Natural history lessons at Bell Museum

Kids can touch and see at the Bell Museum of Natural History and Planetarium on the University of Minnesota Campus. What a cool place.

Celebrating its 140th birthday this year, the Bell Museum is home to hallways of dioramas and a Touch and See room. We spent most of our time in that room, checking out the turtles and snakes. Peering up into the biosphere. Touching rocks and bones and furs. And more.

The staff (students?) in the room led the kids through the area, pointing out highlights and making sure they didn't miss anything.

I love these hands-on learning experiences, and feel like the kids soaked up tons of information in one afternoon. This is what schooling is all about.

ABOUT THE DIORAMAS
The renowned Diorama Halls of the Bell Museum have been educating visitors for decades. From caribou to bald eagles and badgers to wolves—get a "slice of life" view of these incredible animals in their natural habitat settings. Many of our large dioramas depict actual locations in Minnesota.
Many dioramas are set against the work of well-known artist Francis Lee Jaques, a painter and illustrator best known for the distinctive style of his dioramas at the Bell Museum and American Museum of Natural History in New York City. More at: http://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/ForFamilies/Exhibits/index.htm

ABOUT THE TOUCH AND SEE DISCOVERY ROOM
Visit the Touch and See Discovery Room—a place where you can find the answers to your questions about the natural world. Investigate wondrous objects, from a 10,000-year-old wooly mammoth tusk to a life-sized Kodiak bear, from an elephant skull to a living, moving snake.

Since its creation in 1968, the Touch and See Discovery room has been a favorite part of the Bell Museum for visitors of all ages.

From http://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/ForFamilies/Exhibits/index.htm

IF YOU GO
• Parking is a bit of a bear. Plan to walk several blocks. We parked at the Northrup lot; it involved waiting on the street for awhile for a space to empty up.
• Admission fees: Adults: $6, Children 3-17: $4, Children under 3 years: Free
• If you have a stroller, enter through the south side, not the main entrance on Church Street.

LOCATION
10 Church Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
(612) 626-9660
http://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu

HOURS
Monday - Friday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Sunday: noon–5 p.m. Free admission on Sundays

Wear them out at Rainbow Play Systems

It's cold outside and you're tired of being inside. Head over to the large indoor showroom of Rainbow Play Systems in Bloomington, Minn. and let the kiddos run off some energy.

Expect a wonderland of gym equipment -- all of which is available for purchase, of course. There's a multitude of swing sets with spiral slides, trapeze rings, and tire swings, as well as one large trampoline The layout of the place changes, although I'm not sure how regularly. The lady I was with this week commented that the selection was different from when they were last there in November.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• No food or drink inside.
• Two hour passes offered. $6/child on week days, $9/child on weekends. Free for kids 24 months and under
• Hours: Monday to Saturday 10-5, Sundays 11-4
• Birthday party packages available (with a designated area for cake and gifts). Save $ by getting one of the Groupons offered occasionally.

ADDRESS:
900 W 80th St, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55420
(Near large REI)

The Joy Dare

I'm joining Amy over at the Midnight Cafe on a Joy Dare -- a journey of noticing 1000 gifts by writing down 1000 things I'm thankful for.

The idea originates with Ann Voskamp who wrote One Thousand Gifts. This winter, my Bible study group is going to use the DVD small group study produced by Ann Voskamp, and so I figure this will give me a good jump start on being grateful.

I'll be using the prompts suggested by the Joy Dare that Voskamp created last year to push me to notice things that might go unnoticed. Feel free to join the movement!

As Midnight Cafe said:

Each day has a prompt for 3 gifts. Today is the 23rd. So, I'll play catch-up for a while.

Anybody want to join me? Here's the way I roll: There are no rules. Nobody says you have to do the days in order, that you have to do it every day, that you have to follow the prompts, that you can't forget or have life get in the way. Those things get in the way of gratitude. It's called guilt...or shame...or perfectionism... But, the feeling that you have to do this in a certain way at a certain time or else it doesn't count is a distraction. It gets in the way of actually doing anything. So, do Something. One Thing. Anything. Whenever you can. It's better than No Thing.

January Prompts:
1. 3 Gifts Heard
2. A Gift Inside, Outside, On a Plate
3. Graces You Overheard
4. A Gifts Old, New, Blue
5. Something you're Reading, Making, Seeing
6. One Thing in your Bag, your Fridge, your Heart
7. 3 Graces from People You Love


MY LIST

1) The Girl making up songs while using Mango's sound equipment
2) A new word from The Boy: bye
3) An update on my issue with Medica - in my favor!
4) Warm new slippers (without any holes in them!)
5) A flock of little black birds racing in front of my car in one glorious upward motion
6) Zucchini relish
7) "Let's go BANANAS" song (Fresh Beat Band)
8) iPod on Shuffle in the car
9) A snowplow coming through to make the roads passable
10) My Mukluk boots
11) The Kindle that helps me carve out some me space
12) The Boy's sweatshirt seen as a blur as he raced around Rainbow Play System's showroom this morning
13) Seabiscuit (What fantastic writing!! And what an inspiring story!!)
14) Chocolate - strawberry ice cream made in the VitaMix (with strawberries picked last summer at Dew Fresh in Stanchfield, Minn.) Next up: Chocolate-Peanut Butter ice cream!
15) Animate: Faith by Sparkhouse
16) Bulky, soft yarn
17) Mango juice
18) My chilluns (they are just SO precious to me!)
19) "I love you momma" from The Girl
20) A baby signing "Please"
21) The giving community of Team Yarn

Bucket list for Naples, Florida

1) Gator Boys Holiday Everglades Park

2) Sunset at Sunset Beach Bar & Grill after swimming at Lowdermilk Park

3) Sunset at Naples Pier

4) Swimming at Delnor-Pass Park

5) Swimming at Clam Pass Beach

6) Swimming at Lowdermilk Park, followed by sunset at Sunset Beach Bar & Grill

7)  Saturday morning downtown: Farmer's Market, Winery, Historical Site, Trolley Tour, parks

8) Sun N Fun Lagoon (20% off coupon in brochure)

9) Kowiachobee Animal Preserve

10) Go aboard the Dolphin Explorer (catamaran), gather sea shells on surrounding barrier islands and (9 a.m. and 1 p.m.) see lots of dolphins.