Archive | August, 2009
We just got home a few weeks ago from a massive road trip in which we logged about 50 hours in the car, drove through 8 states, and visited several dear friends. This road trip had a mission though…to move my little sister and her two children to Suffolk, Virginia where she began her life as a Navy wife with her new, wonderful husband. My two children played with her two children the whole way. We saw some very cool stuff like the Mayfield Dairy, Suffolk Peanuts, Boyd’s Bear Country, Mt. Trashmore, loggerhead turtles and lots of corn (blog posts to come in the near future on all this great stuff!).
We got the huge Uhaul truck unloaded and we got my sister unpacked. The trip was bittersweet. It sounds like everything went smoothly right? Why is the trip bittersweet then? Well, for the most part it did go smoothly. We only had a few mishaps (like the morning we left we realized my sister had ordered a truck that was too small and she couldn’t fit all of her household goods…yikes!), but the saddest, most bittersweet part about the trip? Waving goodbye to my sister, my new brother-in-law, and my niece and nephew.
For now, I have pictures to go through, a road trip video to make, emails to send her and her Facebook status to check. Luckily, we are all equipped with video phone on the computer, we are all linked up through Facebook, and we can text unlimited! It doesn’t feel like she is all that far away until I want to call her up and see if she wants to meet for a Girl’s Night Out or when my son asks when we are going back to “Birginia” to see Big D. It is times like these that I start planning the next family road trip in my head. I know we will be going back to Virginia next summer and who knows what might happen in between. We have a tentative trip planned for October and they have a tentative trip planned back to the Gulf Coast.
Maybe we will just throw a bag and the kids in the car and drive the fourteen hours for a short visit just because we can.
I love you and miss you lots Marissa, Declan, Keira, and Dan!
Drop by Mother of All Trips to read about her Empire State Dreams and see what other travelers are dreaming about.
We love fountains. We read up about the fountains available for our viewing pleasure before we leave for a new city. We ask the hotel concierge where the nearest cool fountain is. The fountain gets bonus points if it doubles as a splash pad and you are allowed to run through it! Fountains are one of those things that my husband and I enjoyed but might have made no big deal about pre-kid. Before the S’s were born, we would admire them and move on to the next sight. After the S’s were born, fountains (along with parks and larger than life statues!) moved up to the top of our must-see list! It is amazing how long one child can stand and stare at, sit by the side of, or run around a fountain.
I had read about the Friendship Fountain when I was making my plans for our trip to Jacksonville, Florida. I wasn’t sure if we would have time to stop at the fountain due to our busy schedule of visiting friends. I was thrilled to see a sign leading to the fountain off of the interstate on our way back home. The Friendship Fountain is located on the Southbank Riverwalk near the Museum of Science and History. From what I could find on various websites, the fountain has lived a controversial, rough life. It has been refurbished, it broke, it was fixed, it was turned on, it was turned off, people complained…the list goes on. It was built in the 60s. When the Friendship Fountain opened, it touted itself as the world’s largest and tallest fountain. The fountain has over 60 jet nozzles and is a beautiful sight at night because lights were added to the fountain at some point. The fountain was an important attraction during the Superbowl of 2005. My children had a great time running circles around this fountain. It wore them out so they were a joy in the car for the next six hours!
Be sure to stop by DeliciousBaby and check out other travel photos from around the world.
When I was younger, the main way that we traveled was in a car…usually for thousands of miles at a time. Because I was a military brat, our road trips usually coincided with major moves across country. A few days before our road trip, we would begin the preparations. The two things that I always looked forward to were the trip to the bookstore to pick up brand spankin’ new books for the trip (which my mother would then hide in her closet so I didn’t manage to read them all before we left!) and the trip to the grocery store to pick out a few special snacks. One of the snack traditions that I have continued from my childhood is the little box of cereal. The ones that come in sets of 8 or 10? The cereal that is so far away from being good for you but makes a perfect snack?
One of the new traditions that we have started is Swedish Fish. Don’t ask me why, because I have no idea. All I know is that all of the sudden, I find myself gravitating towards the Swedish Fish in the candy aisle. I buy the huge bag and divide it into smaller baggies that I can toss into the back of the mom-mobile when needed. Before knowing if the Swedish fish are in the car, the kids will actually ask for “fishies” when we are on a road trip! They are our special treat. Some other snacks that we always pack are cheese cubes, crackers (not the crumbly kind!), apple slices and mandarin oranges.
