Hands on History

The State Historical Museum of Iowa is located at 600 E Locust in Des Moines. There's plenty of street parking, including some of the silver-topped meters that accept credit cards. There's also a parking garage behind the building, opposite of the main entrance, on E Grand, but I've never had a problem finding street parking right by the museum entrance.

It's free to visit the museum. Be sure to sign in at the front desk! They keep a log that tallies the number of visitors to the museum each day.

At the entrance, my kids like to check out the woolly mammoth display. Then, we head on upstairs to the second floor for the "Hands on History" play area. This area also has exhibits to check out, like covered wagons that showed what life was like for pioneers moving westward.

"Hands on History" is only open to families with children. It's not open to day care groups, which means it's generally a quiet experience. When we've been there, there have sometimes been no other visitors in the section. Other times, there are 1 or 2 other families. I think it's a great option for kids who are young and/or quiet who don't enjoy the loud ruckus that comes with indoor play areas at malls and community centers.

When you walk in, the first things you see are a large train table, a tractor, and a giant LEGO model of Des Moines's only skyscraper (so far...), 801 Grand. You'll also find a play kitchen with toy food, a play ironing and clothes washing station, and an imprint table to make crayon rubbings.

To save their resources, they ask that each child only use 1 piece of paper for the crayon rubbings. If you think your child will enjoy the project, you might consider bringing a few pieces of computer paper with you.

   

Sometimes, we've stayed for lunch. Upstairs, there's a nice restaurant called Cafe Barattas that has an outdoor, rooftop patio. They're open from 11am-2pm on weekdays, and they have live music on Fridays. I took a video clip from one of our experiences there on a Friday afternoon. This was from May of 2016:

   



 

Rotary Riverwalk Park and the Robert D Ray Asian Gardens

If you're looking for a chance to take in some nice views and let the kids get a chance to play, go check out the new Rotary Riverwalk Park! It's a little tricky to get at it from the west side (especially when it rains, like today, and they have some of the roads blocked off from flooding). Instead, head over to the Robert D Ray Asian Gardens on the east side of the river, which is located right by the Des Moines Botanical Gardens. It's beautiful and free to walk through. From there, the pedestrian bridge crosses over the river and ends at Rotary Riverwalk Park.

Prospect Park

My parents came into town for a quick trip this weekend. They arrived Friday evening and left already on Sunday morning. It was really nice to see them and, of course, show them the house!

My mom and I wanted to take the kids to an egg hunt at Union Park. Time got away from us, and by the time we got the kids dressed and ready, we were really cutting it close to get to the hunt on time. We drove by the park without seeing it, so we decided just to give up on the idea and take the kids to another park to play.

We went to Prospect Park, which is right off of the Des Moines River. It's nicely forested, and a busy trail runs through the park, on the opposite side of the river from the playground. I really want to go back when everything's green!

There was a crew team or something in the water. It was a beautiful day for it.

The park is lovely, and I could see taking the family there for picnics. The only downside was the trash. It was overflowing from the trash cans, and some people had set their bags of trash around the pavilions and stuff. I guess park clean-up hasn't started yet for the season, but it really needed it.

Earth Day at the Junction

No, it's not really Earth Day, but there was a free Earth Day event called "Earth Day at the Junction" today anyway. It was in Valley Junction, a few miles from our house.

Valley Junction is this cute little area of West Des Moines with funky, unique street shops that sell everything from fudge to costumes. The kids and I have been to Green Grounds Cafe with the Des Moines MOMS Club group. It appears to be just this tiny little coffee house that serves mostly natural & organic products (and fair trade coffee). When you walk back for seating, the place really opens up. It's huge! There's even a stage for events, and a little play area with toys for kids.

When we arrived in Valley Junction, we couldn't find the event. I'd just assumed it was on the street. As I drove down 5th Street, we finally spotted a single tent with bird handlers and owls. We pulled in by the tent and went to check out the owls. We saw a lot of people walking out of the nearby community center, so we decided to pop in there. That's where many of the Earth Day at the Junction vendors were!

