Posted in Explore and Discover on February 5, 2020 at 6:00 am
By Abra Cole If you’ve visited the North Spokane Library in 2019, you may have noticed the scent of burning wood. Or, maybe you noticed machine that is over 3 feet wide and 1 1/2 feet deep back in The Lab doing… something. That’s the District’s Glowforge 3D laser printer. And it is one of […]
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Tags: 3D printer, adults, creating, cutting, engraving, glowforge, inkscape, laser, laser printer, scoring, teens, The Lab
Posted in Explore and Discover on November 20, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Abra Cole Friends. We all have them, but do we need them? The topic came up when my 3-year-old and I were reading Ryan T. Higgins’ book We Don’t Eat Our Classmates! recently. We got to talking about his friends at daycare. Of course, it’s the norm to refer to his entire classroom as […]
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Tags: activities, adults, alone, classes, depression, desolation, friends, friendship, health, health concerns, interests, loneliness, lonely, lonesome, making friends, outdoors, solitary, volunteering, workshops
Posted in Explore and Discover on September 11, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Abra Cole Earlier this month as my family prepared for a day-long excursion into Glacier National Park from our campsite, we discussed easy travel options for lunch. We had pasta salad and salami and cream cheese rolls, along with other not-so-typical camping fare. Ultimately most of us opted for a good old fashioned sandwich—simple, […]
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Tags: adults, book list, books, food, kids, reading, recipes, sandwich, teens, tweens
Posted in Explore and Discover on July 3, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Abra Cole Ah, summer. Here you are again, bringing all that sunshine and heat and gardening goodness with you. For most of us gardeners, our seasonal plants have not only been selected by now, but they’re planted and fairly well established in our gardens. Many perennials are blooming, or nearly so. The time has […]
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Tags: adults, cilantro, coriander, do-it-yourself, gardening, gardens, herbs, how-to, kids, lovage, parsely, planting, plants, saving seeds, seed, seed library, seeds, snap peas, teens, vegetables
Posted in Explore and Discover on April 30, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Abra Cole Springtime in the Inland Northwest is peak cloud watching time. Simple steps for cloud watching: Put away your wristwatch and prepare your imagination. Find a good spot, either sitting or lying down, with a good view of the sky. Talk about what you see: Shapes, colors, creatures, or other things in the […]
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Tags: adults, art, clear sky, cloud paint, clouds, colors, contemplation, creatures, cumulonimbus, cumulus, free, games, imagination, kids, lenticular cloud, parents, relaxation, science, shapes, skygazing
Posted in Parents and Teachers on February 20, 2019 at 6:00 am
By Abra Cole If you’re feeling like the parent of Ralphie from the movie A Christmas Story every time you try to get yourself and your kids bundled up to go outside, know that you are not alone. When the temperatures drop into (or below) the 20s, my family doesn’t spend as much time outdoors […]
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Tags: activities, caregivers, cars, clean up, cotton balls, dancing, early learning, finger painting, flour, grandparents, indoor, infants, kids, loose parts, magnets, miscellaneous, parents, play, Play-Doh, pom-poms, preschoolers, rice, tape, teachers, toddlers, trucks, water
Posted in Explore and Discover on December 11, 2018 at 6:00 am
By Abra Cole The holiday season is here again! I love the smells of goodies baking in the oven, the peacefulness of the fluffy snow falling outside, and the excited sounds of kids clamoring to get the best spot by the Christmas tree and all the gifts. Usually at our house, that last one is […]
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Tags: adults, adventure, books, classes, community, concerts, cooking, crafts, DIY, events, experiences, family gifts, food, games, gardening, gift of experience, gifts, hobbies, holiday gift guide, holiday gifts, holidays, kids, microadventure, microadventures, parents, sporting events, teens, travel, tweens
Posted in Explore and Discover on October 16, 2018 at 6:00 am
by Abra Cole As we are entering the Season of the Scarf once again, I’m developing a new obsession with a certain yarn-based craft. I consider myself an artistic person, but I have never dabbled in the realm of fiber arts. Until recently, that is! Two years ago, cross stitch became my gateway craft, and […]
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Tags: amigurumi, art, books, crafting, crafts, crochet, DIY, hobbies, hooks, yarn, yarn-based crafts
Posted in Explore and Discover on July 31, 2018 at 6:00 am
by Abra Cole In a remote vault located halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, nearly one million seed varieties are stored. The purpose of this immense storage facility is to ensure the genetic future of these seed varieties, should any of the gene banks located around the world suffer catastrophic disaster. One hundred […]
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Tags: adults, books, DIY, family, food, garden, gardening, health, hobbies, kale, kale seeds, library hacks, onion seeds, onions, parents, saving seeds, seed library, seed saving, seeds, sunflower seeds, sunflowers, teens, tweens, urban farming
Posted in Explore and Discover, kids, Parents and Teachers on May 22, 2018 at 6:00 am
By Abra Cole In the last month, my garden has gone from looking like the dark side of the moon after the zombie apocalypse to a lush green jungle of happiness. Many plants I forgot I had planted last fall have popped up to greet the sun. I already know that I want to plant […]
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Tags: books, butterflies, butterfly, butterfly garden, early learning, fairies, fairy, fairy garden, family, gardening, grandparents, hobbies, kids, mud, mud kitchen, outdoor play, outdoors, parents, play, science, teens, young learners
