https://manifestfun.com/simple playful ideas for having fun https://manifestfun.com/three-days-on-the-camino-de-santiago/https://manifestfun.com/three-days-on-the-camino-de-santiago/Wed, 13 Nov 2019 19:31:40 +0000“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 shared this 80km adventure with. I am thrilled that Jaida and I… Continue reading Three Days on the Camino de Santiago https://manifestfun.com/road-trip-in-idaho-utah-and-colorado/https://manifestfun.com/road-trip-in-idaho-utah-and-colorado/Fri, 18 Oct 2019 16:24:23 +0000Boise, 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 fun. The downtown is very clean, safe and easy to navigate. The neighbourhood we stayed in… Continue reading Road Trip in Idaho and Utah https://manifestfun.com/the-great-barrier-reef/https://manifestfun.com/the-great-barrier-reef/Fri, 18 Oct 2019 16:20:16 +0000We ended our trip back in Australia at the Great Barrier Reef.  I forgot to write this post but wanted to include the photos here. https://manifestfun.com/the-south-island-new-zealand/https://manifestfun.com/the-south-island-new-zealand/Tue, 23 Jan 2018 00:56:37 +0000We 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 Christchurch and picked up our camper van for the next 9 nights. We… Continue reading The South Island of New Zealand https://manifestfun.com/rotorua/https://manifestfun.com/rotorua/Tue, 16 Jan 2018 04:17:27 +0000We 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, sitting just outside of the city but very close to most of… Continue reading Rotorua https://manifestfun.com/auckland-and-tauranga/https://manifestfun.com/auckland-and-tauranga/Mon, 08 Jan 2018 04:00:08 +0000We 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, vegetables or seeds. So I was very careful on the form to declare everything. I… Continue reading Auckland and Tauranga https://manifestfun.com/one-day-sydney/https://manifestfun.com/one-day-sydney/Tue, 02 Jan 2018 04:14:43 +0000We 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 location was in the heart of the city and of course we missed a few… Continue reading One day in Sydney https://manifestfun.com/australian-alps/https://manifestfun.com/australian-alps/Sun, 31 Dec 2017 04:21:38 +0000We 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 just staying on the left side of the… Continue reading Australian Alps https://manifestfun.com/gold-coast-australia/https://manifestfun.com/gold-coast-australia/Thu, 21 Dec 2017 11:53:33 +0000Stop 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 before we left home. Bringing musical instruments was a priority for us so we… Continue reading Gold Coast Australia https://manifestfun.com/brisbane/https://manifestfun.com/brisbane/Sun, 17 Dec 2017 06:21:53 +0000There 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 Africa, Baja California and Florida. It turned out to be a great choice for… Continue reading Brisbane https://manifestfun.com/huggletoe/https://manifestfun.com/huggletoe/Tue, 09 May 2017 15:05:56 +0000Everybody 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 to turn into pepper flakes that would be used to spice up our dinners.… Continue reading Huggletoe – Fun Simple Way to Get Lots of Hugs https://manifestfun.com/fun-time-alone-concert/https://manifestfun.com/fun-time-alone-concert/Thu, 04 May 2017 20:43:02 +0000I 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 succeed. Huge stadiums sold out in minutes, it is very difficult to score tickets. It didn’t… Continue reading A Fun Time Alone at a Concert https://manifestfun.com/we-completed-the-30-day-minimalism-game/https://manifestfun.com/we-completed-the-30-day-minimalism-game/Mon, 03 Apr 2017 04:10:00 +0000We 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 difference because all of the stuff we just donated and… Continue reading We Completed the 30 Day Minimalism Game https://manifestfun.com/30-day-minimalism-challenge-with-kids-day-22/https://manifestfun.com/30-day-minimalism-challenge-with-kids-day-22/Sat, 18 Mar 2017 05:23:00 +0000We 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 bedroom. She has emptied each drawer one at at time and carefully put all… Continue reading 30 Day Minimalism Challenge with kids – Day 22 https://manifestfun.com/1399-2/https://manifestfun.com/1399-2/Mon, 06 Mar 2017 01:08:00 +0000We 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 control, he easily parts