Free Children's Museum

On Sunday we took The Boy to the Children's Museum. On the third Sunday of every month the Children's Museum is free, thanks to Target. We got there right at opening time, 9am. I think we were the first ones in the door, which meant we had the water works play area all to ourselves for a good 10 minutes. We roamed our way through the museum until 10:30, and it was only then that I realized it was started to get a bit crowded.

The museum asks guests to leave their strollers in the car, because of the crowds. That note made me a bit nervous about navigating the many kids and parents, but it wasn't bad at all, but leaving the stroller at home would be the way to go, who needs it?!

On the way out of downtown St. Paul we strolled up and down the aisle at the St. Paul Farmer's market. We picked up Honeycrisp Apples, bread and tomatoes for under $10!

Huge Kid's Sale

This is where I will be on Saturday:
Come to the Washington County Fairgrounds to shop for great deals on pre-loved brand name and excellent condition children's clothing, toys, equiptment, books and so much more.

Friday 5-8 (consignors and volunteers only)
Saturday 9-3 (public sale $1 admission)
Sunday 9-12 (public sale 1/2 price sale)

Washington County Fairgrounds Bldg A. Located on the corner of Manning Ave and Hwy 5 in Stillwater.

Check www.munchkinmarkets.com for details or call 651-253-0897.

Breezy Point

We just got back from a great trip to the Brainerd area. We stayed at Breezy Point Lodge, which for many reasons, I would not recommend it to others. For one, the water smelled so bad, I had a hard time getting myself clean in the shower in the time I could hold my breath! Two, the cleanliness of the rooms gave me (and surprisingly even The Husband) a bit of the creeps. Third, the pool area and the locker rooms were, plainly put, NOT clean. However, we still managed a great time. We spent very little time in our room and lots of time seeing the surrounding towns.

We all found our favorite stop on the trip to be The Chocolate Ox in Nisswa(we biked the 7 miles to and from), the best candy store in all the land! They had the world's best selection, and a lot of nostalgic choices, from Wonka Bars, Lemon Heads, Boston Baked Beans and Mallo Cups to a massive collection of Jelly Bellys, Sweedish Fish, and Gum Drops. We settled on some Grasshopper Malted Milk Balls, Sweedish Fish and fabulous turtle-like treats, all to be washed down with a bottle of Bubble Up. The Boy was given a Sweet Tart Lollipop by the owner when we arrived and was content clutching and licking while we perused the shops in Nisswa.

Your Local Fire Station

We are lucky enough to have a firefighter in the family, so getting an up close and personal look into fire trucks is a pretty easy thing for The Boy to do. Just this weekend we took The Boy to visit the fire chief and he LOVED hanging out in the command center, with all the buttons and levers to push and pull. The Boy sat on my lap and steered the big wheel all the while, making siren noises. I tried to take a picture with a fire hat on him, but those hats are just too heavy for his little head.

I know most elementary schools head to their local fire station for a field trip every year, but the fire trucks are exciting for pre-schoolers too!

Have you tried calling the local fire department for a tour? Do fire stations do that sort of thing? I would imagine it would be easier in smaller towns, but what about major cities? Share your experiences with the rest of us.

The Children's Museum

I haven't taken The Boy yet, but I hear that The Children's Museum is a great place for toddlers on up. The third Sunday of the month is always free, check it out this Sunday!

Horse Racing at Canterbury Park

Another cheap site to visit if you are from Minnesota is Canterbury Park. Cost of admission is $5 (we had a BOGO coupon). Sorry, I don't know what the age limit is on kids get in free, but The Boy is only 18 months, so his admission was free. He loved watching the horses race and there is plenty to do during the breaks in racing. Including a large outdoor park to play at, you can watch horses get their place ribbons or keep your eye on them in their stalls. And on Sundays there are free pony rides! August 17 and 31 are listed on their site as free admission days.

The kids don't even have to know that you sneak inside to bet your retirement savings on PUTYOURLEFTFOOTIN being riden by jockey Garcia. Indeed he has a good chance, the race program states "This horse should challenge the top choice for the lead and if Garcia can sprint to the lead he may have a chance at a wire to wire score."

