50% of Memebership sale at the Alligator Sanctary!!

As some of you know by now, we here at MAD love going to Critchlow's Alligator Sanctuary. It is one of those hidden gems of mid-Michigan. If you live in mid-Michigan I have the best deal ever for you! Mr C. (who owns Critchlow's) is offering 50% of all their memberships till the end of November. That means you can get a 1 year family membership for just $25!!!!

Not only do they have alligators, but they have so much more. And you can get hands on with many of the animals (including the alligators.)  And trust me, this is the type of place your kids will ask to go to again and again.You can even get your membership over the phone! How easy is that!!! Check out their website.

Go down under......no not Australia!

Through out time there has always been something magical and mysterious about caves. I personally LOVE going in caves and have been in quite a few all over the country. I don't know what it is about caves, the beautiful formations, the wildlife, the adventure, but something draws me underground time and time again.

On a vacation to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan a few years back, we had a chance to take our son underground for the first time at the Iron Mountain Iron Mine. We suited up and road the mine train down. We toured the mine and got to see some bats! We had such a wonderful time and since then my son wants to go underground again. Sadly there are not many natural caves to visit in Michigan. And money is too tight to travel to say Mammoth Cave in Kentucky or Carlsbad Cavern in New Mexico. So how do I keep this burning interest alive in him?

 

Well thanks to the USGS web site I can not only keep his interest alive, but take it further then before. This site is jamed packed with all sorts of wonderful nuggets of information, mounds of entertainment, and vast chambers of activities. Okay, I'll stop with the attempt at cave humor. But honestly, this site offers more then you can dream of! It has everything you would want and need to teach a child all about caves. Check it out!

 

 

 

Now why would we go to a pumpkin patch and NOT get a pumpkin?

Recently we made the trip to the “pumpkin patch” at Gull Meadow Farms. We didn’t go for pumpkins, oh no, we went for the fun. We had been last year and our oldest had been asking to go again. Now normally we couldn’t afford the prices for the whole family to go do all the activities they offer, but we of course found a deal, so off we went.

Now they offer pumpkins for sale, but no, my son blew right by them. When I asked if he wanted to go on a wagon ride, he firmly said “no thank you.” When I suggested we visit the animals, again it was no. So what was it we were there for? Pumpkin Lane! A magical wonderland of activities that my son just HAD to do.

He did the zip line (a FEW times), he bounced his brain out, and he went down the "apple chute" slide. He navigated the obstacle course and he tried a maze (which I had to go in and get him out because he was hopelessly stuck, as were most of the adults.)

But the real reason he wanted to go, his mission for being there, were the duck races. I don't know what about it brings him such joy or how he could stand there so long doing it, but he LOVED it. All it is, is a hand pump that shoots water into a trough and the ducks ride the water to the other end. The kid at the other end transfers them to their trough, pumps water, and sends them back. That's it, but the kids all love doing it!

 

He begged me to build him one at home and you know what, it doesn't look that hard to make, and it would keep him busy for hours, but sadly I don't have a hand pump or know where to get one cheap. Hmmm, I think I know what I am going to be hunting for this winter! 

 

 

Camping and Halloween

We here at MAD Family Fun love, LOVE, love Halloween! For us it is not just one night of dressing up and getting candy. In fact we don’t just decorate our house, we take Halloween with us camping! Every year at a nearby state park they have a “harvest” aka Halloween weekend and we wouldn’t miss it for the world. People decorate their campsites. Some people do amazing displays. Sadly this year it rained most of the weekend. We decorated in the down pour anyway!

 We even did up our picnic table under our awning with a few of the crafts we have featured here on MAD Family Fun, like our Mummy Jars. The flowers with the skull added a touch of color to the rather gray weather. And of course we needed a steady stream of sugar from the candy cauldron to keep us running.

 

Sure we COULD have been moody and gloomy like the weather. We could have had a miserable time, but my belief is that things are only as fun as you make them. We decided to make our trip as fun as we could, so through the drizzle (and at times the downpour) we laughed and had a good time. We carved pumpkins we had brought with us, joined in the activities and when it was time for trick or treating, the rain finally stopped!!!

So why am I sharing all this with you? Well first to show you that you can have fun anywhere, you just have to have the right mindset. Secondly, checkout you local state parks for fun events, like this one! And last, to inspire you to go out and have fun! For us, rain or shine, our Halloween camping trip has become a tradition and year after year has and will provide wonderful memories for our children.

 

 

 

 

Unforgettable Family Vacations

Planning for next summer can not come soon enough!!!

 

When you think back to your childhood, is there one summer that stands out in your mind? Why not give your family that kind of summer! I am going to tell you about my special secret hid-a-way and how you can find your own! 

