Spring Break 2011

We opted to spend the last half of our Spring Break with my parents in St. Louis.  We arrived Wednesday night.  Thursday the weather dropped 30 degrees ... going from warm and sunny to cold and drizzly.  So all of our outdoor plans ... the Zoo, Turtle Park, Elephant Rocks and geo-caching all got scrapped for indoor activities.  

We ended up spending two afternoons at the Science Center.  Day one was in the new portion ... Canstruction, Climate Change, Grossology.  Day two, was in the old portion ... exploring the Planetarium and taking in a show.  We love the science center.  The kids love all the cool hands on stuff, and I love that we always walk away with something we've learned.  BTW, lots of locals headed East to St. Louis for the later half of Spring Break this year.  Saw two families I recognized and know of three others who were also visiting.  Small world.  Also when visiting the Science Center, save yourself a hefty parking fee and park on the Forest Park side, the original side, it's free. 


The Climate Change exhibit again, really hit home how irresponsible our population is being when it comes to taking care of our resources.  And how frustrating it is to know that there are more energy and resource efficient ways to do things.  How do we collectively make a mind shift globally that makes energy efficiency attainable for everyone?  But also how do we get big business to care more about their social, global and environmental responsibilities rather than their profitability.  I guess I share the frustration of this writer "Many in the West and other industrialized parts of the world are struggling to confront global warming through means large and small. At the recent environmental conference in Bali, we saw how difficult it is for the world’s nations to come to any agreement to take concrete steps to combat global warming. Meanwhile, individuals in the United States and elsewhere try to affect change through the purchase of compact fluorescent light bulbs, for example, or by driving hybrid vehicles. The sad truth is that as laudable as these efforts [solar energy use in Africa] are, no number of compact fluorescent light bulbs, no number of hybrid vehicles, will begin to make a dent in the damage wrought by the enormous industrializing economies of countries such as China and India, which are using coal and emitting greenhouse gases at alarming rates."

That being said, I am forging on in our efforts to be more mindful of our environmental footprint and I've set some personal goals: 

• Be more strategic about my use of the car - especially with gasoline prices at $3.50/gallon, and rising. 
• Recycle more paper.  We do a pretty good job or recycling chipboard, cans, plastics, corrugated cardboard, newspapers, magazines and catalogs, but we need to do a better job of recycling the little bits of paper that adds up over time. 
• We've gotten out of the habit of unplugging electronics not in use and turning off unnecessary lights. 
• Reduce our consumerism ... reduce the amount we purchase and make better use of what we have.  
  
• Look into solar panel rental programs.  

  [Steps off soap box to share pictures from day 1]

Since it was cold and wet and we were inside a lot and hung out with family, we watched Mega Mind for the first time - excellent!; purchased our favorite card game for 2011 and taught everyone how to play - Monopoly Deal; ate an amazing Corned Beef Brisket and potato dinner made by Mutti that was amazing!; and my brother taught us how to make homemade kettle corn - yum!