with items he doesn’t use any more. Last year we… Continue reading Untitled https://manifestfun.com/the-30-day-minimalism-game-clustterless-kids-style/https://manifestfun.com/the-30-day-minimalism-game-clustterless-kids-style/Mon, 27 Feb 2017 01:33:00 +0000We 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 each give away or discard of 1 item on the first… Continue reading The 30-Day Minimalism Game Clustterless Kids Style https://manifestfun.com/manifest-fun-emergency-room/https://manifestfun.com/manifest-fun-emergency-room/Wed, 04 Jan 2017 17:40:45 +0000I 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 grateful for this experience. So as I sit here in the second… Continue reading Manifest Fun in the Emergency Room https://manifestfun.com/koh-lanta-hike-tiger-caves/https://manifestfun.com/koh-lanta-hike-tiger-caves/Sun, 20 Nov 2016 05:21:33 +0000One 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 books promise. I will describe the details of the Tiger… Continue reading A hike to the Tiger Caves – Koh Lanta, Thailand https://manifestfun.com/lanna-kingdom-tour-taking-care-elephants-thailand/https://manifestfun.com/lanna-kingdom-tour-taking-care-elephants-thailand/Sat, 12 Nov 2016 15:38:57 +0000We 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 helped the Asian elephant population by supporting this company. The Lanna Elephant Sanctuary has… Continue reading Lanna Kingdom Tour – taking care of elephants in Thailand https://manifestfun.com/phuket-thailand/https://manifestfun.com/phuket-thailand/Sat, 12 Nov 2016 06:04:42 +0000Our 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 doors that open directly to a pool. Our friends were just a short swim over… Continue reading Phuket Thailand https://manifestfun.com/four-days-kyoto-japan/https://manifestfun.com/four-days-kyoto-japan/Mon, 31 Oct 2016 22:06:44 +0000Nagomi 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 and dine in the home of a Japanese family. This particular family picked us… Continue reading Four Days in Kyoto Japan https://manifestfun.com/takeshita-street-tokyo/https://manifestfun.com/takeshita-street-tokyo/Mon, 31 Oct 2016 05:16:18 +0000Takeshita 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 with little homes along the way. Takeshita Street is a pedestrian street (no cars) with shop… Continue reading Takeshita Street – Tokyo https://manifestfun.com/three-days-in-tokyo-with-kids/https://manifestfun.com/three-days-in-tokyo-with-kids/Sun, 30 Oct 2016 13:41:41 +0000Tokyo 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 expensive compared to life in Vancouver (which is also… Continue reading Three Days In Tokyo with Kids https://manifestfun.com/more-safari-pictures/https://manifestfun.com/more-safari-pictures/Mon, 04 Jul 2016 03:40:16 +0000More 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 or animals but this is a different story. I really wanted to capture the memory… Continue reading More Animals at the Entabeni Game Reserve https://manifestfun.com/big-five-marathon-south-africa-2016/https://manifestfun.com/big-five-marathon-south-africa-2016/Mon, 27 Jun 2016 11:05:25 +0000The 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, leopards, cheetahs, hippopotamus, zebra, giraffe, antelope and many more wonderful creatures. The race has been run for the past 12 years… Continue reading The Big-Five Marathon, South Africa 2016 https://manifestfun.com/first-days-africa/https://manifestfun.com/first-days-africa/Thu, 23 Jun 2016 18:49:05 +0000Travelling 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 hours on a plane to Johannesburg and a 6 hour drive to the game park. The drive… Continue reading First Days in Africa https://manifestfun.com/big-five-marathon-african-game-park/https://manifestfun.com/big-five-marathon-african-game-park/Fri, 17 Jun 2016 19:35:36 +0000Running 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 much more. I will be running a race in an African game park.