A few years ago we wanted to rent a cabin on a lake for a week. Pricey, right? WRONG. I found this awesome site called Vacation Rentals by Owner. I looked all across our state and found a beautiful 2 bedroom cottage on Lake Michigan for less then $500 for a WEEK. Now think about it, a week at a hotel on Lake Michigan would run well over $1000. Plus who wants to stay at the hotel all day?

I can not say enough about the wonderful cabin, the owners, or the adventures we had that week. It is my “happy place.” Now, not all listings are equal, so you will have to hunt around. Our cabin included EVERYTHING except our food and clothes. There was wood for fires, games and books, even a welcome basket with the owner’s wife’s home made jams!! They were pet friendly and our dog had the time of his life! So get looking and see what you can find.

Here are some photos of our unforgettable family vacation…..

Our home away from home.....




Love the view

All the comforts of home

Memories in the making

Loving nature

Our grand adventures.......

The most amazing zoo ever, the DeYoung Family Zoo. They were recently on NatGeo with a show called "My Life is a Zoo." We visited before Bud and Carrie became celebs! LOL They are the nicest people ever and Bud even offered to let David ride on his cart to go feed animals. I can honestly say, I have never seen such active and happy animals anywhere!



Feeding time

Happy animals, happy kid!



Bears LOVE bellies!

Going into an iron mine in Iron Mountain, MI. We got to ride down into the mine and then explore. Our son loved he little "train" ride down. They took us around and explained the mining process. It was an interesting outing and a memory my son still holds dear.



Fossils

Peninsula Point lighthouse, no longer in operation, is open to climb. It is also a main migration point for Monarch Butterflies in August and September. The little cliff around it are full of fossils. A neat place to visit and picnic.




Fayette Historic Townsite was amazing! There was so much to see and do. The town made pig iron in the mid 1880's and much of the town remains or has been reconstructed.

The cliffs around Fayette are breathtaking.

 

"Mom, can I bring it home?"

Children are notorious for wanting things, candy, toys, and in my son's case....bugs. He is always bring new "friends" home an asking if they can stay. I usually don't mind as long as their stay is only overnight.

On a day out a few weeks ago he found a catapillar he wanted to bring home. We placed it in a fast food cup for the hour drive home. Upon arrive we set the catapiller up in a "home" with leaves and such. The container was placed on a shelf and he forgot about it. I admit, I too had forgotten about it till one day our cat took great interest in the container. Our catpiller had turned into a butterfly!

 

I quickly placed a Q-tip soaked in sugar water in the container so our little friend could get something to eat. That afternoon when my son came home from school he was thrilled! We poured through our bug books trying to identify the little guy (or girl) and we learned it was a Buckeye butterfly. Again, as with most bugs, my son asked if it could stay. The weather was in his favor as it had turned very cold and the rain was intense for a few days.

 

When the rain finally broke and the sun peeked out, we decided it was a good time for the butterfly to go back to nature. We had an amazing time watching him before he left. We even got to see his tounge a few times! The joy and amazement my son showed for this winged friend reminded my why it is so very important to let children "bring it home" every once in a while!

 

 

Magical Migration, CraneFest Oct. 13 and 14

We live in a very small town (pop 1400) in Michigan. It is the type of place where neighbors know each other and kids can still be kids. At times it becomes a magical place to live as every spring and fall the Sand Hill Cranes migrate through out little piece of nature. It is not uncommon if you are outside to be over powered by the sound, in the early morning or near dusk, of thousands of these large birds calling. It is an amazing thing to see such a migration and I feel blessed our children witness this year after year.

Near the end of September each year, the tell tale call of these birds begins to appear. First only a few, often far off. But by mid October, when the weather begins to turn, the large Vs fill the sky and the echos of there calls are everywhere. These birds can be up to four foot tall and have a wing span up to seven feet!!! The fields around town become packed with majestic birds. It really is something to see.

And luckily for many avid bird watches they can see it, at the annual CraneFest held just outside of town at the Kiwanis Youth Area on 15 mile rd. But CraneFest isn't just for birders. They have all sorts of wonderful activities. Some of the attractions include artists with wears for sale, live birds of prey and other exotic critters, nature walks, hey rides and of course activities for the kids.






Admission if free however there is a cost of just $3 to park. So why not load up your car and check out what has become an annual event for our family.

 

 

Travel the world at a "specialty" supermarket

All children can have their picky eating stages but around here we try no to let them last too long. My husband is a "foodie" and thanks to him our children (and myself) are exposed to so many types of cuisine. We have Indian night and Noodle night on a regular bases. We have a one bite rule that even applies to my picky self. I try to set a good example.

So when my husband said he found an Asian market in a nearby city, I was game to go have a peek at the possibilities.So we loaded up the children and took a drive.

