Winter in Minnesota can be brutal. We try to make the most of it by plugging into winter activities like skating, skiing and even camping. Another way to take advantage of winter in Minnesota is to camp in a yurt. Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area offers yurt camping year-round (no electricity, water or sewer; heat…
Snowshoeing at Jay Cooke State Park
The lure of a fresh few inches of snow drew us to northeastern Minnesota to cut the first tracks for some snowshoeing at Jay Cooke State Park. We planned a VERY quick, one night stay at one of the park’s camper cabins. The state park camper cabins have electricity and heat, but no running water…
Hot Cocoa Party
Putting up the Christmas tree can be exhausting. To power through the work, we crank the Christmas music and take a time out to refuel with a steamy cup of hot cocoa. My hot cocoa party requires minimal setup but includes A LOT of sugar. Cute decorations and tasty hot cocoa toppings allow us so…
Christmas Movie Parties
I love snuggling on the couch with the kiddos with a good holiday movie. This year, I decided to put together a couple of Christmas Movie themed parties and treat nights leading up to the holidays. The idea was to adorn the kitchen island with decorations from the movie and include a treat and a…
Chicago Christmas
Chicago is second to no city, especially at Christmas time. Our family recently spent two nights in the Windy City, doing all things Christmas. It was a jam-packed couple of days filled with twinkling lights, warm beverages and frosty activities and experiences we won’t soon forget. Here’s how we spent our time: Chicago is about…
North Pole Express
Visions of the North Pole are vivid in their minds and the possibility of a train picking them up in their pajamas for a ride to the North Pole is very real. The bell rings for our boys as the magic of Christmas is very much alive for them. So a ride on the North…
Christmas Bucket
We get a little Christmas crazy at our house. A few years ago, I came across the idea of doing an activity each day in December leading up to Christmas. The Christmas Bucket is sort of a Christmas bucket list slash advent calendar slash twelve days of Christmas all wrapped into one. I wrap small…
Reading Buddy Birthday Treat
The reading buddy classroom birthday treat is the perfect creative solution to run of the mill cupcakes or cookies. I stumbled across the idea on Pinterest when I was trying to think of a treat that incorporated my sons love of animals into a sharable snack for his first grade class. The reading buddy not…
North Pole Breakfast
Each year we welcome our Elf on the Shelf, Elroy, at our home’s Annual North Pole Breakfast. The day before we go on a hunt for the perfect Christmas tree and decorate it. The boys have come to expect that in the morning Elroy will arrive. He will be sitting in the newly decorated tree…
Gobble, Gobble Breakfast
The food. It’s hands down the best part of Thanksgiving. I’m thankful I have family members who wish to host the feast, freeing me up to dish up a creative gobble, gobble breakfast for my boys on Thanksgiving day. Here’s how I do it: Turkey Cinnamon Rolls 1 can cinnamon rolls with icing (5 rolls)…