A few weeks ago we had a weekend open so we decided to go on a spontaneous road trip, not really knowing where we would end up. We packed up the truck, dropped the dog off at the Bed and Biscuit and were on the road heading south by about 5:30 PM after my husband got off work. We stopped at a rest stop, played a few games of green light/red light and kept on driving, we made it to Des Moines and the kids were still being good, (thanks to the dual screen DVD player, lots of movies, kid size headphones and plenty of snacks.) So we went westward and onward to Omaha, Nebraska. We made our reservation to our hotel 10 miles out of town, we stayed in the Holiday Inn Omaha Downtown Airport where they had a small water park, nice clean rooms, with a mini fridge, microwave and a coffee maker and friendly staff. This was the kids first time in a hotel we usually rent houses on vacation, and the kids loved it! As soon as we go them calmed down and settled in for the night we crashed too, we had to get ready for our fun day in the morning.

The next morning we woke up early, packed a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, some granola bars, and snacks and lots of water in our soft cooler. We then shot out the door in search of breakfast, we found a little place called The Diner in the Old Market area surrounded by cobblestone streets and enjoyed some good greasy spoon food. We got out of there on full stomachs ready for the Henry Doorly Zoo.

As we headed down 10th street we came over the hill to see the Desert Dome and the whole family gave a collective “Wow” at that sight. We pulled into the big but already filling up parking lot, we went right to the right and found a spot at the back of the lot under a shade tree. The weather forecast called for 92 degrees and 70% humidity so shade was a really good idea and a nice thing, the parking was free! We loaded the kids, the cooler, the cameras and diaper bag into the double stroller we brought along and headed for the north entrance. The line was about 30 people deep, at each of the 4 registers but it went fast and we waited in the shade.

We are members at the Minnesota Zoo so we paid the zoo membership reciprocal fees and our son was free because he was under age 3, so our family entrance cost was $15.25. To put it into perspective, that is less than the admission price for one adult to the Minnesota Zoo.

We walked in and went to the first thing our kids noticed, the big red barn at Dairy World. They loved petting the goats, and the chickens. We made our way around the Budgie Encounter where tons of little parakeets fly around in a screened in garden and ate from popsicle sticks covered with bird seed from peoples hands. We checked out the Monkeys, Prairie Dogs, Raccoons, and the Peacocks with their babies. We looked at the Otters, and the turtles, took a picture of the kids in the Hippo’s mouth. We made it down the hill to take a quick ride on Sues Carousel, $2 per child seemed very reasonable to me. It was a nice way to spin around and cool off in the shade for a couple of minutes. We watched the Omaha Train but it was so loud the kids did not want to go on it. The steam engine was really neat to watch, with your ears covered!

We filled up on water and started up the hill, we went into the pretty screened aviary overlooking the birds, the creek and the lake. This was a pretty shaded area. We left there and went up and checked out the open air lemur area, the kids loved the Zaboomafoo lemur. Next we went to Expedition Madagascar building and took our time looking at the amazing number of Lemurs and other cute animals in that wonderfully air conditioned building! We refilled our water bottles at the fountains in this building.

Then we walked across the path up towards the Sea Lions area, and ate lunch under the Sea Lion Pavilion. After lunch is where the workout came in, we pushed the stroller almost straight up hill to see the elephants but they were worth it. They were healthy and happy looking elephants dusting themselves with dirt on the hot day. Magnificent animals! We walked around the corner and checked out the giant Rhinos and had to convince my daughter that she was too young to ride the Skyfari ride. She is too much of a dare devil to be that high off the ground!

We walked around the Lagoon and looked at the Koi pond and the monkeys then we entered one of my favorite places of the zoo, The Garden of the Senses. There were parrots and Macaws just sitting among the flowers on their perches, perfect to see from every side and a beautiful back drop for a photo opportunity. The pond, flowers and sculptures were really cool, I could have spent lots of time in this garden. My daughter loves parrots so she walked around and talked to each bird. We took the kids over to hit the giant gong.

