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Dates that will knock your pants off

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Minnesota Renaissance Festival

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s TakeFire Show

Jason and I love going out to the Minnesota Renn Fest and the family likes going out there as well. We took the kids and a friend and his son there one weekend. We wanted to have the kids see a few shows that you can only see there. Anything with fire is always going to be a hit! We also watched a belly dancing show and the kids got to enjoy music and food that is different from your everyday life. Also our kids love to watch the joust: horses, armor, and sword fighting….what’s not to love about it!?!?

A few weeks later Jason and I went out there, just the two of us.  I was so happy to wear my red leather(editor’s note: sexy!) that we bought there about 10 years ago. It’s a place were leather is encouraged, and I must admit I like to wear leather. Shopping in all the shops is always fun there, whether its spending money or just window shopping. I got some jewelry and some more leather, a leather pouch this time, not clothes, and Jason got some weapons! I must admit that he will look super sexy if he learns to use them right, guys who know how to use swords and axes are always hot! Oh, and I tried alligator for the first time! Pretty good too!

I always give this place 5 out of 5 pants off!!!!!

Jason’s Take

Chocolate Covered BananaRenn Fest is awesome, though this is the first year we’ve gone three different time.

The first time, we brought the kids, because belly and fire dancers are an important part of growing up.

The other two times, we had Punk #1 watch Punks 2 & 3 so we could have some adult time.

Not like that, get your mind out of the gutter.  Mostly.

The show are good.  We caught a fire show, a belly dancing show, several juggling acts, and a few others.  If there’s a show that can happen in a 1500s world, you can see it out there and have a good time doing so.

Most of the food is nothing spectacular.  It’s a lot of easy-to-serve fried stuff.  I love the chicken wild rice breadbowl soup, while Linda totally dug the frozen chocolate covered banana.  Eating that while wearing red, low-cut leather is a sure way to get attention.  The gyros and gator are good.  The bloomin’ onion is not.  The gelato is worth eating.

If you’re into kink, there are straps, collars, cuffs, and blindfolds galore.   If you’re into steampunk or random anachronistic costumes, you’re set.  If you like old-looking weapons or decorations, you can scratch that itch. If you dig watching women walk around in clothes they’d be too embarrassed to leave the house in any other time of the year, you’ll leave happy.   There’s a lot of leather, lace, and silk at Renn Fest, both in the stores and on the visitors.

I give it 5 out of 5 pants off.

Total Score

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Filed Under: Kid Activities, Minnesota, Shakopee, Things To Do Tagged With: anachronistic stuff, fun stuff, kid stuff

Forever Yogurt

By Jason Leave a Comment

Jason’s TakeToppings

A few nights ago, Linda had to work, and I had to come up with something to entertain the kids.

My solution: frozen yogurt from Forever Yogurt in the West End development.   They’ve got 16 flavors of frozen yogurt, 50 different toppings to put on them to make the frozen yogurt as far from a healthy alternative to ice cream as possible, and they are immediately next to the most deserted part of the parking ramp complex over there.

They charge about 60 cents an ounce, so it stays affordable.  It cost $23 to take three kids out, and they all love being able to get exactly what they want.

I strongly recommend limiting them to 3 or four toppings, or young brats will turn it into a horribly, sugary abomination that even they won’t eat.

Been there, done that.

I give it 4 out of 5 pants off.

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Filed Under: Kid Activities, Restaurants, St Louis Park Tagged With: frozen yogurt, kid stuff

Minnehaha Park

By Jason Leave a Comment

Minnehaha Falls

Linda’s Take

We needed something to do for a Sunday afternoon, but money can be tight with a family of 5. Jason came up with the idea of going to Minnehaha Falls because our younger kids had never seen it.

Other than a bit of whining about how far we had to walk to the falls from my parking spot the kids. That the falls were really wonderful to watch and they were amazed at what they saw.

We all did a bit of hiking along the river and the kids were asking many questions, we even got a smile out of her teenage son. I think we hiked a total of 3 miles that day, and with all the beauty of the river, I don’t think I even heard one complaint.

My review is that if you want a great place to picnic,  or enjoy a walk with the family, friends, or a special someone,  this is the place to go. But parking can be a pain.

I give it 4 out of 5 pants off.

