3. Nelson’s Pumpkin Patch

In the Fall, don’t miss Nelson’s Pumpkin Patch in nearby Emerado.

It’s about a 30-minute drive from the City of Grand Forks. Nelson’s is a Ferguson family favorite we never miss because we all love it so much! There are a ton of fun things to do there including a haunted house, hay rides, a bee train, a corn maze, a petting zoo.

We highly recommend the corn pit silo where you can play with dried corn, burlap sack races, and the story trail where you can climb hay bales and ready about Spookley the Square Pumpkin. Mairi’s favorite thing is to step inside a giant inflatable ball and run into other people. Jonas’s favorite thing at Nelson’s is the corn silo because it’s sort of like a sandbox but with bright yellow corn that feels cool on your fingers and is really fun to play in. You can even pick your own pumpkins to take home and carve for Halloween. Fair warning, though – your mom will definitely want to take lots of pictures of you at the pumpkin patch.

4. Grand Forks Greenway

The Greenway is a huge 21-mile green space resting along the Red River in Grand Forks with SO many things to do! There are bike trails, playgrounds, a dog park, and a TON of giant, fun-to-climb trees! We spend a lot of time on the Greenway year-round. In the winter, you can go skating at rinks in parks along path or go cross country skiing, sledding, or snowshoeing.

Paved bike trails with lots of shady spots make the perfect place to stop for a picnic or read a book. At Lincoln Park there is a dog park to let your pup off leash to play. If you go to the stretch of Greenway spanning downtown Grand Forks, you can learn about Grand Forks’s  history by reading plaques along the bike trail. You can also see the flood obelisk, which marks the height of the historic floods in Grand Forks. Our favorite thing to do on the Greenway is to go to where our family calls “the house trees”. We like to go there and pretend the trees are our houses and play all day.

5. Widman’s Candy Shop

We LOVE Widman’s because their chocolate is delicious. Their signature sweets are called “chippers”, which are potato chips covered in chocolate. Widman’s seriously has the best chocolate we have ever tasted. Walking into Widman’s smells like chocolate heaven! If you buy something, you get to pick out a sample from the chocolate cases. Jonas can’t choose a favorite item from Widman’s because everything he has had there is delicious, and it would take hours to decide what his favorite is! Mairi’s favorite candy from Widman’s are their signature chippers. In the Fall, we love getting caramel apples from Widman’s. You really can’t live in Grand Forks without checking out this classic candy store.

6. Choice Health and Fitness

Choice is a great place to swim year-round because of its huge indoor swimming pool and two big waterslides, a small kiddie water slide, and a lazy river. There is also a splash pad and the pool is a zero entry, which means even our little brother can find a place to play in the pool by himself if he wants (of course with Mom or Dad nearby!).

They also have indoor running tracks, a few basketball courts, and you can take all sorts of sports lessons there. Jonas likes summer basketball lessons and Mairi likes the indoor tennis lessons. Choice also has a childcare facility so we can play while Mom and Dad work out… or write papers in the cafe like our Mom does all the time. In the childcare area, they have an indoor and outdoor playground, a place to make art, and a TV that plays the Disney channel. It’s also fun because a lot of the time you run into friends there! Choice is definitely kid approved.

7. Grand Forks Escape Room

The GF Escape Room is an awesome place for families who are smart, curious, and like to solve riddles. They have a few different escape room scenarios you can choose from. Our family has done “Oz Has Alice” and “The Vault”. We don’t want to give anything away to spoil it, but we thought “Oz Has Alice” was a little easier. You get one hour to solve all the puzzles and find and free Alice from her secret hiding spot.

Jonas’s favorite thing about the Escape Room is that they give you three clues. To earn a clue, your whole family must either hold up a “hint board” OR you can all dance! Mairi likes how nice the employees are – they give you hints, when you’re all done they show you the solution if you want, and they even take your group photo at the end!

In our opinion, GF Escape Rooms are the best escape rooms ever! They’re a really fun way to spend an evening with your family. And if you’re lucky, you can get your parents to take you to Tea and Crepe afterward!