2024 Archives - kathrynegly.com

0 In 2024/ Minnesota/ Things to do in Minnesota

24 Kid-Friendly Places to Explore Around the Twin Cities

Are you in Minnesota and looking for something fun to do with your family? Do you have guests coming to town and want to try something new and unique? Well, I’ve got you!

Here are 24 family-friendly places for fun around Twin Cities:

1. Science Museum of Minnesota

This museum in downtown St. Paul features hands-on exhibits, an Omnitheater, and interactive activities that are both educational and entertaining for kids. My boys and I LOVED it!

2. Nickelodeon Universe

Inside the Mall of America in Bloomington, Nickelodeon Universe is the largest indoor theme park in the United States, offering rides for all ages. I love that you can PAY PER RIDE – or get an all-day pass.

3. Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store

This is a GIANT store in Jordan, MN that not only sells every kind of candy you can imagine, but popcorn, pie, soda, meat and cheese! There is so much to see inside this store, your family will love it. Come for the candy store, or make it a day of adventure.

Click here to read my post about our day in Jordan.

4. Mill City Museum

The Remains of the inside of the General Mills Factory

Learn about the history of Minneapolis and its flour milling industry at the Mill City Museum, which offers interactive exhibits and a chance to explore the ruins of a historic flour mill.

Click here for a peek into our visit to the Mill City Museum.

5. Minnesota Children’s Museum

Located in downtown St. Paul, the Minnesota Children’s Museum offers a variety of interactive exhibits and activities designed to engage children’s curiosity and creativity. All four of my kids enjoyed visiting this museum and want to go back.

6. Minnehaha Falls

Enjoy the outdoors by visiting Minnehaha Falls – you’ll find a scenic waterfall, a hiking trail, swimming spots, and lots of space for exploring. Bring extra clothes or wear some that can get wet or muddy.

7. The Bakken Museum

This museum in Minneapolis focuses on electricity and magnetism, offering hands-on exhibits and demonstrations that are both fun and educational for kids.

Here’s a peek into our visit with more info!

8. Fort Snelling State Park

Explore nature and history at Fort Snelling State Park, where you can hike, bike, picnic, and learn about the military history of the area. Here’s a peek into our visit to the Fort.

9. Minnesota History Center

This museum, located in St. Paul, explores the history and culture of Minnesota through exhibits, artifacts, and interactive displays. It’s a great place to learn about our state’s past. My kids and I loved our time in this museum and leaned so much in the ‘hands on’ exhibits!

10. Sky zone/Urban Air

Jump and play the day away!

11. Eloise Butler Garden

Founded in 1907, the Wildflower Garden is the oldest public native plant garden in the United States. This area has a beautiful walking path through the grounds.

Click here a peek into our fun day at Eloise.

12. Tactical Urban Combat

The world’s largest indoor nerf and laser tag battle ground. My boys LOVED this experience!

Here’s a peek into our visit with all the details.

13. Crayola Experience

Bursting with more than 20 hands-on activities, this one-of-a-kind family attraction is where color, chemistry and technology combine to create a colorful adventure for a child’s imagination. Name and wrap your own crayon, create a coloring page with YOU in it, bring your art to life in 4-D and so much more! Perfect for a day of family fun.

All four of my kids had a GREAT time! Click here for a peek into our visit.
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14. Roller Skate at Skateville

My children (and inner child) had the BEST time rolling around Skateville! It was good exercise and just SO much fun!

15. Bell Museum

Located in St. Paul, Bell Museum is a place kids can explore science, nature and history. You will find a geology exploration area, solar station, and an area with snakeskins, animal pelts, and bones, rocks and fossils. They have a planetarium and really cool life-size dioramas.

16. Walker Art Center

Also in Minneapolis, the Walker Art Center is known for its contemporary art exhibitions and outdoor (free) sculpture garden. It’s a hub for modern art.

17. American Swedish Institute

The magnificent fireplace inside the entrance to the home. Anyone else have a foyer fireplace like this one?

This museum celebrates Swedish-American culture through art, exhibits, and programming. It’s housed in a stunning, historic mansion and includes a cafe serving Nordic cuisine. Click here to read about my visit.

18. Fly Over America

We LOVED flying over the US! I wish it lasted longer.

Here’s a peek into our visit with more pictures and details.

19. Lake Harriet

Take a walk around Lake Harriet, play on the Beard’s Plaisance playground, have lunch at George and the Dragon or Broder’s Pasta Bar, then visit Wild Rumpus book store.

