If you’ll remember, the day Como Conservatory cut the ribbon on the brand new Ordway Gardens addition, people were still crunching through snow to get to it. I’m glad I waited for a balmy afternoon in May to bring the kids for a run-through. Okay, truthfully it was cloudy and sprinkling on and off but [...]

Spring arrived just in time to coincide with the beginning of intersession at my kids’ school. They currently attend year-round, which gives us most of the month of May to enjoy the mild weather, uncrowded playgrounds and other perks that come with having unconventional school breaks. Having the older kids home is also a great [...]

Just the thought of venturing into one of the Walker Art Center’s pristine galleries accompanied by my four young children can bring on heart palpitations. I’m on pins and needles the whole time. One kid’s on my hip, another I’ve got by the hand, and the older two I’m constantly muttering at to use EYES [...]

To celebrate birthdays in Emily’s kindergarten class, the birthday child simulates a walk around the sun. One orbit is tread for each year of the child’s life, while the teacher reads aloud personal milestones supplied by parents. It was a fun coincidence that the night before Emily’s birthday walk we attended one of Como Planetarium’s [...]

I tried to look on the bright side when our toddler decided my day was going to begin at 3:00 a.m. At least there wasn’t any chance of turning off the alarm at 6:00 and sleeping through the bright-and-early Rainbow Foods Easter egg hunt! We’re personal friends of their Easter Bunny so I had promised [...]

I’m not the crafty mom who’s got Pinterest bookmarked and a space in the house devoted to creative, messy fun. That’s why I love places like Heartfelt. They supply the great ideas and provide the perfect environment for carrying them out. I brought my 3-year-old daughter into the Linden Hills shop today for one of [...]

Who needs a gym membership when you’re home with four kids? I swear there are days doing chores when I run as many flights of steps as I would on an elliptical machine. My version of toning muscles is shopping, packing and preparing for a family camping trip. But there are definitely times when I [...]

What a deal for a family of six to visit a great museum like The Bakken for no charge! We enjoyed this perk today, the second Saturday of the month, as you can also do each second Saturday throughout 2013. March’s theme was all about Gadgets & Gizmos – dissecting toys to better understand their [...]

Looking down at my calendar, I realize we haven’t had a wide-open Saturday in front of us for months. Tomorrow marks one week since hockey season has wrapped. Our winter break vacation is in the books. No immediate maintenance needs to be done on the house, the cabin, the cars. Heck, we can do anything [...]

My son came home from the Science Museum last weekend and I was expecting a graphic review of the Body Worlds exhibit he’d just toured. Instead, he thrust a membership card at me: “I opened a Collectors’ Corner account!” he announced, then prattled on about the collecting and trading of natural objects at the Museum. [...]