A Few Winter Blues Cures

My family has about reached the limit of how fond they are of this winter weather.  Since we can't afford to jet off to the Bahamas on a moments notice, we came up with a few ideas to beat the winter blues.  We thought we'd share our ideas.

1.  Take a walk through the Como Conservatory indoor gardens.  Here is a link to their website:  www.comozooconservatory.org 

2.  Visit the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  Check out their new indoor orchid tree.  There is free admission every day in January.  Here is the link to their website:  www.arboretum.umn.edu

3.  Check out the new boats at the Minneapolis Boat Show at the Convention Center from January 30 to February 2.  Here is the link to the website for more details:  www.minneapolisboatshow.com

3.  Now that the Minnesota Orchestra is back to work (after being on strike for a very long time), take in a performance of this award winning group of musicians.  If you go to their web page, you can find a calendar with all performance dates:  www.minnesotaorchestra.org

4.  Take a group of kids to Sky Zone or Zero Gravity and join in the fun jumping on the indoor trampolines.  It is quite an aerobic work out!  www.zerogravitymn.com   or    www.skyzone.com

5.  Go for lunch at Psycho Suzi's and order a tropical drink from their specialty drink menu.  http://psychosuzis.com

6.  Pack your swim suit and head to the Waterpark of America.  www.waterparkofamerica.com

7.  Have a picnic in your livingroom.  Spread a blanket out on the floor and eat all of your favorite summer picnic foods.  I almost thing grilled food tastes better in the winter!

8.  Have a spa day at home.  Do a facial.  Paint your toes and fingernails.  Deep condition your hair.

9.  Declare a pajama day.  Invite friends over for a movie marathon - or a Downton Abbey marathon!

10.  Game night - adults and children.

11.  Rent snowshoes or cross country skis and take a trek through your local park.

12.  Have a campout in your living room.  Set up a real or pretend tent.  Declare it a "no screen night".  Play games, tell stories, go on a treasure hunt.....

13.  Volunteer - read books to children at the library, serve meals to the homeless, visit your local nursing home, bake a meal for a busy family......

14.  Sign up for a cooking or gardening class.

15.  Have a craft day.  Invite friends over and have them bring their unfinished projects to work on and an appetizer to share.

16.  Go for walk at night, taking in the sights and sounds (or lack there of) a cold winter night.

So these are just a small sampling of our ideas.  We'll be trying out a few this weekend!

"People don't notice if it's winter or summer when they're happy."  -Anton Chekhov