Family Field Trip - Como Zoo

Mike and I love to take the kids on adventures and a really inexpensive field trip is the Como Zoo! The $5 donation is a breeze, however, getting through Como Town is not. As we all know, Como town is like Valley Fair to little kids and of course the rides are super expensive. We were able to make it past without giving in to any rides but I would be lying if I said it was easy. We managed to distract them from the rides with a quick trip to see the monkeys.

Logan and Lily LOOOVVEED the monkeys. Lily kept asking if she could "go in there" meaning their cage. Logan was excited to watch them jump and swing! He especially loved it when they would come right up to the glass. I think the spider monkeys were his favorite.

Next we went and saw the new butterfly exhibit. It was really neat because they recreated the rain forest habitat for the butterflies. You weren't allowed to touch them but if they landed on you it was OK. A bright blue one landed on me and I think it was attracted to my shirt. The kids got such a kick out of this and kept trying to get the butterflies to land on them by holding out their arms.

We also went into the other rain forest exhibit and saw a huge snake, giant fish, a slug and lush, beautiful plants. After that we headed outside to the carousel. Lily threw a fit because I wanted her to ride on the pony and she wanted to be in the carriage. I couldn't stand by Logan on the pony and leave Lily in the carriage so she ended up not riding. Logan was good and enjoyed himself immensely!

After the carousel ride we took the kids to see all the other animals. They loved the zebras, giraffes and seals. We tried to show Lily the lions but she was scared and they were both extremely tired by this time so we headed back to the bus. (We took the free State Fair shuttles down there but went to the zoo instead of the fair.)

Both kids loved riding the bus and were extremely well behaved. I think it was such a fun field trip! Definitely a great under $20 family outing. :)

Nature Walk - Crow/Hassan Park Reserve

A couple of miles from our house is a park reserve with beautiful walking trails for hiking, horse riding and mountain biking. In the winter it is open for cross country skiing and snow shoeing. We try to bring the kids there at least once a year for a nature walk.

The trails are just beautiful and for a few miles the walking trail follows the river and gives amazing views of meadows and woods. The kids have their favorite "secret spot" that we always stop at down on the river bank. There is an old Oak tree that has decided to grow sideways and extends out over the river. Logan and Lily love to sit on it and just look out at the water.

There is also a huge park area with benches, a fire pit and even a public stable for those people that are riding horses on the trails. I think it would be really fun for the kids if we were to see some riders because they both love horses!

This year we went during a hot summer day and Logan had to bring his camping back pack. In it, there is a kid's pop up tent and you can also fit a canteen. He insisted on bringing it to the nature walk. Maybe when the kids are old we will set up camp there for a night. :)

Lily got really tired and couldn't walk anymore so she got a piggy back from Daddy on the way back to the car. It is great this park is so close because if the kids get tired we just walk back to the car and drive a few minutes back home.

This year, I'm planning of making a day of it when the leaves are in full color. We'll bring a picnic and a stroller for Lily. Maybe we will actually make it around the entire park?!

Thrushing Day at Oliver Kelly Farm

Every year, we take the kids to Oliver Kelly Farm located in Elk River. It is free for kids ages five and under and they have so many fantastic things for children. First off, there are a lot of domesticated farm animals roaming around. Baby calves, baby pigs, kitties, chickens and sometimes they even let the oxen out!

Oliver Kelly Farm does all types of special events throughout the season. They are open April- October. We decided to go on the spur of the moment and ended up taking the kids there on Threshing day. This is when the wheat is harvested using old fashioned machinery. Logan absolutely loved watching the threshing machine which was powered by a horse on a treadmill.

The volunteers on the farm all dress up in period clothing and reenact what life was like during the late 1800's. They give out random facts and are very friendly! One of my favorite volunteers works in the kitchen of the farm house making food from the huge garden they have on the farm. She was making ketchup when we were there and it smelled absolutely delicious!

There are so many neat rooms you can explore at the farm house! Logan and Lily did their job and raced around to every room. Lily wanted to go upstairs which is off
limits. I, myself, am curious to see what it looks like up there and was tempted to step over the guard rail and go up. Of course, that would be setting a very bad example so I didn't. I hope they open up that space in the future, I would love to see what the bedrooms up there look like. There were no bathrooms back then, so I took Logan to the outhouse.