At the very first station, Oliver got to make a bug puppet. The volunteers helped cut pieces and staple everything together, but Oliver got to make the eyes and decorate. 

I talked with a woman about home efficiency stuff, and Andrew went to check out some herbs. He got us a self-watering basil plant. Oliver got to make a guerrilla gardening seed bomb. He flattened out some earthen clay, filled it with compost and native seeds, and then they helped him roll it up into a ball. When it dries, it becomes fairly brittle. They told us that people take these and throw them on the ground near old, abandoned industrial sites. The idea is that the native grasses will start to grow there again.

When we finished up at the community center, we were directed to Green Grounds Cafe down the street. Apparently, there were more booths set up there. We walked in and spotted a fisheries station. He talked a bit about clean runoff water, and Oliver got to make a picture of a trout. They had a 3D trout, and Oliver spread paint on it, placed a piece of paper over it, and rubbed it to get the image of the fish on his paper. Jo was so excited about it, so she made a trout painting, too.

I enjoyed the Sierra Club booth. They gave me information on local parks, and they also told me about the weekly hikes they take starting in the spring (more information here). Both ladies at the booth insisted it's OK to bring little kids along on the hikes, so I think we're going to check it out one week soon! They also have a kite flying day on April 19, and I think that might be a big hit with our kiddos.

Our family had a great time at Earth Day at the Junction. It wasn't too grandiose, and the little activities were perfect for their age. In addition to what's pictured here, they also got a spin a wheel for a prize, and they got to plant marigolds in a cup to take home. It's no surprise that Jo liked planting with the dirt the best.

Jordan Creek Mall Play Area

My sister met us at the play area at Jordan Creek Mall last week. The play area is on the lower level, just outside of Scheel's, and it was jumping! There were probably two dozen kids running around this popular play place.

They had a great time playing, so I went back with Andrew last weekend. It was about as busy, but there was more of a mix of big kids there. Although the cut-off says 42", there were many school-aged kids running and jumping around. Our kids still had fun, but they were knocked down a lot.

There were lots of creatures and critters to climb on. Our kids like the elephant the best.

There's also a train to climb on and slide down, as well as a few bigger slides in the center.

Here's Oliver, climbing on and through the log!

Here's Jo on and in the boat!

I love how much fun the kids have here, but I think the play area at the Valley West Mall might be a little less chaotic. Plus, we've never seen the one at Valley West get overrun with older kids.

South Karen Acres Park

It was another perfect almost-spring day on Friday. Temperatures reached 60, and there was a nice breeze. It's perfect park weather, so the kids and I set out to play at yet another local park! I looked for parks nearby on Google Maps and found one called South Karen Acres Park. It's just a little southeast of Walker-Johnston Park, where we'd played the day before.

This park is in the middle of a residential area, but it has some wide spaces for kids to run and play. There was also a little kid-sized basketball hoop, and there was a (currently empty) wading pool for the summer.

The playground was small, but the kids loved it. That is, they loved it until Oliver spotted...

...the ride-on, sand-digging crane!

That was when he went crazy for the park! We used to play with those all the time when we were kids, but I think they mostly disappeared when sand parks were replaced with wood chips and gravel. Oliver took to the crane immediately and dug and dug and dug.

Here's a video of him working so hard:
                      

Jo just loves to be outside and play. She has no fear on the play equipment and was content to just keep climbing & sliding.

I had to keep telling her that this climbing wall was for going down and not up. She seriously kept trying to go off the edge there.

Wee!

Digging in the sand:

There was also one of those merry-go-rounds that they used to have at parks when we were kids!

And, again, we spotted a trail running through the park. A few cyclists went by as we played. I checked the map. Apparently, this trail does a big U and can take you back to Walker-Johnston Park, where we played yesterday. About halfway along that trail is a main trail that you can follow south all the way into Des Moines and the parks there.

Photos of the kids playing with some trees and planting magic beans for a beanstalk:

I'm really looking forward to seeing these parks and trails when everything is green. Just a few more weeks!