And what did we find? Isle after isle of wonder! We saw everything from dried fish and chicken feet to boxes of preserved duck eggs and durian! I had never seen durian in person.... only on television. What is durian you may ask. Well, the durian a fruit and is distinctive for its "unique" smell. The edible flesh has a distinctive odour, some say like that of rotten onions! The ones at this market were frozen to control the smell. The smell is so bad that in southeast Asia, the fruit is banned from certain hotels and public transportation!



Durian fruit

We had great fun trying to guess what some of the stuff was since some of the items lacked English. We did pick up a few things, including a can of Eel our oldest wanted to try. After one bite he decided it wasn't for him, but I was impressed he even wanted to try (and no I did NOT try it.... no way, not even for the one bite rule.) He was much more pleased with the various Asian candies he had also picked out!

My husband is now on the hunt for some great Asian recipes since we now know where we can get just about ANYTHING. Though I promise you, durian will not be on the menu! If you have any awesome recipes feel free to send them our way at madfamilyfun@gmail.com we would love to try them!

Pirate fun... Arghhhh!

I have boys, and around here that means pirates on a very regular bases! Here are a few of our past posts to help you get into the pirate mood.....

 

Pirate Day! This winter was filled with fun as we made an archer and used our coach as a boat! Of course we needed a hook and a spotting scope and a couple of parrots too. And don't forget a treasure hunt.

 

 

And every good pirate needs a ship! Why not make one out of ice!?!?

 

And don't miss out on the International Talk Like A Pirate Day page where they have stuff just for the Junior Pirate!

 

 

 

Outdoor fun, try something new!

Recently we attended a free Outdoor Family Fun Day put on by local conservation groups. Now let me just say, I personally do not hunt, but I have family members who have and do enjoy the sport of hunting. Being as our son is only six, his exposure to the whole hunting scene is limited. This was basically his first chance to get hands on with and learn about hunting and he had a blast! (even if you are not into hunting, activities like this can offer your children lots of fun and life skills too!)

Upon arriving our son made a beeline for the archery area. One of the gentlemen saw how excited he was and took his time to show our son how to properly hold and shoot a bow. It was great to see how much fun he was having and how proud of himself he was for learning a new skill.

Next up he wanted to try his hand at pheasant hunting. They explained hunter safety to the kids before they went on their "hunt." It was so cute to watch the children try to keep a shoulder to shoulder formation as they crossed the field. They would toss different colored Frisbees to represent male and female birds and the kids had to call out "hen" (no shoot) and "rooster" (shoot.) When a rooster was throw, four little wooden guns would go up!

 

He and I worked together to do some waterfowl identification and he got a duck call. Imagine 30 plus kids with duck calls....yes it was loud! They had a duck calling contest and again my son amazed me. He had NEVER used a duck call before and was up against kids with lots of experience. With five minutes to warm up he bravely stepped in front of a crowd of strangers and gave it his all! To top it all off, he won a pair of duck decoys!

 

Of course now that he has a duck call and some duck decoys he is trying to convince us he needs a duck dog (aka lab or retriever) too! Ummm, sorry son, no. I am so glad I spotted this free event in our local paper and took the time to check it out. Not only did we have a wonderful day in the great outdoors, but our son learned some new skills and gained confidence in himself.

 

What can you learn from our fun day? Try something new! You never know how much fun you will have if you don't. Try new things, learn new skills and along the way have fun with your family.

 

 

 

**This article can also be found on**

 

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's.......

Fall is a time when the sky is filled with migrating birds and falling leave. And at least around here last week, hot air balloons! A nearby city was hosting the World Hot Air Balloon Championship and our tiny town was in for a treat as they "invaded" one day for landing!

We had a blast watching them coming and as they began coming down, we followed one of the recovery teams......... (and this is why you should always have your camera with you!) Team Sweden was very nice and let us get up close.

Some times in life you go looking for fun and adventure and some times it finds you! We learned the next night there would be a Balloon Glow event (which was free) and so our balloon adventure was to continue......

We arrived before dusk and got the chance to see them roll out and set up the balloons. These were fiesta (not race) balloons and the pilots were handing out "baseball" type cards to all the kids. Since the baby had stayed home with dad, brother was nice enough to ask for cards for him too. Each card had a photo of the balloon on one side and the "stats" on the back.

Once the balloons were all set up and dusk hit, they started the "glow." As we walked around one pilot was nice enough to let kids climb in the basket and "light it up" for them.

I think the look on my son's face just about says it all! It was a magical experience that we would never have had if we hadn't kept our eyes open for fun and taken the time to embrace the moment and follow that recovery team! My son is already looking forward to the next time the World Hot Air Balloon Championship come this way (in another 10 years.)