I love Minnesota and all it has to offer. Read here about places we’ve been and things we’ve done in the Twin Cities and beyond.
We made our annual fall orchard trip this week. We picked a peck of apples, selected five pumpkins, petted chickens and heard a donkey's bray for the first time. This year we went to Whistling Well Farms, one of several orchards near the St. Croix River between Afton and Hastings.
We had planned to meet friends to do a corn maze this weekend but they were unable to join us. I was tired and cranky and thought about calling off our outing too. But I am so glad I didn’t. We went to Afton Apple and had an amazing time. We started out with Phase I, the easiest of the three. It was pretty much impossible to get lost in it, and it was a good way to get the kids familiar with the corn maze and gauge how they would do with the next phase. They took turns...
The gals at LoveFeast Table are talking today about their favorite city — New York City — and asked what our favorite city is. My first thought was Park Rapids, Minn., but that’s more of a town than a city. And then I remembered the conversation I had recently with my friend Lauren (while eating lunch at a deli that overlooks the farmers market) about how much we love St. Paul. DUH — St. Paul is my favorite city! And by St. Paul, I do not mean Minneapolis or Minneapolis-St. Paul or the Twin Cities metro area. When I...
Taking kids to a toy store is dangerous, right? Well a few weeks ago, we took the kids to Creative Kidstuff’s Edina location and let them run around playing with toys they’d never seen before. I we didn’t have to say “don’t touch.” In fact, the employees encouraged them to play and observed them and asked questions. And then paid them! Creative Kidstuff ran a Kids’ Council in their stores, with different age ranges (from 1 to 7+) in different stores. They had a dozen toys and games out to see what kids and parents thought of them. Employees...
One of the items on my summer bucket list was to shop at the St. Paul Farmer’s Market, with and without kids. I’ve now done both. I’ve done a few other things on my list that I never wrote about. I’m crossing them off the original post as I go. With kids: Two weeks ago I stopped there with all three kids on the way to my parents’ house. I was a bit worried about taking them all alone but it went well. I made it through the crowd without running over anyone with the stroller or losing either...
Two items on my Summer Bucket List were to go to Saints and Twins games. They are both complete, thanks to Metro Dentalcare. I put the St. Paul Saints on my list because I’d never been to a Saints game. Can you believe it? What a shameful St. Paulite I am. As a thanks for participating in the Twice a Day challenge, Metro Dentalcare sent us to a game in June with some other friends of mine who participated. To be honest, I was too busy talking to pay attention to the game. It’s hard not to gab when...
We have returned home from our happiest place on Earth. Not Disneyland. The cabin. Mark is always intent on taking the kids to Lake Itasca the first year they come to the cabin. I didn’t really want to go this year, but decided to join them when I saw how excited the big kids were. Grace: “We’re going to that place with the rocks. Where you walk across the river.” Connor: “Sippi Riber! Sippi Riber!” We started with a picnic lunch. Mark had bought the kids special metal lunchboxes in town the day before and packed food for them....
Welcome to the June Carnival of Natural Parenting: Outdoor fun This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared their stories and tips for playing outside with kids. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants. *** One of my favorite outdoor activities — with or without kids — is camping. I love everything about it. Unless it rains. I’m not a fan of rain. Our older two began camping when they were...
Summer is finally here! Well, sort of. Most people think of Memorial Day as the summer kick-off, but my summer starts when Mark is done teaching for the year. And that day can’t come fast enough. Darcie posted her summer bucket list yesterday, which inspired me to create mine. This is only for fun stuff I want to do, no lofty goals here! (Thanks to Becky and Becky for the ideas on Facebook and to the blog 365 Things to do in the Twin Cities.) Take the kids to Como Town Meet up with new friends at Canterbury Park...
I’ve been slacking on the Thursday Thanks again. Today, instead of a list of random things, I am thankful for my whole day. Why? Because I went out with all three kids all day without a car and didn’t want to strangle any of them. We left about 10 a.m. for the library. Grace rode Connor’s trike (her bike is out of commission momentarily) and I pushed the other two in the double stroller. Grace made it there without any fuss. The big kids played computer for awhile and Ellie slept. Then we checked out a TON of books...