Jason’s Take

Lately, we’ve been trying to take the brats out to do something active on the weekends.  A couple of weeks ago, we decided the thing to do was go hiking around Minnehaha Falls.  You get to see the falls, then you have an option to hike 5-ish miles up one side of the river and down the other.   The trails are pretty easy, and there are six (I think) bridges to give you a chance to turn back and walk up a different trail.

It’s nice, it’s close, and it makes me want to pose Linda in sexy outfits on some of the nice stone bridges, just to take photos I can’t post on Facebook.

It’s a good time and definitely worth doing.   If you drive past the main parking lot and don’t mind a short walk, there’s a small parking lot that’s usually pretty empty by the lock and dam.

I give it 3 out of 5 pants off.

Total Rating

3.5 Pants Off

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Filed Under: Kid Activities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Things To Do Tagged With: hiking, outdoors, park

French Regional Park

By Jason Leave a Comment

French Regional Park

Linda’s Take

Needed the kiddos to get out of the house and get some exercise, not to mention Jason and I could use some more too. We ended up having an extra kid with us, so we wanted to go somewhere close. 

We decided to head to Clifton E. French Regional Park, there is plenty of parking and a great playground for the kids. 

We told the kids that we were gonna skip the playground and get some good hiking in. The trails are well maintained and it was nice to walk on the grass instead of something paved. Not as much to look at but plenty of shade on the trails to help cool you down. 

After a 2.5 mile hike we surprised the kids by letting them splash around in the lake. The beach was nice and clean and the picnic area looks fun.

I laid out on the beach and got to sun bath, my first time wearing a bikini in public. I think I surprised myself doing that! The kids loved splashing in the water, it was very shallow and great for them to cool off. Plus there was ice cream that you could buy, always a plus. 

My review is 5 out of 5 pants off for a great family place to go!

Jason’s TakeSuntan and cowboy boots

Keeping with the idea of making the brats leave the house on the weekends, we went out French Regional Park last weekend.   There are 10-ish miles of trails, plus a small, shallow swimming beach, and boat rentals.  Linda and I have rented a kayak in the past, but we didn’t do that this time.

We hiked a couple of miles, then headed to the beach.  The end of the swimming are is only chest high on the girls, so it was nice to sit down and read a book while they pretended to swim.  Linda took the opportunity to get some sun.  The trails are mostly undeveloped, but have solar-powered streetlights in places, so late hiking is also a possibility.

I give it 3 pants off.

Total Rating

4 Pants Off

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Filed Under: Kid Activities, Plymouth, Things To Do Tagged With: hiking, outdoors, park

The CSI Experience – Mall of America

By Jason Leave a Comment

AutopsyLinda’s Take

So this time I thought that we would try something that was only going to be around for a short time and noticed at MOA they had a CSI hands-on experience going on.

So Jason and I tried it.

I thought the price was ok for doing some science crime stuff, we went in and the tutorial at the beginning said to note everything from the crime seen down, so we both took a lot of notes. Then you go to process the evidence, you don’t process anything. Basically you read through everything and choose the best answer. Anyone with common sense can get the right answers.

In all it was fun, but I feel that the whole thing is geared around someone for the ages of 10 to 15. I wouldn’t spend the money to do it again, however if my 14 year old would like to go, I would bring him.

I give it a 3 out of 5 pants off.

Jason’s Take

Linda’s too generous.   It doesn’t require common sense to get the right answers.  If you can read the plaques on the wall in the “lab”, you can get it right.

I was hopeful.  It was such a fun concept, but it was geared to 8 year olds who want to pretend they are in Mommy’s favorite show, not adults.  There’s no puzzle to solve.  One of the “labs” involved pushing eight different buttons until you found the one that didn’t turn on a white light.  Ooh, orange!  I win!

Sad, but I’d take our kids to it and they’d have fun.

2 pants off

Total Rating

2.5 Pants Off

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Filed Under: Bloomington, Kid Activities, Things To Do Tagged With: fun stuff, mall of america

Yoga With Cher

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s TakeYoga with Cher

Jason had a new idea to have us try a yoga class. I thought this was kinda odd coming from my man. But even know I was shocked at his suggestion, I told him that I know of someone who teaches yoga classes and I would contact her to get more information.

Turns out she is someone who graduated from my school, same class year. And her daughter and our youngest girl were in the same class last school year.

