Chance to WIN a MN State Park Permit!!!

Here are the details from the Minnesota DNR website:

When: The #31DaysOfTrees Challenge runs during Arbor Month, May 1–31, 2017.
How to enter: Simply post a photo or video of you enjoying your daily dose of trees on Facebook , Twitter, or Instagram (or all three!) along with the hashtag #31DaysOfTrees and include @MinnesotaDNR when posting to Facebook. Participation will be tracked using hashtag #31DayOfTrees.

Prizes: You may win 1 of 5 State Parks permit and have 10 trees planted in your honor at one of our Minnesota State Forests. The more times you post enjoying your daily dose of trees, the more chances you have to win!

10 FREE Trees from the National Arbor Day Foundation with Membership

Tomorrow is Arbor Day, so why not join the National Arbor Day Foundation (starting at $10) and get 10 free trees! You can get the trees for yourself, have them sent to someone else, have them planted in a rainforest or have them planted in a National Park. Your choice!

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Starbucks for the Unicorn Frappe SOLD OUT!

Yes, we totally bought in to the marketing and had to go try it out. I went on DAY 1 and promised to take the kids after school on DAY 3 (of 5 DAYS). Well, it was sold out. I heard they sold out on DAY 1 at that location. They said that most stores were sold out nationally by DAY 3. I didn't care for the tart sprinkles on top, but other than that I enjoyed the VERY sweet drink.  I only ordered a Tall because I was skeptical and heard it was very sweet. I have a tween that was begging to try it out since she heard about it earlier this week and now a tween that is bummed she never got to try it but says no one in her class had tried it either, so she wasn't really missing out on anything.

I have to say, going there mid day on DAY 3 - which should have been the half way point of their limited time promotion and finding out that we drove to town specifically for this and that it was sold out left a sour taste in my mouth, more sour than those sprinkles. We left without buying anything. Too much hype and now lots of disappointment.

FREE Build a Flower Pot at Home Depot on May 6th

Your kids can build this cute flower pot at Home Depot (just in time to give on Mother's Day the Sunday afterwards!)

SIGN UP HERE!

#MermaidYogaFun Yoga Challenge

Here is another challenge I am going to start today. I am intrigued by the title of mermaid yoga challenge. Let's do this. It should be fun.

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#Mermaidyogafun April 24 - May 3
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Hosts
@shreeyoga
@lunar11mermaid
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Sponsors
@lotustribeclothing (use code shreeyoga for 15% off)
@awakenthepeace
@wildkrystals
@sunnyside904
@shopsecretlyamermaid
@mymalanecklace
@youphoriayoga
@gaiacollective
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Posing order-
Fish @lunar11mermaid
Splits @shreeyoga
Hero @lunar11mermaid
Dancer @shreeyoga
Low lunge @lunar11mermaid
Mermaid pigeon @shreeyoga
Bird of paradise @lunar11mermaid
Half moon @shreeyoga
Lotus both
Free choice
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This challenge is open to everyone and we invite you to have fun.
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If you are new to yoga, we ask that you use props, and make modifications.
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You can choose to do the pose of the day or modify it to fit your practice.
Guidelines To Enter:
1) Repost This Flyer and Hashtag #Mermaidyogafun
2) Follow All Hosts and Sponsors
3) Tag a couple friends to join
4) Post daily, hashtag #Mermaidyogafun with all posts, and tag all hosts and sponsors so we know you are playing along.
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#yoga #yogaeverywhere #yogaeverydamnday #yogalove #yogalife #yogainspiration #yogamotivation #igyoga #igyogafam #igyogacommunity #practiceandalliscoming #octoberyogachallenge #yogapractice #yogapose #yogi #instayogi #yogaanywhere #instayoga #yogaaddict @yogachallengeworld

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day! I am excited to see that some of my Gardens are growing. Rhubarb is up and it won't be long before I can make my first dessert with that. Raspberry bushes are growing and strawberries are starting to come up and the first asparagus is peeking through. More of that to come. I can't wait to have my first asparagus omelette..

Student Council Treasurer Poster Ideas

Just thought I would share these ideas for posters to make if you are running for student council treasurer. My daughter had worked really hard on these and thought they deserved more recognition.

Straight River Sports Cycling Challenge - 2 clues left!

I already shared these pictures on FB as entries to the Straight River Sports Cycling Challenge. My husband is participating as well and we are hoping that one of us is the winner of a new Trek bike. You had to participate in all 4 weeks to win the bike, but anyone can still participate this week and next week to get 2 entries to win one of 3 bike accessories they also have as prizes. Good Luck!

