The Roasterie Air-Roasted Coffee Factory Tour in Kansas City

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The Roasterie Air Roasted Coffee factory tour was one of those Hidden Gem Vines that I had planned for our group of four on our girls weekend to Kansas City. This is in Kansas City Missouri. The tour is free to do and you can make a reservation for the tour on their website. I recommend making a reservation if you are hoping to do this as they do fill up and ours was pretty close to full.

The tour and question-and-answer period at the end are about an hour long total. At the end of the tour your guide will demonstrate a method of making coffee and answer any additional questions you may have. Everyone has the opportunity to sample a very small taste of the brewed coffee he just made. They also have a coffee shop on site was seeing both outdoors and indoors.

It is a very nice looking building on the inside and the outside. It appears they have the facilities to host some private events there as well. We each bought several bags of coffee and walked away with so much more knowledge about coffee, The Roasting method they use as well as the method they use for decaffeinated coffee and how to brew coffee as well as the shelf life of coffee then we ever thought we would know.

Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Garden in Kansas

Coming from Minnesota in mid April to the Kansas City region of Missouri and Kansas brings the treat of seeing a lot more green on the trees on the ground and colorful flowers.

We went to the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Garden as part of our fifth annual girls weekend. We had never been here before and this was actually the first time I can claim to have been to Kansas because our other trips here have kept us in Kansas City Missouri.

We are just hanging around with Monet. He is a pretty nice fella. Obviously, it is just a statue, and one of many statues within the Botanical Garden.

This is one of the displays in the train garden. The train garden is one of the big specialty gardens they have there. This is the larger of the display but the other one has a train that will run under the sidewalk you are walking on and you can see it below. There is also a Big Caboose there and a ticket station for kids to play in. There is also another area near this that allow kids to be Hands-On and play in the dirt.

Like I mentioned before it was a treat to see these flowers in full bloom. When I returned home from the trip, which was just a few days ago, I see that my tulips may be ready to open at the end of the week or sooner.

These two sculptures are called Dancer I and Dancer II. I just thought they were beautiful and looked so graceful.

I thought it was interesting to see the root structure of this tree along side the creek. You can see how low the creek is right now. They must really need water. Although when I drove by the river that run through our small town, it is looking pretty low as well.

They have a very handy visitors guide to help guide you through the gardens and on the handful of wood trim trails. We went on one of them along the creek but because we were wearing ballet flats and sandals we didn't walk all of them. Admission is only $3 for an adult which is quite a deal.

I just love this fairy garden made into a lot. It gives me an idea of something that would be fun to do with my daughter up at the cabin.

Hotel Palomar Chicago

I am not sure I will always share my thoughts about a hotel on here, usually just attractions we visit, but occasionally I will share about a hotel especially if we stay at one that is really worth telling about and the Hotel Palomar in Chicago is just that.

Hotel Palomar is a Kimpton boutique hotel. There are Palomars in other cities and other Kimpton's in Chicago, but what you need to know, there is really where the similarities lie as they are all individual and unique boutique hotels. This was the 3rd Kimpton we have stayed in (also Vero Beach, FL and River Place in Portland, OR) and we hope to stay in more of them. We have been very happy with this hotel company.

Anyways, I wanted to point out a few special things about Hotel Palomar. First of all, we had told them we would be celebrating our son's birthday while we were there so they set out all the snacks & drinks you see pictured above for all of us to enjoy (wine for mom and dad), plus they had little gift bags with items (like a small beach ball) to occupy the kids.

On another night, the delivered milk and cookies to the kids, which was really awesome. We stayed here 3 nights and were very happy.

The pool is lit up blue at night and off from the pool is an outdoor terrace with lots of seating and the wonderful nightline sky view you see pictured above.

Also, every evening they have a FREE wine hour from 5-6pm (every Kimpton does this but will vary with what they include) that included wine, lemonade and flat bread pizza. The picture above is of my son sitting there eating a snack and lemonade from the wine hour.

You should check out the other Kimpton Hotels where ever you are traveling and sign up for their Karma Rewards, which gets you free wifi, a birthday coupon, $10 raid-the-bar credit plus more just at the beginning level and then if you stay enough nights/places/stays, over time you will earn free nights.

Review: Harlem Globetrotters at Target Center in Minneapolis plus 25% OFF CODE

This is my son's first time experiencing a Harlem Globetrotters game. My husband and I both had attended games in our youth. We received complimentary tickets in order to complete a review of the Harlem Globetrotters game. No monetary compensation was received. All thoughts, opinions, and photographs are my own.

I think seeing a Harlem Globetrotters game is something that everyone should experience at least once. When I first saw them I was in high school and it was fun to watch but as a parent I had even more fun watching my kindergarten-age son be amazed and entertained by the game.

Given his younger age, he had an inclination to believe that everything that was happening was real and not just a show. He is very interested in going to see another game when they come back some time. Also, it is also AWESOME to see they have a female player on the team now.

