Category: Family

 

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time you know I love taking my kids to our local children’s museum, the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery.  In fact, my family has a yearly membership to the museum and it’s one of the best gifts we give to ourselves each year. The last time we went, it was Jonah’s first time to really get in on the action and he LOVED it. It was SO fun. Here’s his first time lovin’ on the otters in the zoo (my favorite too!):

 

We’ve recently and ironically been DYING to get there to see their new Microbes exhibit, which is showing through May 5th. I’ve already promised the kids a long day there on spring break but we have been trying to get there the past couple of weeks to see Microbes because I love to have my kids really experience an exhibit before I write about it.

But like I said – there’s some irony. If you are a regular reader, you know my family has been sick off and on – mostly ON, for the past four weeks. Battling one round of strep and repeated rounds of the highly contagious and re-infections norovirus. Jonah and I have had it once, both my big kids have had it 2-3 times, and Bobby has had it twice also. I spent the last few days laundering, sanitizing, and re-sanitizing our home. Today Bobby is still sick, yesterday Jonah was, and Friday both the big kids were. So, we’re not going ANYWHERE.

But YOU should!!! Especially if your kids are on spring break this week, and I know many are! You should head to the Boonshoft to check out all your usual faves and especially the Microbes exhibit. This exhibit “delves into the tiny world of these living organisms” and teaches and shows how they can both keep us healthy AND make us sick.  (More irony here, oh the irony!) This exhibit also teaches through fun, hands-on learning, like doing “the microbe dance”. Your kids will come away understanding so much more about the transmission of bacteria and prevention of diseases. (Have I mentioned irony here yet? I should’ve gone to this the DAY it opened!!)

So do yourselves a favor and head out to the Boonshoft for some spring break fun. Ours isn’t until the first week of April but we are going to try and get there ASAP so I can write another post about Microbes complete with pictures of the kids and descriptions of their favorite parts (and mine too!)

Thanks so the Boonshoft Museum for supporting this blog and for being patient with my sicko family.

Happy Spring Break, everyone!

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The Boonshoft Museum sponsors this series of posts. All opinions are my own, however, I won’t be invoicing them until I actually get out to the exhibit and write about my own experiences with it. And then, they’re getting a discount! Heh.

If you’ve read this blog for awhile you know that I’m  an “everything in moderation” kind of girl. I begrudgingly exercise in a way I can tolerate (Pilates! You will never find  me doing anything called “Insanity” or that involves dancing, mmkay?) because I need to, and because well…I want to have a little wiggle room to give myself a treat (read: nice sugary soda!) once in awhile. That’s why the few things I’ve done so far in 2013 to clean up some of my favorite treats (coffee creamer and chocolate syrup) with make-at-home recipes has been so beneficial. It’s helping me with my energy balance – calories in, calories out. Being active and applying moderation is really working for me in 2013 – and that’s why I was so excited when Together Counts asked me to be an ambassador for their organization this year! Because this year, Bobby and I are trying harder than ever to be active with our kiddos so that energy balance will be a natural part of our lives. And as you can see, we love being active together!

I first heard of Together Countswhen Emily and I went to the Mom 2.0 Summit conference last year. We got our rear ends out of bed EARLY to do beach side yoga with Together Counts and it was awesome!

So, what exactly IS Together Counts? It’s an initiative of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation that encourages families to eat meals together and be active together, while providing corresponding tools and resources to teachers and school nurses to help teach kiddos how to have a healthy, active lifestyle. I’m SUPER-EXCITED to be working with them! i really encourage you to check out their website for great resources, including activity sheets, and also to follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

In the coming months I’ll be posting on the Together Counts blog about a variety of subjects and I’m really looking forward to it! (I’ll be sure to let you know when to heard over there and check out my posts.) Now that three out of five of us in the family are eating gluten-free, (not to mention Jonah’s oat allergy) and I’m working with my big kids on eating what I cook instead of their own special little “I’m a picky eater” meal – I’m going to have a lot of family meal material! And who knows what new ways we’ll come up with to stay active together? It’s going to be a great year in our house that’s for sure. I can’t wait to see what 2013 has in store for the five of us.

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I am being compensated for my role as a Together Counts Ambassador. All opinions about the program are my own.

Yesterday, Emily and her family buried her grandfather. As she wrote last week, he was a wonderful man and extraordinarily loving grandfather. The grandfather that Emily and I share died well before we were born. We both only had one grandpa, and we both had a really good one.

The service yesterday was in the same room where my Grandpa’s viewing was a little over two years ago, and it brought back lots of memories. Grief fades with time but it can come back to visit at times as fresh as the moment it was new. Emily and Anna grieved yesterday and I grieved for them.

Two years ago at my grandfather’s funeral, Emily sat in the crowd and when it was done, her tear-stained face told me she felt for me. Before we parted, she held me tight.

Yesterday it was just the same. We stood in each other’s places. She in the front this time, me in the back. Before we parted, I held her tight.

There will be a time, I know, when our grief will be the same. I can hardly entertain the thought.

But it is comforting to know we won’t be alone.

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