I grew up in small town Northern Michigan. A cozy little town with absolutely nothing to do. I remember the first time I came to Grand Rapids. It was my senior year of high school and I was coming down to do a college visit. I remember being in awe of it’s beauty and intimidated [...]

I cannot believe that my baby is heading off to Kindergarten in just four short weeks. Amazing how quickly the summer seems to go by each year. That also means that we have just four short weeks to pack in all our Summer fun! One thing we like to do each Summer is to take [...]

Our last day in Columbus. And it was a sweltering 90+ degrees. Geesh, Columbus, you are killing me here! I like heat but usually when it’s accompanied by a refreshing body of water. Not a campground, no breeze, and an overcrowded pool. So, in the car (and air conditioning) we go! Tim had taken Jasper, [...]

I love zoos. Mostly because I just love animals and am fascinated by so many of them. And, while I’d love to observe them in their natural habitat, that’s just not possible for many of these animals.  Ok, and I like having the safety of that fence or trench or plexiglass between me and them. [...]

I love vacationing. I do not love that post-vacation recovery. Between catching up on sleep, laundry, and emails/mail, it’s no wonder that I’m just now getting around to off-loading the pictures from our Columbus trip and sorting through them! So, in an effort not to overwhelm you, I’m going to break up the posts a [...]

We are a camping family. And by camping, I don’t mean tents and boiling your drinking water and digging your own toilets. While I may have done that in my pre-children days, those things have no place in my current state. We do camping with a camper and running water and toilets and showers and [...]

Thank you to Béaba for providing me with a Bib’expresso to review free of charge. To order your own Bib’expresso or one of many Béaba products, visit www.beabausa.com. This past weekend we took our maiden voyage in our new camper and we could not have asked for a better experience! The weather was perfect, the [...]

Yesterday I posted a list of all the upcoming festivals happening around West Michigan this Summer.  Today, I’m going to share a few tips with you on how to survive those festivals when you have kids in tow! Survival Tips: Check the schedule before you embark! Time is usually of the essence when traveling with [...]

At the beginning of November I was invited to head out to LA for a special screening of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader as a representative of 5 Minutes for Mom.  5 Minutes for Mom is a fabulous website that I’ve had the privilege of writing for these past two [...]

Before we move any further into the Fall season, I wanted to take a moment to share with you a “look back” at what our family was up to this summer! We played in water.