Author: Jess

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WanderLog

Pizza, Date Night and San Fran

This Week on Instagram March 29 - April 4 2014

Travel Dates: March 29 – April 4, 2014

California has been blessed with quite a lot of rain this last week. Although it makes venturing out difficult, we are grateful many prayers have been answered for the needed moisture! We’ve had a great week hanging out with Sam’s family. A visit to the BEST pizza place in existence, trips to the city, grandma snuggles are just a few. I was sick at the beginning of the week so we didn’t get much done Monday or Tuesday, although somehow I managed to take the kids to the Children’s Museum where we played with clay and stop motion for over an hour.

We also earned the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park Junior Ranger Badge, ate ice cream at Ghiradelli Square, made some new Airstream friends, Sam got in a few work projects, and we visited Uncle Jake at the White Cap store he manages in the city.

Grandma invited the kids over for a sleepover, which allowed Sam and I to attend a session at the Oakland LDS temple, go out for a delicious Mediterranean dinner, and buy new shoes at REI!

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Florida National Parks

Fort Pickens – Gulf Island National Seashore – Florida

Fort Pickens Unit of Gulf Island National Seashore

We love old forts. The history, the architecture, the sheer size, all of it makes for a fascinating visit. Fort Picken is located in the Gulf Island National Seashore – a barrier island along the panhandle of Florida. The seashore also stretches into parts of Mississippi, although somehow skips Alabama? Still not sure about that.

When We Visited: December 2013

Ages of Kids: 8, 6, 3

Fort Pickens is the largest of 4 forts that once guarded the Pensacola Bay and the Navy Yard. It definitely seemed bigger than Fort McHenry, mostly because we could crawl through smaller places and explore more inside the walls of the fort. We started out by picking up our Jr. Ranger Books at the visitor center and then sat down on benches for the ranger tour. In the middle of the history of the fort, the ranger stops and points out this guy walking across the grounds:

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Armadillo! I was ridiculously excited. Sam had seen a few around camp, but I hadn’t had the privilege yet. These things are so awesome looking.

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Fort Pickens is built on a giant sandbar. Turns out, forts are rather heavy and they were worried about the whole thing sinking into oblivion. To help with the weight, under every arch, they also built a reverse arch to help distribute the weight from underneath the pillars. There were only a few excavated so we could see the result. Pretty impressive.

Fort Pickens Unit of Gulf Island National Seashore_008Fort Pickens played a critical role in the Civil War. The Fort was reinforced the day after Fort Sumter surrendered, preventing the Confederates from seizing control and using the nearby Navy Yard. At one point, the batteries on the fort even fired on nearby Forts Barrancas and McRee, the navy yard, and several independent batteries spread along the bay shore. Heavy damage caused the Confederates to withdraw.
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We also *finally* found our kids their Jr. Ranger Hats. We had promised them hats after their 5th Junior Ranger Badge, but that number came and went before we found a National Park Store that had them in stock. We finally came through on our promise. Total excitement ensued.

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Nothing makes history come alive like standing where it all happened. If you have not visited a historical site recently, consider this our friendly nudge to get out there!

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Airstream Accessories Homeschool Most Popular Posts

How To Get Free or Discounted Admission to Museums All Over the United States

How to Get Free or Discounted Admission to Museums All Over the US

One of our road schooling resources has been regular visits to children’s museums, zoos, and science centers. We get into most of these places for free or at a steep discount as a result of nation wide reciprocal programs. These reciprocal programs were an awesome find in our first few months of traveling. About a year and a half ago we bought a family season pass to our local Planetarium on a Groupon deal for $49. Best. Decision. Ever. Unknown to me at the time, the Clark Planetarium is a participant in the Association of Science and Technology Centers Passport Program (ASTC). Many science centers across the United States have opted to participate in this program and offer free admission to members. This is great for full-time travelers like us, because we tend to visit a lot of the cities where they are located.

In addition to science centers, the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM), and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) also have reciprocal programs. They tend to be 50% off admission instead of free, but any discount is better than none if you are going anyway. Since we are typically in a city only for a few days, we have opted to participate in the ASTC, and the AZA programs. There are a few Children’s Museums that are on the ASTC list as well (Houston and San Francisco to name two) so that works out for us. Plus, we just don’t have time to do EVERYTHING.

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North Carolina Museum of Life and Science, Durham

How It Works

1. Buy a membership at your local participating ASTC, ACM, or AZA Museum. Utah, or Salt Lake City, more specifically has 5 ASTC museums to choose from. Most bigger cities have only 1 or 2. We started out with the Clark Planetarium pass, and then when we came up for renewal, we chose Thanksgiving Point because we will be spending a couple of months in Utah this summer and its my favorite museum. We also have a pass to Hogle Zoo which is a member of the AZA reciprocal program (both passes, indecently, bought online and mailed to us as we were out of state).

