Category Archives: Uncategorized

Plan a Trip With Your Children to Somplace You’ve Never Been

Posted on by

0

I didn’t get to experience family vacations as a child. Money was tight and, understandably, traveling didn’t rank as high on the priority list as making sure the bills were paid. I’m not quite sure where I got the travel bug from but, for me, there’s nothing better than traveling to an unfamiliar place and experiencing new sights. I made this a priority and planned for it, using my yearly income tax return to pay for a family vacation. You can’t put a price on memories and experiences and I feel that money spent in this area is money well spent.

“5-4-3-2-1…New York, Here We Come!” I can still hear my oldest, then five years old, shout as we made our way through the mid-town tunnel. Our first trip was to New York. We left the little one at home because she was just a few months old. To this day, this remains the best trip I’ve ever taken. Seeing New York City for the first time and sharing that experience with my daughter, so young and curious about the world around her, has now become a memory that I will cherish for the rest of my days. Over the next few years we took a cruise, rented a beach house in Ft. Myers, and went skiing in Vermont (my first time seeing snow and getting on skis was another amazing experience I got to share with the girls), and took quite a few trips to Disney. Nowadays we are blessed to be in a situation where we do a whole lot of traveling sometimes more than we’d like. Even so, throughout the past year I felt I was missing out on that special bonding and excitement that the girls and I had shared so I decided to plan a weekend girls trip to Washington, D.C.

When planning a trip to an area I’ve never been, I make sure to do my homework. First and foremost, I ask my friends for advice on visiting the area and jot down their recommendations. I then check tripadvisor.com and look for travel blogs about the city that I’m visiting. I then take my list and think about my children. What will keep them engaged? What will be meaningful and what will they enjoy?

For this trip to D.C, I decided upon the Monuments by Moonlight tour which was amazing and served as a great way to see the monuments and memorials without a whole lot of walking. With so many museums to choose from, I had to really do my research and narrow it down to three that would be interesting for all and unique to Washington. I chose the American History Museum (The Spark Lab keep them busy for an hour+), the Holocaust Museum (the children’s exhibit only), and the Spy Museum (so, so cool!) We walked the streets of Georgetown and grabbed dinner and cupcakes (Sprinkles, not D.C Cupcakes~ the line was ri-dic-u-lous!) to enjoy later in our hotel room.

We were just there for the weekend and although I could have fit more in, I make it a point to leave a little down time on our trips. Day-to-day, the girls don’t spend a ton of time together and on these trips they just have each other. One of the highlights for me was when my younger one decided to take a bath in the “sick” tub (as in uber cool) and my older one went in to help her wash her hair. Hearing them talk about their life plans and their bucket lists at ages 12 and 7 put a smile on my lips as wide as the Potomac River.

Stop procrastinating and plan the trip you’ve always wanted to take with your children. Each stage passes with the blink of an eye so now is the time. If finances won’t allow for something this year, begin planning for next year. Enjoy the process~ the anticipation is to be cherished and appreciated as well!

Start a “Home Learning” Project With Your Kids This Summer

Posted on by

2

So far this blog as been a little bit of everything that makes up my crazy life but it’s real objective is to motivate myself and possibly inspire others. Each summer I have the idea to start a Home Learning project with the girls but can’t seem to follow through. I’m making a commitment now, for the world to see! Read about our first project below.

It’s time to break out the colored pencils and watercolors! One of the things that saddens me about the state of education these days is the lack of time available to teach some of really interesting and important things such as history and art. To help close the gap in my daughters’ education as well as expand my own, I’ve decided to begin what I’m calling our “Home Learning” projects.

First up, Art!

I decided we would begin in the renaissance period, studying Michelangelo and Da Vinci. For the Michelangelo portion of the project, I had both girls work together on a PowerPoint presentation. My older one found the information and the younger one chose the pictures. My older one scoffed at first but quickly got into it and was very eager to share the completed project. To introduce Da Vinci, I found a cartoon video on youtube. We watched it together and then googled his most famous works of art.

Now mind you, the girls wouldn’t be happy about doing this if there wasn’t real art involved. After checking out the Crayola website, I found a really cool project that manages to encompass both artists. I also wanted to have the girls try sculpting because both artists did that as well. I made a trip to the art supply store and stocked up on clay, new colored pencils, small canvases, Crayola Texture It!, and watercolors. The first day we all tried sculpting and the girls quickly grew frustrated and bored. That’s ok~ at least they gave it a go! Yesterday, we worked on the second project and although my older one lost interest fairly quickly, my seven year old and I spent two hours drawing and painting together. Quality time like that is priceless.

To “cement” what they’ve learned, I bought them both composition books and they’re summarizing what their newly acquired knowledge. Nothing intensive~ just a few sentences. I think music during the renaissance period will be up next, following our upcoming weekend trip to D.C. (government/politics).

xo,

Tanya

Memorial Day- NOLA Style

Posted on by

4

New Orleans has been on my travel list since I first saw Interview With a Vampire way back when I was in High School. Oh, how time passes! Anyway, when B and I were discussing what to do over our Memorial Day adult weekend, NOLA was suggested and quickly decided upon.
After I gathered input from a few close friends, I planned a great weekend getaway. Listed below is how we spent two days getting acquainted with the Big Easy.

We stayed at the Windsor Court in the French Quarter to be close to all the action. It was absolutely perfect. Now mind you, this is an old hotel so don’t expect perfection. If you’re looking for that, I’d suggest the W, one of my all-time favs in any city. We were looking for something more authentic and the Windsor Court was just what we were looking for.

Due to our late arrival (our cancelled flight led to six hours of touring Miami International Airport), the only thing we did on Friday was enjoy a few classic New Orleans drinks (recipes below!) at the Column Hotel in the Garden District, followed by dinner at Lilette. I heard about Lilette at the James Beard Awards a few weeks ago and was lucky enough to score a reservation on a Friday. The food was delish but the waiting 30 minutes for a cab we could have done without…

Day 2 found us wandering aimlessly down Royal Street, stopping and browsing in the many antique shops and art galleries. B picked up some cuff links and I my very first set of pearls. I guess I really am grown up! At Jackson Square, I had my palm read~ “I can see you losing twenty dollars in the very near future”~ and then it was off to Bourbon Street to Pat O’Briens to have a famous headache-inducing Hurricane. Can you say sugar overload?! We ended our night  at Tipitinas, a very hip live music venue.

Sunday morning we enjoyed a late brunch at Commander’s Palace, which I have to say is a bit overrated. We strolled down Royal Street again and managed to squeeze in a mani/pedis at the mall before our flight home. Short and sweet, it was a great introduction to a city I am looking forward to visiting again soon.