Blogs
Three Days on the Camino de Santiago
“Let’s go back downstairs to hang out with everybody. I feel like we are part of the group”, Jaida said to me from our hostel beds. And we WERE part of the group of amazing individuals from all over the world that we…
Road Trip in Idaho and Utah
Boise, Idaho I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful city of Boise Idaho. I knew nothing about Boise and was very impressed with how lovely it is. The city is quite flat which made getting around by bike extremely…
The Great Barrier Reef
We ended our trip back in Australia at the Great Barrier Reef. I forgot to write this post but wanted to include the photos here.
The South Island of New Zealand
We flew out of Rotorua – the smallest airport I’ve ever been to. It is so small that they actually don’t even have security, you can check yourself in and put your luggage on the belt without an attendant. We flew to…
Rotorua
We all agree, Rotorua is our favourite place on this trip so far. I don’t have the vocabulary to describe the incredible things we saw so I will try to be brief and let the photos do the talking. Our Airbnb was perfect,…
Auckland and Tauranga
We had a pleasant 3 hour flight from Sydney to Auckland. When we arrived in New Zealand we were surprised at their very strict customs. There were large signs up about getting a $400 fine for bringing in any fruit,…
One day in Sydney
We left Jindabyne at 9am, we drove back through the lovely eucalyptus forests and grassy rocky fields, we passed about 20 dead kangaroos on the side of the road and arrived in Sydney at about 4pm. Our car rental return…
Australian Alps
We flew to Sydney and rented a car for the next leg of our trip in the Australian Alps. It was the first time both Christian and I tried driving on the other side of the road. All went well, but there is more to it than…
Gold Coast Australia
Stop 2 of our small Australian tour was just an hour south of Brisbane or in our case much longer on a train and 2 buses. The transportation was delightful, the luggage was horrible. We tried very hard to pack light…
Brisbane
There are many great things to do in Brisbane with kids, which made it a great first stop. Brisbane is half way down the eastern coast of Australia, putting it at about the same distance from the equator as Egypt, South…
Huggletoe – Fun Simple Way to Get Lots of Hugs
Everybody has heard of a Mistletoe but not many people know about the Huggletoe. What is a Huggletoe you ask? I’ll start at the beginning. I have a wonderful veggie garden. One year, I had some hot peppers that I wanted…
A Fun Time Alone at a Concert
I was thrilled when I heard that Radiohead was coming to Seattle – Vancouver would have been better but Seattle was the next best thing. I scheduled uninterrupted time for both of their ticket sale dates but did not…
We Completed the 30 Day Minimalism Game
We did it! Jaida and I completed the 30 day Minimalism Game. I am shocked that I had that many things in my house that I no longer used but I most certainly did. Our home feels so good lately, you can’t really see the…
30 Day Minimalism Challenge with kids – Day 22
We are in the final week of our 30 day minimalism challenge. Jaida and I had another busy week going through all of our belongings and considering the value of each thing. Jaida spent most of her time still in her…
Untitled
We are 8 days into our 30 day minimialism challenge. We’ve lost Blake along the way but Jaida and I are still going strong. Here is what happened. Blake has never been a collector of things. His room is usually under…
The 30-Day Minimalism Game Clustterless Kids Style
We are at it again. On my parental quest to declutter and bring space into our home, I decided to talk to the kids about the idea of doing the 30-Day Minimalism Game. I explained to them that it is a challenge where we…
Manifest Fun in the Emergency Room
I am sitting at the hospital for the third time this week. My arm is broken in several places, my knuckles have turned blue and I have been in a big line for emergency orthopaedic surgery for the past 3 days. I am…
A hike to the Tiger Caves – Koh Lanta, Thailand
One of the things that drew me to staying on the island of Koh Lanta, Thailand was the hiking. There are 3 cave hikes on the island that are easy to get to. Unbeknownst to us, none of these hikes are easy like the guide…
Lanna Kingdom Tour – taking care of elephants in Thailand
We had the absolute pleasure to go on the 1/2 day elephant sanctuary tour through Lanna Kingdom Tours. This was an excellent adventure with kids in Chiang Mai – I felt safe, we really got involved and we felt like we…
Phuket Thailand
Our first stop in Thailand was in Panwa Bay near Phuket. We stayed at a fancy hotel that we booked through hotwire.com called the Panwa Beachfront Resort. We got such a good deal for this awesome hotel room with patio…
Four Days in Kyoto Japan
