Frugal On the 49th

Mindport ~ Bellingham

2011-09-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

When my friend Christy mentioned Mindport as a good place to bring kids, I have to say I was a bit skeptical. A few weeks ago, we finally met Christy, Gavin and Kaia at Mindport for a few hours of exploration and fun! Mindport is located at 210 West Holly in Bellingham. Parking is metered, so don't forget your change. {Or, in my case, raid a piggy bank.. shhhhh don't tell Mia, I owe her $1.50}

Mindport has varied days and hours of operation {check the website}. We arrived almost 15 minutes early {I am almost always early} and Karen came to the window to let me know they would be opening shortly. The girls kept peeking in the windows and told me they were "cited" to play.

Mia decided it was time for a potty dance, and Karen was kind enough to let us through to use the {huge, clean} restroom before paying {I can't thank her enough}! When we made it back to pay {a mere $2 each, I am still flabbergasted by that price}. Karen got down to the girls' level and let them know they were expected to have fun and that they needed to try their very hardest not to run {which we had to remind them often}. She let me know that there were a lot of buttons {which my kids are experts at pressing} and that most things turned off by themselves. We were then instructed to look up, and were delighted by some wonderful art!

The girls were quick to lead me to water. They found a river with rocks to build dams and little pieces of wood or boats to float. It was awesome {and wet}. A majority of the girls' time was spent here. The creators thought of everything and even put a hand drying station nearby!

Mindport is filled with fun, imaginative, creative {etc} activities for exploration. There is even a tornado {or, as Addy would say "nortado"} that you can put your hand in. You can race scuba divers through tubes, observe an aquatic ecosystem, practice writing with chalk while looking at a mirror, play with ping pong balls in tubes, make fairy music, play with burl jives {one of the coolest musical things I've ever seen}, a musical Allella {another neat creation}, pipe organ and many other equally fascinating things.

I wish I would have taken more pictures, but I was so enthralled with everything. Christy and I spent some time trying to figure out the puns on the miniature train's route {Karen was the creator of the train and we were able to ask her questions, which was really neat}. There are manuals next to almost everything {we chose to ignore them, for the most part}so this can be a very educational, as well as fun, experience.

Mia, my shy girl, quickly developed an attachment to Karen, and ran {she does not follow directions well} to her multiple times. Karen was very nice about it, and even kept an eye on her for a minute while I checked out Addy's magnet art. {Seriously, this place rocks, if you haven't figured it out}.

We highly recommend this place for anyone, with or without kids! There is much to be explored within, we barely scratched the surface during our visit. Plus, the price is budget friendly. We will visit Mindport again in the near future... most likely for some rainy day fun!

Rainy Day Fun ~ Homemade Play Dough

2011-08-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

I don't like {not going to lie, I REALLY dislike} the mess it makes, but my girls love it. We're all out of the store bought stuff, and Mother Nature has decided to water my garden for me today {it's raining, thus putting our beach play date on hold}. We are determined to have fun anyways, so this morning we made our own play dough. We were out of some of the ingredients, so we improvised, and it turned out great!

We Googled play dough and found a gazillion recipes, so I'm not going to give credit to any one source for this recipe. There are many versions and this seems to be one of the more popular ones.

We gathered our ingredients and measured out:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

4 teaspoons lemon juice {or 2 teaspoons cream of tartar}

1 cup water

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon cupcake sprinkles {or 2-3 drops of food coloring, which we didn't have}

We then combined the dry ingredients in a saucepan {flour & salt, in our case} and mixed everything together.

Next, we combined the wet ingredients & coloring {water, oil, lemon juice, cupcake sprinkles} and stirred well.

Then, we slowly poured the wet ingredients over the dry and mixed well.

I placed the saucepan on the stove over medium heat and stirred constantly until the mixture became doughy and stuck together {this took only a couple minutes}.

Then, I dumped the dough out onto a board and waited for it to cool a bit. Once it cooled, I kneaded it until it became smooth.

Once smooth, you can store in baggies or containers {it is supposed to last a long time if stored properly}. Or, do what I did, allow it to cool enough for the kiddos to play!

And create!

This stuff was neat. We used course sea salt because I didn't want to grind 1/2 cup of salt. As a result, we were left with some chunks of salt in the dough {Addy called it sparkly and fun so it wasn't a big deal}. One of my biggest pet peeves is the mess the store bought stuff leaves behind. This stuff left way less mess & was much easier to wipe up. Plus, it smelled {MUCH} better. I think I'll buy some food coloring {or more sprinkles} and make some more!

