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| Higgins Armory Museum |
Showing posts with label Museums. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Museums. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Grand Lake St. Mary's State Park and Blueberry
We stayed three nights at Grand Lake St. Mary's State Park in western Ohio. It was so nice to be at the state park and enjoy the area with just a few other guests. We took a few walks and saw a snake and a bunch of song birds greeted us with their songs each morning.
While we were at the park our trusty mini-van, Vangoh, gave up the ghost. It has been limping along for several months, but faithfully did its job, almost to the end of our trip. So we purchased a new van in nearby Celina, Ohio. This 2011 model is such a major upgrade for us, that we actually get excited going for a drive, whereas before we almost dreaded having to take Vangoh anywhere. We named the new van Big Blueberry because of its unique color. Patsy said no more silver vans because they are too hard to find in a parking lot with the dozens of other vans with the same color!
We also visited a fun little restaurant in St. Mary's called Lost in the 50s. This eatery is filled with memorabilia from the 1950s and there is a little museum with lots more fun stuff from the era. It is funny talking to our sons and how they think we grew up in this era! The lightbulb came on when I explained I was born a decade after the 1950s were over. This was our parent's era!
Natural surroundings - 9 - Right on St. Mary's Lake.
Roominess - 8 - Plenty big enough.
Facility usefulness - 5 - Laundromat, dump.
Cleanliness - 8 - State Park clean
Nearby attractions - 5 - Close to Lima. Dayton and Fort Wayne within striking distance.
Value - 10 - Paid $12.50 a night for a back-in site with electric hook-up only. Used our Passport America card.
While we were at the park our trusty mini-van, Vangoh, gave up the ghost. It has been limping along for several months, but faithfully did its job, almost to the end of our trip. So we purchased a new van in nearby Celina, Ohio. This 2011 model is such a major upgrade for us, that we actually get excited going for a drive, whereas before we almost dreaded having to take Vangoh anywhere. We named the new van Big Blueberry because of its unique color. Patsy said no more silver vans because they are too hard to find in a parking lot with the dozens of other vans with the same color!
We also visited a fun little restaurant in St. Mary's called Lost in the 50s. This eatery is filled with memorabilia from the 1950s and there is a little museum with lots more fun stuff from the era. It is funny talking to our sons and how they think we grew up in this era! The lightbulb came on when I explained I was born a decade after the 1950s were over. This was our parent's era!
Staff - 8 - Spoke to one ranger who was nice and the camp hosts were helpful as well.
Natural surroundings - 9 - Right on St. Mary's Lake.
Roominess - 8 - Plenty big enough.
Facility Fun - 8 -Two playgrounds, BB court, mini-putt, walking trails and lake fishing.
Facility usefulness - 5 - Laundromat, dump.
Bathrooms - 8 - Bathrooms were clean and showers were hot and plenty of them. Flush toilets.
Cleanliness - 8 - State Park cleanNearby attractions - 5 - Close to Lima. Dayton and Fort Wayne within striking distance.
Value - 10 - Paid $12.50 a night for a back-in site with electric hook-up only. Used our Passport America card.
Overall - 9 - Cheap stay, modern yet in the midst of natural surroundings.
Monday, May 7, 2012
National Museum of Play
We are sorry, but we have removed this post becuase it is a part of our new book entitled Napkin Dreams.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Higgins Armory Museum
We are sorry, but we have removed this post becuase it is a part of our new book entitled Napkin Dreams.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Insectropolis
We discovered a little gem hidden away in the New Jersey town of Toms River called Insectropolis! OK, so Patsy may not think it was the most wonderful stop on our nationwide tour, but the rest of us had a ball with all the bugs!
The first activity we took part in was a little talk and touch time with a guide at Insectropolis. We heard about and touched a hissing cockroach, a giant millipede, a Chilean tarantula and an emperor scorpion. Patsy of course is on less then friendly terms with spiders, so she was not super happy about meeting up with the tarantula.
Insectropolis is part bug zoo and part bug museum. The highlight of the day for me was seeing a huge bird-eating tarantula gobble up a hissing cockroach. You can see the big, bad spider in the video below. We also confirmed that a spider we saw in Virginia was a black widow. This was also less than stellar news for Patsy. While there are several types of live bugs to see, our youngest boys enjoyed playing like bugs in the termite tunnels! Acting like a bug is always the funnest way to learn about bugs.