We continued up the hill to see the Sable Antelope, the Bongo, the Red River Hogs, the Addax and then the Zebras. We stopped to watch the train again and took a break to sit down at a table with an umbrella, to sip a cold pop and watch the giraffes at their beautiful giraffe complex. They were really healthy looking giraffes in a nice shaded home, with lots of water.

We saved the areas with the buildings for the end of the day when the temperature would be the hottest knowing that we would really appreciate the air conditioning at that point. This zoo has lots of large hills so wear good shoes or else take advantage of the train or the tram to get you from one side of the zoo to the other. We walked the whole thing so it is certainly doable.

We continued up the hill and stopped at the Butterfly and Insect Garden. This was an air conditioned building with beautiful plants and trees and happy butterflies fluttering about. From that room we entered the insect garden area with giant spiders building webs in the open right over your head, and every freaky insect you have ever see on movies or TV and plenty you have never seen before! I had no idea there were so many varieties of scorpions or cockroaches. My favorite part of this building was the live honey bee hive that had access to the outdoor flower gardens and you could see the bees climb in and out the clear tube to make more honey. Very cool!

We walked up the hill to the Lied Jungle and were wonderfully surprised by this building! The diversity and quantity of different species of the animals that were housed in its beautiful rain forest gardens. There was a giant waterfall and cool overlook areas that made this building that appeared plain on the outside but surprisingly awesome sight once you entered! This is where the Tapir with the Tapir baby was housed, the gibbons, more macaws, pretty much all of my kids favorite animals.

From there we walked down the hill to the Scott Aquarium. We have a membership to Underwater Adventures at the Mall of America, but this building put that place to shame! The underwater tunnel was wide enough that you could park two cars side by side inside of it with tons of neat fish species! The coral reef displays were beautiful, the jellyfish tanks were cool but the coolest thing in my opinion was the tube of swirling fish! So cool! The penguin area was huge! My kids loved the dome that they could stand in and see the penguins from underneath the water.

We walked from there into the Wild Kingdom Pavilion, It was a pretty building and the giant frogs were neat but I couldn’t really figure out the purpose of this building unless you need a place to sit down.

We then entered the incredible Desert Dome, of course we had to stop at the huge boulder sized floating granite world fountain so the kids could try to spin that. The first thing you see in the desert dome was a giant mountain of red sand, so beautiful in itself. It reminded me of the red rocks in Sedona, AZ that we loved. Keeping the kids out of the sand was tough, they both wanted to touch the cool colored sand. We walked through the desert area, looking at the desert plants trying to keep the kids safe from the spines on the desert plants that were right next to the path, checking out the birds, and desert animals.

We then walked downstairs into the bonus area in the dome of the Kingdoms of the Night. The Kingdoms of the Night seemed to go on forever with dark rooms and countless night animals, snakes, lizards, birds, and the incredibly stinky guano room filled with tons of species of bats, that one we pretty much ran through because the smell made your eyes burn. Made me glad I did not pick bat zoo keeper as a career. Whew! We then came to an amazingly dark but really cool room with giant alligators right next to the bridge path, Huge Alligators! There were also beavers and caymans. We walked into another giant river fish tank room and finally made our way upstairs and back out into the light. It seemed like we were in the dark forever this exhibit space was so large, it took my eyes a few minutes to re-adjust to the light.

We walked down to the Hubbard Orangutan Forest and looked at the beautiful orangutans and other primates. We walked into Hubbard Gorilla Valley we were in awe at the Gorillas, such magnificent huge animals! The baby Gorilla was so cute and the giant silver back was so intelligent looking it was almost frightening to look into his huge eyes as he stared at us through the glass. Wow!

