Winter Break Sledding

It's amazing how quickly winter break flew past us! It was so jam packed with activities that I didn't even have time to sit and write about them!! We took a trip to the local children's museum, traveled out of state to visit family, had a sleepover with some friends, but I think the highlight of the vacation was sledding. It started by going out in the backyard to play. You know, throw a few snowballs, make some snow angels, that sort of thing.

 

I expected this to last only 5 or 10 minutes before everyone froze and was back inside with wet socks asking for hot cocoa, but no. Instead they found the sleds (and the lid to the recycle bin) and asked to go sledding. So we took a walk to the park where the biggest hill in the area is.

We weren't the only ones with this idea, the hill was packed with excited kids bundled up, screaming with joy. Even with some wipeouts, tumbles, and a close call with a tree, no one was hurt. We sledded until my behind was frozen (I really need to find adult sized snow pants!) so I made the call and we headed back home. The way the kids talked about the fun they had on that hill made me any frozen cheeks a joy.

County Fair

It seems like I've made so many outings lately, but there's just so much to do over the summer that it's hard to stay home! And I realized this morning that we hadn't been to the county fair yet, and there aren't that many days left to make the trip.

I piled the kids in the car at around 10am, stopped at the ATM to make sure I had cash just in case I needed it to park (which I did), and about a half hour later was going through the entry gate. I thought we'd only be there for about 2hrs, but there was simply so much to see and do that we didn't leave until over seven hours later!

We saw lots of different animals; in petting zoos, livestock show barns, and educational farm mock ups. By far my sons favorite was the baby pigs. He could have spent the entire seven hours petting those pigs if I let him!

We found a mini circus that had shows every hour and a half, so we had to watch. I was really amazed at the quality of those performers. They had good tricks, were fast paced, and very entertaining. Well done!

We found a pottery wheel demonstration. They even let the kids take a little dollop of clay to shape. Unfortunately they didn't get to keep it, but add this one to the list of things my son wants to learn now.

There was an area that explained how weaving works. They had a large table set up that let you feel how different fur feels from different animals. The other side of the table had tufts of plant based fuzz to feel, like bamboo and hemp. I thought this area was really interesting, I liked how hands on it was.

A guy selling knives was demonstrating how sharp they are by making some really cool vegetable sculptures. I'm going to have to try some of these for myself.

There was an area set up with all sorts of good info for people to grow their own plants at home. There was this really neat picture frame box to make a vertical garden. This is another thing I want to try and make now.

I still can't believe that we stayed there over seven hours! But it was well worth it because we all had fun. My feet ache now, and the kids stayed up way too late, but oh well. That's what summer's for, right?

Art Festival

I'm pretty sure that most cities have art festivals during the summer months. I love them. There's so much to see and so many beautiful and interesting things to look at. I love supporting artists, and keeping creativity alive in the world. There's a pretty big art festival that comes every summer here and lasts for about 2 months before closing. I didn't make it out to see it last summer so it was a definite must do this summer. Today was the day I took the kids to see it.

I was pretty amazed at the set-up. It was like other "art in the park" kind of set ups I've been to, with artisans varying from glass ware to painting, from leather to jewelry. The difference was instead of pitching camp under a quick shade for a weekend these stands were uniquely crafted permanent looking structures. They were laid out along a meandering path of wood chips under a beautifully landscaped canopy of trees. 

We had a nice surprise of finding a glass blower making some pieces on site. I love watching glass blowers work, it's very mesmerizing. But this was the first time my kids had seen the art in motion. My daughter was only interested for a second, and then something shiny far away caught her eye. My son, however, could have watched that guy all day! He thought that was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen and now it's topping the list of things he wants to learn how to do. I told him about a friend of ours in Michigan that owns a studio that I'm sure would show him some cool things. Now he can't wait to visit our friend and watch this art some more!

It was hard to get a good picture through the safety bars. It didn't feel like it while watching him, but this picture sure feels like one of the zoo pictures I just posted a few days ago.

We finished the day by stopping for ice cream on the way home. I think it's really special that my kids could see such wonderful things today. I think exposing them to all different kinds of art the world has to offer is so beneficial.

This was a really cool fountain in the back.

A Trip to the Zoo

The last few days I might not have posted anything, but like before it's not because we weren't busy. My sister flew into town (whom I haven't seen in three and a half years) and the kids and I have been showing her the town. We've done many of the things I've already written about this summer, like paddle boarding and swimming. And we've done things that we don't normally do either, like take the time to look at the little unique shops in town. You know the ones. They don't have anything on your weekly grocery list and as you pass by them you think, "One of these days when I'm by myself and can take the time to look and not worry about the kids breaking anything". Well, I did those shops with the kids. But the highlight of the week was our trip to the zoo.

The kids couldn't wait to get there. Days beforehand the questions were coming, "Are we going to the zoo today?" "When can we go to the zoo?" "Is it time to go to the zoo yet?" Unfortunately my husband couldn't get the time off work, so I was flying solo with the kids. Thankfully the only thing I was worried about was getting overly tired (which I did).

We got there at about 11am and met my sister and her husband at the flamingos. We wandered around the monkeys and stopped for lunch after we found the tiger. I packed sandwiches and food I knew the kids would eat, but treated them to the biggest ice cream cones ever! Seriously, there was this teeny tiny cone stacked with a half gallon of soft serve on top! I put my daughters' in a cup for her to eat upside down before she dumped it on the ground. Score one for Mommy diverting the problem.

My brother in law really wanted to see the polar bears. What we thought would be an easy walk to their exhibit ended up being a 4 hour detour around a broken walkway! We were all so beat, and just pushed onward and upward on our mission to find those polar bears! We passed by some really cool animals along the way, elephants, this weird looking bird, and in the end we met our goal and found them!

I was so beat at the end of the day! After dinner and the highway drive I made it home at about 11:30pm! I spent most of today moving as little as possible recuperating from it all. But we all had so much fun, and I would do it again in a heartbeat! Thanks sis!

Paddle Boarding

Daddy had the day off today. With all of the chores done (Well, not really, I desperately need to go to the grocery store) and all of the family together, we decided to pack a picnic, pick up some paddleboards and head to the beach. We don't own our own paddleboards (not yet anyway), but we can rent them for the day at Sport Chalet for a really good price.

First my husband and son went out while I stayed on the sand reading while my daughter splashed in the water. Then my husband and I took turns going solo while the other stayed back playing with the kids on shore. Then all of us went out together, one parent and one child on each board. We saw fish jumping about a foot and a half out of the water, a flock of pelicans flying directly over us, fishermen casting their lines off the pier we went directly underneath, huge regatta boats, and a bunch of children in sailing school. They were fantastic sights.

When we got back to shore we spent some more time pushing the kids back and forth on, giving them rides on the boards. My son was standing up, pretending he was surfing on it. It was both cute and made me proud that he was showing off some skills. After spending about 6 hrs there we decided it'd been a long enough day and headed home.

This activity unfortunately is not one that I can recommend for everyone because of local geography. But you don't have to be next to the ocean. I know quite a few people that paddleboard on lakes in land. Check your local sporting goods stores to see if they do rentals, or can recommend a place that does, and try something new.