If you ever find yourself near Toms River, New Jersey and have some bug loving kids in your family, consider stopping by this most unique zoo we have ever seen.
The first activity we took part in was a little talk and touch time with a guide at Insectropolis. We heard about and touched a hissing cockroach, a giant millipede, a Chilean tarantula and an emperor scorpion. Patsy of course is on less then friendly terms with spiders, so she was not super happy about meeting up with the tarantula.
Insectropolis is part bug zoo and part bug museum. The highlight of the day for me was seeing a huge bird-eating tarantula gobble up a hissing cockroach. You can see the big, bad spider in the video below. We also confirmed that a spider we saw in Virginia was a black widow. This was also less than stellar news for Patsy. While there are several types of live bugs to see, our youngest boys enjoyed playing like bugs in the termite tunnels! Acting like a bug is always the funnest way to learn about bugs.
If you ever find yourself near Toms River, New Jersey and have some bug loving kids in your family, consider stopping by this most unique zoo we have ever seen.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Air Mobility Command Museum
We are sorry, but we have removed this post becuase it is a part of our new book entitled Napkin Dreams.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Washington DC
This post has been deleted because it is in our new book entitled Napkin Dreams. It can be found on Amazon.com
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Mt. Vernon
Our family joined thousands of others, including about thirty tour buses full of high school groups, at Mt. Vernon. Patsy and I visited here 15 years ago in the fall and had a wonderful time, with sparse crowds and plenty of elbow room. Spring break may not be the best time to visit any of the Washington DC area sites.
Oh well, we still learned a bit about our first President George Washington and his wife Martha. Mt. Vernon is more than the home of the Washingtons. It is a living farm, nursery, and a museum educating visitors to the life of the Washingtons, the Revolutionary War, the beginning of our nation and Colonial life. Their movies are very well done and give you a very vivid idea of the life of their subjects.
Our kids loved the various animals on the farm area and especially the baby lambs, goats and pigs.Visiting the home of Washington you can see why he loved this place with its amazing overlook of the Potomac River and serene feel of the place in spite of thousands of teenage tourists!
Oh well, we still learned a bit about our first President George Washington and his wife Martha. Mt. Vernon is more than the home of the Washingtons. It is a living farm, nursery, and a museum educating visitors to the life of the Washingtons, the Revolutionary War, the beginning of our nation and Colonial life. Their movies are very well done and give you a very vivid idea of the life of their subjects.
Our kids loved the various animals on the farm area and especially the baby lambs, goats and pigs.Visiting the home of Washington you can see why he loved this place with its amazing overlook of the Potomac River and serene feel of the place in spite of thousands of teenage tourists!
We loved these two bulls who were chewing cud in unison!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Discovery Place
Our annual museum membership gave us free entrance to this nifty little museum called Discovery Place in downtown Charlotte. We always enjoy these hands-on museums since we have lots of tactile learners in our family!
We watched a demonstration on things that glow, otherwise known as luminescence. Most of the boys got to take part in some sort of volunteer help with this show (see video for Tanner and the water that glows!). Chase even got to take a close-up look at a glowing emperor scorpion.
We played with bbs, laid on a bed of nails, diverted water, watched a rock eating fish, touched some underwater animals, watched a dorky documentary on dolphins in 3D and took a turn at family tug-of-war! We had a great afternoon of exploration and Discovery at Discovery place!
We watched a demonstration on things that glow, otherwise known as luminescence. Most of the boys got to take part in some sort of volunteer help with this show (see video for Tanner and the water that glows!). Chase even got to take a close-up look at a glowing emperor scorpion.
We played with bbs, laid on a bed of nails, diverted water, watched a rock eating fish, touched some underwater animals, watched a dorky documentary on dolphins in 3D and took a turn at family tug-of-war! We had a great afternoon of exploration and Discovery at Discovery place!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Billy Graham Library
Sorry, but this post has been deleted because it is a part of our new book called Napkin Dreams!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Key West
This post has been deleted because it is in our new book entitled Napkin Dreams. It can be found on Amazon.com
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