:) Jen

Letterboxing

2011-08-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

We started letterboxing last summer, as a way to get out and explore our area as a family. I discovered letterboxing while reading about it on a coupon blog {I can't remember which} which prompted a google search that landed me at Atlas Quest, and Letterboxing North America, two online letterboxing communities. It is a great way to have some frugal, family oriented, fun!

What is letterboxing? My girls used to call it stampin'. Letterboxing is similar to geocaching, but way cheaper {you don't need a GPS to find a letterbox}. You follow clues, some of which are posted online at one of the sites mentioned above, to find a box. The box you find will hold a {usually} hand-carved rubber stamp and also a log book. When you find the box, you are supposed to stamp an image of the stamp you find in your log book, and an image of your stamp in the log book of the letterbox you find.

What do you need to get started? You will need a trail name. We are the 4snipes because there are 4 of us in our family, and because Addy ~~was obsessed with~~ really liked the movie UP last year and thought I told her we were looking for a "snipe" when I said "stamp". You also need a log book, which can be any book with paper in it {thicker paper helps, a watercolor book is nice}, a pen or pencil, an ink pad {or something similar to ink your stamp, markers work as well}, and a stamp {can be hand-carved, ours is not... one day it will be}. For some, you will even need a compass {we have not made that investment yet, though I may be able to download one on my smart phone. I should check.}

We decided to go letterboxing at Lynden City Park the other day {blog post to come in the near future about the playground there}, without daddy. I figured the park would be a good place to go, since we really needed to get out of the house, and I already knew the girls loved the playground {double bonus}.

We started by logging onto Atlas Quest and typing Lynden, WA under Location-Based Search. I printed all of the posts for Lynden City Park before we headed out the door. The one we ultimately ended up finding was titled "Summer Memories". When we got to the park, we took our letterboxing bag {a reusable tote} filled with our supplies, and began our hunt!

We saw lots of trees on our adventure!

One of the clues led us here.

Yay, we found it!

This is what was inside.

Next, we stamped each book. I like to write the name of the box, who hid/carved the stamp, location and date. I also wrote our trail name and date in their book, as well as our location. It's neat to look through the log book to see the different stamps! I am leaving room in my book to add pictures, so it will be more like a scrapbook of our adventures.

Then, place everything back, seal and re-hide the letterbox.

Make sure to cover it well! Now we are ready to go home {OK, not really, but hypothetically} and log back on to Atlas Quest to record our find. When we record our find, we also have an opportunity to rate the box and leave a comment.

We have found about 3/4 of the boxes we have hunted for, so I tend to always print out two or three sets of clues. We hunted for three at Lynden City Park, and only found one. Some of the clues had been removed {the box was planted in 2009, and the park has undergone construction since then} and we found where the other one was supposed to be, but it appeared to have been taken {above picture is taken in front of where we should have been able to find a letterbox}. The girls told me we didn't find it because they were too loud so someone took it. I won't argue with that! It is still fun to hunt, even if we don't find the "treasure".

Also, we are always careful not to go off paths, or to sketchy areas. We make sure to leave everything as we find it, and not trample the area. It is important that letterboxing does not become destructive {to us, or the areas where the boxes are hidden!}

Want to know more? Letterboxing began in the mid 1800's in Dartmoor, England {check out Atlas Quest for more history, it is really interesting}. Today, there are over 100,000 letterboxes planted all over the world. We love the idea of being able to go letterboxing while on vacation, camping, a day trip, or even as a pit stop along our way. There are letterboxes that are easier to find {those are the ones we tend to hunt for right now while the girls are young} and some that can only be reached by hikers, etc.

If you haven't already, give it a try. Let me know what you think :) Also, leave a comment if you know of a box that we need to hunt for!

:) Jen

Pioneer Park ~ Ferndale

2011-08-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

It was a nice Thursday {hooray for Summer} and the girls were ready to get out of the house as soon as we woke up {which was around 6:30 am for Mia, which means the rest of us were forced to wake up then, too}. We didn't have plans to meet our friends until 11:00, so we hit the playground at Pioneer Park a little early to take pictures.

The first thing I noticed was older playground equipment {not a bad thing, it was all safe} with lots of algae, and then I took a step and my shoes filled with pea gravel {OUCH, next time I will wear different shoes}.

The first thing the girls noticed were the swings {they are obsessed with swings}. I spent a while pushing each girl "high up into the trees" on the swings. {"No, not like that, do it like Daddy dos it!"} It was one of those mornings, and I was glad to be outside.

There are also toddler swings on a separate swing set; plenty of swings to go around :)

The smaller of the playground's two big structures "Toddlertown" has a platform with a tube, double racing slide, dome, tic tac toe, and a mirror {looks like kids had ruined the mirror by either throwing rocks or shooting it with a BB gun, however}.

