wizard of Oz. The "big" city I was suddenly a part of did not remind me of that dusty Kansas farm in the movie at all. For me it was more like the Emerald City.

My first week in school my history teacher began our lessons with the history of Kansas. I can't say I really remember much about it. There was one thing he said that has stuck with me all these years though. He mentioned that one of the slogans Kansas had coined for itself was "The Land of Ahs."

Having come from my tiny little town (population 220) to this city of over 300,000 I was truly in awe of it. Now, here I am twenty five years later raising three kids in the Land of Ahs.

The Blog That Never Took Flight

Back in 2009 I set out to create a blog about things for a mom and her kids to do in Wichita. It ended up being a crazy year in which I had little time to devote to a new blog. I still have little time and life is still crazy, but I have learned to deal with it all much better and have become quite the multi-tasker. All that means that I am ready to give this a go again.

I will be spending some time trying to get the look I want for the blog before working too hard on good content. I am going to import some of my old posts from the previous Mom in Ahs blog that were not date specific to get this started.

So, here we goooooooooooo.....