So if you are like me and you are looking for a fun way to spend the weekend with your family, there are two activities in Stevens Point that fit the bill.


The Family Fun Fest will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Ben Franklin Junior High School, 2000 Polk St. The event will include a petting zoo, inflatable rides, train rides, live entertainment (with everything from martial arts to a drumming group to science and dance demonstrations) and much, much more. Children also will have a chance to get their picture taken with area mascots as well as check out construction equipment and emergency vehicles.

There also will be a variety of information booths for parents to check out (providing information on everything from dental and health care to school and church groups and everything else in between). Each booth also will feature an activity for the kids.

And the coolest thing ... there will be a giant pinata drop at 2 p.m. A crane will hoist the pinata in the air and drop it, spilling loads of goodies.

Admission to the event is $3 per person and $10 for a family. Children younger than 1 year old are admitted free. And all proceeds benefit Family Connections in Portage County, which oversees the Family Resource Centers in Stevens Point, Amherst, Junction City and Almond; and the Parent to Parent program, which matches volunteer mentors with parents of young children throughout Portage County.


On Sunday, the Rotary Club of Greater Portage County will holds its annual Heart of Wisconsin Kite Festival in the Portage County Business Park, north of Boldt Construction. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Wisconsin Kiters Club will brings kites in all shapes and sizes to fly and those who attend are invited to bring their own kites. Kite-making workshops for children will be held at the beginning of each hour.

Admission to the event is free. Food and refreshments will be available for purchase.


Do you know of any other family-friendly events taking place this weekend? If so, please let me know so I can share them with our readers.

Potty training. Those two words can cause so much anxiety for parents of toddlers.

My husband and I have been working with our 2-year-old daughter since the beginning of the year and we still have a LONG way to go.

Emma is a very smart little girl and a part of me thought in the beginning, "This should be easy. We'll sit her down on the potty, she'll get it right away and we'll be sporting panties in no time."

Not so much.

In addition to being a "very smart little girl," Emma also is a very stubborn little girl and a very independent little girl. (I've been told by my mom a time or two that she may have gotten that from me.)

When it would come time to sit on the potty, she'd refuse. She would kick and scream and stomp her feet and that was pretty much the end of the story. So I decided she may not be ready and we scaled down the mission a bit. We'd put her on in the morning when she woke up and again when she got up from her nap; and I'd ask her if she needed to use the potty throughout the day ... and we left it at that.

But in the last two weeks a miracle has occurred. No, she's not even close to wearing the cute little Elmo panties that we bought, but she will now at least try to use the potty a few times during the day (and several times at day care), and if she has to go, she goes right away.

I picked her up at day care last Friday and she had gone three times (and once in the morning at home and once more before she went to bed). There was clapping and cheering and lots of puppy and kitty stickers being hung on her "potty poster." I think I also may have offered to buy her a house. And, yes, I did a potty dance.

We still have a LONG, LONG way to go, but I'll continue to rejoice with each accomplishment.

I know there are a lot of parents out there who have survived the potty-training battle. Please share with me and other parents who may be facing the same challenge what worked best for you (and what may not have worked so well).

Thank you in advance!!!

When I started this blog one of my goals was to share information on events and activities that families can participate in -- especially those that are inexpensive.

This past weekend my husband and I took our 2-year-old daughter to the Downtown Family Fair, which was held in CenterPoint MarketPlace in Stevens Point. Several organizations and businesses teamed up to make this event possible -- including the Stevens Point Area YMCA and the Central Wisconsin Children's Museum.

I've been trying to find time to take my daughter to see the Let's Play Railway! exhibit at the Children's Museum and Saturday seemed like the perfect time. The exhibit is a giant-sized BRIO train engine, cattle wagon and caboose, and each piece includes a variety of interactive activities for children to play with.

Emma loved the train, especially the whistles and other train sounds, and even found the books interesting (although she didn't want to read them; she wanted to push them around in a little red wheelbarrow).

We spent quite a bit of time playing on the train and then she ventured across the hall to the other side of the museum to check out the grocery store and the other exhibits.

The Downtown Family Fair also had a room set up with slides and cars and tunnels, which she found to be quite entertaining. She also got to check out (and touch) some creepy crawlies (snakes, a turtle and a frog) and saw a snapping turtle in all its glory. I'm fairly certain she'd have taken them all home if we would have let her.

If you missed Saturday's Family Fair, don't fret. The Let's Play Railway! will be at the Children's Museum until May 11. For museum costs and hours, go to the Web site www.cwchildrensmuseum.org.

There also is going to be a Children's Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 19 at Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids. The event will include information booths, hands-on children's activities, inflatable rides, live entertainment and the part my daughter is most looking forward to -- the chance to check out a police car, a fire truck and a school bus. And the best part -- it's all free.

So if you know of a family-friendly activity that's coming up or a venue in central Wisconsin that you think other families would enjoy, please let me know so I can spread the word. I know I'm always looking for things to do with my family and I'm sure many readers are too. You can e-mail me at jamie.jung@cwnews.net or call 715-345-2256.