The bigger structure has three slides {including a fun corkscrew slide}, fire pole, stairs, climbing structure and bridge. It is small enough for toddlers to enjoy, as well.

Besides the swings, there is also stand alone monkey bar ring things {not quite monkey bars, but not quite rings either because they are stationary}. The bars are pretty high, too high for me to even help my kids use them. I'm a little vertically challenged, though {it's OK, Mia tells me every so often that I'll be taller when I grow up}.

There is also a structure to stand on and bounce {I have no idea what these are called}.

Once our friends arrived, and after we had all eaten a picnic lunch at the picnic tables, we decided to check out the log cabins {actual homes built by early settlers of Whatcom County} at the park. There was a sprinkler going near the entrance, and that frightened the girls until they realized they could walk around it. The general store was the only building we could enter {and buy ice cream bars, souvenirs, and thrift store items among other things}. We had plenty of fun looking around outside at the cabins and buildings.

Addy spied a broom on one of the porches and exclaimed {in a VERY dramatic fashion, if you can't tell by the photo}, "Mama, a Witch must live here!" Upon hearing this, Mia scurried down the stairs.

The kids tried ~~to break into the buildings~~ each and every door. They are lucky they didn't end up in jail!

I love buildings with faces!

We didn't need to use the potty {surprisingly}, but there is one.

Check out the Ferndale Heritage Society's website for pricing and contact information if you want to schedule a tour of the cabins. There are activities at the park throughout the year, including the Old Settlers Picnic, Spring Fashion Show, Pioneer Swap Meet, Fall Dinner Theater, and Olde Fashioned Christmas. The park is also the temporary home of the Ferndale Library. Check out the WCLS website for a calendar of events. We will be checking out some of the activities this Fall, for sure!

:) Jen

Elizabeth Park ~ Bellingham

2011-08-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

I had driven past Elizabeth Park a few times, and had always wanted to check it out. We decided a warm afternoon would be the perfect time to go, since most of the park is in the shade. Chris had the day off, so it was a family adventure!

We parked near the playground and quickly realized that the curb was really high, so we had a hard time opening the passenger doors of the Honda. Once we made it out without harming the car, we started toward the playground. Wow, this playground is huge!

The large play structure has different levels, and is suitable for kids of all ages {and their parents}. It has a large, wide platform, with many ways to climb up. There five slides!! Chris chased the girls up and down the slides {even the tube ones} and had just as much fun as the girls!

This playground also features a steering wheel, monkey bars, a fire pole, rings, glider & much more.

There are 2 springy toys, the whale one was broken {Chris said it needed some grease}.

We also saw some squirrels run through the playground and up one of the park's ginormous trees!

The playground is also home to swings. There are 2 big kid swings and two baby swings. We love finding playgrounds with swings. {The girls are obsessed with swings}.

Once we managed to pry the girls from the playground, we strolled through the middle of the park. We noticed that the playground is next to tennis courts, and is also near a cement basketball court. We discovered a large gazebo {which can be rented} and gorgeous fountain, surrounded by benches {I would love to come here with a good book}.

Elizabeth Park also has restrooms, with no soap. Outside the restrooms is a {broken} drinking fountain.

I am in love with this park! It had a nice atmosphere and the girls {and Chris} had a lot of fun on the playground. Next time, we are definitely bringing a blanket and picnic lunch. I also discovered that this park is part of the {free} Concerts in the Parks series!

:) Jen

Lake Padden ~ Bellingham

2011-07-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

We arrived at Lake Padden at 11:00 am on a nice Thursday to find an almost empty parking lot! There are a two entrances, we used the first since we were planning on walking most of the 2.6 mile loop around the lake before hitting the playground for a picnic lunch {so basically, we bribed the girls with the playground... hey, whatever works}. We met Jen and Natalie on the path near the parking lot, ready to begin our adventure.

If you plan on walking around the lake, I really recommend heading counter-clockwise around the lake, unless you enjoy physical torture, or do not have a stroller {or in my case a double stroller with 70+ pounds of kids in it}. Luckily, Jen knew which way to go {seriously, she's my hero for that}. I didn't take the time to snap any pictures on the trail because I was pushing the stroller {and my camera is not the best}. It is gorgeous and you will have to see it for yourself ;) Most of the trail is through the woods with trees and ferns all around, and {of course} the lake in the middle. It is mostly shaded, so may be on the colder side if it's not as nice out. There are a few steep spots, so I wouldn't let my girls stray out of sight.

