If you’re looking for a little dose of southern charm, put Charleston South Carolina on your list of places to visit. John and I try and take a little time each year to get away and do something fun together. Thank heavens for amazing grandparents who are willing to spend some quality time with their … Read more
If you are traveling to London you will, with out a doubt, need to familiarize yourself with public transportation while visiting. Using the tube is the easiest and most cost effective way to get around the city. The endless system of trains, the Underground and buses make it simple to get all over Central London … Read more
If you’ve been visiting the blog for awhile, you know we love to travel. Homeschooling the kids really allowed us to be a lot more flexible and travel in the off-season. When John has a work trip, we are able to tag along, which allows us to see much more of the country each year. … Read more
If you are heading to Southern California and looking for beautiful, family friendly resorts in San Diego, look no further. The Omni La Costa Golf Resort and Spa offers something for everyone in the family. Golf, a beautiful spa, Kid’s Club, water slides…the list goes on. Both John and I grew up in San Diego, … Read more
When you are planning a family trip to London you must put a Tower of London visit on your list of things to do. For centuries, families have lived and worked in this famous fortress — Royal families, guards, servants, even prisoners. The Tower of London is a must see. Wondering what to see at the … Read more
Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. I don’t know about you all, but when The Sound of Music airs on TV, we love to watch together as a family. I grew up on it, and chances are you did too. Even some of our parents did. And now I … Read more
Perched atop a beautiful bluff in Dana Point, CA, overlooking the glistening Pacific Ocean, the Monarch Beach Resort offers families looking for the perfect Southern California getaway a wonderful experience. I may be partial to Orange County, considering it is home, but let me tell you, after traveling the world, it really doesn’t get much … Read more
When we were planning our Europe adventure, we were going to be gone long enough that we felt fairly comfortable leaving some plans open ended and kind of letting life take us where it wanted when we were on the road. One of those happy little unplanned surprises was a quick one night stay in … Read more
John and I both happen to be history majors who share a particular interest in 20th century American history, in particular WWII for John…so needless to say, visiting Bayeux was high on our list while spending a few weeks in France. Bayeux is a charming little French town located on the Aure river in the … Read more
When John and I were looking for a getaway, we knew that the south was one place we could go that would feel like a real vacation where we got to experience life that felt a little different than ours here on the west coast. We settled on Charleston, SC, but we also knew that … Read more
Visions of Amsterdam canal houses and bicycles were running through my head when we set out planning to visit Amsterdam. I knew that I wanted to stay on a canal, in a traditional house, but beyond that, I didn’t know anything about where to start looking or where exactly in the city was best to … Read more
When we planned our 3 months in Europe, we decided that we would both start and end our trip in London. Because there was such a long period of time between our stays, I didn’t worry about making reservations before we left home in June. I figured we would play it by ear and pick … Read more
Fairy tales are real! Those pesky little trolls we read about as kids…well one of them is alive and well in Seattle living under the Aurora Bridge. The Fremont Troll is sure to delight your kids when you visit the Fremont District in Seattle. When we were planning our trip for the family and looking … Read more
You’ve seen it in just about every skyline image of London, the huge ferris wheel towering 443 ft in the sky over Big Ben, the London Eye. Before we left for London I read up on tings to see and do in London and this was definitely on the list. There were many different … Read more
When we were planning our trip it seemed natural to start in London. We figured we would have some culture shock, maybe a bit of homesickness at some point, and to be honest, we were a little bit scared when we left, simply because we had never attempted anything of this magnitude before and we … Read more
I can’t believe it’s been a year since we started planning and six months since we returned. I’ve started this blog post probably 25 times, and just haven’t been able to adequately put into words the experiences of this past summer. But now I’m feeling pressure to get it written down before the memories start … Read more
Traveling through continental Europe by train is easy, convenient and reasonably priced. If you are thinking about taking a trip and seeing more than one city or country, it is definitely an option you want to look at. When coming from the United States it’s not necessarily the first mode of transportation we think of, … Read more
So often when we travel we feel like we barely have time to scratch the surface of the “main tourist attractions” of whatever city we happen to be visiting. One of my favorite things to do when traveling is to get off that tourist trap path and explore smaller, lesser known parts of a city … Read more
Salt Lake City feels a little like a second home to me. I attended college a bit down the road from here, and this was the city I really “grew up” in. I became an adult learning how to navigate life on my own in Utah, had my first baby there, and spent the first few … Read more
If you’re headed to Southern California this summer, I have an activity to add to your itinerary. 😉 I grew up going to the Del Mar Fair (now re-named the San Diego County Fair…ugh) and it is always a favorite summer activity for me. I love the fair for the pictures, sights, sounds and smells, and … Read more
Granville Island Vancouver was a fun spot to visit last time we were in Canada. It reminded a little of Seaport Village in San Diego and Pike’s Place Market in Seattle. You know I love a good market! 😉 We lucked out and it was a beautiful day, so we had incredible views of the … Read more
This suburban girl LOVES the city. I’m sure if you’ve been following me for a while now, you know that I can’t get enough of a big city. New York has my heart, but I also love any excuse to sneak up to San Francisco. There are SO many fun shops, restaurants and things to … Read more