Nagomi visit One of the highlights of our time in Kyoto for me was the evening we spent visiting with a local family. We met this family through a website called Nagomi Visit which is used for travellers to connect with…
Takeshita Street – Tokyo
Takeshita Street was my favourite place to go in Tokyo. We used maps.me to navigate us there from the Shibuya scramble intersection, it was very easy to do and it took us through some really cool narrow windy streets…
Three Days In Tokyo with Kids
Tokyo is an amazing place to visit with kids. There is so much to see and do in Tokyo, 3 days wasn’t really enough in terms of checking things off my wish list but it was a good amount for my bank account. It is rather…
More Animals at the Entabeni Game Reserve
More Animals at the Entabeni Game Reserve – South Africa I’d like to share with you more pictures of animals at the Entabeni Game Reserve. I am no photographer and generally can’t be bothered to take pictures of scenery…
The Big-Five Marathon, South Africa 2016
The Big-Five Marathon and Half Marathon 2016 in South Africa on the Entabeni game reserve was amazing. This unique race takes place in an African safari game park with lions, elephants, rhinoceros, African buffalo,…
First Days in Africa
Travelling from Johannesburg to Limpopo I’ve just arrived at the Entabeni Game Reserve in Limpopo South Africa. It was a long journey from North Vancouver, Canada; 10 hours on a plane to London, 5 hour stop over, 10…
Big-Five Marathon in an African Game Park
Running with Wild Animals – Literally This June I will be setting off to South Africa to fulfill one of my bucket list dreams. Simply going to Africa is my bucket list dream but I feel this trip have developed into so…
I was Star Struck by Mo Willems
Tonight I had the opportunity to meet the amazing, spectacular, brilliant, spiffy, one and only – Mo Willems. For those of you who don’t have a child under the age of 12, Mo Willems is the author and illustrator of…
Fun Family Meals – At Home Restaurant
Are you looking for a way to make an ordinary meal into a special fun dinner night for your family? Here is an idea to get kids excited about dinner. They can be involved as much or as little as they please but I…
ClutterLESS Experiment 1 month later – Jaida and Blake
One month without the kids toys, games, action figures, lego, books and craft materials (ie. clutter) has gone by very quickly. We moved all of their belongings into the shed to see what it would be like to live without…
ClutterLESS Social Experiment Day 21 – Jaida and Blake
Now it has been 3 weeks since we removed all of the toys and crafts and clutter from our home as part of a ClutterLESS Social Experiment There really hasn’t been any change in the kids’ attitude towards this experiment.…
ClutterLESS Social Experiment Day 14 – Jaida and Blake
It has been 2 weeks since we removed all of the toys and crafts and clutter from our home as part of a ClutterLESS Social Experiment Now it is time to check in with the kids on the 4 questions of the experiment to see…
Clutterless playdates?
It had been 12 days since we started Social Experiment #1 – where we removed all of the clutter and toys and crafts from our kids rooms. It was interesting to see what happened when some neighbourhood kids came over on…
ClutterLESS Social Experiment Day 11 – Jaida
Things are going really well. I still feel really good about our ClutterLESS Social Experiment – my toys and belongings have been removed from my room. I haven’t really missed anything yet. Here are my answers to the…
Finding out what a preschooler and toddler will do without toys
We removed all of the toys, games, collections and clutter from our kids rooms (Jaida is 10 and Blake is 8). They are thrilled, I am thrilled we all love having empty space. They have been finding other things to do,…
Blake after a week without his stuff
Blake has been really enjoying his time without his belongings. We wrote on the calendar the date that they kids can go through all of their boxes and pick what they want to keep. Blake wanted to move that date further…
Fun Decluttering with Kids
It is possible to have fun decluttering with kids! Living with children can get cluttered. Kids love stuff. They want things and are constantly given things to bring home. It can be stressful to have so much stuff but…
Decluttering Makes Happy Kids
Blake is 8 years old. He had a typical suburban bedroom with lego and cars and hexbugs and blocks living on the floor because the drawers were filled with other trinkety stuff. He often hurt himself stepping on little…
Packing up the Kids Rooms
Decluttering – The New Drug OK, so obviously I have an issue with clutter. I’ve been trying to let the kids keep their rooms however they want as long as their stuff doesn’t enter into family space. That worked out for…
Jaida’s Day 1
