Wow, it has been a while since I have sat at the computer! I have been on quite the "writing hiatus" for the past few months! So much has been going on, but I am back and ready to share exciting adventures and experiences.

I woke up this morning to the window open, the birds chirping, and 60 degrees at 6:00 a.m. Oh how I love Michigan. It may be the first day of spring break for my kids, but that does not mean that I get to sleep in.

In the past, spring break has been cold and rainy... however, today is 80 and sunny! Easter is this weekend so there are a variety of things on our crazy schedule that we will be doing. However, the challenge comes next week. Next week when I am ready to send the kids back to school and they are ready to get out of the house and DO something.

I came across Kingman Museum's previews for their new planetarium shows and I cannot wait to take my kids... because I can't wait to see them myself! The first one, the Future is Wild, is imagining what the world will look like in millions of years to come! It's quite interesting! The second one, Violent Universe, looks to be another great show! Check them out!

Also, for a complete list of things going on during spring break this week, be sure to check out Battle Creek/Calhoun County events!

Fall is here and Halloween is only days away! There are so many things going on and so much to do on the ‘to-do’ list. Already completed? The great pumpkin ‘search and carve’. Sunday provided a beautiful fall afternoon so we loaded the family and headed to pick our pumkins.

The search for the perfect pumpkin ensued, and once discovered, we went home to carve them By the time piles and piles of newspapers were covered in pumpkin guts and the seeds were baking in the oven, we had the pumpkins lit to show our dazzling creative abilities.

As for a costume… that is still in the works. I only have a few days left and need to work on my creativity; especially if I join the walk on Wednesday. If you haven’t heard, Wednesday, from 1130 am to 100 pm, the 5th Annual Downtown Halloween Walk will be taking place along Michigan Avenue. I’ll have to take photos!

So, besides my costume, I believe we are all set and ready for this weekend. I could always decorate my house a little creepier….

Have a safe and happy Halloween!!

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.

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!

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.