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Geocaching

What a fun little Hobby we have picked up doing as a family. I first did this with my daughter about five years ago but the sample class wasn't very informative and the app you can download on your phone wasn't as precise in its GPS location as it is now. Sometimes my phone will still get a bit turned around when I am opening and closing the app a lot but I just need to restart my phone and things seem to work itself out. What is the app you ask? Search for c:geo in your app store. It is a free app but you can pay for a premium membership. You are required to sign up at geocaching.com so that you can get coordinates and log them there.

You can automatically log your visit if you are in an area where you have internet connection or you can save your log to upload later when you are online. I am by no means an expert at all considering we have only found just over 20 different caches. This past weekend we had found our first micro cache and our first Earth cache as well as our first multi cache. Normally we have stuck to finding a regular cache which has typically been an ammo box period or we will find a small cache which is about the size of a peanut butter jar, just as a frame of reference.

Some people have gotten very creative with making their own caches. I did end up getting a book on intro to geocaching so that we can look up things as they come up to learn more about what this new hobby is about. Last time we went geocaching as a family we found a travel book. That was pretty exciting and I hope we find another one. I didn't know I could follow the travel bug online and get notifications when it gets moved when I first logged it in but I will do that the next time. You can buy your own set of Ford travel books on Amazon or the geocaching website for about $20.

We haven't quite gotten into making our own caches or buying our own travel bugs yet. Perhaps when we take our summer trip to some national parks we will buy some and bring along with us.

For the most part, so far this hobby has been relatively free. A free app To download and we usually find things around that the kids no longer want to exchange for prizes in the caches. Although after this weekend I went and bought a bunch of bags with a number of toys in them so we have a whole bag to bring along with us. The kids really like finding the caches where they can exchange prizes. It's like a treasure hunt trying to find them and you never know what you might find inside.

FREE Admission at National Parks THIS WEEK!

This week through April 23rd is National Parks Week!!! So, All Vehicle Admission fees are waived. A great time to go check them out!

FREE Passes to Born in China Movie for TOMORROW NIGHT

I have been given this information to share with my readers:

You and 3 guests are invited to an Advance Screening of Disney Nature’s BORN IN CHINA on Tuesday 4/18 at 7PM at AMC Rosedale. Come with the family and enjoy the film! These screenings are first come first served, so make sure to arrive early to insure you get a seat. Hope to see you there! Follow this link to redeem your passes! ---> http://www.seeitfirst.net/pin/711387

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Easter and can enjoy this special time with family and/or friends.

Let's Do This! #CharlieChaplinYogis Yoga Challenge

It's been a while since I have done a yoga challenge and I really need to keep doing these. They help keep me motivated and stay on track with my goals and keep memories flexible for other life adventures.

Join me!

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Harlem Globetrotters Game at SCSU

We had the opportunity to go see the Harlem Globetrotters again tonight. We took my son last year and he had a blast. Last year we saw it at Target Center and it will be there this weekend as well. We went to see it at Saint Cloud State University as it was mostly on our way up North and it gave my daughter the opportunity to see a game as well. She was bummed that she missed it last year.

The Harlem Globetrotters are also going to be in Duluth and Rochester Minnesota this week as well. So if you are in other parts of the state and not in the cities you have a chance to go see it as well.

The score showed here is from half-time. And a couple of selfies with my kids individually and a family picture above. I had seen the Globetrotters once before when I was in high school. I think a lot of people have memories of seeing it from their youth because the Harlem Globetrotters have been around for a long time. In fact, this year is their 90th year anniversary. It was certainly a good experience to be able to share this with our kids and they can have a shared memory of when they saw the Globetrotters that they might share with their own family in the future.

My husband and I both remember that there was a lot more tricks during the game and ball spinning and more basketball playing then skips throughout the game. We all agreed they don't need to Mike the person that is blowing a whistle because that is too loud. We enjoyed our seats at Target Center more than at st. Cloud State University because we had seat backs there. At the University general admission was sitting on bleacher seats. After a two hours of entertainment you start to get a sore back. 

Here is just a picture of all the official merchandise that is available for purchase. They offer three different types of basketballs including a mini basketball for $20 a regular size basketball for $25 and a game ball basketball for $60. You can also buy jerseys and shorts a stuffed Globie, sweatband (cheapest item at $10) and t-shirts. At the end of the game they do an autograph session and you can bring any of this to get signed.

Check out the Harlem Globetrotters with your family and friends too!