Whoa! My room is so clean. My mom spent 3.5 hours packing boxes full of my stuff while I was at school. I’m Jaida, I am 10 years old and I am doing the social experiment #1. It was my mom’s idea to try this…
Getting Rid of Toys and Clutter in our Typical Suburban Home
Social Experiment # 1 – What would happen if we remove all toys and collectables from our house? Here is the idea. We are going to box up all of the toys, collections, books, art supplies, knick knacks, old school…
Leo Romano – driver 32
Today is my fathers 70th birthday. I think about what he would have done on this day if he were still alive. He didn’t like to make a fuss but he probably would have enjoyed watching a race with mom, seeing and…
I am enough
This is a story of a girl guiding her father through the passage from his life to beyond. In his final moments, as she helped hold his head up, she started to tell his legacy. She is not even sure why or what exactly…
Please, Puppy, Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee and Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
“Please, Puppy, Please” tells the story of two small siblings and their challenges taking care of their energetic puppy. Despite their pleas for the puppy to behave, the puppy ends up finding an open gate to run…
Whistler Via Ferrata
After finding doing my first via ferrata with kids last summer in Italy, I simply had to do it again. Luckily for me, I live very close to 1 of the 3 via ferratas in Canada at the time – Whistler BC. I have been to the…
Forest Night Run Party
A few nights ago, I hosted the 4th annual “Doll Classic” run. Ok, the name is pretty lame I agree. Let me explain. It all started in 2012 when my friend MJ asked me if I was interested in running the Fall Classic, a…
Norquay Via Ferrata
I had a wonderful opportunity to climb the Mount Norquay via ferrata in Banff, Alberta this summer. On any holiday I like to get up close and personal with the mountains and doing a via ferrata is a great way to…
Squamish Via Ferrata
I had a chance to climb the very new Via Ferrata in Squamish BC this summer. It was my fourth via ferrata and it was by far the easiest. It is a great one to take children on as it is quite short, it is simple to climb…
How Noodle Doodle Dinners Can Improve Your Writing
In this week’s SCBWI’s Bonus Read: Discover Your Artistic Side: Nourish Your Muse In Different Ways, Suzanna E Henshon, PhD encourages writers to develop the right side of their brain (creative side) through drawing.…
My Favourite Picture Book Authors
Here is a list of picture book authors that I think are brilliant. Julia Donaldson – I just love the Gruffalo, Stick Man, Sharing a Shell and the list goes on. Her characters are so lovable, her rhyming is superb and…
Creativity Keeps Me Happy
It doesn’t matter what the project is, writing a book, doing a painting, creating a web application or developing new recipes – I am always happy when I am being creative. This week’s project is for Hallowe’en.…
5 Things To Know About Debut Authors
Many of the blog posts I have read about publishing in today’s market are done in list format. This got me thinking, I should create a list of things to know about debut authors. Maybe this will be a good refresher…
Picture Books for Kids Bootcamp
I have taken the first step in fulfilling a dream. I’ve signed up for “Selling Your Children’s Book: How to Write and Pitch Novels & Picture Books for Kids Bootcamp”. (This title makes me giggle because when it is…
Caio Rome
Our last stop of the trip, beautiful Roma! Our apartment is so awesome. We are in the Trastevere area of Rome, which is walking distance to the Coliseum and to the heart of the city. This area has narrow…
Nonna's town - Roccacasale
Today I had the privilege to visit the little town on the side of a mountain where my Nonna was born and lived until her teens. It is about an hour and a half east of Rome, right in the middle of Italy. It was super…
Glamping in Tuscany
It was a long drive to Tuscany - between Blake's car sickness and the construction zones, it took us an extra 3 hours to arrive at our Glamping destination. For those of you that don't know, glamping is a short…
Val di Fassa - A Wonderful Area To Play
Christian, Terry and Blake had an opportunity to go for a bike ride along the valley trail. There is a trail that goes from the top of the valley, through each little village down to the bottom. Then there is an…
Via Ferrata - A Multigenerational Sport!
Mama Mia - this event deserves it's own post. When I saw the via ferrata in Switzerland, I became obsessed with finding out more about them and figuring out when I could try it. I quickly discovered that via…
Pozza di Fassa, Italy - arriving in the Dolomites
Yesterday we had a great drive from Switzerland, through Austria and into Italy. I am happy that the borders between countries do not check passports because when we drove into Austria I totally forgot to find our…
Holy Cow - There are so many cows in Switzerland!