It was starting to get late and the zoo was starting to clear out, so we took a fast glance at the cat Complex as we walked by, stopped at the Durhams Bear Canyon. We looked at the nice bear homes with lots of sleeping bears and made our way back up the hill to the North Entrance. We slowly made our way out of the zoo with sore feet to our truck, loaded the stroller back in the truck and truly enjoyed the air conditioning. Even with the humid heat and sore feet we had a great time at the zoo. I am awed at how many animals they had there and species we have never seen at any other zoo we have visited.

We gave the kid snacks and fought to keep the kids awake on the 10 minute ride back to the hotel, quick dressed them in swim suits to hit the water park for a while. We quick cleaned up and went to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner. The kids were both beat but loved watching the servers dance and loved eating the peanuts. We came back to the hotel and both kids crashed fast and so did both parents!

We slept in a little bit later the next morning, drank a good cup of coffee, packed up our stuff, loaded up the car, ate breakfast in the car and were on our way back to Minnesota. We stopped for lunch at a small little restaurant called the Dairy Dandy in an even smaller farm town in Iowa. That quiet town was no match for our full of energy kids! We jumped back into the truck then drove to Mankato, MN for the Minnesota Vikings training camp on the way home. We let the kids stretch their legs and buy some Vikings gear, then we piled in the truck for a quick jaunt home for the end of our road trip.

It was a nice weekend to someplace we had never visited before. The kids loved the Henry Doorly Zoo and are still bringing up some of their favorite animals they saw there. If you have a weekend and want to check out an affordable, friendly zoo, drive to the big town of Omaha, Nebraska and check out the Henry Doorly Zoo!

I love granola! Granola bars, granola cereal, granola people, I like them all! Today I decided to make my own granola instead of buying a box at the grocery store. Making it was so easy and awesome, I had to share!

2 and 1/2 Cups of old fashioned oats
1 Teaspoon cinnamon
1 Teaspoon table salt
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 Cup honey
1/4 Cup brown sugar packed
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Cup of salted mixed nuts
1 Cup of raisins or dried fruit of your choice

Mix the salt and cinnamin into the oats stir until mixed.
Whisk together the wet ingredients in another bowl until totally combined, add to the oat and spices mixture. Stir it until all of the oats are covered and no more liquid remains.
Spoon and spread the covered oats onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper (This will save you sticky cleaning later.)
Bake the oats in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes, stir and flip with a spatula one time in the middle of the 15 minutes.
Sprinkle the mixed nuts on top of the oats and put in the oven for 5 more minutes.
Sprinkle the raisins or dried fruit on top of the oats and nuts.
Quickly Spatula off the granola mixture off the parchment paper and put it into a air tight container, (let it cool before you cover it.)

That is all there is to it! Eat and repeat!
Now I know what I am bringing along on my canoeing trip!

My daughter turned five in the middle of June and she asks me daily how many days until she gets to go to Kindergarten, today the answer was 40. Only 40 days! No matter how excited she is to start school it saddens me to think this will be the last free time in her life where we get to go on vacation without worrying about school breaks, homework, parent meetings, or how many days she is gone from school.

This summer we have been out of town at cabins or trips every weekend except one since Memorial Day and the weekend we were home we had a wedding to attend. We are very fortunate to have so many places we can go to be on lakes and have a mini vacation each weekend. The downside to being out of town so much is I have to maintain the house, the garden, the pool, the lawn, unpack, do laundry, re-pack, grocery shop, fill up the truck with gas, and get all of the errands and important things finished during the week. I still want my kids to have fun on weekdays, so we fit in a daily trip to parks, zoo’s, museums, water parks, beaches and play dates when we are at home.

I am savoring every one of these weekends and weekday experiences hoping that my daughter is creating memories and learning experiences that she will take with her into her school days. I know I will still have each summer to share with her when she is in school, but my days as a stay at home mom are numbered with only one kid at home, so these fun summer days are so precious to me.

There may only be 40 days left of summer before my daughter is in kindergarten but that is 39 more days of fun with my little girl before she is a big kid in kindergarten. Enjoy your summers with your toddlers, they grow up unbelievably fast!

