We spent several hours at Historic Fort Snelling while visiting as part of our 6th Grade Minnesota History Pass. Our self guided walk around the fort offered several glimpses into what life was like for both soldiers and civilians. We are spending our summer exploring several historic sites in Minnesota including; Mill City Museum, the…
James Hill House
Our next stop of the 6th Grade Minnesota History Tour is the James J. Hill House. The 6th Grade Minnesota History Pass allows admission to more than 15 historic sites across the state. After recent stops at the Minnesota History Center and Mill City Museum we made our way over to Saint Paul to tour this historic…
Mill City Museum
When we learned Minnesota sixth-graders gain access to all Minnesota Historical Society sites for FREE during the academic year, we immediately made plans to visit Mill City Museum. The 6th Grade Minnesota History Pass allows admission to more than 15 historic sites across the state. After recent stops at the Minnesota History Center and the…
Minnesota State Capitol
Constructed in 1883, the Minnesota State Capitol building is actually the state’s second official meeting place. The original capitol building was destroyed by fire in 1881. Our visit to the prominent and important Minnesota State building was part of our State History Tour. We recently learned all sixth graders are eligible for admission to Minnesota…
Minnesota History Center
Our resident sixth-grader was delighted to learn recently that he is eligible for admission to all Minnesota Historical Society sites for FREE this academic year. The 6th Grade Minnesota History Pass gives all sixth-graders free admission to more than 15 historic sites across the state. To kick off this season of soaking up Minnesota history,…
Hoover Dam
The Hoover Dam is considered an engineering marvel. Impressive considering the dam was constructed in the 1930s, prior to the design of many engineering tools and techniques that would be made this work easier and safer. In a five year span, approximately 21,000 workers would place 5 million barrels of concrete to construct the dam….
Joshua Tree National Park
Though called trees, the spiny plants that grow in abundance in Joshua Tree National Park are actually members of the agave family. The name Joshua Trees comes from a small group of Mormons who were passing through the area in the 1850s. They thought the plants looked like the prophet Joshua pointing them to the…
Petrified Forest National Park
One way to make a cross country road trip more enjoyable is to explore sights in route to your final destination. This is how we found ourselves at Petrified Forest National Park. On our first camper van adventure, we used a 3 hour stop in the park as a way to stretch our legs and…
Eat to Explore: Spain
My kids are not adventurous eaters. They subsist on chicken nuggets and pizza. Despite this, I have hopes of International travel with them in the near future and have often worried they will starve to death when forced to eat outside their comfort zone. So when I found the Eat to Explore program, I thought…
Birthday Pie Bar
Our guy celebrated a birthday a few weeks back. This birthday pie bar was a great way to bring together his love of pie and his addiction to coffee. Using several decorations from previous parties, I was able to put together this pie bar and left the baking to a pie shop. Here’s how it…