FREE Kids Vitamins from Sterling Pharmacy

Did you know all kids under the age of 18 can get free bottles of vitamins monthly at Sterling? We have been using this program for a year now. It ends up saving me over $10 a month on multi-vitamins. Although, I still do buy them Omega vitamins as well.

Find a Sterling Pharmacy near you!

Wordless Wednesday: National Eagle Center in Wasbasha, MN

Get up close with eagles at the National Eagle Center in Wasbasha, MN

You can read all about our visit here on Save Green Travel.

Weaving with Nature

My daughter thought this was such a fun activity to do at the cabin. We had some landscaping to that needed thinning and we used some jute twine to tie between trees and weave flowers and ferns and leaves and stems through it.

Healthy 3-ingredient Strawberry Banana Popsicles

Strawberry Banana Popsicles
1/2 lb of fresh strawberries
1 banana
1/4 C whole milk

Directions: Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Pour in to ice pop molds and freeze for 6+ hours.

My strawberries had gotten a little soft, but were still good. So, popsicles (or smoothies) are a great way to use up the fruit that might not be prime for eating whole. The kids will never know and they all seem to just love popsicles and smoothies.

If you play your cards right, you can find a set of these 4 Ice Pop Makers at the Dollar Tree, for only $1. They make quite large popsicles. At our cabin I just have the one set, but at home I have 1 set of these big ones and then a set of 8 smaller ones (have the size).

Using a blender is a great way to make sure everything is smooth! You could use a personal blender or smoothie maker if you have those instead.

Fill and Freeze!

Cheaper Balloons that "Fill In a Minute"

I don't normally share "deals" on products unless I am doing a review on it. This was not a review. It was something my kids asked for all last summer and asked for a couple times this summer. I decided to go in search of them for a cheaper price than the "As Seen On TV" call to order ones.

I found these ones on Amazon (not an affiliate link) and they are shipped from overseas, so I took a chance on the shipping time. Now, I bought them for about $3 for the whole bunch (of 110) you see, shipped and or course prices change rapidly on Amazon, but I suggest checking out the Busy Toys Storefront and looking through what they have to offer. Now it looks like there best price is about $5 for 148 of them. Don't just buy the first ones you see, check the reviews and do a price search. You can certainly get them cheaper that the $9.99 ASOT price (plus s&h).

Wordless Wedneday: Rice Lake State Park in Owatonna, MN

Rice Lake State Park is in Owatonna, MN

You can read more about this visit here on Save Green Travel.

Or you can read about the Mushrooms 101 class I took there with my son once.

FREE Road Trip Paper Game at McDonald's

Are you taking a road trip with your kids? Or maybe you are are just driving an hour to take them to a zoo or museum or to visit grandma. Well, next time you are in McDonald's check or ask to see of they have this road trip game "There's a Red One!"

The top part separates in to 2 game pieces for 2 players and the bottom has 2 vehicles that pop out and fold together to make 3D vehicles.

I picked these up at the McDonald's in Aitkin, Minnesota.

Easy Shrimp and Crab Ceviche

My kid love anything shrimp and crab. I did use imitation crab in this recipe, but you could use real crab if you wanted. This is a perfect summer recipe. It is filling with lots of good protein and vegetables and doesn't heat up the house.

Shrimp and Crab Ceviche Recipe
12 oz. frozen (cooked) shrimp, thawed and tails removed
1 lb. imitation crab sticks, cubed
1 can of Ro-tel, drained
2 avocados, diced
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
2-4 (depending upon size) limes, juiced
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Chop, dice, cube, juice all ingredients as indicated above. Toss all ingredients in a bowl together, pouring lime juice over the top and mix evenly. Allow flavors to blend together for 30-60 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

#ad 10% off Wisconsin Dells Attractions!!!! Plus My Review of them

My readers can get 10% off admission and popcorn using the code GREEN to Wizard Quest, Ripley's Believe It or Not and Oodlesmack Popcorn in Wisconsin Dells.

I received free passes to or samples to Wizard Quest, Ripley, and Oodlesmack in order to facilitate a review. All thoughts, opinions, and photographs are my own. No monetary compensation was received.

Wizard Quest

I had no idea what to expect when we went to Wizard Quest as this is not something I have really heard much about. When I explained it to my husband he said this would be the time when all of his video gaming skills where applicable to Something in real life. When you get there you get to choose from a variety of missions that are listed as being easy medium or hard. We chose one that was medium. You first have to complete your first mission then you are given for more submissions, or at least we got four more with the one we chose, to complete within 75 minutes.

If you answer something wrong on your Kindle that you are using to complete your mission, you will lose five minutes of time for each incorrect answer. Luckily we didn't answer incorrectly for anything. We had gotten through almost all of the submissions but we're not quick enough on answering the very last one which we were kind of bummed about.

On the mission was myself, my husband, my ten-year-old daughter and my six-year-old son. We had a lot of fun but some places are not very conducive 2 the height of my husband, which is 6'4. So he found himself getting frustrated because he kept hitting his head as we went through quickly trying to solve everything. In the end though he said it was actually a lot of fun. I could see us all going back here again to try the next medium mission.

Oodlesmack Popcorn


Free popcorn samples! They do offer free popcorn samples, but we opted to just let me pick out what one I really wanted which was birthday cake. I wouldn't say it was my top choice but considering I was with my family I figured it would be a choice that we all would agree upon. I really wanted something that was sweet instead of savory. And birthday cake was something we all enjoy. It did not disappoint at all. We all loved it and got to the bottom of our bag way to quickly. The coupon code included is for any readers to purchase popcorn online. It does not appear that the birthday cake flavor is available online but in the picture I have included you can see all of the flavors for purchase online.

Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum

I had not been to a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum since I was in junior high and we were on a vacation in Florida. I loved it then and I loved it now. My daughter has several Ripley's Believe It or Not books and was quite excited to see some real-life replicas in a museum and not just read about them in the book.

One of the nice things this location has to offer is it has a couple of secret passages and there are secret buttons as well. One of the rooms is sort of like in Indiana Jones Mission. There are rooms that come off of that where you have to find things. They had a lot of fun being able to be interactive. There were quite a lot of amazing things to view their and we had fun. We told my sister and her family who were vacationing with us that they needed to check it out next time they come to the Dells.

Bidder No. 4
You are playing Minute to Win It games.. Games cost $2 and you can earn 5 points per game if you finish the challenge in 1 minute. You turn the points in to buy antique-type prizes that start at 10 points. You can also get your name on the leader board if you are faster than someone else up there.

Wordless Wednesday: Villa Bellezza in Pepin, WI

Villa Bellezza in Pepin, WI

Read more about Villa Bellezza and the other wineries and a brewery we visited in my post on Save Green Travel called "Great River Road Wine Trail, plus a Brewery".

Oobleck Science Fun!

This is a fun experiment to try out when you are studying solids and liquids, as Oobleck has both the properties of a solid and a liquid. You can also teach a little bit about mixing colors by adding drops of different colors of food coloring to the water. Be sure to do this experiment in the kitchen or a room w/o carpet. If it gets in the carpet it can be hard to get out.

How to Make Oobleck

1 part water
1 1/2-2 parts corn starch
couple drop of food coloring (if desired)

Directions:

Start with putting your water in a bowl and stir in food coloring if you desire it to have a color. I used 1 C of water. Then measure out 2 parts of corn starch, you may only need 1 1/2 parts, so I  measured out 2 C of cornstarch. Slowly stir the corn starch in to the water. 

You can always add more food coloring after you have mixed together if you do not have as dark of a color as you wanted.

Anytime Sangria

Serve cold or ice or warm it up on the stove for a yummy holiday cocktail for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Serve cold in the summer. Or the color of this Sangria is perfect for a "Blood Sangria" for a Halloween Party,

Anytime Sangria

1 bottle sweet, red wine
1/3 C brandy
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
16 oz. Sprite (lemon-lime soda)
1 lime, sliced
1 lemon, sliced

Directions:

• Mix together wine and brandy in a pitcher (or pot if warming)
• Whisk in spices
• Pour in Sprite (keep it room temperature if you are serving this drink warm)
• Slice fruit and place in the pitcher
• Serve warmed or over ice

Fun DIY Glow-in-the-Dark Ring Toss

This was a fun project to let my daughter do. I handed her an empty Pringles can, some duct tape and a handful of glow sticks. I gave her these basic instructions: Decorate the can however you wish, then fill the can half full with some rocks from the driveway (to provide) weight, then make up glow stick rings and bring it to the yard and we will play ring toss that evening.

This was really inexpensive, as the only thing I had to purchase was 2 8-packs of glow stick bracelets from the Dollar Store. You need two bracelet lengths for each ring you intend to make.

It is a fun and easy project to give your family something to do in the evening.

Wordless Wednesday: Aitkin Community July 4th Celebration

Aitkin, Minnesota

Wisconsin Dells DISCOUNTS!!!!!

I am so excited!!! We are heading to the Dells soon for a family trip and are meeting some other family there as well. We already have a cabin booked at a resort and plan to go to Noah's Ark. Now it's time to plan for some fun indoors (in case of rain) or to do before we can check in to our cabin. This Downtown Dells Discovery Pass is perfect. I can tell you already that my daughter is most excited to go to the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.

But with this pass you get MORE than that. All of us will be happy because my son is super excited about Wizard Quest and my husband can't wait to try out Bidder No. 4, and me, well, I can't wait to taste the Oodlesmack Popcorn!

Discover the world's oddities at Ripley's Believe It or Not in the Wisconsin Dells. Featuring three floors with 11 amazing galleries, you will experience puzzling illusions as you examine the large eclectic collection of odd and interesting things you will never see anywhere else. Become an explorer and survive the curse of King Tut as you travel the dark cavernous tunnels of his Egyptian temple. Continue your exploration and unveil objects hidden throughout the museum and decide for yourself if you Believe it or Not!

Wizard Quest is the cutting edge fusion of a story driven computer game and a 13,000 square foot magical wonderland. It is packed with secret passageways, physical obstacles, endearing illusions and over the top artistry.

Downton Dells Discovery Pass - Buy our Dells Downtown Discovery Pass online where you can save more than half off the admission of your second attraction!http://usfamilycoupons.com/coupon.php?regionid=75&bid=12033&dealid=1965 @usfg

Don't they all look like fun! What is also pretty awesome is that all four of these things are very close to each other. My mouth is watering just thinking about the popcorn flavor choices.

Repurposed 2L Bottle Sprinkler

The kids thought this was so neat. We have hoses up at the cabin but we didn't have a sprinkler and it was quite hot one day when we were up there and they wanted to play in the water but we weren't ready to go out to the lake.

All you need to do is take an empty 2-liter bottle and put quite a few holes in it all around the the empty bottle. Then use a duct tape 2 tape it to a dry hose. Duct tape seems to hold really well. Then just cut away duct tape when you are done. Save the bottle to use again or recycle it.

Happy 4th of July