… Continue reading Big-Five Marathon in an African Game Park https://manifestfun.com/star-struck-mo-willems/https://manifestfun.com/star-struck-mo-willems/Sat, 11 Jun 2016 06:49:22 +0000Tonight 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 several wonderful children’s picture books. He is most known for three very popular book series;… Continue reading I was Star Struck by Mo Willems https://manifestfun.com/fun-family-meals-at-home-restaurant/https://manifestfun.com/fun-family-meals-at-home-restaurant/Tue, 10 May 2016 21:28:36 +0000Are 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 suggest you try to sell them on getting involved because it… Continue reading Fun Family Meals – At Home Restaurant https://manifestfun.com/clutterless-experiment-1-month-later-jaida-and-blake/https://manifestfun.com/clutterless-experiment-1-month-later-jaida-and-blake/Tue, 22 Mar 2016 04:09:00 +0000One 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 clutter. Their rooms have been clean other than a few clothes on the floor that… Continue reading ClutterLESS Experiment 1 month later – Jaida and Blake https://manifestfun.com/clutterless-social-experiment-day-21-jaida-and-blake/https://manifestfun.com/clutterless-social-experiment-day-21-jaida-and-blake/Wed, 09 Mar 2016 22:04:00 +0000Now 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. They are still so happy to have clean rooms and have not missed anything. I… Continue reading ClutterLESS Social Experiment Day 21 – Jaida and Blake https://manifestfun.com/clutterless-social-experiment-day-14-jaida-and-blake/https://manifestfun.com/clutterless-social-experiment-day-14-jaida-and-blake/Thu, 03 Mar 2016 23:11:00 +0000It 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 how it is going:  How do you feel without all… Continue reading ClutterLESS Social Experiment Day 14 – Jaida and Blake https://manifestfun.com/clutterless-playdates/https://manifestfun.com/clutterless-playdates/Thu, 03 Mar 2016 22:49:00 +0000It 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 a day off school. Blake’s friend from our street came over at about 10… Continue reading Clutterless playdates? https://manifestfun.com/clutterless-social-experiment-day-11-jaida/https://manifestfun.com/clutterless-social-experiment-day-11-jaida/Sun, 28 Feb 2016 21:07:00 +0000Things 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 clutterLESS kids social experiment questions.  How do you feel without all of your stuff? Jaida: I feel good… Continue reading ClutterLESS Social Experiment Day 11 – Jaida https://manifestfun.com/finding-out-what-a-preschooler-and-toddler-will-do-without-toys/https://manifestfun.com/finding-out-what-a-preschooler-and-toddler-will-do-without-toys/Fri, 26 Feb 2016 21:23:00 +0000We 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, creating games, reading, playing piano and sports.  We wondered what would happen when their… Continue reading Finding out what a preschooler and toddler will do without toys https://manifestfun.com/blake-after-a-week-without-his-stuff/https://manifestfun.com/blake-after-a-week-without-his-stuff/Fri, 26 Feb 2016 00:40:00 +0000Blake 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 into the future. 1. How do you feel without your stuff? Blake: awesome 2.… Continue reading Blake after a week without his stuff https://manifestfun.com/fun-decluttering-with-kids/https://manifestfun.com/fun-decluttering-with-kids/Tue, 23 Feb 2016 08:05:26 +0000It 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 there IS a way to have fun decluttering. The problem with too much stuff I’ve always been a bit… Continue reading Fun Decluttering with Kids https://manifestfun.com/decluttering-makes-happy-kids/https://manifestfun.com/decluttering-makes-happy-kids/Tue, 23 Feb 2016 06:02:00 +0000Blake 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 bits, tripping on things, he couldn’t find things and worst of all he heard me nagging… Continue reading Decluttering Makes Happy Kids https://manifestfun.com/packing-up-the-kids-rooms/https://manifestfun.com/packing-up-the-kids-rooms/Fri, 19 Feb 2016 04:22:00 +0000Decluttering – 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 a while, but then the mess slowly drifted into the living room (and very… Continue reading Packing up the Kids Rooms https://manifestfun.com/jaidas-day-1/https://manifestfun.com/jaidas-day-1/Fri, 19 Feb 2016 03:49:00 +0000Whoa!  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 experiment.  What we did is, we boxed up all the… Continue reading Jaida’s Day 1 https://manifestfun.com/getting-rid-of-toys-and-clutter-in-our-typical-suburban-home/https://manifestfun.com/getting-rid-of-toys-and-clutter-in-our-typical-suburban-home/Wed, 17 Feb 2016 17:55:00 +0000Social 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 work, art that is not on walls and stuffies in our home.  