20. Como Zoo

In St. Paul, Como Park Zoo & Conservatory is free to enter and features a zoo with animals from around the world, as well as a conservatory with beautiful gardens.

Click here for more details.

21. Fawndoerosa

This place is just across the Wisconsin border, but deserves to be on the list! It’s an amazing park where deer and other animals roam free for you to pet and feed. Make a day of it and stop by the Franconia Sculpture Garden and Taylor Falls.

Click here to read about our visit.

22. Conquer Ninja Gym

Conquer Ninja Gym is offers ninja training and an obstacle course for ages five and up.

23. The Arboretum

My kids weren’t super excited about a visit to the Arboretum, but I wanted to go, so I created a challenge for them. “Whoever can capture the BEST picture will win $1.” My boys are always up for a contest and it PAID OFF (no pun intended). They enjoyed trying to capture the BEST picture and I enjoyed the BEAUTY all around.

New this year: educational and fun Discovery Booths, featuring a different theme each month. Drop in between 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays, May 2 through Oct. 27, for a variety of hands-on activities.

Visitors age 15 and under get in free!

Click here to read more about our visit and to see their pictures.

24. Minnesota History Museum

This museum, located in St. Paul, feeds your curiosity about Minnesota’s stories, people, and places. We loved it and I can’t wait to go back to check out the Charlie Brown exhibit.

Though I’ve given you 24 options, Minneapolis and its surrounding areas have a wealth of activities to offer families with children.

Which place do you plan to visit?
Do you have a favorite?

Please let me know by leaving a comment. (Click that little box by the title of this post)

Thanks for reading and I’d love for you to subscribe.

Click here for 55 fun THINGS TO DO with your kids this summer.

Check out my Minnesota Bucket List for more ideas!

April 11, 2024 By Kathryn

0 In 2024/ Family/ Peek into our Week

Peek Into Our Winter Weeks

We enjoyed time with Nana and Papa!

We have a new driver and it’s both wonderful and nerve-wracking!

Paul and Luke did well in their wrestling season.

We watched lots of basketball. Clark had a fun season and played really well. Our local high school is going to state.

I visited three different schools to celebrate reading:

We’ve only had a little snow this winter but enjoyed it!

Wrigley is still living his best life.

Ted and I snuck out for date night in between the family madness.

Those are a few of the “fun winter highlights.”

However, we’ve had some challenges this winter too. My mother-in-law lost her brother, another wonderful family member is going through chemotherapy, we had a big water leak in our house and I’ve been living with a ‘half kitchen,’ and we had to cancel a trip we’d been looking forward to for months – those are “not-so-fun highlights.” Life has both highs and lows and I choose to focus on the good and know that I have so much to be grateful for!

Thanks for reading! I hope you had a good winter and an even BETTER spring!

March 23, 2024 By Kathryn

0 In 2024/ Family/ Motherhood/ Parent Tip

Family Tip #5 – Don’t Compare Yourself with Others

Today’s Family Tip: Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

God has placed unique gifts and talents inside you that the world needs. Don’t try to be like someone else, become the best version of YOU!

Suggestions for how parents can help their children not to compare themselves with others:

Encourage your children to focus on their own progress and accomplishments to develop a stronger sense of self-worth and confidence. Acknowledge and celebrate the progress you see in them.
Every child is unique with their own set of strengths, gifts and abilities. Ask God to give you insight into how He’s made them, and share what you learn with your children. This will help them recognize and appreciate their own unique qualities.
Model for your children how to have appreciation for others’ successes rather than feelings of resentment.
Focus less on external markers of success (grades and achievements) and more on personal effort and growth.
Help your children set personal goals and strive for self-improvement. This fosters a growth mindset where they see challenges as opportunities for growth rather than threats to their self-worth.

The world needs you to be who God created you to be!

Click these links for more family tips:

Family Tip #1 – Model Gratitude

Family Tip #2 – Play!

Family Tip #3 – Smile!

Family Tip #4 – Teach Your Children how to Introduce Themselves

Here’s a post I wrote on COMPARISON in Motherhood.

Thank you for reading and please consider subscribing.

March 17, 2024 By Kathryn

0 In 2024/ Food/ Recipe

Easy Recipe Alert: Chicken and Gravy – Yum!

