More ways to play in the Twin Cities - Exploreminnesota.com/playTC

If there is one thing my kids love, it's mail.

Mail is a major highlight of the day around here (wait til they have to start paying some of the bills that come in!) - and when packages arrive -
It's even MORE exciting!

But when the package looks like this on the OUTSIDE?

There's even MORE excitement in the air than usual!

(and perhaps a little sibling rivalry over who gets to open the actual box! YIKES!) 

It's funny - I was just thinking about how much I would love to have a place to retreat to on the weekends - so many of our friend have lake places to head to, and I would love love love to do that too. Even in a pop up camper (that we don't have...I think it sounds like heaven.)

But, with so much to see and do and explore right here in our own backyards - when would we actually get to go away?

Exploreminnesota.com has some pretty awesome ideas on their website...

With two young kids, we've been taking advantage of many of the suggestions already!

In fact...Here's a look inside my wallet ~ 

Memberships to these awesome family fun destinations will pay for themselves in no time flat.

More times than not, going just twice with a family of four puts you out ahead versus if you were paying single admissions on each visit.

What we love about our local memberships is the fact that we can swing into one of these great places for an hour or two, and then head out to baseball practice, karate, swimming, a birthday party, grocery shopping...you know - life!! - and still feel like we are spending our money wisely!

Like the other day, when we headed out to the Minnesota Zoo - 

We took in the brand new Dinosaur Exhibit - 

Who gave us that cowboy hat & why do we still have it??? HA!

& then cooled off in the Splash Pad ~ 

Before we headed out on our merry way! With the whole day ahead of us yet - 

And yesterday, with a couple of hours with not much to do - 

We popped over to ValleyFair with our Gold Passes!

(We bought passes last year for the first time, having not been there in over 10 years - It was such a great investment, that when the season ended last year, we renewed our Gold Passes for this season too!)

Hailey on Horses!

Linus Launcher!

Race Car Driving!

She rode the Scrambler, first with Mom, then with Dad! This is HUGE!

That's the joy of the memberships!

You can hop over, take in an hour or two of rides, people watch - and head out without feeling bad you didn't stay long and get your money's worth!

If you don't have a membership but would like to visit some of these great places - 

Visit the Exploreminnesota.com website for valuable coupons to three of our favorite Twin Cities places to play!

Does your family have a favorite place to 'Stay and Play' here in the Twin Cities?

What memberships have you found to be worth it?

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*** Disclosure - My family has been purchasing memberships to many local Twin Cities attractions for years.  We have purchased those memberships with our own (hard earned) money, including, but not limited to, those mentioned in this blog post. My family received a box of goodies from Exploreminnesota.com/playTC to promote these awesome local Twin Cities adventures. ***

Corporate Responsibility ~ Hormel Foods

We are a busy family - for as much as I try not to over schedule us and leave lots of scheduled 'downtime' ~ I still feel like we are going going going, A. LOT.

I'm not great in the kitchen - but try and fumble my way around and feed my family at home as often as possible...

That's why I love companies like Hormel Foods who make dinner for non-kitchen savvy folks like myself so so easy!

I just made these for the 2nd time this weekend - So easy, and the boys in the house love them!

Simply take the ribs out of the package they come in, wrap in tin foil and toss it on the grill for 25 minutes! Viola!

For those of us that won't eat Ribs, there are plenty of other Hormel products in our fridge to curb those hunger pangs!

When I'm giving my business to a certain company and/or brand - things like Corporate Responsibility are important to me.  I was thrilled with some of the highlights of Hormel Food's 2011 report.

Package reduction by 4.2 million pounds!  That's a lot! We are huge recyclers at our house - If we aren't going from farm to table, at least I can be content in knowing that Hormel is aware of the impact of their packaging on it's consumers and the environment!

Hormel has also been instrumenting sodium reduction - 14% in their Hormel Cure 81 retail hams, 18% reduction in Hormel Compleats microwave meals, & 16% reduction in their Hormel Chili! (Which incidentally, makes amazing queso dip!!)

The biggest thing for me, is seeing the Philanthropy - Hormel contributed more than $5.5 million to local communities and hunger initiatives, including donating to 16 hunger relief organizations in Hormel Food Plant Communities.

Do you have important initiatives in your home? Do you consider these types of things when you are shopping at your local grocery store?