For one month.… Continue reading Getting Rid of Toys and Clutter in our Typical Suburban Home https://manifestfun.com/leo-romano-driver-32/https://manifestfun.com/leo-romano-driver-32/Thu, 21 Jan 2016 19:15:35 +0000Today 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 listening to the grand kids playing,  a family dinner at home and a poker… Continue reading Leo Romano – driver 32 https://manifestfun.com/i-am-enough/https://manifestfun.com/i-am-enough/Thu, 21 Jan 2016 18:38:53 +0000This 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 she said but the words flowed through her and into him.… Continue reading I am enough https://manifestfun.com/please-puppy-please-by-spike-lee-and-illustrated-by-kadir-nelson/https://manifestfun.com/please-puppy-please-by-spike-lee-and-illustrated-by-kadir-nelson/Thu, 03 Dec 2015 20:30:41 +0000“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 through, rolling in the mud, splattering bath bubbles everywhere and giving the kids a good run to catch… Continue reading Please, Puppy, Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee and Illustrated by Kadir Nelson https://manifestfun.com/whistler-via-ferrata/https://manifestfun.com/whistler-via-ferrata/Mon, 16 Nov 2015 05:20:59 +0000After 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 top of Whistler mountain many times before, but I can… Continue reading Whistler Via Ferrata https://manifestfun.com/forest-night-run-party/https://manifestfun.com/forest-night-run-party/Mon, 16 Nov 2015 05:17:49 +0000A 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 half marathon at UBC, with her.   I had only run… Continue reading Forest Night Run Party https://manifestfun.com/norquay-via-ferrata/https://manifestfun.com/norquay-via-ferrata/Thu, 12 Nov 2015 05:53:26 +0000I 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 achieve this. There are a few routes to choose from at Mount Norquay, we opted… Continue reading Norquay Via Ferrata https://manifestfun.com/squamish-via-ferrata/https://manifestfun.com/squamish-via-ferrata/Fri, 06 Nov 2015 05:39:22 +0000I 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 and there were not any sections that required… Continue reading Squamish Via Ferrata https://manifestfun.com/how-noodle-doodle-dinners-can-improve-your-writing/https://manifestfun.com/how-noodle-doodle-dinners-can-improve-your-writing/Tue, 03 Nov 2015 06:37:29 +0000In 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.  She says that writers often use only the left side of their brain (logical side) while writing their books, but they could be creating a… Continue reading How Noodle Doodle Dinners Can Improve Your Writing https://manifestfun.com/my-favourite-picture-book-authors/https://manifestfun.com/my-favourite-picture-book-authors/Thu, 15 Oct 2015 18:14:13 +0000Here 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 her endings are happy. Mo Willems – Who doesn’t love Elephant and Piggie? The Pigeon… Continue reading My Favourite Picture Book Authors https://manifestfun.com/creativity-keeps-me-happy/https://manifestfun.com/creativity-keeps-me-happy/Thu, 08 Oct 2015 22:53:37 +0000It 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. Hallowe’en is by far my favourite holiday.  My mom and I used to sew all of my costumes… Continue reading Creativity Keeps Me Happy https://manifestfun.com/5-things-to-know-about-debut-authors/https://manifestfun.com/5-things-to-know-about-debut-authors/Mon, 05 Oct 2015 21:04:46 +0000Many 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 for the agents and editors out there that forget what it is like to… Continue reading 5 Things To Know About Debut Authors https://manifestfun.com/picture-books-for-kids-bootcamp/https://manifestfun.com/picture-books-for-kids-bootcamp/Wed, 30 Sep 2015 06:01:58 +0000I 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 open in a browser tab, it gets cut off and all you can see is “Selling… Continue reading Picture Books for Kids Bootcamp https://manifestfun.com/caio-rome/https://manifestfun.com/caio-rome/Mon, 25 Aug 2014 20:36:00 +0000Our 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 cobblestone streets with grafiti'd metal garage doors locking up the shops and restaurants https://manifestfun.com/nonnas-town-roccacasale/https://manifestfun.com/nonnas-town-roccacasale/Sun, 24 Aug 2014 