2. Use the Program List to find other participating museums where you will be visiting. I tend to star these on our Google Map so I know its something I want to visit when we are in the area.

3. Bring your membership card and ID to the out-of-town museum for free admission. There are times I’ve forgotten my membership, but was able to call MY museum on the phone, hand the phone to the out-of-town museum employee and have them verify my member status.

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Jacksonville Zoo, Florida

A few of things to note: The program does NOT apply to museums within a 90 mile radius of home. This includes both the museum you have a membership to AND your home address. I had this genius idea to buy a membership outside of Utah so that I could visit ALL of the participating museums when we got home. Unfortunately that wouldn’t work as they’d check my ID and see that I actually lived there. So disappointing.

Free admission doesn’t generally include extra exhibits, IMAX shows, simulators, parking, or other expenses.

The BIG museums are generally not on the list. Indianapolis Children’s Museum, the San Diego Zoo, and the Monterrey Bay Aquarium are notable absent.

Science Centers , Children’s Museums, and Zoos are a fantastic way to entertain my kids for the day. Most of the time, we will spend anywhere from 2-6 hours exploring. To see a map and my thoughts on the ones we have visited, visit my Pinterest Map.

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Perot Museum of Nature and Science: Dallas, Texas

We love visiting places designed to teach and interest kids. Our kids love to set out and explore and find the hands-on exhibits. If you have kids and travel, having these passes will save a bundle!

Links:

Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) Travel Passport Program List
Association of Children’s Museum’s (ACM) Reciprocal Network
Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s (AZA) Reciprocal List

Categories
Faith

LDS General Conference

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In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we have a bi-annual, world-wide General Conference. Broadcast from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, the messages of those asked to speak are sent across television, internet, and radio to members of the Church as well as anyone who would like to listen. Uplifting messages about families, faith, hope, Jesus Christ and other topics are spoken about in 8 different sessions across two different weekends.

As a younger child and teenager, Conference Weekend was something I both looked forward to and dreaded. 8 hours of listening (4 sessions, 2 each on Saturday and Sunday) is a lot of religion for someone so young. But it was also a break from regular church attendance and Sunday morning my dad would always make us waffles for breakfast and we’d sit around the breakfast table listening to inspired messages from the leaders of our church. I looked forward to that tradition every time.

Now, I typically can’t wait for Conference to begin! Maybe because I have more patience, or I experience more trials and tests of faith but I love listening to the carefully prepared messages from our Prophet and Apostles. Many times I have had answers to prayers as the messages touch my heart and I apply them to my life and situation.

Last night was the first ever General Women’s Meeting to accompany the General Sessions and Priesthood Sessions which will occur next weekend. I was able to take Rachel, age 8, with me and we sat together and listened to righteous women praise virtue, keeping covenants, listening to the prophets, and a worldwide sisterhood. I was so proud of my daughter. This was the first time Rachel has sat and listened to that long of a meeting without the coloring books or church magazines we typically let them have during our weekly sacrament meetings. I loved when she stood up with girls all over the world and sang “Teach Me to Walk in the Light”. I’m so grateful she is my daughter and I’m excited for the young women she will become over the next few years.

I invite you to listen with us next weekend! Messages are available to stream over the internet from the lds.org website. If you are looking to be inspired, have questions about faith, or are in need of spiritual uplifting, perhaps one of the messages given will touch your heart.

“As you prepare for general conference, I invite you to ponder questions you need to have answered. For example, you might yearn for direction and guidance by the Lord regarding challenges you are facing.

Answers to your specific prayers may come directly from a particular talk or from a specific phrase. At other times answers may come in a seemingly unrelated word, phrase, or song. A heart filled with gratitude for the blessings of life and an earnest desire to hear and follow the words of counsel will prepare the way for personal revelation.”

-Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf (Sept. 2011 First Presidency Message)

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This Week on Instagram

This Week on Instagram: March 22-28, 2014

This Week on Instagram March 22-28, 2014

Cousin time! We had so much fun courtesy parking outside Sam’s brother’s house for a few days this week. The kids jumped on the tramp, played Lego’s, we went on a bike ride, visited the Jelly Belly Factory, and earned 2 Jr. Ranger Badges! Whew. We also camped out at Samuel P. Taylor State Park closer to the coast. Tucked in among the Redwood trees, we’ve been absolutely content. We also survived the windy road out to the Point Reyes Lighthouse and climbed the 308 stairs down to see the Fresnel Lens.