You may not want to take my betting advice, although we did walk away with $1.20 in winnings!

Shh We're In the Library

I learned my lesson. The Ramsey Country Library is not the place for a toddler. I know, they have story hours, and maybe then it's okay for The Boy to screach at the top of his lungs, but even then I think those that are enjoy the solitude of the library are going to be quite annoyed, even if The Boy is one of the cutest you've ever seen.

I was looking for some titles that haven't shown up at Half Price Books, and thought I would give the library a try. The Husband and The Boy came along for the trip. We found a great Elmo video and some jazzy kids music for The Boy to try out, and for those first few moments he did okay. Then we headed of to the aisles of non-fiction for myself and The Husband. We attempted to beat record speed at the relay race of "I take the boy, you look, you take the boy I look" but we came in last. The relay race ended with me out in the parking lot with the boy while The Husband quickly checked out our less than perfect finds.

I will go back to the library for more CDs, DVDs and books for all of us, I'll just drop the boy off with a grandparent before I do it, for the next few months anyway. We'll give it another go come winter when The Boy knows what "shh... we're in the library" means.

Como Zoo

Yesterday a friend and I took our boys to Como Zoo. It was a beautiful afternoon, and because we showed up in the late afternoon, the park wasn't as crowded as usual, and the animals were at a very active time of day. The Boys went on the train ride (with moms right beside, of course) and had a blast. The tooted their horns the whole way around the track.

We also checked out the giant butterfly garden, it was a great spot to let The Boy explore, and he was even lucky enough to have a Blue Morpho land right on his leg, so he could get a very close look.

Besides the gas money it took to get there, not a dime was spent. My girlfriend bought the train ride, but the butterfly garden is free along with the rest of the park. (They do request a donation at the door, unfortunately I did have any cash on me, but usually donate a few dollars, it's worth it!)

A staycation...

The latest trend in vacationing has coined a new term, "the stay-cation". We had one of our own this weekend. We camped at Lake Elmo Park Preserve, and can't wait to do it again. The trip in total cost us $36 plus groceries, much less than we would have spent had we stayed home and found things to keep us busy all weekend. Lake Elmo Park Preserve is a wonderful spot to camp, the sandy-bottom pool, the many bike trails and playstructures kept us busy for two days.

One of our campmates turned us on to a new bonfire treat: Smores with Reeses Peanut butter cups instead of Hershey's Chocolate Bars... a tasty treat indeed. What do you roast over the coals at your bonfires?

Free Event: Sculpture Gardens

While returning from a Sunday trip to the Farmer's Market, we took The Boy to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It was around 9 a.m. and besides one woman and her little boy, we were the only ones in the park. It was a great way to spend a morning, and The Boy took plenty of time to burn off energy running through the gardens. There is very little to get into trouble with and The Husband and I were able to take a leisurely stroll, while holding hands even.

Get out?!? you say? I know, since you've had kids when is the last time you had a free hand to grab on to your husband's? It seems my hands are always picking up toys, holding a book while I read, wiping boogers, or kept busy by any number of other child raising tasks to be done each day.

Twin Cities best beach

The Husband, The Boy and I went to the beach yesterday. In our search for the perfect beach, we found Square Lake Park. The beach is clean, the staff friendly, the crowd managable, and the fun heaping. There are many steps to get down to the sand and it is five dollars to park (I'm sure this is what keeps the crowd managable). If you plan to frequent the beach often or other county parks, a Washington County park pass can be purchased for $25 to allow you access all year long, and the money supports your Washington County parks.

Nothing to do on Friday night?

Last Friday night we went to the City of North St. Paul. Every Friday night they block off their main street for a History Cruisers car show. St. Paul farmers set up a farmer's market stand, food venders sell State Fair fare, and people cruise the streets. It's a free event and is fun for the whole family. We were lucky enough to have a old fire truck among the '57 chevys whose owner fitted The Boy with a bright red Fire Chief's hat which he loved.