While we were at the game, I bought him a basketball so he could go get signatures from some of the players. The basketball was $25, which is good to know for parents who are trying to know how much they have to spend. We saw the game at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Parking was accessible by the Skyway for $10. Both of these costs were out of my own pocket.

It was quite chaotic trying to get signatures so he ended up only getting two signatures. But he was happy with getting two, from Iceman and Torch. He will probably always remember their names since I was able to be close to them and get a signature.

It was cute to watch him continually add the points and watch the scoreboard and hoping they would win. The Harlem Globetrotters have a bunch of teams that travel all over so chances are you will be able to find a game near you soon. They might not be the same players who came to Minneapolis but you will get the same quality of show that we did which is highly entertaining. The entire show lasted about 2 hours. There was a halftime intermission that gave the opportunity for people to go buy basketballs or concessions.

Get 25% OFF your tickets with code: FAMFUN

Sky Deck in Chicago, Illinois

In October, we took a long weekend trip to Chicago and going to the Skydeck was one of the top things on our list so we did it the very first night we are there. We got there on a Wednesday, so the line wasn't too long to get up to the top. You take an elevator to the top, but before you get to the Skydeck Ledge there will be a room with information to learn more about the statistics of the Willis Tower (hard to not remember it as the Sears Tower) and a scrolling screen of other sights and activities in Chicago. There will also be a screening room to watch a short movie, which we did not do so I honestly cant tell you anything about it, but it is included.

A few pictures with my kids in the waiting area and at the top.

Here are pictures of the family at the ledge. When you get to the ledge, there are 2 of them. One is for a professional photograph (you can choose to do this or not, we did). The other is the public ledge which you will wait in line longer for and have to ask someone else to take your picture. I am so wishing I had my selfie stick before this trip, because the picture of my husband and I on the ledge is all blurry and believe me when I tell you that this was the best one, some of the other ones it looks like we were moving, but it wasn't us moving, it was the person taking the pictures. Half a dozen pictures and that was the best one. Kind of disappointing, especially since I took there picture and know how to use a camera and make sure it's in focus and how to hold it steady.

The picture of my kids is one I took. You can see my son was slightly terrified and is probably not breathing at all while I take the picture. LOL!

I am definitely happy we went because the views are absolutely amazing. The kids have a cheaper price than the adults, so you save a little money there. I bought our adult tickets when I saw a deal pop up on Travelzoo that ended up saving a total of $9 on 2 tickets. Every little bit helps.


Here is my post from my Wordless Wednesday Post on Save Green Being Green, that includes the breathtaking views at night of the Skydeck.

Punta Leona / Playa Blanca

Punta Leona is the nearest white sand beach to Jaco, Costa Rica. It was actually recommended by our airbnb host, but it was something my husband had looked up as well. We really wanted to explore all kinds of beaches so the kids could see the varieties of sand that are so different in color and texture. Later in our trip, we did go to the beach at Manuel Antonio National Park that is also a white sand beach, but you have to pay to get in the the National Park to be able to access that one. But you should totally check it out because the sand there is even whiter and the water is crystal clear.

The only thing we had to pay for here was parking and I believe we paid $5. It's technically not "pay parking" as we think of in the U.S. You are paying the guys at the parking lot to "watch" your car. It's just another way they can make money from the tourists. We saw many locals walking to go there. There is a trick to accessing this beach.....read on for more....

So, will see that you can pay at the hotel on this beach to have a day pass, but it's kind of expensive from what I have read. Well, expensive to access a beach that is technically a public beach. What I found is it is $20 a person for a day pass to the hotel. I am not sure what else that gets you besides access to the beach, but we weren't going to spend $80 for our family to spend a half day at a beach.

You can access this beach through another beach and doing a bit of walking. It's not a lot of walking, so don't let that scare you. You are technically parking at the other beach called Playa Mantas. It does look like a nice beach and they had a big inflatable obstacle course in the water you could pay to do, so you may even want to stay there. But if you want to know how to access Punta Leona at Playa Blanca, click on the link to access all the info on the website Two Weeks in Costa Rica.

And here is the post from last week of my Save Green Being Green Wordless Wednesday post regarding Punta Leona / Playa Blanca.

My Costa Rican Vacation Shutterfly Book (PLUS FREE 8x8 Book Code)

A deal from Shutterfly just popped up today to get a free 8x8 photo book. I am just sharing this because I thought it was a great deal to get mine done. The code is good until March 22, 2016.

SPRINGITON

Now, the code gets you a free 8x8 photo book - hard cover. If you choose  a 8x8 hard cover it will discount $29.99, BUT!!!! You can choose a different size hard cover and it will also deduct that same amount. So, if you want a larger book you pay the difference. I upgraded to the 8x11 and I had to pay about $4 difference, but I think it's worth it to have bigger pictures when I am trying to fit so many on one page. It includes 20 pages, so if you have more than that it costs $1.10 a page (for the 8x11).

Also, you do have to pay for shipping which is $8.99. Plus, there are tons of ways they can "get you" to upgrade, so just be careful. It all does really add up, but this is when I make my books.

So, without further hesitation, here is My Costa Rican Vacation Photo Book:

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.