When I find out that my friends are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, I always tell them one thing, journal what you do every day for a week, so you know how you spent your days before kids. I have tried but I honestly can’t remember what I did with all of my free time when I worked 9-10 hours per day and thought I was soooo busy before kids.

When I was a full time working mom I envied the stay-at-home moms because I thought it would be so much easier. Now that I am a professional mom, there are occasional days where I would love to work full time again. When I worked full time I had daily adult time, lunch and break time to make personal phone calls or exercise and had time to myself with my thoughts. I was able to use my break times to run errands like pick up dry cleaning, go to the post office, run to Target, or get tabs for the car without having two kids to control while you try to communicate to the person behind the counter who is irritated that I have kids with me who are fighting over who gets to hold my purse.

I honestly thought that I would have so much more time to get stuff done if I did not work outside the home full time. I remember telling my sister that I would always have a clean house as a professional mom, have time to make home cooked meals nightly, never have a dirty laundry pile, and I also remember her laughing at me and saying you will see, the more you are home, the messier your house gets.

I adore my kids and love that I am able to be a stay at home mom be able to teach them and show them new sights, and bring them so many places I would not have time to go while working. I love being the primary person to teach them our families values every day and not have to worry about their safety or the lack of attention they are getting while I am at work.

In an I attempt to write this quick post i have cut up an apple, wiped a butt, did the potty training cheer, broke up two disagreements, read a book, kissed away tears and typed one handed while the other arm held my little guy. I wish the younger me understood the extra energy that is needed to be a good mom, how an attentive mom is always on and present and how exhausted a mom can be at the end of each day. If I would have understood how much work it is to be an attentive mom, I would have been a been a much better friend to my friends with kids.

Whether you are a good stay at home mom or a good mom working outside of the house you have my respect! I am sure you understand how different your life is with kids than it was without.

Below is a copy of an article from the column Tell Me About It published in the Washington Post by Carolyn Hax, that I thought was funny and insightful. Enjoy! (Click on the image for bigger view.)

I was watching a show one day about unhealthy trans fats in peanut butter. The partially hydrogenated oils that make the peanut butter never separate is unhealthy because it contains trans fats in small amounts. Trans fats are unhealthy because they raise your bad cholesterol, and lower your healthy cholesterol leading to potential artery blockages. Based on the serving size of peanut butter the trans fats might be labeled zero because it is less than .5 g of fat but there is always trace amounts. Trace amounts over a lifetime is not what I want to put in my kids bodies.

My kids love pb&j sandwiches and I have caught my daughter eating peanut butter with a spoon from the jar she loves it so much. I decided I should try to get healthier peanut butter for my family. I tried a few brands without partially hydrogenated oils and I was not overly impressed. They were boring, I decided to try making my own. I found a few recipes I thought sounded good and took parts from each to make this version.

This is a chunky peanut butter recipe with a shelf life of 4 weeks because there are no preservatives.
It is so good, I have a hard time wanting to waste it on toast, it is a treat in itself. My kids love this chunky peanut butter.

1 1/2 cups of dry roasted, unsalted peanuts
3 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt

3 tablespoons of salted butter
4 tablespoons of peanut oil

In a food processor chop the peanuts to a chunky, chopped peanut size, not too small to make them grainy and not too big that you can’t spread them.
Put the chopped peanuts in a stand mixer.
If you use salted peanuts, half the kosher salt.
Put the honey, brown sugar and salt in the stand mixer.
Using the food processor again, combine the salted butter and oil, process the two together for about 15 seconds until they are completely blended and creamy looking.
Using a rubber spatula scoop the creamy oil mixture into the stand mixer.
Mix the ingredients on low in the stand mixture until they are well blended and creamy, use the spatula to scrape the sides in the middle.
Place the blended peanut butter into a sealed container. It will separate, stir it up before you spread it.