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Hormel Party Tray ~ Not just for Parties!

In our house, we are split right down the middle.

Picky Eaters and Not Picky Eaters.

I won't rat anyone out as far as who the fussy ones are and who are the ones willing to try anything, at least once...

But I will say - 

That if you are cracking open a Hormel Party Tray ~ 

Everyone Wins!

Sure, these make setting up a snack table at a party a cinch -

If you are expecting a crowd, all you have to do is 

Crack open the lid, cut open the stay fresh wrap and dump neatly into the divided tray provided!

Or, if you are just hanging around on a Saturday afternoon and could use a little snack different than the usual chips or other junk...

You could crack open a Hormel Party tray, 

Take half of the ingredients and put into the convenient party tray provided!

The kids couldn't wait to get outside with their snack - and because we don't have a deck table, 

to the electrical box we go!

(I know. I know...)

Delish cheese & crackers! Protein anyone? Try some!

A person can only hang out on the electrical box for so long before they have to break out the picnic blanket - everything tastes better when you are eating off of a picnic blanket! 

Hormel Party Trays bring not only convenience in entertaining, but also offers a great snack for busy families like mine. 

Whether it's in our own back yard or eating on the run - 

Hormel Party Trays have something for everyone!

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*** I am a Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger - I am occasionally given coupons to try Hormel products of given the products themselves.  The pictures and opinions shared in this post are my own.  ***

Camp Streefland - First timers...

So, where were we?

Ah, yes, Summer.

Summer Camp.

So, we registered for Summer Camp with good friends.

We had never been to camp before - so we excitedly attended an open house -

Would it live up to our expectations???

Being new at this, it was important for our family to make sure that our kiddos had a buddy.  Having each other is awesome, having 2 friends they know well, along for the ride, is beyond awesome.  

It takes out (most of) the fear of the unknown.

Sure, the girls are heading off to First Grade in the Fall - 

But the boys - well, ours at least, all he's ever known is home daycare and family outings.

He's never done ANYTHING like this before.

Ever.

They start them out at camp at age 4...

Extra nice to have a buddy when you are the younger crowd.

I really didn't need to worry...

They had a blast.

What's not to love?

Ourdoors.

All day.

Every day.

I couldn't believe it when I saw the forecasts for this week - 

having signed up for camp back in February - who knows what we are going to get when June rolls around?

Late Sunday night we had quite the Boomer of a Storm...but...

Someone was watching out for us ~ they had beautiful weather every day.

The kids were noticeably tired at the end of each day, but had so much to say and do and share and talk about, that we didn't get us any earlier of a bed time.

Maybe next week it hits?

Their week was spent making craft projects.

Swimming. 

Frog Catching.

Having Cookouts.

Fishing.

Canoeing.

Kayaking.

Sing-a-Longs.

(Including Sing-a-Longs on the bus rides TO camp!!!

Hello!! what a GREAT way to start the day!!)

Making Forts.

Swinging.

Zip Lining.

Sand Castle Building.

Turtle Hunting.

Playing in the GaGa Pit.

Making Tie Dye Shirts.

Archery.

 

That is some fort! WOW!

This one was still under construction - it needed more camo (so they tell me!)

The Black Hole!

I cannot get over the NO FEAR that BOTH of our children have for this thing!

I mean honestly, sitting on a plastic sled and heading into the dark that is the black hole?

Him? 

Of course not.

He loves adventures in every way, shape and form.

But this one?

Our somewhat shy, quiet, reserved first born?

If you could hear the screams of joy as she barrels through this tunnel...

  

A good friend pointed out that she hasn't seen our girl this happy, this excited, this...

CAREFREE...

in a very long time!

Thank you Camp Streefland!

Shooting 25 feet out into the open!

Whether she is just having that. much. fun...

Or if it's because she is spending her days with her Bestie...

Shakin' it at the Assembly on Family Night.

A Camp Counselor Tunnel when the evening was coming to a close...

Tell me a job that would be more fun than this?

Yes, Camp Streefland.
We know we made the right choice.

The only tears we saw this week were the ones that came after five days...
upon being told they have to wait three weeks to come back.

This, this right here signifies summer and what it should be.

I am beyond thrilled with how our summer is shaping up.

We are loving this chapter of the Best Seller that is our lives!