Tag: Spring Break

The Coolest Man-Made Place on Earth

Posted on March 27, 2018March 27, 2018 by Mama

Spring Break is officially finished and yesterday was back to business as usual — my husband went to work, our son went to school and I did our taxes. Sounds like fun, eh? I actually didn’t mind the shift back to real life, because our family adventure to St. Louis last week was a perfect three-day respite for the early spring blues.

Our son had never been to the far side of the state, so St. Louis was a fun trip for our youngster (and a Mom and Dad who hadn’t been in many years). We had originally planned to visit this summer, but it seems like we are always in a dead sprint when school lets out so we decided to move up the date a bit. We knew the weather would be iffy in March but we decided to risk it, and the cold and rain cooperated for most of the outdoor parts.

We visited the St. Louis Zoo the first day, with its playful polar bear, butterfly garden and oodles of other cute and/or ferocious creatures. Admission to the zoo is free, but it costs $15 to park (oversized vehicles cost extra), and an Adventure Pass is also an additional fee. The pass covers all the fun stuff like the train, petting zoo, sea lion show and carousel, and you can definitely save money by purchasing the pass instead of paying for each event individually. We received an additional discount on our passes because we are season ticket holders at our local zoo, so make sure you ask about that.

The third day we visited the Gateway Arch and took a riverboat ride along the mighty Mississippi. It turned off cold and rainy that day, but other than the walk from the parking lot we were inside most of the day. We couldn’t see much from the top of the Arch because it was so cloudy, but that gave the view from there its own sort of mystique. I remembered the cramped egg-shaped tram to the top from my teenage years, but this time it was so much fun to see the thrill of adventure register in my little guy’s eyes! Thankfully I purchased tickets online weeks ahead of time, or we might have been tempted to skip the day’s activities because of the gloomy weather. . . and it was certainly worth braving the elements.

You can purchase combo tickets for the Arch and the riverboat ride, which will save you a few dollars and give you a set time to start both activities. It cost us $30 per adult and $19 per child for the combination tickets. Our ride on the river was a dry and warm endeavor, because let me tell you, the “Becky Thatcher” has a heater that will keep you toasty! We didn’t spend much time on the cold, wet deck, but we did nab a table by the large windows, perfect for city viewing and hotdog eating.

Yes, I know I skipped day two, but only because I wanted to save our favorite adventure for last — the City Museum! While it’s not really a museum in the standard sense of the word, it must be one of the coolest man-made places on Earth! I’m not even sure how to describe this place. . . It’s like a rabid welder crossed Carlsbad Caverns with the rabbit hole from Alice in Wonderland and created an incredibly insane multi-storied play place for children and their adults. This place is soooo cool! I’m not sure who had the most fun? Wait, yes I do; I think it was me!!!

Admission is $14 for anyone three and up, but there are special rates after 5 pm or Fridays and Saturdays. When the roof is open (it wasn’t while we were there), access costs an extra $5. Don’t bother trying to pick a less busy day to visit, because according to a couple of workers the place is very popular every day between March and October. I do recommend you go on a day it isn’t raining, because there is a huge outdoor area that shuts down during inclement weather. We got lucky the day we visited because the rain didn’t start until we were walking to our car. It was another cooperative weather day for the family vacay!

As you can see, St. Louis was an awesome and energetic adventure for our little clan of three and you might understand why it wasn’t so difficult to slip back into the usual routine. Okay, so completing the taxes and discovering a refund didn’t hurt my Monday either.

Animal Photos and Spring at the Zoo

Posted on March 24, 2016March 24, 2016 by Mama

With a preschooler in the house, we’re finally getting a taste of spring break. Monday morning our son asked his dad if it was a school day. My husband told him it would normally be a school day, but it was spring break. To this our little one let out a resounding cheer, followed by a pause and a, “What is spring break?” I found this rather funny, because even though he didn’t have a clue what the term meant, he knew it was something special. My how it starts early. . .

So in celebration of spring break, we have spent several days venturing out to do all things fun (okay, so that first day I did do our taxes, but after that nothing but fun). Today we went to Rainbow Play Systems in the rain and snow to partake of free play on their massive showroom floor, but yesterday we enjoyed the warmer than normal temps at the Kansas City Zoo. I think the wildlife was enjoying the barely spring weather as much as the people, so I just couldn’t help but share a few animal photos with you.

A Taveta Weaver was building a nest in one of the walk-through aviaries.

I’m not sure what this is, but those antlers certainly are impressive.

Look at those crazy hippo teeth.

The kangaroos were taking an early afternoon nap in the sun.

. . . as were the lions.

Just in Time for St. Patty’s Day Wreath

Posted on March 20, 2015February 19, 2016 by Mama

Spring Break is winding down here at the Quarter-Acre Wood and this week has been filled with lots of goings-on that I can’t wait to share with all of you. I’m way behind on my latest events and accomplishments, because my sister, great niece and one of my niece’s friends arrived Sunday to do Spring Break Kansas City style and we have been going ever since.

So first, let me back up to St. Patrick’s Day, yes I know it came and went. . . three days ago, but I so want to show you my new little craft project perfect for the greenest of days. Okay, so I bought the supplies a month ago but I only put it all together the morning of the seventeenth (I told you I was a procrastinator). I was completely determined to make that wreath by St. Patty’s Day, even if it took me until midnight. I’m happy to say it went together quite quickly and we got to enjoy it for several hours. Oh, who am I kidding, it’s still hanging on my door. . . but it’s just so cute.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own St. Patty’s Day wreath :

1/4 yard of 5 different green fabrics
heavy-gauge wire or coat hanger
rotary cutter and cutting mat or scissors (a rotary cutter will make this project a snap)
ribbon

This is how you put it all together:

To create the round shape, I used wire that was less stiff than a coat hanger, but still had enough strength to hold it’s shape. I would love to tell you what gauge it happened to be, but that label has long since gone away. Just shape the wire and bend the ends together or, if you’re using a coat hanger, snip off the hanger part and then shape into a circle. I ended up with a circle diameter of 15″, but you can make it a bit larger or smaller as needed.
Using my rotary cutter, I cut 1″ x 6″ strips from each of the five fabrics. You can use scissors or the snip and rip method to cut your strips, but a rotary cutter makes this task so much faster, especially if you fold your fabric a couple of times.
I cut 32 strips from each of the fabrics and used just about everyone one of them on my 15″ diameter wreath. So that was approximately 160 small little pieces of fabric.
To adhere the fabric, simply tie them in a knot all the way around the wreath. I chose a pattern in which to tie them and stuck to it all the way around. Tie a few pieces and then push them together tightly around the wire, then repeat. By continually pushing the tied pieces together, you will get a fuller, fluffier finished product.
After all the fabric strips are tied to your wreath. Cut and tie a long piece of ribbon for the bow.
Lastly pull all the fabric strips ends toward the front of the wreath and fluff them for a finished look.

My sister, the one in town, thought this was a really cute project and made plans to create an Easter or Spring wreath of her own. You really could do one for any holiday just by changing the fabric you choose.