I asked a few of my blogosphere cohorts to share what snack they make sure they always pack on a road trip:
“Before setting out on road trips, we make our own snack mix. I go to the local grocery and purchase a variety of ingredients. Each member of the family gets their own baggy (with name on it) and they fill it with their favorite goodies. This way, everyone has a healthy snack they like and they don’t have to worry about someone else eating their yummy stuff. Things we include: peanuts, cashews, sesame sticks, M&Ms, raisins, cereals (Cheerios, Chex, etc), pretzels, bagel chips.” -Shannon Hurst Lane, Twitter- @Cajun_Mama
“My favorite snack for the kids on the road are fresh grapes, washed and pulled in a baggie so the kids can help themselves without spilling. It gives them a non-messy, healthy fruit course that lasts for awhile because they can keep popping them in.” -Lorraine of Keeps Me Smiling, Twitter -@keepsmesmiling
“My favorite road trip snack is practical, portable, requires little refrigeration, but is not necessarily healthy. I usually pack some canned squeezy cheese and Ritz Crackers. If I have a refrigerator pack, I bring along some salami as well. It is super easy, the kids like it, and it is easy to throw in a backpack for an outing or roadside stop. Fruit leather made with 100% fruit also comes in handy on the road. For mom, those Starbucks lattes in glass bottles keep me alert enough to push on to our next stop.” -Bridget of Family Adventure Guidebooks, Twitter- @bridgetasmith
“My tried-and-true take-along snack is Goldfish crackers. I know my daughter will always eat them, and I assuage my guilt by buying the whole grain ones. They actually have some protein, calcium, iron, and fibre, and in moments of low blood sugar, I don’t mind snacking on them either. Unfortunately they make a right mess when they’re dropped on the floor and ultimately stepped on, but luckily my husband takes care of the car cleaning and maintenance! For emergencies, I always have a few lollipops hidden away.” -Corinne of Have Baby Will Travel, Twitter- @hvbabywilltrvl
“When we road trip, our snack foods must comply with the following requirements: they have to be entertaining as well as edible, they have to be non-messy, and they have to be a novelty (a rare treat). They do not, however, have to be healthy, necessarily. Our favorites that fit into these categories are: 1. gummy worms (I buy them in bulk at the supermarket) 2. Jelly Belly jelly beans (we all spend more time than is healthy trying to figure out the flavors and combining them) 3. Babybel cheese (the unique wax coating is fun to play with like silly putty when the cheese is consumed) 4. Ring Pops (yep, they still make ‘em!) 5. various pretzel shapes (stick them in the cheeses to make things!).” -Amy of Pitstops For Kids, Pitstops with Kids Facebook Fan Page
“We usually travel with a big Sam’s Club box of Rice Krispies Treats or Golden Grahams Treats. A tiny bit nutritious, not too messy, and prepackaged so we can keep them in the car or throw a few into our daytrip bag.” -Linda of Travels with Children, Twitter- @minnemom
What do you pack in your road trip snack sack? Please share your favorites in the Comments section!
If you haven’t already, head over to Emm in London to read the Carnival of Cities. The August 26th edition has so many great articles from all over the world. Travel around the world in one day without even leaving your computer!
Jason’s Travels talks about places Jason has been, reminisces about travel with his family, and showcases beautiful photographs from his travels. I look forward to reading this blog when it is updated because I either have not been to many of the places he has written about or it has been a long time since I traveled to them. I love reading about new places to add to my travel list and I love to be reminded of places that I visited long ago. Check out some of my favorite articles:
Book Reviews - Check out the travel books that he has reviewed so far.
Roadtrip Recollections – Jason writes about some road trip memories…road trip memories are very close to my heart as that is the only way I really remember traveling with my family.
A Bite Outta the Big Apple - I can’t wait to travel to NYC this summer. This is one of the articles I have bookmarked for my travel planning!
When you travel, is there something in particular that you search for to bring home as a souvenir? We love to find random things that will make great additions to our household, but there are a few things that we always bring home in our suitcase: fridge magnets, ornaments and street art.
Head over to Velvet Escape to see examples of their reader’s favorite fridge magnets. The first magnet pictured is absolutely hilarious. It is a David dress up doll! I sent in a picture of the very first magnet that my husband and I ever bought together-we bought it 9 years ago on our honeymoon and it still holds a prominent place on the refrigerator.
I am working on photographing some of our favorite souvenirs…I can’t wait to share them with you!
The Insectarium is part of the Audubon Family (the aquarium, the zoo, etc.) and is one of the few brand new attractions to open in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. The Insectarium is just a short walk to Canal Street from the Aquarium. I really liked the way the Insectarium was set up. You walked in, paid for your ticket and started down a hallway. In the hallway are tons of little creepy crawlies…millipedes, huge cockroaches, ants, etc.
There are all sorts of the larger than life bugs hanging on the walls
Look like a leaf to you? It is actually a Walking Leaf Insect! This was my son’s favorite bug!