For our last day in Lauterbrunnen, we decided to take the tram up to Gruschalp and do the hour walk across to Murren. It is a beautiful walk with a stop half way at a teeny weeny place called Winteregg. Here we found…
A lazy day in Lauterbrunnen
We had a nice quiet day today. This gave us a chance to check out the little shops in Lauterbrunnen, walk to the waterfall and do some carving with the new swiss army knives! rainy day in Lauterbrunnen - still…
Train ride to the top of Europe - Jungfraujoch, Switzerland
We left at 9am for the Jungfraujoch - the Top of Europe tour. This 100 year old train ride climbs 3200m up the mountain, through a few mountain villages along the way. The first hour of the crowded train ride was…
Monster Scooters
Despite the rainy day, we found ourselves going up a gondola in Haslital Switzerland to rent Monster Scooters. These scooters were super fun! We went up the gondola and rode the scooters down (in the rain) and then…
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
Lauterbrunnen is a little town 20 minutes from Interlaken Switzerland, and it's name means "many waterfalls" because there are 72 of them. From here there are gondolas that go up to carfree villages and there is…
Childrens adventure trail - Murren, Switzerland
What an epic hike! The children's adventure trail begins in Murren, a picturesque car-less city on top of a mountain. We had to take 2 steep and stunning gondola rides to get to Murren. On the way up, we could see…
Geneva - A day of mistakes
We found out online that there is a large swiss army knife store in Geneva. We considered making the 45 minute detour to drive through Geneva on our way to Lauterbrunnen to find this store so the kids could buy their…
Chamonix
We went for our first real road trip from Menton, France, through Italy to Chamonix, France. I'm afraid I LOVE this Audi A8 that we rented, it is so nice to drive. It is so powerful and smooth you don't even notice…
Taking in the Mediteranean
We arrived safe and sound at our apartment in Menton, France. Our travel day was surprisingly easy. We barely slept on the plane and we came close to missing our connection in Munich. We were able to navigate to our…
Costa Rica Arenal Day 27
Paradise. We are living the dream in our last few days in Costa Rica. Arenal Nayara has proven to be much much nicer then we had expected. Our Casita Deluxe has a hammock and double whirlpool tub on our deck and a…
Costa Rica Playa Chiquita Day 22
We arrived a day early at our new hotel. Luckily, they had a vacant bungalow that we were able to stay in last night. It had just 1 king sized bed that we all slept in. The four of us configured to maximize the space…
Costa Rica Punta Mona Day 21
We went to Punta Mona Center for Sustainable Living and Education for 2 nights. This is a huge organic farm along the southern most Carribean coast of Costa Rica just a few km from the Panama border. The only ways to…
Costa Rica Puerto Viejo Day 17
We beached at Punta Uva today - voted one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. We found a little spot sheltered by a coral reef so we could sit on the steep slope of the beach and let the water calmly…
Costa Rica Puerto Viejo Day 16
We have had an exciting few days. Christmas morning was very fun for the kids as Santa brought them a small sock full of goodies and a number of gifts they were thrilled with. Our trip to Puerto Viejo took 10.5…
Costa Rica Manuel Antonio Day 12
Merry Christmas Eve! our Costa Rican snowman!
Costa Rica Manuel Antonio Day 11
We've been totally chilling. A little beach, a little pool, a little coffee, a little beer. A nice balance. The beach today was quite different from all the other days. It was a hot sunny day (our first sunny day)…
Costa Rica Manuel Antonio Day 9
Jaida and I went on the "Kids Saving the Rainforest" tour today. It is an organization that was started by 2 tweens to raise money to be donated to land conservation projects and animal rescue and rehabilitation…
Costa Rica Manuel Antonio Day 8
Costa Rica rocks! It has rained everyday since our arrival, my hair keeps getting curlier and so does my smile. We took the bus to Quepos today. I asked Jaida if she thought the city was different from Vancouver…
Christian's thoughts
Feels great to be here two weeks. People have come and gone already and we have settled in with no feelings of having to leave yet. Beach vendors are polite, not too annoying and we already know a number of locals…
Costa Rica Manuel Antonio Day 7
We went to the butterfly garden today. I'm wondering why such harmless beautiful creatures can be so scary! They kept landing on us and Jaida, Blake and I would get super creeped out! butterfly landed on…
Costa Rica Manuel Antonio Day 6
There are some seriously chilled out people around here. Hanging out with those surfing teachers today was inspiring. My surf lesson was OK but since I am a little ball of nerves, I called it quits after about 20…
Costa Rica Manuel Antonio Day 5
Christian is making friends with all the locals. Every time I turn around he is doing knuckles with someone or in a "man hug" with someone else. He's actually been pretty good with remembering their names too which is…
Costa Rica Manuel Antonio Day 4
Manuel Antonio park. We tried to get there first thing in the morning because that is when you will see the most wildlife. We got there a bit late but still saw tons of stuff. There weren't any other English people…
Costa Rica Manuel Antonio Day 3
I am in my happy place. Today Jaida, Blake and I went to the pool for a few hours while Christian worked sipping his coffee. As we were playing at the pool, we heard some rustling in the trees and sure enough there…
Costa Rica Manuel Antonio Day 2
We have arrived at our home for the next 2 weeks. It was actually quite an enjoyable 4 hour journey, Our driver was very friendly and helpful, the kids were great and the scenery was exactly what I hoped for. We…