The path has a few offshoots, which I believe are trail heads {one sign had a horse on it} but we stayed on the main trail that loops around the lake. The path is cement in parts, but mostly gravel/rock and dirt. Jen told me that it gets muddy after it rains. Our 2 strollers fit side-by-side, with room for one more. We encountered quite a few dog-walkers and joggers, as well as other parents with strollers. Some of the dogs were off-leash, and there is a dog park nearby, but we didn't have any issues {Mia is afraid of dogs... when she feels like it}.

When you come out of the trees and stroll by a softball field and some bathrooms, you know you are getting close to the playground! There are some nice views of the lake at this point, as well. The girls were beyond excited at this point, and took off running toward the playground! The playground is one large area covered with cedar. It is home to two play structures, a ride-on springy type toy, and swings {yay} with two baby and two regular swings. There is also a basketball hoop nearby.

Of course, soon, it was time to find a potty. Instead of walking back to the one we had seen before the ball field, we found a closer one, past a picnic shelter further ahead on the trail. The bathrooms are what you would expect, all cement and metal, with no soap {basically ones that can be hosed down to clean}. Luckily, this time, I remembered to bring the hand sanitizer.

We found a picnic table nearby and had a nice lunch next to the lake. We noticed two picnic shelters, a number of benches and other tables around the lake. While eating, there was one duck that came really close {no, we didn't feed it} and the girls had fun "quacking" at it and its entire family. We watched a jogger toss {literally} their dog in the lake for a swim and another person fishing. It was a nice way to spend our afternoon!

The girls played for a while before a family of older boys started taking over the playground and scaring off the younger kids. Luckily, they did not stay very long. The girls mainly played on the larger structure's corkscrew slide and green tube with holes in it, meant for climbing {I think}, but Mia kept sliding down it {because the boys kept sliding up the slide, I'm sure}. There were also some monkey bars, and a few platforms to play on.

The smaller structure was largely ignored by the girls, except to slide down once. I would say it is for really little ones, maybe for under age 2. It has a ramp, slide, and platform section. I didn't see many kids playing on it. There was evidence that some older kids had taken chalk and played a few games of tic-tac-toe on the side of it, however {at least, I think it was chalk}.

There is a lot to do at this park! Bring a picnic blanket along for a lunch in the many grassy areas, a ball to kick, bounce or hit, or a book to read. We saw quite a few people sunbathing. On the trail around the lake there are some more secluded spots along the outer edges, a small dock, and even raised fire pits if you feel like barbecuing. You can also camp here, boat, golf, and swim!

By the time we left the park, it was almost 2:00 pm, and there were barely any parking spots left {mid-summer, mid-week}. The park did not feel crowded at all during our outing, and we had a nice time! We will definitely return.

The park is open from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. For more information, check out the City of Bellingham's website.

:) Jen

Rainy Day Fun ~ Dollar Tree Birdhouses!

2011-07-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

So far, we have not had much of a Summer... or none at all, according to an article that was in the Bellingham Herald the other day. I don't think I'm the only one who tends to go a little crazy when I'm cooped up in the house with two little ones {at least on the days when they are fighting non-stop}. It is nice to have some fun crafts set aside for those not-so-nice days.

We found these little wooden birdhouses and acrylic paint sets at the Dollar Tree for a whopping {you guessed it} $1 each, plus tax. Later, we saw more birdhouses and paint sets at Joann Fabrics for the same price, with way more paint sets to choose from, even glitter! Next time Joann's has a 20% off your total purchase coupon, I am definitely stocking up on more. {I kind of want to make my own...I have a thing for birdhouses}

The girls had a blast, and I had fun watching them! Mia dipped the paint brush in every color so her house would be multi-colored. Addy was more concerned with the birds liking hers. Both girls concentrated for longer than I expected and were so excited that they made some new homes for the birds in our back yard. I sprayed both with a clear UV sealer so we can enjoy them for a long time, even if the birds don't ;)

I would appreciate it if you would take a second to check out the poll on the left... Thanks!

:) Jen

Industrial Credit Union's Family Pass

2011-07-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

I have been a member of Industrial Credit Union for over 10 years and recently learned of their free Family Pass program through some friends {I'm really not sure why I hadn't heard of it before}. The Family Pass consists of a free checking account, special offers each month (a meal, deal, adventure & freebie), prizes and financial tools. Anyone can sign up for free! To sign up, you can go online, or into any ICU branch {make sure to tell them who sent you... more about that later}. Once you sign up online, you still need to go in to an ICU branch to finalize your membership. My husband went in on a day that he was already in town {thank you honey} and he said it was quick and painless. He also came home with some {cute} little Family Pass stickers to put on our debit cards until we receive the official Family Pass debit cards in the mail. To redeem an offer, all we need to do is flash our debit card.

