Spending the Afternoon at Cabela's

I told you earlier this week that we were on vacation this week.  I also mentioned that in addition to my crazy to-do list we were going to make time for fun.

Earlier this year we had our mega vacation, taking the kids on a Caribbean cruise.  That vacation pretty much emptied our vacation budget so for this week of vacation we wanted to do fun things without spending a lot of money.  Today our frugal vacation fun included a road trip to Cabela's.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did end up spending more money than I meant to (I couldn't resist the candles!) but if you're looking for a great way to spend a few hours without it costing a lot of money (as long as you have more willpower than me!) then Cabela's is the way to go.

Here are some of the fun things to do at the store that doesn't cost any money (unless stated):

Explore the fish of the Great Lakes.  This is just a small portion of the aquarium.  The aquarium is on both sides of the walk way and wraps around the room.  The fish are amazing, even though the thought of those things swimming in the lake with us is a little creepy

Hunt the beasts of the Serengeti.   These are all real animals preserved and displayed.  I thought it would be fun to put Mike in an explorer hat with a hunting rifle but he wouldn't do it.  Maybe next time.

This is a wall of different types of sheep, bears, moose, etc.  The wall is two stories and contains a wide variety of different animals.  The light in the store was a bit bright so my picture of the full wall didn't turn out well.

Get attacked by a bear.  Don't worry - he was a toy bear so I wasn't in any real danger.

Learn all about the different species in your area.  Here's Mike posing by the deer display.  Who knew there were that many different species of deer! 

Having a contest in the shooting gallery.  For only $.50 a game you can spend quite a bit of time without spending a lot of money.  I can hold my own but of course Mike beat me at every game.  Since he practices for work I think he has an unfair advantage! 

Here's a picture of my big splurge.  This is a ginger peach candle that just smells divine!  I honestly didn't need another candle but I just couldn't pass this one up.

No visit to Cabela's is complete without stopping by the Cabela's Fudge Shop.  They are incredibly generous with their samples and have a wide array of fudges to choose from.  Plus, you want to talk about customer service?  The lady behind the counter told me that if I gave them 24 hour notice they would make up any of the fudge that was on their menu without any order minimum.  

Not pictured was our stop at their cafeteria where you can try wild game meat like elk & bison.  We always enjoy eating here except today was a little bit of a disappointment.  Cabela's - if you're listening you need to step up your game a little bit in the cafeteria department, it seems to have gone down hill a bit.

If you're really big into firearms there's also a gun library you can explore.  I thought the store officials might get a little hinky about me taking pictures of their guns!

So - if you're looking for something to do without spending a lot of money and you have a Cabela's fairly close by I would recommend a visit.  Oh yeah, the kids might enjoy it too :)

Wasn't Mike a great sport?  I have to say I'm pretty lucky to have a guy who is willing to pose for pictures in the middle of the store just so I can write a post.  I guess he's a keeper!

Catch a Leprechaun!

St. Patrick's day is right around the corner.  Do you know what that means?  It means that leprechauns will be out on St. Patrick's eve playing their practical jokes on unsuspecting children.  If you're skilled at building a leprechaun trap you just may get lucky and receive a token payment for his release!

No, I haven't been nipping at the bottle of Peppermint Schnapps!  I can't really remember the origin of our tradition, but one of our favorite family memories was building a trap every year to catch that mischevious leprechaun.

There are a couple important components to the event.  The first important component to the event is building the trap.  Getting creative helps build the anticipation and provides a fun activity for the family.  The second, and potentially most important to the kids, is the payment the leprechaun always pays to be released from the trap.