As you wander down the hallway, you come to the Underground Gallery. Yuck! It is like you are disappearing underground…there are gigantic bug statues that will make you feel like you are one of them. Even the floor texture changes so you feel like you are actually underground! From there you pass by the cafe…we avoided the cafe because bugs were not on the menu for us that day! You can watch New Orleans chefs cook with bugs and even try some of the meals! From there, you enter the Termite Gallery. Then it is on to the Louisiana Swamp where you learn about the local insects. They also have a few small gators for you to check out!
I do not recommend standing on the alligator head…besides the fact that I am sure it is not allowed, we watched a kid fall into the open tank behind this gator. Thank goodness the gator isn’t real and it is a tank full of fish. From the Swamp, you enter the Success Stories Gallery where the kids can play with hands-on activities. My son loved to “Build-A-Bug” where you got to choose all of the bug body parts from lots of different bugs and then choose a home for it. The computer tells you if there is a chance that your bug would survive. We couldn’t leave until he built a creation that had a high chance of survival!
No one in my family dared to stick our hands in this hole…anyone out there tried it? I would love to know what happens!
There is a quick movie that you can watch called Awards Night that will make you jump out of your seat. It has everything from moving seats when the bugs are around and mist that shoots out that it is sure to keep everyone entertained! My son was not too thrilled with the moving stuff, but my younger child loved the movie!
As you continue to wander, you will see beautiful bugs, ugly bugs and you may even get to “pet” a bug. My daughter’s favorite part of the Insectarium (and mine) was Butterflies in Flight, a beautiful tea garden with hundreds of butterflies flying all around.
The Audubon Family sells tickets to meet any of your needs. Insectarium tickets are 15 dollars for adults and 10 dollars for kids. Children under 2 are free. The Audubon Experience package gets you into the Aquarium, the Zoo, the Insectarium and an IMAX for just 32.95 an adult or $19.95 a child. Children under 2 are free. They have several other combo choices to meet your needs. If you have time, I recommend that you see all that the Audubon has to offer. They are all worthwhile places to visit with your children.
If you are driving, make sure to check out this list of parking lots that participate in discounted parking program. Bring your parking ticket in with you to get validated.
One of my favorite places to eat on the Mall in Washington DC is the Mitsitam Cafe in the National Museum of the American Indian. The first time I ate there on a recommendation while I was on a solo trip to DC. This time I brought my kids! The Mitsitam Cafe is set up in five food stations that show the cooking style and food flavors of the American Indian. My children loved wandering through the bustling cafe as they watched the people dish up heaping piles of buffalo, cooking over an open flame, make fry bread, and piece together tacos. The Spring Menu includes items like turtle soup, acorn squash, salmon sandwich, guava tapioca, and blue corn zuchinni cake. It takes me forever to wander around and finally make a decision about what I want to order. I finally chose a meal from the Great Plains: an Indian Taco with buffalo chili on fry bread topped with pinto beans, lettuce, chiles and shredded cheese. And don’t forget to stop by the Meso America region where the guacamole is possibly some of the best I have ever tasted! I skipped dessert because I was disappointed that I didn’t find my favorite available: pine nut and cranberry cookie.
Stop by Wanderlust and Lipstick to check out Wanderfood Wednesday.
I am constantly coming across great travel blogs…it is amazing how many are out there. I just recently found Fox Nomad and I am excited to share Anil’s website with you. The first thing I noticed about Anil and his site is that he has a constant presence. He doesn’t just post the articles and walk away. He makes a conscious effort to interact with every commenter. Anil’s blog is full of travel photos and advice, advice on maintaining a travel blog and lots of fun! There are so many great posts to highlight, but here are three of my favorites:
How to Build a Successful Travel Blog – Part One and Part Two - Great advice for both those who have just started a travel blog or those who have been at it a long time
Overcoming 7 Major Obstacles to Traveling the World – #5 You Have Kids or Will Soon - Things to help you decide to travel the world! Be sure to check out the other articles in the series.
Cheesy Travel Photos - Hilariously cheesy travel photos submitted by readers! I can’t decide which is my favorite yet!
Today, I am dreaming of Brazil. My husband and I got back from our separate trips yesterday. I have spent the past 10 days on a road trip with my two kids…sounds glamourous right? Ha! Then you hear that my husband just got back from a guy’s trip to Brazil. I am a tad bit green with envy because we spent last evening sharing pictures. Mine of the Mayfield Dairy (which was a blast by the way) and my husband’s of the beautiful swirling ocean. The next few weeks, I will be posting about the different activities that we both loved on our trips but today I leave you with the pictures that have me ready to buy a plane ticket to Brazil.
Stop by Mother of All Trips, the host of Monday Dreaming, to see what she is dreaming about!
