TourDad and I both gave the August Schell Brewery Tour in New Ulm pretty high marks. And sure, this may have had something to do with the generous samples that were passed out in the lovely tap room after the tour. But there was certainly much more to enjoy on the Schell grounds – for [...]

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 [...]

TourDad was on a mission. I had left the house at 8:30 a.m. for a bit of a retreat with my own mom, and he knew he had a slim window of time in which to carry out his plan. So he rounded up the four kids, hauled them over to the ArtScraps Reuse Store [...]

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 [...]

For 60 minutes, a crew of 25 kids (and a few hovering parents) armed with donated lunch meat, cheese slices and loaves of bread, cranked out enough sandwiches to feed 300 hungry people. Our 4-H club partnered with Minneapolis-based The Sandwich Project this month to get the kids in a service frame of mind. It [...]

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 [...]