Spring break is just around the corner. The kids will be home from school. Do you have plans to keep them busy? There are plenty of things to do and see in Minnesota, both indoors and out, for all ages. Here are a few ideas to keep your family busy during Sprink Break vacation.
Aquariums and Zoos
Do your kids go wild for animals? Escape the cold and immerse yourself in tropical weather on the Minnesota Zoo’s Tropics Trail or pay a visit to their newest addition, a baby Malayan tapir. Stroll through the Como Zoo to see a variety of animals while being surrounded by lush tropical plants.
Museums
In downtown St. Paul, treat your kids to a day at the newly renovated Minnesota Children’s Museum, which added 10 new permanent exhibits in 2017.
Rock Climbing
Have you ever wanted to try rock climbing? Vertical Endeavors caters to families looking for an afternoon of fun and can even challenge serious climbers. The St. Paul location is the largest indoor rock climbing facility in the country. Vertical Endeavors also has locations in Duluth and Minneapolis. Rental equipment is available.
Make a Splash at a Waterpark
In Thief River Falls, visit The Seven Clans Casino Park to enjoy four large waterslides, three mini-slides, two hot tubs, a lazy river and more or at Water Park of America in Bloomington
Hit the Slopes
Depending on the weather, skiing and snowboarding could either be is pretty much done, or still going strong! If your kids want one last chance to play in the snow, Wild Mountain and Afton Alps are usually the last two local holdouts, staying open for one more week, with skiing, snowboarding, and snow tubing. Kids have to be 42″ tall and over 4 years old to go snow tubing.
You don’t have to travel across the country to enjoy your Spring Break this year. Hope you have a fun family spring break with a few of these ideas in the metro.
Kaitlyn Grell, LPTA
Physical Therapist Assistant
St. Francis Physical Therapy
PTC_therapy March 6th, 2019
Posted In: General
Tags: Minnesota, spring break, stay active
On February 5th, myself and 2 other coworkers attended the Physical Therapy Day on the Hill at the State Capitol in St. Paul. This is an annual event sponsored by Minnesota Physical Therapy Association to lobby
for new legislation related to the field of physical therapy. Did you know that rules and regulations regarding what physical therapists can do vary from state to state? For example, in some states physical therapists can order imaging and in other states physical therapists aren’t allowed to perform dry needling. The legislature and the governor have the ultimate authority over what laws and privileges physical therapists have. This is why it’s so important to educate government officials on the importance of physical therapy!
This year, the primary topic we were educating the legislature on was a bill that would allow physical therapists to authorize disability parking permits to patients. Currently MDs, chiropractors, PAs, and nurse practitioners are the only medical professionals that are allowed to authorize the permits. Physical therapists are one of the only professions that have standardized testing to determine a patient’s fall risk and are constantly assessing a person’s mobility. Therefore, they would be a great profession to be able to authorize the permits. The bill passed in both the House and Senate transportation committees. In the House, it will go to a floor vote, and in the Senate, the bill was transferred to another committee. Hopefully soon, physical therapists will be able to authorize disability parking permits for our patients! This will decrease overall medical costs, as patients won’t have to return to their MDs just for a parking permit.
You might think what does this have to do with me? Our legislature works for us! We have to tell them what we want! Do you love your physical therapist and are so happy they got you back to doing the things you love? Are you happy that you can see a physical therapist without a referral? Do you wish you could go to physical therapy more often, but because of high co-pays or deductibles it is too expensive? Let your representative know! That’s the first step to creating change and improving access to physical therapy! There will be plenty of other topics that relate to the physical therapy field in the upcoming years. Stay tuned!
Rebecca Varoga, PT, DPT
Physical Therapist
Physical Therapy Consultants, Inc.
PTC_therapy February 20th, 2019
Posted In: General
Tags: APTA, Minnesota, MNPTA, Physical Theapy
