Swan Soirée

The Trumpeter Swan Society hosted a "swan soirée" at Walnut Woods State Park in West Des Moines today.  They promised hands-on activities, crafts, hot dogs, and presentations from the county. It sounded promising, so we had to go check it out!

The first thing I noticed was how beautiful the woods are. We've been in Des Moines for almost two years now, and I never knew there was such a great state park this close to us. I made a mental note to check it out for camping later this year. Here's a link to more information on the park and campground.

When we arrived at the lodge, the parking lot was full. We continued on and found a spot in a tiny lot about a block down. We happened to park next to a man who was taking a trumpeter swan out of a crate. We got to meet and pet the swan! Notice its black beak.

We hiked the short distance to the lodge, which looked modern from the exterior. I was surprised (pleasantly so) on how "natural" and rustic it really was. There was an outdoor shelter attached with a fire burning in the outdoor fireplace (free firewood). Considering we were having an unseasonably warm day, about 50 degrees, it felt good to stand out there by the fire. Inside was packed! There were a few families there with kids, and the rest of the audience was older. We migrated to the craft table, where the kids got to create their own swans out of pipe cleaners, pine cones, and feathers.

                                                  

I got to hear a little of the presentation on the trumpeter swans. The director of the Trumpeter Swan Society explained how our grandparents and great-grandparents never got to see a trumpeter swan because they were so close to extinction. 

In the United States, there were fewer than 70 left earlier in the 20th century. Thanks to an Alaskan population of trumpeter swans, there has been a huge effort to re-introduce the animals to more of their native habitat. Iowa is currently the only state that has had trumpeter swan sightings in all parts of the state. Here's a map from Wikipedia that shows their current range: 

                   

After the kids finished their craft, we decided to take them outside to eat their hot dogs. I didn't expect them to sit through the presentations very well. They enjoyed the fire and the food, and then we hiked over to the nearby playground. My friend just so happened to be at the event, too, so we got to hang out while the kids ran around and played in the good weather.

The day's events didn't end there. A bald eagle flew overhead! Sorry for being a poor photographer, but I was actually so quick with my camera! This isn't the first time I got to see one in the area. When Jo and I were driving through Raccoon River Park one day, we saw bald eagles soaring over the water there.

In just a couple weeks, Des Moines Parks & Rec will be hosting "Bald Eagle Day." Attendees will have a chance to view bald eagles, and there will be activities for kids there as well. As long as the weather isn't bitterly cold, we plan on checking that event out, too. The details for that can be found on their Facebook event page here.

"Halloween on the Hill"

Here in Des Moines, trick-or-treating is done the day before Halloween on Beggar's Night. Kids go around, tell jokes, and get candy on the 30th! When we moved here last year, we did Beggar's Night and then looked for something to do on Halloween night. We read about a free event in Sherman Hill called "Halloween on the Hill."

Sherman Hill is the oldest neighborhood in Des Moines. People who live in the neighborhood opt to decorate their houses for this event, and some really go all out! There are also people dressed up as monsters who wander the streets.

You start out near Smokey Row at 19th & Crocker/Cottage Grove. They collect canned goods out front of the "Kathedral," or the international church, and, in exchange, they give drivers and walkers a map that marks the decorated houses, the monsters, and the Thriller dance that takes place every 15 minutes.

Here are the kids looking out at the "cemetery" where the zombies do the Thriller dance:

I took a video of some of it, but it's pretty dark. They did an amazing job, though! Oliver started dancing along as he watched.

                     

We had a great time! We saw Frankenstein and his monster again this year. Last year, we got out of the car and got "scared" by Frankenstein. This year, we drove by slowly in the car with the windows rolled down, and he reached in at Oliver. It was so much fun! He was just a little scared, but later he said it was the best part. He's already making plans for his own Frankenstein costume to wear next year.

Here are a few other photos of the decorated houses:

We really love this event. I love that the neighbors put it on themselves and that it's free for us to enjoy. I think we'll be going for many years to come!

Des Moines Mini Maker Faire

We spent Labor Day at the Science Center, checking out the Mini Maker Faire! The outdoor area was free, where people could get food from the food trucks and let their kids splash around. To go inside to check out the fair, we had to pay admission to the Science Center. For two kids and two adults, it was $40 (ouch!).

The first thing we found was a LEGO car building area near the high school robotics teams.We let Oliver play for a while but then reminded him he could play LEGOs at home any time.

Most of the booths would be interesting to adults, as they were showing 3D printers and other gadgets, but it wasn't especially interesting to the kids. Until we found R2D2, that is.

Oliver got to design a project out of wood. This was a regular thing offered by the science center. Oliver loved the chance to use the tools, but the wait was really long (at least 30 minutes).

While Oliver waited to use the "wood shop," Jo and I checked out other displays at the fair. There were adults blowing up balloons and twisting them together, trying to create a stable structure (at least, I'm pretty sure that's what they were trying to do). They had some discarded balloon pieces off the corner, and I noticed a little kid was playing. No one seemed to mind, so I took Jo over. Before I knew what happened, dozens of kids had found the balloons and the station turned into a party place for the kids. They had a blast! I'm certain this was not supposed to be the activity at the station, but it was fun.

We found a drone demo sign and thought of Grandpa Paul.

Jo's an environmental superhero!

While the fair was kind of neat, there just wasn't much for little kids, so we ended up ditching the downstairs fair to go explore the more kid-friendly areas upstairs. Andrew and Oliver found us up there, and the kids had a really, really good time. They got to play with balls, design LEGO cars to race, design a contraption to drop an egg without breaking it, design a LEGO city, and, of course, play with the ball wall.

While the maker fair was a cool idea, it's definitely more for teenagers and adults. I'd take the kids again when they're older, but, for now, we'll probably just stick to going on their special $5 days.

Des Moines Art Festival - 2015

                       

At the end of June every year, Des Moines hosts a free art festival in the area surrounding the sculpture park downtown. It's an award-winning festival that actually won "best festival in the world" for its budget category last year from the International Festivals & Events Association.

Nationwide opens up its parking garage for free parking, and we also saw dozens of people riding their bicycles to and from the festival. When we arrived, the first thing we saw were the volunteers working to build a Habitat for Humanity house, which will later be transported to its permanent location

We were right by all of the food booths and tents, and Andrew and I hadn't had lunch yet, so we got some vegetarian noodles. We walked a little bit and found kids playing in the "creek" that runs through part of downtown, so we let the kids splash in there while we ate our noodles.

The kids got to color at the Habitat for Humanity tent, and Andrew got them each a dish of ice cream.

After that, we found an interactive art exhibit. The kids got to drizzle paint on a giant bird sculpture that will be finished and hung at the airport later. They worked for a good while on it! After that, they painted 2D birds. Their goal is to get 2,000 painted birds to also hang at the airport with the sculpture.

Oliver & Jo's birds:

When the kids finished their hands-on projects, we let them run around the sculpture park. They enjoyed running up and rolling down the hills and, of course, checking out the sculptures.

We were only there about an hour and a half, but we got to see and do so much! There was a lot we didn't do, too, like the free shuttle tour of public art, listening to live music, and doing some art browsing/shopping. It would be easy to spend all day there, but that's not exactly practical with little kids. They had a great time with everything we chose to do. Our total cost for the day was $16: $8 for the noodles and $8 for two cups of ice cream.