Archive | January, 2010
Awhile back, we visited a small scale sustainable farm in Walnut Hill, Florida. When we were driving home, we drove past this:
It took me a second to realize what it was in that form! Can you tell what it is?
Does this help?
Here is a hint! Everytime I drive past one of these fields I think of two things: 1) Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind and 2) marshmallows!
Doesn’t that kind of resemble a big fluffy marshmallow?!?!
Yup…that is cotton! To learn more about the cotton process, take a look at this downloadable .pdf file Cotton: From Field to Fabric.
Stop by DeliciousBaby to see where everyone is traveling to this week!
Today, for Monday Dreaming, I am dreaming of a fabulous giveaway. I have had some luck with blog giveaways…I have won a stay in a new hotel in Washington DC, a book, and a sheet set! But this giveaway, unfortunately I cannot win because I am a relative of Pensacola with Kids! At my other blog, where we share our adventures while exploring Pensacola with our kids, I am doing a fabulous giveaway. My dear friends have started a socially responsible organization called The Gracious Basket, and they have donated a fantastic Valentine’s basket.
Stop by Pensacola with Kids and enter for a chance to win a great candy basket just in time for Valentine’s Day from The Gracious Basket!
After that, be sure to stop by Mother of All Trips to see what others are dreaming of today!
When we travel, we love to get family photos of us in each destination. We recently did a photo shoot in a hotel room because the weather wouldn’t cooperate while we were visiting family we hadn’t seen in a long time! Most of the time we take the pictures ourselves but sometimes we splurge on a photographer. Daddy J and I have decided to renew our vows when we go to Hawaii for our 10 year anniversary and this is one of the times that we will splurge on a professional photographer (we are currently searching for one so if you have any recommendations please let me know!). I want to capture those moments as we renew our love for each other on a beautiful beach at sunset.
When we were in Panama City recently, we had family pictures taken by Adria Peaden Photography at Oaks by the Bay. Daddy J’s mom wanted pictures of the whole family since all of her kids would be in town. I usually get my pictures back and hate them. I hate the way I looked…the way my hair was blowing…the way…well, you understand! These pictures are absolutely amazing and I was so thrilled with the results! If you are going to be in the Panama City, Florida vicinity for a family vacation and are looking to get family pictures made at the beach or a fun park, take a look at Adria’s website. I think that you will like what you see and want to book her immediately! She has some amazing beach wedding pictures up, adorable baby pictures, and stunning pregnancy photos, too! Here are a few of my favorites from our photo shoot in Panama City. Thanks so much, Adria!
Stop by DeliciousBaby to see where other travelers are this week!
This photo shoot was paid for by a family member. The recommendation is based solely on my experiences and opinion with no outside influence.
In celebration of Travel Blogger Tuesday, be sure to link to your one favorite travel related posts (from your own blog!) this week at the end of this Travel Blogger Tuesday post!
If you have been reading this blog for awhile, you will know how much I LOVE the Gulf Coast. I have lived on Florida’s Gulf Coast for almost 14 years and we sing its praises on this site as often as we can. Today I am spotlighting Outdoor Gulf Coast for Travel Blogger Tuesday. Outdoor Gulf Coast is written by a family that loves to explore what else? The outdoors…on the Gulf Coast! You can find information about hiking, camping, kayaking, and fishing on the Gulf Coast. Shawn is a great twitter friend and is quick to answer questions and encourage his fellow bloggers. A few of my favorite articles include:
Early Morning Kayak Adventure – The photos in this article are stunning and I really like the message of the article.
The Beginners Hiking Checklist - A great list of tips to check out if you haven’t done much hiking.
Favorite Hiking or Camping Snacks – Each of the items on this list are staples on my packing list when we go out adventuring!
Check out some of our other Travel Blogger Tuesday picks.
This week, we are going to try something new and I hope you will participate! One of the things I find is that I never have enough time to catch up on awesome travel posts and sometimes I wish someone would just give me a list of their favorite articles for the week! Please share a link below to your one favorite travel related posts (from your own blog!) this week!
Today, for Monday Dreaming, I am dreaming of free admission to children’s science centers and museums. We do not live in a city full of amazing children’s museums. We have a few small museums that we enjoy and the Naval Aviation Museum, but sometimes I wish we had a large children’s museum dedicated to science and technology. The Gulf Coast Exploreum sits about 45 minutes away from us in Mobile, Alabama. It is not a difficult drive and there is a fabulous shopping center a little over halfway between me and the Exploreum. My kids love the Exploreum. However, like most things in life, there is a price…and it is not that cheap. It costs about 50 dollars to take my family of four to the Exploreum. They do offer a year long membership for 100 dollars. If I take my family twice, it would at least pay for itself. I imagine spending some of the summer at the Exploreum, but then I wonder…will I really get in the car and drive 45 minutes one way more than once or twice? And the membership doesn’t cover the admission price for special exhibits (like the Dinosaur Downtown going on right now).
Upon further research of the Exploreum Membership, I found that they are a member of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) Passport Program. Next month I am heading to Virginia where I will be nearby three other science centers that participate in the ASTC Passport Program. This seems like it would be a cost effective purchase. I asked around to see if anyone had ever used this passport program and got no response. So, I am asking you…
What is your experience with the ASTC Passport Program? Have you found that it was cost effective? Have you ever had trouble using the passport at other participating museums?
Any information would be much appreciated!
Stop by Mother of All Trips to see what she is dreaming about…but be prepared to be green with envy!
