Honey Bee School 101

So Bee Keepers are passionate people. There is a whole movement out there to save the honey bees and this week I have jumped on the bandwagon. Each night we've been watching another movie or youtube video and trying to educate ourselves as quickly as possible. And it's true. All that is happening to our honey bees is a really big deal. During one movie I turned to Rory told him that I'm really proud to be keeping our own bees.

Today I wanted to pass along a few of the movies and videos and sites that I have discovered. Two movies were recommended right in the comments of this blog. Brad (are you high school Brad?) recommended a great video called Portrait of an Urban Bee Keeper. It's 20 minutes long and really well done. Enjoyable to watch and worth your time. Also really cool to think of keeping bees in the city!

Then I found beverlybees.com and the resource page on that site is fantastic. This TED Talk she has on her site is an incredible overview of what is happening to our world's bees and why we should care.


We watched every other video on the Beverly Bees Resource page. Really fascinating stuff there about verroa mites and foul brood and colony collapse.

Rory's brother Kyle told us about the movie More Than Honey and we ordered that on Netflix. I enjoyed this movie a lot and was amazed at the up close footage they had of the bees doing their thing, even the birth of a queen. Really fascinating. The transportation of bees to big monocrop operations is pretty terrifying. The whole time we watched I kept shaking my head, "this is all against God's created order. God never designed the world to work this way..." It's sobering to watch.

And my greatest resource is our teacher, Adam. He came out again this week and was so excited to see our bees thriving. We even added a box so that one hive can spread out and make more comb! That's a great sign of a healthy hive and I was so excited.

And finally, there is Oma Zina. Oma Zina is my sister-in-law Lisa's mom who came out for her 77th birthday. She loves it out here and really loves our bees. She and her husband used to keep bees and she has a lot of great lessons to pass on about swarming, drones and even has her son sending her late husband's bee suit so she can get in on the action. What a joy!

Elsie eats a popsicle

The ratio is always the same: One Popsicle Equals One Bath.

being the fun aunt and the little sister

My sister had her 15 year reunion at St. Olaf this weekend, so I got to have her girls for two nights. It was awesome and also reminded me once again how hard it has been to transition from Aunt Bec with no kids to Aunt Bec with kids of my own. This is a warning to all of you readers who are aunties without kids of your own yet: LIVE IT UP! Before I had kids of my own, I was able to be all things to my nieces (especially my sister's kids...we lived in Montana for a season with them, and I made TONS of trips to visit even when we lived a 22 hour train ride away.)

The moment I had my own kids my ability to be all thing to these little girls shifted, and I'm still adjusting. I think they are too. Instead of being Super-Fun Aunt Bec, I have to do all sorts of things that tend to my own kids. Which makes me Not-Quite-As-Fun Aunt Bec.

This is just a shift I'm still trying to come to grips with. But again, if you are an auntie without kids of your own, savor this time. And know that things change a bit when you have your own.

This is unrelated, but a funny thing to recognize. My sister was with her college friends all weekend. And I adore her college friends. They're great people who I have gotten to know through weddings and parties and stories. And at age 33, I realized I totally fell into the little sister role again, pining for stories from Annika when she got back, asking for updates.

It's just funny to still be the little sister. Made me laugh a bit. I've been pining for stories and updates about Annika's friends since she was in the 5th grade. Wanting to know what they were doing, what they were talking about, what they're interested in etc..

Hilarious. I will always be the little sister. And I will always try super hard to be Super Fun Aunt Bec.

summertime things to do at home

A part of the summer packet we were given at ecfe was a list of things to do at home during the long days of summer. I actually much prefer staying home during the summer. It's finally time to be outside, and we've got plenty to do.

-Paint on the driveway with big paint brushes and a bucket of water
-Wash things with a bucket of water and soap (the stroller, the cars, toys from the sand box)
-Get out the sprinkler and baby pools. Make an obstacle course.
-Make up plays, dances: Oak Tree Theater.
-Set up a tent and pretend camp.
-Pick flowers, make dandelion necklaces and crowns.
-Blow Bubbles: make huge bubbles with hoola hoops and kid swimming pools.
-Decorate bikes for a neighborhood parade.
-Use sidewalk chalk. Make race tracks, hopscotch, big art.
-Catch bugs in a jar.
-Make a terrarium.
-Wash the car.
-Paint the house with water buckets.
-Have a water balloon toss.
-Go fishing (for real or pretend over a sheet with clothespins attached)
-Go bird watching with a bird book.
-Build a fort over a clothesline. (my personal favorite)
-Have lunch over a campfire: hotdogs and smores.
-Make a frisbee golf course.
-Play croquet, bocce ball or badmitton.
-Target practice with water guns.
-Slide into a baby pool.
-Make forts out of big appliance boxes.
-Have a lemonade stand.
-Put a blanket down under the trees with a big bin of books and read.
-Have a picnic in a new location in your yard each week.
-Make cookies.
-Play in the rain with rain boots and umbrellas.
-Play board games outside on picnic table.
-Make a collage out of nature objects.
-Make cards for relatives.
-Have an indoor picnic on a rainy day.
-Give the kids the water hose in the sandbox.
-Fly a kite.
-Make paper airplanes and fly them.
-Throw a "very merry unbirthday" party.