So she offers a beginner yoga class on Sundays starting at 12:30pm for only $12.00 dollars, and also she offers a kids yoga class starting at noon for only $8.00 dollars per child.

I thought wow, something new for the whole family to try. However our teenage son didn’t want to go. No matter how much we tried, yoga isn’t as cool as computer games. She teaches her classes at The Iron Gym in St Louis Park. They have pretty much a full working gym, but none of the high power technology machines. However it’s quiet and that makes it perfect for yoga, because as I found out it’s about a lot of breathing.

I never thought that holding positions and stretches while breathing would make you so sweaty. It’s a workout!

I think we are going to go again, also our girls liked it as well and want to come again too. And we found out that our neighbor would like to check it out!

This is an idea for the whole family to do.
I give it 4 out of 5 pants off!

Jason’s Take

I recently read The First 20 Hours. It’s a book about learning the basics of any skill in…wait for it…20 hours. One of the skills the author documented was yoga. Before reading the book, I’d never given yoga any thought. I’d always mentally dropped into the “chick stuff” category and forgotten about it.

I read the book, and decided to give yoga a shot.   I mentioned it to Linda and she said she had a friend who taught.   A dozen Facebook messages later, we were signed up and ready to go.

The class is at a gym in a warehouse space on the border of St. Louis Park and Hopkins.   It was hot yoga that day, but only because it was almost 100 degrees outside and we were in a warehouse space.

We brought the girls for the kids yoga class immediately before the adult class.  They liked in, but our youngest thought it was too hot and the wait for the adult class was too long.  I told her to bring a book next time.

Thing I didn’t realize about yoga:  It’s a workout.  I always pictured it as the thing soccer mommies did instead of something.   I was wrong.  It’s a solid workout that includes strength and flexibility training.  Who doesn’t want to be more flexible?  Sex swings are always more fun with high-end acrobatics, right?

Totally worth doing.  I give it 4 out of 5 pants off.

Total Score

4 out of 5 Pants Off

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Filed Under: Hopkins, Kid Activities, Minnesota, St Louis Park, States, Things To Do Tagged With: exercise, yoga

Hope Rides Harvest Day

By Jason Leave a Comment

Linda’s TakeHope Rides

There is a wonderful non profit organization that a great woman runs. She doesn’t do it alone; she has great friends to help. My cousin introduced me to her. Her name is Vollie and the organization that she runs is called Hope Rides.  She runs this place in Mayer, MN. It allows children that have trouble opening up, have been scared and need someone to trust, have had abuse in their lives, or love being around horses and just get the chance to work and be with horses for free.

A few times a year Vollie throws  fundraiser events that are completely geared towards kids and family. I asked Jason if he minded having the whole family go out there to get some fresh air and to have some fun. To my delight, he said yes, and everyone did have fun!

Our son got to learn how to juggle; Jason was also working on this.  Our two girls loved the amusement park games and they got like a million suckers as prizes. They also had tables where they had face painting, caricatures, henna tattoos, and someone teaching kids how to draw horses.  All of the activities were free and super fun for kids and adults!

There was also food, a silent auction, and Hope Rides merchandise to buy, with all proceeds going to Hope Rides.

Nothing is more rewarding then seeing all of the smiles on my kids faces, and to see Jason with a smile on his face when he is with his family. I wish I saw more of it!

I give this event 5 out of 5 pants off!

Jason’s Take

When Linda asked me to go to the Hope Rides Harvest Day fundraiser, I was less than thrilled.  As much as I support her obsession interest in horses, I don’t share it.  But family time is important, so off we went.

We walked in, and the first thing we saw was the driveway roped off and a juggling team teaching people to juggle.  I’ve been trying to learn lately, so I dragged Brat #1 over there and we gave it a shot.  I got bored of dropping the balls within about 15 minutes, but he stuck around for over an hour.  He’s not great, but he’s actually juggling, now.

They had henna tattoos, face painting, a little carnival, horse rides, and a bunch of other stuff going on.  We all had fun and threw some money at the charity.  It was a good time for a good cause, and we’ll be back.

The horse racing was the best.

5 out of 5 stars.

Total Score: 5 out or 5 stars.

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Filed Under: Kid Activities, Mayer, Minnesota Tagged With: carnival, charity, face painting, horse, juggling

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