DNR Outdoor Adventure Center

After weeks of reading friends' posts and blogs about this new DNR Outdoor Adventure Center in Detroit, we finally made it there ourselves to check it out.  And it did not disappoint!

We were the first customers in on a chilly Saturday morning.  We walked by the elk, played at the campfire, and decided to go straight upstairs to sit in the plane, ride the snowmobile, and the ATV before it got crowded.

It ended up being a wise decision.  The place quickly filled up, but the boys were able to ride each of the "attractions" twice before a line started to form.  It was so much fun!

The entire complex is just stunning!  Tons of natural light, animals, and trees everywhere you look.  And the waterfall towards the back of the place is beautiful!  They did a phenomenal job recreating the "up north" feel here.

The suspension bridge freaked me out a little the first time I went across it, but considering my boys were obsessed with it didn't leave me many options.  We went back and forth many times all morning.  The giant tree that the kids can climb up and down in led them up to the suspension bridge.  That was tricky when you were at the bottom of the tree on the first floor to only realize they made it to the top upstairs and were about to run off upstairs somewhere.  They had a staff member that would shout down to the parents, but still...not sure that was a well-thought out layout for young kids.

The boys loved playing in the tent, at the campfire, and running through the exhibits.  They were able to play in a log cabin on a bunk bed, sit in a fishing boat and pretend to fish, kayak, and do some farming in a vegetable garden.  I really felt like this place attracted a wide-range of ages.  I saw middle school age children entertained by the same exhibits that my 3 and 5 year old boys were.  

One of my favorite parts was being able to show the boys a giant map of Michigan with the great lakes and point out places that we've been.  When I showed them where we were on the map at that moment, it led to a great opportunity to walk across the street when we left to show them the bridge to Canada, Windsor, and the Detroit skyline.  Sean was really impressed with the "skyscrapers".

It was definitely chilly, so the boys only managed 10 minutes outside before they were ready to head to the car and grab some lunch down the road at the Atwater Brewery.  I can totally envision taking them back to the Adventure Center and to the Riverwalk in the summer when the weather is nicer.  Lots to explore and enjoy outside!

Lunch was delicious!  Scott and I weren't very hungry so we grabbed a beer and some hot pretzels (to die for).  The boys each had a kids meal (sliders for Sean that was sooo tasty and a pepperoni pizza for Evan that was decent).  The best part?  The brewery had stacks of board games that kept the boys busy while we waited for our food.  Sean and Scott played two intense games of Jenga, while Evan and I played Connect 4 and Cooties.  

Another great outing in the books for 2016!  More to come with Spring Break a few days away!  

Mid-March updates

Greetings from our new breakfast bar!

After a month long project cutting a hole into the wall, putting up trim, getting a counter top installed, bar stools ordered from Target's website, and some patching up, I'm so excited that it's almost done!  I could have waited until we did paint touch ups, caulk, and some decor around the sides to "reveal" it, but what fun would that be?!  We'll put the finishing touches on it during spring break.

As mentioned in a previous post, we were desperately seeking additional lighting in the kitchen and a more "open" floor plan.  I hated cooking dinner in the kitchen not able to see the rest of the family while the kids were in the living room playing.  Or that I couldn't see the driveway or walkway to our front door from the kitchen.  Thanks to Bailey, we definitely knew when someone was coming up to the house, but still...I wanted to be able to see for myself.  Thus, we embarked on a month long project to cut a portion of the wall out.  Since it's a support wall we couldn't knock the entire thing down, so we improvised.  And I'm loving how it turned out!

I'm looking forward to our first breakfast at the bar on Saturday morning!

In other news, Sean has been a busy bee at school and at swim class.  After returning from mid-winter break his class celebrated the 100th day of school, Dr. Seuss' birthday, and reading month complete with "mystery readers" and bringing books home from school to read.  He's officially registered for kindergarten next fall and once again, I am so happy with the progress he's made this year in Young 5's.  Best decision ever!

He was nominated for "Green Student of the Month" by his teacher in January and had his picture up on a bulletin board at school for the whole month.  ::Insert my proud mommy smile::  And apparently, he draws pictures for me when he misses me at school!  Oh my goodness, he is such a love bug!  Now that the weather is warming up I've been able to watch him play on the playground at school right before pick-up.  I love that he doesn't realize I'm there and just does his thing.  Watching him interact with friends, run circles with the trucks, and not have a care in the world does amazing things to my heart!

He's been working his butt off in level 5 at swim and never ceases to amaze me!  His front stroke is getting so much stronger, but he dominates on his back.  Chicken, star, rocket!  He absolutely detests the side stroke and it's caused a few tears over the past two weeks, but he'll get there.  Scuba Steve is encouraging and positive - that's all he needs!

Evan, my little bug, has been keeping us on our toes.  This kid has quite the personality.  Stubborn as all get-out, but he can turn the charm on when he needs to.  And I soak in those charming moments when they come around.  I will absolutely miss when he grows out of some of his current phrases.  Like calling McDonalds, "Old McDonalds" or when he asks me to sing "A rock-a-my baby" to him.

I swear he can survive off of milk, fruit, and breakfast foods.

He's doing well in preschool, going to Spanish one day a week and music one day a week.  While I'd love to say that he's coming home trying out some Spanish, I'm lucky if he tells me "Hola" or talks to me about "chocolate".  I guess my $9 a week towards Spanish has taught him two very important words.  But, I can't complain, he's my musical guy...always singing, always wanting to play instruments like the piano, the drums, or a guitar.  I can't wait to get him in some music lessons.