07:38:00 +0000Today 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 hot when we arrived and the the kids were not even wanting to get out of the car l https://manifestfun.com/glamping-in-tuscany/https://manifestfun.com/glamping-in-tuscany/Fri, 22 Aug 2014 06:15:00 +0000It 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 form for glamour camping (although glamour is not the first word I would use to des https://manifestfun.com/val-di-fassa-wonderful-area-to-play/https://manifestfun.com/val-di-fassa-wonderful-area-to-play/Tue, 19 Aug 2014 04:36:00 +0000Christian, 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 optional bus that can drive you and your bike back up to your starting point.  But the https://manifestfun.com/via-ferrata-multigenerational-sport/https://manifestfun.com/via-ferrata-multigenerational-sport/Mon, 18 Aug 2014 16:07:00 +0000Mama 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 ferrata's started in northern Italy in the Dolomites.  Lucky for me, I was headed that w https://manifestfun.com/pozza-di-fassa-italy-arriving-in/https://manifestfun.com/pozza-di-fassa-italy-arriving-in/Sun, 17 Aug 2014 17:39:00 +0000Yesterday 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 passports before packing our bags and they were in the trunk in a suitcase.  The bord https://manifestfun.com/holy-cow-there-are-so-many-cows-in/https://manifestfun.com/holy-cow-there-are-so-many-cows-in/Sat, 16 Aug 2014 19:11:00 +0000For 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 another awesome children's playground - honestly, the Swiss have the best play ar https://manifestfun.com/a-lazy-day-in-lauterbrunnen/https://manifestfun.com/a-lazy-day-in-lauterbrunnen/Wed, 13 Aug 2014 20:49:00 +0000We 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 awesome :) Blake is obsessed with Swiss Army Knives now - he wants another one https://manifestfun.com/train-ride-to-top-of-europe/https://manifestfun.com/train-ride-to-top-of-europe/Wed, 13 Aug 2014 18:26:00 +0000We 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 beautiful.  Leaving Lauterbrunnen up the green grassy hill gave some excellent views https://manifestfun.com/monster-scooters/https://manifestfun.com/monster-scooters/Mon, 11 Aug 2014 19:15:00 +0000Despite 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 went back up the gondola to ride them down again.  Unfortunately we missed the view https://manifestfun.com/lauterbrunnen-switzerland/https://manifestfun.com/lauterbrunnen-switzerland/Mon, 11 Aug 2014 16:54:00 +0000Lauterbrunnen 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 excellent outdoor activities of all types here.  We've seen so many parasailers, base j https://manifestfun.com/childrens-adventure-trail-murren/https://manifestfun.com/childrens-adventure-trail-murren/Mon, 11 Aug 2014 16:38:00 +0000What 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 part of the via Ferrara trail here, it is an exciting trail in which you have to be https://manifestfun.com/a-day-of-mistakes/https://manifestfun.com/a-day-of-mistakes/Sun, 10 Aug 2014 08:15:00 +0000We 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 knives but changed our minds and decided to go directly to our next home instead. https://manifestfun.com/chamonix/https://manifestfun.com/chamonix/Sun, 10 Aug 2014 07:54:00 +0000We 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 when you are going 150km/h until another car zips past and you look to see how fast https://manifestfun.com/taking-in-mediteranean/https://manifestfun.com/taking-in-mediteranean/Fri, 08 Aug 2014 17:37:00 +0000We 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 apartment without directions as the ones I printed were reversed and somewhat use https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-arenal-day-27/https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-arenal-day-27/Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:45:00 +0000Paradise. 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 shower that leads out to a gorgeous outdoor shower / garden.  