Here are the deals for July 2011:

Once you sign up, you start receiving Family Pass emails on the first of each month that will clarify the deals. Usually there are day and/or time restrictions for the offers. You are also entered into a drawing for a prize each month! The prizes are nothing to sneeze at either. This month's prize is a video camera and a previous prize was a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge! {I would LOVE the video camera to preserve some of my girls' shenanigans!}

Family Pass members can also earn extra entries for the prize drawing! If your friends sign up and tell ICU that you referred them, BOTH you and your friend will earn 2 extra entries {my name is Jennifer Landreth if I referred you, hint, hint} :) For extra entries, members can also tweet a photo or message (up to 5 extra entries per month) about their family enjoying one of the activities, or share it on the Family Pass facebook page. {Trust me, you want to "like" the facebook page} There may be a few surprises throughout the month, for instance free NW WA fair family packs were recently given out to all Family Pass members who completed all of the other deals on the same day and posted pictures on the Family Pass facebook page of them enjoying said deals! Industrial Credit Union is also interested in receiving input and asks that members send them suggestions for deals. {Chocolate Necessities, anyone???}

There are also a few financial benefits and tools worth mentioning. According to the website, you can get up to $100 back by refinancing an auto loan through Industrial CU, a $250 emergency line of credit, and use of FinanceWorks (a budgeting tool). Of course, all loans are subject to approval, and other restrictions may apply {blah, blah, blah}.

I am very excited about this program and hope others will take advantage of it, as well! It definitely sounds Frugal, Family oriented, and Fun. Do you know of any other local businesses that have similar programs?

Bay Horizon Park Playground ~ Birch Bay

2011-07-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

We had already made plans with our friends, Jen and Natalie, to walk to Bay Horizon Park to let the girls play on the playground, so it was especially nice that summer decided to return to us for the day! We headed over on the gravel path from our housing development, and were greeted by a few blackberry bushes that had taken advantage of our recent rain. We managed to get through without anyone getting pricked, though we may bring clippers next time.

This park, at first glance, looks very interesting. There are two separate play structures that are each in the center of a circle that is filled with cedar and surrounded by concrete. One is for younger kids ages 2-5, the other is for ages 5-12 years. There are concrete ramps leading into each playground, but no direct path from one to the other. I really have to watch the girls as they run from one structure to the other, since there is a bit of a lip from the cedar shavings up the the cement. Both have taken spills here that have resulted in scraped knees.

Of course, my girls (ages 3 and 4 3/4) seem to gravitate toward the playground for the older kids. This playground is not your usual playground. The slide on the bigger kids' playground does not have sides. Kids are supposed to wrap their legs around the sides and hold on with their hands. There is also a web-like rope section that the girls take turns pretending to be spiders on. Behind that, there are suspended circles, monkey bars and metal sections that spin. Though they don't have the coordination for all of the activities, the girls seem to have fun!

The little kids playground has equally fun things for smaller kids to do. There is a tire-swing looking thing that does not spin, as it is attached at the top and bottom. The girls will stand on it and shake it or pretend it is a fire pit. They lose interest in this pretty quickly. There are also some metal chimes, drums, a metal bar for hanging and a section with stairs that kids can walk around and around, up and down on. This play structure is usually ignored by my four-year-old, but my three-year-old seems to enjoy it.

There are a few picnic tables and benches at the park, but no garbage can, so be prepared to take your trash with you. The playground has a fence around it, and some grass, but not enough to kick a ball around or anything. It would be a nice spot for a picnic lunch.

There is a port-a-potty located in the corner of the parking lot. It is a bigger one so you can pull in a stroller if needed. It also houses some spiders and other bugs, so be prepared for that. When we went, the current date was filled in on the inspection chart, but the hand sanitizer was empty. Nevertheless, it is always nice to have a potty available!

There is also a newly revamped gym/activity center that is supposed to be open for open gym on Wednesdays from 4:30-8:30 starting August 10, 2011. The parks department will be holding other activities in the gym, as well. I can't wait to check it out!

Bay Horizon Park, Blaine's former Air Force Station, is located on Gemini Street. It is also home to Birch Bay Hostel & Guesthouse and Lions Camp Horizon!

The 3 F's

2011-07-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

So, I've been wanting to blog for a while. I started this one over a year ago & quickly realized that I don't have the energy to blog to try to earn extra cash. I'd rather blog for fun! I also want to post about FRUGAL, FAMILY oriented, FUN things to do in my area, Whatcom County, Washington. That should be easy, right?