He, too, is rocking swimming in level 4.  He's got quite a ways to go in level 4, but he can swim about 15 feet on his own with help.  His kicks are amazing, but trying to coordinate arms and legs is quite the task at 3.5 years old!  He cracks his teacher up and I love watching him smile as he jumps in.

The boys have had some fun events on the weekends over the past month.  Between celebrating Scott's birthday with the extended family and cousins to their annual "guys' night out" at Monster Trucks, I know they've been having a blast with family!

And as the weather has been warming up, we've really enjoyed being able to go outside and get some fresh air!  Bike rides, trips to the park in the neighborhood, playing on the play structure in the backyard, cleaning out the garage, and going to the Nature Center to learn about maple syrup, we're ready and willing to welcome in Spring!

Even spring cleaning...

We are ready for St. Patrick's Day this week!  Sean and Scott worked on a leprechaun trap.  I'm not really sure what is supposed to "happen" with this trap, but we're ready...

Spring break is only a week and a half away with Easter right around the corner.  I feel totally unprepared for Easter since it's so early this year.  Their baskets are about done, but that's all I've thought about.  I don't know if they'll see the Easter bunny this year or if we'll do a marshmallow drop or the Bunnyville at the zoo, but we'll definitely enjoy Easter together with our families and a week and a half off of school together.

And I'm okay with that.  The Easter bunnies at the mall kind of creep me out...

Impression 5 Museum

Somehow we're well into March already.  Does that seem crazy to anyone else?  Didn't this year just start?  Are we already done and over with the winter?  70 degrees in early March, the sun shining, and my boys were both super crabby.  Figures.  Evan has a heavy cold and is letting it known.  Sean...not sure what his excuse is.  With rain in the forecast the next two days, I'm disappointed their behavior kept us from fully enjoying the warm temps and sunny skies, but we'll have plenty of those kind of days ahead of us.

As winter is phasing out, it seems we keep finding reasons to visit new museums in Michigan.  Perhaps it's the desire to get out of the house and do something different.  We finally made it out to the Science Center downtown over the holiday season and now Impression 5 out in Lansing.  As the boys are getting older, I don't mind making a little bit of a drive to go and do something fun/see something new.  And for $7 a person admission, I really can't complain!

Scott sat this one out and I gladly met up with some friends that I have been talking to on the internet since we were all pregnant with our first child at the same time.  It start as October 2010 Mamas on thebump.com and progressed to a smaller group on Facebook.  To think we've talked almost daily for 6 years (apparently today was the anniversary of telling our families we were pregnant with Sean) is crazy!  I consider some of these girls good friends, even though I've only met a few of them.  It was about time I met a few others!

What was even more fun was the fact that at this playdate, it was all boys!  We have very few friends with boys, so it was so cool to have a boys day out!

The first floor of the museum had this giant eye ball, a gift shop, a dinosaur exhibit with fossils, puzzles, and sand boxes where the kids could dig for bones.

Upstairs had the majority of the exhibits/activities.  A favorite of mine and the boys were the giant teeth with dentistry tools and a toothbrush!  The kids could wear dentist coats and get to work on the teeth.  Only problem was actually maneuvering the tools due to their size.  We had a minor accident as one of my boys turned around and bumped a little girl in the head with a giant flosser.

Of course Sean disappeared and found himself in a room with legos, knex, and other building supplies.  He could have spent an hour in there by himself, but Evan was way too busy moving from room to room.

He couldn't even hold still long enough for me to take a picture.  Oh well!

The boys all enjoyed building towers, castles, and houses out of the foam bricks.  They wore construction vests and hats, when available, and surprisingly enough we got a solid 15 minutes of time to sit down and chat at a bench while the kids played.  Life is getting easier!!

They made an announcement at 1pm that they were doing a class on slime, so we bought a bag for each of the kids for $2 and made our way to the lab.  It was fun!  They got to choose up to two colors, mixed in some borax, and used the heat from their hands rubbing the bag to create the slime consistency.  Well worth $2, even if it's already been a small mess at home.

Next up?  The bubble room!  Just like the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum, the kids were able to stand inside of a giant bubble, create a bubble sheet, and various other activities with bubbles.  Evan managed to step in the bubble container with one shoe while they were all standing in the middle, but he rolled with it.  Didn't bother him, thus it didn't bother me...much.

After that it was on to a really cool room where kids could play with lights, shadows, colors, etc.  They both loved what looked like a giant version of a Lite Brite - remember those?

Right after the lighting room, was a nature related area with activities for the kids related to fishing, plants, flowers, animals, etc. all in Michigan.  With real fish to see in a tank and coloring tables where the boys learned how to make different types of clouds out of cotton balls, it kept us entertained for a while.

Last stop on our visit?  The little kid room, which our 5 years old out grew according to the ages posted, but you wouldn't believe that when you saw how much fun they had on the small play structure and at the water tables!  Might as well let them pass for 4 while they can...

We had an absolute blast and we were all sad to go home!  I was amazed at how fast 3 hours went by and it was no easy task getting the boys out the building.  But, the ladies and I are definitely going to plan another get together mid-way like Lansing again in the future!

Other Michigan museums/zoos/parks on my radar for this spring/summer?
- DNR Outdoor Adventure Center in Detroit
- Potter Park Zoo
- Air Zoo
- Binder Park Zoo
- Michigan's Adventure
- Mackinaw Island

It's an ambitious list, but I'm looking forward to the challenge and giving my boys the experiences right here in Michigan!