I discovered this recipe on Instagram some time ago and recently had the chance to make it. It’s perfect for serving a large group or for preparing a thoughtful meal to share with a family in need. It was a hit with all my boys, and what I particularly appreciate is how effortlessly it came together.

Ingredients:

2 lbs of chicken (I used frozen chicken breast)

1 can of cream of chicken soup

2 cups of chicken broth

2 packets of powdered Gravy mix

Noodles (or mashed potatoes)

What to do:

Put the broth, soup and gravy powder into the crockpot.

Set the frozen chicken on top.

Cook on low for 4 hours.

Cook the noodles (or mashed potatoes) before serving. In my opinion, the mashed potatoes with the chicken and gravy are SO delicious – I’m a mashed potato lover. However the noodles are much easier and faster to make. If you have the time, make the potatoes, if you are in a hurry or want to save the time and effort, the noodles work great.

ENJOY!

Want another recipe? Click here for bacon and cheese stuffed Jalapeños. YUM!

March 5, 2024 By Kathryn

0 In 2024/ Parent Tip/ Raising boys

Family Tip #4: Teach Your Kids How to Introduce Themselves

Helping your children develop the valuable skill of introducing themselves, will benefit them for the rest of their lives. Most kids do not instinctively know how to greet adults (beyond “Hi!”) so we can model and instruct them on how to do this with politeness and confidence.

This simple skill has so many benefits. It makes a great first impression, boosts their confidence, opens doors for them and makes others feel respected and welcome!

This skill is taught with 6 simple steps:

Stand up straight
Make eye contact
Smile
Give a firm handshake
State your full name
End with “Nice to meet you.”

I recommend you practice this at home, and then review it right before meeting new people. Make it a fun! Compliment your kids when they introduce themselves in this manner, even if it’s not ‘perfect’ – acknowledge effort and improvement.

Find more tips by clicking on the links below:

Family Tip #1 – PLAY

Family Tip #2 – MODEL GRATITUDE

Family Tip #3 – SMILE

Thanks for reading!

February 24, 2024 By Kathryn

0 In 2024/ Book Review

Two Great Biographies I finished in January: Full Book Reviews and Honest Ratings

Here are the first two books I finished in 2024. Both are fantastic biographies of men who showed grit and resiliency in the face of extreme difficulty. Their perseverance paid off and both men succeeded in completely different ways.

Milton Hershey: More than Chocolate by Janet Benge

Rating: 10/10

Review: I thoroughly enjoyed diving into the life of Milton Hershey, the visionary behind America’s favorite chocolate. He grew up very poor and struggled in school – many doubted his potential. This was a powerful reminder that each person possesses unique gifts that may only surface later in life. I was amazed at Milton Hershey’s grit and relentless determination to succeed. Despite encountering many failures in his business ventures, he did not give up. I admired his innovative thinking. When land and buildings were too expensive in town for his factory, he built a factory in the middle of nowhere, and built a town around his factory. He allowed the public to name his town – it became “Hershey, Pennsylvania.” Before he died, Milton gave his earnings away to build homes and a school for children in need.

Click here to read more about Milton Hershey.

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown

Rating: 10/10

Review: “The Boys in the Boat” is a non-fiction book that tells the inspiring and true story of the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew team and their journey to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The story primarily focuses on Joe Rantz, one of the rowers, and his challenging life circumstances. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression and rising tensions in Europe, the book explores the team’s struggles, dedication, and ultimate triumph in the face of adversity. The book takes us to the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany, where the American team, including the University of Washington crew, faced off against Adolf Hitler’s favored German team. Through meticulous research and vivid storytelling, Brown captures the spirit of determination, teamwork, and resilience that defined the boys in the boat. I highly recommend this book to anyone 15 and up!

(Side note: I thought I had read “Boys in the Boat” a while back, only to realize I had confused it with “Unbroken.” Both books are set in the same historical era, and while “Boys in the Boat” revolves around a rowing team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, “Unbroken” follows the life of Louis Zamperini, who not only attended the same Olympics but also survived World War II, including a period spent with several “Boys in a boat.”

Despite the mix-up, I thoroughly enjoyed both stories. The tale of the boys in the boat is distinct from Louis Zamperini’s incredible journey, but each narrative stands on its own merits. I highly recommend both books for their gripping accounts of resilience, courage, and the human spirit in the face of adversity.)

Here are my four favorite books of 2023.

Here are my top ten of 2022.

What are you reading and loving? Leave a comment!

February 7, 2024 By Kathryn