I have been traveling to Panama City for 9.5 years…as long as I have been married to my husband who is from there. For five of those years, I have been traveling with kids. How I never heard of the Junior Museum of Bay County before astounds me! The last time we were in Panama City, it was abnormally cool for the time of year (Thanksgiving is usually spent in short sleeves, jeans and flip flops) and we needed to do something outside of the living room! After a quick search on the Internet, thanks to The Panama City Playground, we discovered the Junior Museum of Bay County.
The Junior Museum of Bay County opened in 1967 and sits on 12 acres of land. There are lots of hands-on exhibits for your kids to try out and the adults will have lots of fun too! We spent the majority of our time in the science exhibits. Little S loved the soundwave water exhibit.
Big S’s favorite part of the museum was the marble exhibit.
They both loved this little room because as you jumped and danced around your shadow passes over this thing in the ceiling that plays notes like a piano!
There is a boat that sits in a pretend St. Andrew’s Bay where the children can measure fish and pretend to be riding the waves! There is a full grocery store complete with a conveyor belt, food, and a cash register.
My kids loved the reptile room as well. There are lots of snakes and other creepy crawlies to check out. Along the wall of the room, there is a bunch of drawers that you can open and check out what is inside. Big S thought that it was absolutely hilarious when he opened a drawer and found all sorts of petrified animal poop. He had to go get Daddy J to show him!
After exploring the inside of the children’s museum, head outside to explore a real pioneer village. The cabins are from the late 1800s and early 1900s. You can peek into the cabins and learn a little bit about what life was like back then.
Check out the stocks!
Then take a walk along the 1500 foot boardwalk. Before you go, stop by the museum’s front desk and pick up a scavenger hunt checklist. Your kids will have fun trying to find the different things on the list.
There is lots of room to run and play. Bring a picnic lunch to eat after you are done exploring.
The Junior Museum of Bay County is located at 1731 Jenks Avenue, Panama City, Florida, 32405.
This post is part of DeliciousBaby’s Photo Friday. Stop by and check out all the great travel photos!
As I was catching up on my Google Reader, I saw a post that caught my eye on Trekaroo. We have all heard about the earthquake that occurred in Haiti and have seen the devastation in pictures on the news. If you scour the Internet as often as I do, you have probably seen the many ways to help. There are people assembling volunteer missions, people collecting goods and collecting money. These are the three ways that I have chosen to help.
- Write a review for Trekaroo. Trekaroo has pledged to donate $10 for every review written by January 20 up to $2000. If you aren’t in a position to donate then head over to Trekaroo, start a free account and write a couple of reviews.
- To donate $10 to the American Red Cross, text Haiti to 90999. The amount will be added to your next phone bill. The organization is also accepting donations through its International Response Fund, www.redcross.org
- To donate $5 to Wyclef Jean’s Haitian Yele charity, text 501501. The money will be added to your next phone bill. www.yele.org
Donating to the Red Cross and Haitian Yele charity are easy ways for me to personally donate. Although we are extremely frugal and watch every penny that goes in and out of our bank account, adding ten or fifteen dollars to my phone bill one time will certainly not be noticed if I skip a lunch out this month. So please, if you have a moment, check out these three organizations and help out in one way or another.
For this week’s Travel Blogger Tuesday, I am going to talk about Got Passport. I love conversing with this great family on Twitter (@gotpassport). This year, they will become location independent (ok…time for a collective sigh of happiness for them) and move to Thailand. There is nothing fake about this family. They are open about their strengths and also their weaknesses. They are quick to answer you if you have a question and even more quick to handout compliments to the people around them. Got Passport is so awesome at fostering a sense of community. Some of my favorite posts are:
- Our Beloved New Orleans Series Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 – This three part series describes how they headed to NOLA, a place that we hold near and dear to our hearts, shortly after Katrina to help out.
- I Suck at the *writing* stuff – I love her frank thoughts here because I have often had them myself.
- Farewell Thailand for Now… - Check out their fabulous family photo!
In a few weeks, we are taking a quick trip to Orlando to join Grandma, who will be there on business. It is going to be short…down there Friday, back Sunday and Daddy J is staying home. We are excited about the trip and seeing Mickey, however this time we will be doing Disney on a budget. AKA – no 99 dollar Disney tickets. We are not going to go to any of the theme parks but are instead going to explore Downtown Disney and other more cost effective spots. We can’t avoid Disney all together because my son will know…then he will tell his sister and I will have to listen to them the whole way home! I am also probably more excited about a trip to my favorite store in the whole world…well, maybe not favorite, but pretty darn close…IKEA!!! Yes, that is right. I am driving six hours to go to an Ikea. I have a list of items that we need and have been perusing the 2010 catalog for hours…probably closer to days. This time, I might even leave the kids in the play center!
What are you dreaming about this week? Stop by Mother of All Trips where she is dreaming about Ireland.
Posted in Eating on January 8, 2010
My mom loves to cook and when she is in a new place she loves to learn how to cook meals popular to the area. This is one of the travel habits that she has passed on to me. On our honeymoon, my husband and I took a cooking class on Cajun cuisine. I try to locate fun cookbooks that concentrate on area cuisine.
Over the holidays, my sister and her family stayed with us and my mom came over to give my sister and I a cooking lesson from her time in Hawaii. We had so much fun on New Year’s Day cooking as a family.
Stop by Debbie’s at DeliciousBaby and see other Photo Friday pictures.