And one of my very favorite websites to get lost in (careful, you'll be sucked in for hours!) is: Modern Parents Messy Kids. You'll find all sorts of fun ideas on this site like ideas for outdoor play spaces or this list of outdoor playtime ideas.

summertime things to do

I'm not sure what I mark as the official start of summer. Is it Memorial Day, June first, or the last day of school (ecfe)? Or is it the first picnic, the first popsicle, first boat ride, first ripe watermelon? I'm just not sure. But whatever it is that officially marks the start of summer, I believe it is here! Which is a little confusing because our peonies have yet to bloom, but based on all I listed above, SUMMER IS HERE!

My ecfe teacher made a gigantic list of things to do with kids during the summer. The list is awesome and at first I was going to make it into my summer bucket list. But then I typed it out below and decided this can be my "at some point while the kids are under 18 we'll do these things..." list. Because it's pretty huge.

I thought I'd share it as an awesome resource for those of you in the twin cities/south metro looking for something to do this summer. And Sunday afternoon as the kids napped for three hours (!!!) I spent some time creating some links for the list. Happy Summertime!

PARKS
Murphy's Landing in Shokopee (we love this place!)
Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater (can't wait to go here)
Antler's Park in Lakeville
Carleton College Arboretum in Northfield
St. Olaf College picnic on campus in Northfield
Centennial Lakes in Edina
Chutes and Ladders, Hyland Park Preserve in Bloomington
Lutz Railroad Garden in Eagan (3rd Sunday of the month, 1-4pm. Mark it down, Dad!)
Minihaha Falls
Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis
Zumbrota Covered Bridge, log cabin and playground (looks so fun for a day picnic)

STATE PARKS AND OUTDOOR DESTINATIONS
Afton State Park
Nerstrand Big Woods State Park
Sakatah State Park in Morristown
Whitewater State Park in St. Charles
William O'Brian tate Park in Osceola
Rice Lake State Park
Fort Snelling State Park
Lake City/Lake Pepin

NATURE CENTERS
Richardson Nature Center in Bloomington
Hyland Park Nature Center in Bloomington
Woodlake Nature Center in Richfield
River Bend Nature Center in Faribault
Thorncrest Farm in Dundas
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen

MUSIC AND SPORTS AND FOOD AND ZOOS AND FAIRS
Minneapolis Outdoor Music
St. Paul Saints Game (so excited to get to a game this summer)
Twins Game
Red Barn Pizza Farm in Northfield (great pizza, sort of spendy)
Farmer's Markets
Dundas Ball Park
Minnesota Zoo
Como Zoo
County Fairs
Valley Fair

MOVIES
Minneapolis Outdoor Movies
Centennial Lakes Outdoor Music and Movies
Lakeville Theatre (free kids movies on Wednesdays)
Elko Speedway Drive In (I'm so excited about this!!!)
Outdoor Movies and Concerts at Burnsville Civic Center

SWIMMING AREAS
Outdoor pools in Kenyon and Farmington
Northfield Swimming Pool
Faribault zero entry pool, fountains, playground, slides
Crystal Beach in Burnsville
Apple Valley Water Park (Ivar talks about the AV Water Park nearly every day...)
Cascade Bay in Eagan
Lake Minnetonka Swimming Pond
Lake Harriet (trolley rides, rose garden, music, beach. My favorite place in the summertime.)
Lac Lavon Park in Brunsville

SPLASH PADS
Kelley Park in Apple Valley
Civic Center Fountain Park in Burnsville
Minnesota Zoo

BIKE TRAILS
Cannon Falls to Redwing- 20 miles
Faribault Bike Trail- starts at DQ along hwy 60, trail goes to Sakatah State Park to Mankato

INDOOR
Mill City Museum
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Wild Rumpus Bookstore in Linden Hills, Minneapolis
Science Museum and Omni Theatre (museum closed Mondays)
Gymnastics open gym in Northfield
ABC Toy Store In Burnsville
Pump it Up in Burnsville
Red Balloon Books Store on Grand Avenue in St. Paul
Serengetti indoor water park in Owattona
Skateville in Burnsville
Nerstrand Meat Locker
Brunswick Zone in Lakeville
Edinborough Park in Edina
Good Times park in Eagan
Local Library
Water Park of America in Bloomington
Bowling

So what did we miss? Any glaring omissions that I forgot?!!