And what we didn't re https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-playa-chiquita-day-22/https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-playa-chiquita-day-22/Tue, 03 Jan 2012 02:28:00 +0000We 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 - I was along the bottom making an L with Christian and the kids diagonally in b https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-punta-mona-day-21/https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-punta-mona-day-21/Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:45:00 +0000We 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 get there are by boat or a 2 hour hike through the jungle with a machete.  We too https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-puerto-viejo-day-17/https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-puerto-viejo-day-17/Fri, 30 Dec 2011 02:16:00 +0000We 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 wash over us.  The beach DJ played some chill reggae (reggae plays everywhere in Pue https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-puerto-viejo-day-16/https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-puerto-viejo-day-16/Thu, 29 Dec 2011 02:43:00 +0000We 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 hours.  Surprisingly, Jaida, Blake and I were totally fine, the kids not complainin https://manifestfun.com/merry-christmas-eve/https://manifestfun.com/merry-christmas-eve/Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:08:00 +0000Merry Christmas Eve! our Costa Rican snowman! https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-manuel-antonio-day-11/https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-manuel-antonio-day-11/Sat, 24 Dec 2011 05:21:00 +0000We'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) and the beach was packed.  We went at high tide and there were some decent surfi https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-manuel-antonio-day-9/https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-manuel-antonio-day-9/Wed, 21 Dec 2011 03:31:00 +0000Jaida 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 projects. We went to one of their animal rescue centers and saw many marmosets (1 poun https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-manuel-antonio-day-8/https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-manuel-antonio-day-8/Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:48:00 +0000Costa 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 and I think it wasn't until that question that she even noticed any difference. https://manifestfun.com/christians-thoughts/https://manifestfun.com/christians-thoughts/Mon, 19 Dec 2011 02:40:00 +0000Feels 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 and walk by saying "Hola Pablo".  Oscar, the guy who owns (actually, probably th https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-manuel-antonio-day-7/https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-manuel-antonio-day-7/Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:59:00 +0000We 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 Christian's hand see the scary butterfly on my shoulder? notice the butterfly o https://manifestfun.com/there-are-some-seriously-chilled-out/https://manifestfun.com/there-are-some-seriously-chilled-out/Sat, 17 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000There 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 minutes. Christian did well, he caught some good waves (and had a few funny crashes https://manifestfun.com/day-5/https://manifestfun.com/day-5/Sat, 17 Dec 2011 03:04:00 +0000Christian 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 unusual for him.  And somehow out of all of this he has signed us up for surfing https://manifestfun.com/day-4/https://manifestfun.com/day-4/Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:53:00 +0000Manuel 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 to join our group so we ended up with a private guide which was awesome.  These g https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-manuel-antonio-day-3/https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-manuel-antonio-day-3/Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:08:00 +0000I 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 were monkeys - one after the next climbing the same branches in a line.  Each on https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-manuel-antonio-day-2/https://manifestfun.com/costa-rica-manuel-antonio-day-2/Wed, 14 Dec 2011 03:06:00 +0000We 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 made a few stops along the way, espresso, crocodiles and lunch in an old airplane t