Backyard Wilderness at the Great Lakes Science Center

We were provided with tickets to see Backyard Wilderness at the Cleveland Clinic DOME Theater and admission to the Great Lakes Science Center to facilitate this conversation. All opinions are my own.

A few years ago, I stopped home with my son before dashing off to get his sister from daycare. I happened to glance in the backyard and I noticed a deer. It was so still and I was in such a rush that it registered as a memory.

My grandparents had a plaster statue of a deer resting on the ground. It was life-size but not lifelike.

When we walked out of the house the deer had moved. She was beautiful and scary all at the same time. All I could think was she could do some serious damage if she felt threatened by us.

I nudged my then six or seven-year-old to the car and she stared us down with majesty. I had no idea if she decided to claim our backyard as hers or if she planned to leave. Either way, I still had to get the baby from daycare.

I called the city and was informed that we live close enough to the Metroparks that we just had to share.

It was a very real reminder that we are part of a bigger world than our suburb.

The Great Lakes Science Center invited us to view the latest Cleveland Clinic DOME Theater movie - Backyard Wilderness.

What we did in the CLE: North Coast Feis

My kids competed in the North Coast Feis last weekend.

This was a big one because it was my son's first! He swore he would never dance in front of anyone but he did and we are so proud.

This is my daughter's second feis, but third time competing.

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His first Feis her second one. They started together two and half years ago and no plans to stop, yet! ❤️ #northcoastfeis #feis #irishdancing #siblinglove #siblingsunday #irishdancesiblings #eatplaylivecle

A post shared by Mary Johnson (@mryjhnsn) on Feb 3, 2019 at 10:05am PST

They are halfway through their second year. Both are pretty average. Worlds and Nationals are pretty much out of reach and that's okay. They take a class once a week. Leading up to a feis they add another class or two.

My daughter complains some weeks. My son only worries about performing. I remind them that they will want to go to college one day and they will need something to point to and say, "I did this!"

Inspired by Instagram: LETSCOM Fitness Tracker

This is not a paid placement. If you purchase a product through a link on this page I will receive a small percentage of the sale.

Have you ever clicked on an Instagram or Facebook ad? 

Scrolling mindlessly through friends' photos until you are interrupted by a targeted Instagram post or Facebook ad that begs to be seen. Have you ever bought the item?

I have! A few times. And, I've even had success with my purchases.

Around New Years, I was looking to get a new fitness tracker. I passed my Fitbit off to my husband last year. He was participating in a challenge at work and when the challenge was over, he kept it.

I started going back to the gym last October. By December, I was missing the ease of keeping track of steps and distance using an app. But, Fitbits are expensive. I wanted to see if a less expensive tracker would fit my needs.

And, then I saw an ad for LETSCOM Fitness Tracker. I clicked!

I don't need the heart monitor feature, but the time feature already put the cheaper one at the top of the list for me.

I put up a poll on Amazon Spark. The results of the poll leaned heavily towards LETSCOMS. There were two comments that made me think. Fitbit has a community and Apple Watch is quality.

First off Apple watch was not an option. If I was a long distance runner with a dire need to have detailed stats or an Apple fan, I would have just purchased it. I was clearly looking for a basic tracker.

As for the Fitbit community, I don't care. Yes, it was fun to compete with friends and do the challenges but it was not a motivator for me. At least not enough to drop $50 on something I could get for less.

LETSCOM Fitness Tracker