There is also a water pump in the middle of the yard that the children just love to play with! They have several wooden buckets you can use to fill up with water from the pump. Many times they do laundry the old fashioned way and fill up big barrels with the water and let the kids have a turn scrubbing the wash. They didn't do that this year, and instead the water went into a big mud hole that the piggies liked to lay in.

We explored the barn and Logan climbed up the ladder into the top part of the barn but was too afraid to pull himself up. Lily did it as well with a little help from mama. Of course, there were quite a few barn kitties hanging around and they both couldn't get enough of them. They just loved petting those kitties!

The chickens were also another source of amusement. Logan liked to provoke them by sticking his fingers in between the slats in the fence and then pulling them away before they pecked them. He kept wanting to go in the coop and figured out how to unlatch the door. It was hard to convince him that he wasn't actually allowed to go in there!


The day ended with us eating our snack on an old hay wagon after the kids literally took a roll in the hay! They played in the hay by jumping into it and rolling out for a good twenty minutes. After we had our snack, we saved the apple cores and gave them to the horses. Logan loved feeding the horse! Finally, we went home after a busy day on the farm.

I'm so glad we do this every year, and I think we will continue to do it until the kiddos get sick of it. It is inexpensive fun for a day and it teaches our children about time passed. I love that they have fun and learn too! Since we go every year, it is a real treat for me to look at the pictures from previous years and see how much my kids have grown!

By the way...Logan is going through his cowboy stage. That is why he is wearing a cowboy hat! :)

The Park Project 5 - Highwoods Park St. Michael

We've been going around to different parks in St. Michael and the surrounding suburbs during the week. The kids are wide open for the month of August and so I have to keep them busy by taking them on field trips. That being said, we cannot be spending money every week to do kid friendly activities. This is where my "Park Project" inspiration came from. After all, we have a ton of fantastic parks!

We visited Highwoods Park in St. Michael. This time, Daddy came with because he got home from work early to deal with some car trouble. It was a great time watching the kids play on new equipment. Logan wanted endless underdogs and Lily wanted to do everything that Logan was doing.

He is so close to doing the monkey bars all by himself! I think he really could do it but just hasn't mustered up the courage to try. We will lightly hold his legs for him as he swings from bar to bar. Lily likes monkey bars too but she definitely needs our help still. She hasn't quite grasped the concept of hanging on to each bar and will let go suddenly.


Here are a a few pictures from our adventure at Highwoods Park! I hope you enjoy them because we had a fun evening as a family visiting a different park across town!

The Park Project 4 - French Regional Park - Plymouth

When I was a kid, my parents brought us to French Regional Park because my aunt and uncle live on Medicine Lake. Of course, we would take the pontoon over instead of driving! This place is just magical for kids because it has a great swimming beach and one of the neatest parks in Minnesota.

The playground is made of rope netting with all kinds of wooden platforms that lead to slides. They also have swings, diggers and a toddler area. Logan and Lily played for at least an hour climbing their way through the rope halls. Lily was very brave and tried to follow Logan everywhere. Unfortunately, she couldn't quite make it to the higher rope tunnels. She really like to climb on the wooden platform and go in the tunnels and slides there.

Logan had a blast climbing all around the rope tunnels. He went up to the highest level and then would climb down just to do it all over again. He would call out,"Mom, look at me! Look how high I am!"

Mike and I sat at a nice picnic table in the shade and watched our kiddos play their little hearts out. French Park has a pavilion with nice restrooms inside and a snack bar in case you forget to pack your own snacks! Our kids were playing so hard they definitely needed to drink their juice boxes and eat their granola bars.


After they played at the park and worked up a good sweat, we rode the shuttle down to the beach. Medicine Lake Beach is about 1/2 mile away from the park so they have a shuttle trolley to take you there if you don't want to walk. Logan loved riding the shuttle trolley! We went swimming for about an hour and then the kids wanted to play at the park again.


French Regional Park also has hiking trails, and fantastic picnic areas with grills. I think this place is going to be another Minnesota attraction that we visit all the time. After all, the park and the swimming beach are free! It is a great (and inexpensive) way to spend a nice summer day!