There are multiple ways to build a trap, remember decorating and/or disguising the trap is important so that the leprechaun is lured in and realizes to late that it's a trap!  Keep in mind that leprechauns are delicate creatures so your trap should not kill or maim the leprechaun.  Here are some trap ideas for you:

• Box trap using a shoebox propped up with a stick, pencil, etc.
• "Snare" the leprechaun using a cleverly hidden piece of rope that will pull him up in the air
• A can trap that would lure him to "climb the hill" which would then collapse leaving him trapped in the opening
• A dropped net trap, once the leprechaun hits the "x" he's covered by a blanket or net (the net could also be used with the snare trap to pull him up in the air)

Don't forget you'll need bait to lure the leprechaun into the trap.  Since shoemaking is their livelihood, something related to shoes may help.  Also, leprechauns are drawn to gold so sometimes that may lure them in.  Have the kids do some research on leprechauns and help decide what bait to use.

Now, the most important part of the trap......the fee to escape!  Our kids LOVE to read so typically, our leprechaun would leave books for each of the kids.  Movies, CD's, a video game and gold chocolate coins in a pot also make good payment.  Once in a while the kids were surprised with the leprechaun turning to "stone" and still being in the trap the next morning.  The fee doesn't really need to be a high value item, the kids will be thrilled that they actually caught a leprechaun and got something out of him.

You better get crackin on those traps, you only have a little over a week.  Make sure your leprechaun isn't lurking around spying on you while you are making it!

Do you have any fun St. Patrick's day traditions?

Spending Time with my Daughter - Shopping Trip!

My husband worked both days a couple of weekends so I had all kinds of free time to do whatever needed to be done.  There was the cooking, cleaning, a little bit of exercise and some blog preparation in addition to a nap or two.  I also took the time to take Danielle to the mall shopping on a mother/daughter excursion.

As the kids grow up it gets a little harder to get their attention as they rush around with their busy little lives.  I've found that if I offer to take my daughter shopping it's a little easier to get her attention.  Just to be clear - the expectation isn't that I buy her something every time but that she will get something if she needs it and/or she has her own money.  Today we did pick up some track shorts but otherwise this shopping trip was all about me!

As we prepare for our vacation I realize how little clothing I have for summer.  I try to buy clothes that can go across the seasons and then just add a few new relevant pieces each year.  Sunday we went to one of my favorite stores (Chico's) to check out their sales.  I saved 45% off the list prices on my total purchase but unfortunately it was still a little expensive.  I bought a shirt & tank, a t-shirt and two pairs of earrings.  Can you tell I was feeling springy?

I treated Danielle to a pretzel and discovered, much to Michael's dismay, that Cinnabon is no longer in the mall!  I also checked out the new line of Coach purses but cannot bring myself to spend that much money!  We had a lot of fun singing along to the 80's songs on the way home.

Do you like to bond with your daughter over shopping or do you find it stressful to shop with a teenager?

Spending Time With My Daughter – Taste of Home Cooking Show

As a busy mom I think it’s important to carve out time with the people who are important to us. Next to my husband are my children, which is why I have a segment about spending time with my daughter. In case you haven’t guessed by now, I do better if I actually sit down and plan versus if I fly by the seat of my pants (although there are a lot of those moments too!). What I’m trying to say is that I purposely try to find these mother/daughter moments because time has a way of flying by so fast. They truly do grow up in a blink of the eye.


The mother/daughter moment that we planned a couple of weeks ago was to attend the Taste of Home cooking show. They hold one in our area once a year. For a number of years I would go with my mother in law and sister in law. Last year we decided to expand the group to include my mother, my daughter and my two nieces. We really make an evening out of it by meeting at a restaurant, enjoying the exhibitors (and getting to taste the food) and hopefully win a few prizes.

I have to confess, it was a little difficult for me to relax and unwind because work was so horribly stressful (my daughter did comment that I was a little quiet at dinner) but I tried really hard to have fun because I think these memories that we are building are really important.

We enjoyed watching the chef, picked out what recipes we were going to try at home and unfortunately won very few prizes along the way. Oh yeah – we did get those great swag bags that I posted about in my “Look What Was In My Mailbox” weekly posting.

A good time was had by all. Did you do something fun with your kids recently?