My comrade over at Family Fun Twin Cities did a great feature on the Family Fun Tuesdays series at Caponi Art Park. So inspiring was she that I finally decided to quit putting off the trip (all the way to Eagan) and go the next open Tuesday on the calendar (which happened to be today). [...]

A family tradition that dates back years before the word “blog” entered our collective lexicon. Not quite as far as the original Highland Games of Scotland, of course, but encompassing many aspects of them: the skirl of bagpipes, swishing of kilts and family members distantly connected to those ancient Scottish clans. The highlight of A [...]

I had a very mediocre time at the Midtown Global Market today. And it’s really too bad I feel that way because I very much like the purpose of the place. I’ve had some pretty good meals there, too, and enjoyed some seasonal events (their Easter Party, in particular). This morning we finally got the [...]

On a day with a biting windchill of 25-below, was it worth it to bundle up four kids and take them to the annual Martin Luther King Celebration at Powderhorn Park? Unfortunately not, and it really didn’t have much to do with the weather. It was a disappointment to discover upon arriving about halfway through [...]

So I was musing in my last post about the growing concurrent exhaustion and excitement that comes with having kids in extra-curricular activities. Excitement edged out yesterday at the Music & Melody Makers event offered by Minnesota Youth Symphonies. It was a joy to watch my girls try their hand at a dozen or so [...]

Balance and moderation are a couple key terms that come to mind when I’m thinking about extra-curricular activities for the kids. However, we’re only a couple years into having multiple school-aged children and I can clearly see the writing on the wall. Even if we limited each of the four kids to two activities in [...]

Too late to construct much of a blog post tonight. It’s probably also too late to RSVP for tomorrow’s annual free pancake breakfast with Santa at the Chatterbox Pub (Highland location). I’ve wanted to do a write-up of this family-friendly spot for quite a while. They do a very tasty Sunday brunch buffet (served 9 a.m. [...]

The girls and I popped in the MacPhail early childhood CD on our way over to Minneapolis this morning. We had hopes the Free Family Music Series concert might feature some of our favorite tunes off the disc – and wanted to be prepared to sing backup. Our rehearsal paid off. The girls were delighted [...]

The Minnesota State Fair’s Progress Center was wall-to-wall books today courtesy of the Annual Twin Cities Book Festival. Those who didn’t tow children along might have enjoyed the live readings, browsed for books or met with local authors. Those who did bring the kids probably found themselves looking longingly over their shoulders at the literature [...]

I know this is going to sound mushy, but several moments during Baby Story Time at the Red Balloon Bookshop had me on the verge of tears. All of the other babies and caregivers were laughing and clapping along with Webster Worm, the puppet Pete and singing the “Dingle Dangle” scarecrow song while I could [...]