You know the stories: the one where the red-caped girl goes to grandmothers house to find a surprise and the one where three innocent little pigs had a house blown down and many, many more tales; all focused on the wolf.

Binder Park Zoo kicks off Wolf Awareness Week beginning Saturday with Howl-a-Palooza. We took the family last year and the kids absolutely loved it! Visitors travel through the Zoo to the Mexican Wolf exhibit and listen to the Keepers as they educate the public on the most endangered wolf-species. They also give a free wolf poster to attendees (while supplies last).

Its the perfect time of the year to take the family to Binder Park Zoo. I love walking through the forest as the leaves begin to change and re-discovering all the zoo has to offer. To save you trouble,I looked up the phone number 269 979 1351.

Open for Business

“Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya?” Then head out to FireKeepers Casino, now open in Emmett Township.

I received an invitation for one of the private opening sessions. Thrilled at the opportunity, my husband and I ventured to the casino for the evening.

FireKeepers is completely astonishing and masterfully designed. We couldn’t help but stare around at the intricate designs straight out of a Las Vegas or Atlantic City style casino. Designed with one theme in mind, the casino displays earth, wind, water and fire throughout the entire complex.

Being the food lover that I am, we first embarked on one of the many dining establishments; Café 24/7. I was quite impressed! The service was great and the food was far better than we expected! The menu, catered to tastes of all kind, had something for everyone with an extra… flair… to each item.

So, on to the gambling portion of the evening… we aren’t big gamblers but definitely tested our hand at the machines! We played a few dollars and walked away a few dollars more than what we had started with. However, it was so excited walking around to see all the people playing live table games and the impressive variety of additional games.

My final conclusion: I’ll be back. Whether a gambler or not, it is quite the establishment offering entertainment and dining for all. Just to see the architecture and design is a reason to stop by!

I am spending the next few days on a Circle Michigan FAM tour on behalf of Battle Creek. The FAM tour, also known as a familiarization tour, is throughout Southern Michigan, and today is day one.

This has been a phenomenal trip so far! And I can't wait to tell you! First, we started at McCamly Plaza Hotel in Battle Creek. The staff was so friendly and they had a great reception room for us waiting until we could board our bus.

Once boarded, we met our driver, Dezzi - amazing guy! And, we headed out to the Kellogg Manor House. Kellogg Manor House, sits on Gull Lake and has such an amazing history. W.K. Kellogg used that as his summer home and it is absolutely incredible! The inctricate details, all the rook tile and the 400 year old tapestries that lined the wall would have anyone stunned! The House prepared lunch for us, and we sat overlooking Gull Lake; could not have asked for a better day with the temperatures in the 80's and the sun shining!

From there, we headed to Gilmore Car Museum. It doesn't matter if you know cars or not to be fascinated by this place. Set on a large piece of land, different barns house different period cars; there is everything from 1930's luxury cars, to race cars to miniature cars! It is outside, and with the sun beating down on us, it was getting roasty. So... we headed over to the diner and enjoyed some soft serve custard! It was definitly the perfect treat!

As the afternoon progressed, we went to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. Now, this was my first experience and I can say I was highly impressed. When you walk in, you walk through this hallway of clouds and it gives the illusion of walking into space, then, you enter a large room with a hand painted mural covering the wall! The planes placed throughout the room are so unique and have their own stories, but we didn't have much time to hear everything. My kids would love it! And, they are doing free general admission all summer. However, my favorite part, was when we sat in a movie-theatre like room, and had a 4-D experience... the story of the 'Kalamazoo Gal'; an aircraft in World War II. You felt your chair move, the screen jump out at you and even air blew at you! Quite the experience!

Then, to finish the evening we headed out to Marina Grand Resort in New Buffalo MI. It is beautiful! The rooms are very welcoming and, to my great pleasure, they had chocolate waiting to greet me... definitly a great start to the evening.

Come to find out, they rent out bikes for free as a compimentary service. So, of course, I had to test it out. They have the old-school bikes that don't have handle breaks (only back pedal breaks) and I rode out to Lake Michigan. The sky was the clearest of blues, the temperature was perfect and the sun was setting over the waters. Now, if you have never experienced a Lake Michigan sunset, it is definitly something you need to do. To finish off the evening, I enjoyed a glass of wine at the hotel's restaurant overlooking the harbor. I miss my kids, but today was quite the experience. I look forward to part 2 tomorrow!

Welcome to 2009! After the difficulities of 2008, everyone is surely anticipating, and hoping, for an upswing in the coming year! This New Year's Eve, my family and I went to some friends of ours. We enjoyed appetizers and games as the children played together. Staying up to midnight was quite the challenge for me, but I was glad to welcome 2009. Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over, it's time to look ahead of what to do to avoid the 'winter blues.' With money tight, and the temperatures bitter cold, there are still things to do in the area! Try glow bowling at Nottke's, or head over to Kingman Museum to see the all new planetarium. I would also suggest going to a Battle Creek Knight's game at the Kellogg Arena, or the Revolution Ice hockey team at the Rink! No need to stay in and suffer the blues, get out and about and enjoy these great ideas perfect for any budget!

It's been all over the news the past couple of days and it has people talking... the $85 million dollar downtown revitalization. This is so exciting! Because it is all over the news, no need for me to go into details on it. Just that, I can't wait to see what Downtown looks like ten years from now! Hopefully it will be live and vibrant with businesses and people!

Especially in this economy and to have a project of this magnitude in the plans for the near future, it is very promising. I would love to hear your opinions on this one...

The world moved around me so fast that all I could do was stare in amazement. Traveling through the ancient Roman ruins to following the Christmas Star, I was worlds away; yet still in Battle Creek.

Kingman Museum hosted an-invite only reception last week celebrating the new planetarium. During the event guests were invited to see sneak-peeks of the shows to come! And let me tell you, I was fascinated! I know it’s something my children will love and I cannot wait to take them to Mystery of the Christmas star! I myself am looking forward to seeing it!

To see for yourself be sure to catch one of the regularly scheduled shows and visit www.kingmanmuseum.org for more information.

This moring, as I sat and sipped my morning coffee, I continue with my daily routine. This begins with skimming the news and, today, I was quite excited when I noticed an article about the new Kingman Museum Planetarium. According to the Battle Creek Enquirer, the museum recieved grants for a new "Digistar 3 SP2HD high-defintiion planetarium system with dual speakers and full dome projection." So do you know what this means?

This means looking into the sky and seeing billions of stars at any time of the day! What a great thing to take my kids to! Please note, the article said that the planetarium won't be open until the Spooky Science Fair on October 25. However, be sure to plan to attend! I, for one, am looking forward to it myself.

This proves good reason for me to continue on the daily news...