Treasured Valley

-by Amy Pence-Brown

We are always looking for affordable and interesting cultural places and events to take our girls.  Lucky for us, the Treasure Valley is full of young families and, as a result, offers great educational and fun options.  This has become increasingly important with my new gig as a stay at home mom, as the days can be lllllllllooooong if we are stuck at home, especially during the winter months.  This past week turned Boise into a winter wonderland, and while we spent hours outside sledding and playing in the snow, the single digit temps were not bearable for long.  Because of the cold coldness, the kindergarteners didn’t get recess all week, so by Saturday we had plenty of pent up energy racing around out small home.  So we braved the storm and headed up to the Foothills Learning Center for one of their free Saturday events for kids.

The Center is run by the City of Boise Parks & Rec and is an environmental education center devoted to teaching about and preserving our high desert landscape and the Foothills.  They offer a variety of classes for kids and adults, but they are quite popular and fill up fast.  This past Saturday was their Second Saturday free program on making recycled Christmas crafts, something our family has been avidly doing this past year, so we were excited.  The drive up to the Foothills was gorgeous (from our home on the Boise Bench we headed down Vista Ave. turned Capital Blvd. and took 8^th St. past the Boise Co-Op as it winded all the way up into the Foothills), as the snow was falling slowly.  There were plenty of mountain bikers and people hiking with their dogs in the fresh snow.  We were surprised to find out that tons of other families had braved the weather (or had simply been driven crazy by their children like we were) to attend the event.

The tiny educational center was crammed with kids, the smell of fresh pine and coffee, and holiday cheer.  There was a wreath making station, using wire coat hangers and Christmas tree cuttings, and a pomander making table, using clementines and cloves.  Lucy made a Christmas treasure box out of an egg carton, Christmas light bulbs, some hot glue and some fabric as well as a tree ornament utilizing a recycled Christmas card.  The girls stamped their own wrapping paper using large, recycled architectural plans donated to the Center by a local firm.  Free bagels and coffee we also provided and my husband and I stood around watching, helping the girls when needed, and had a lovely, leisurely morning.  We stayed for probably an hour, but those with older kids were surely there longer.  I’m so excited that we have such a wonderful resource here, and look forward to their next Second Saturday course on planting native landscapes come January.  And I’m certainly signing my daughter up for one of their summer nature camps sooner rather than later, just to make sure we get in this time.

Amy Pence-Brown rocks out to records and wins Christmas window decorating contests…