• active family travel - family - Giveaways - Travel

    Travel Is Series Celebration and Giveaway #TravelTuesday #NTTW2015

    This month dozens of the blog-o-sphere’s best travel bloggers are sharing what travel is to them. I have had some amazing travel opportunities, both for business and pleasure this year. Colombia was an epic adventure and a great learning experience with World Vision Canada. The cruise we took together as a family was amazing and such a great chance to restore. The trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico was a wonderful active mother daughter trip that we loved. And the Tremblant Quebec trip where we all learned to ski was epic and busy and challenging, and a trip were hope to…

  • active family travel - family - Travel

    If You Were a Tourist in Your City #Travel

    There are many things I love about London, Ontario. Most of them start and end with children. We moved here when I got a job offer at the London Free Press and then we adopted our children and we became a family. And when we became a family here I started exploring all of the brilliant programs and services and places for families and children in this city and that, I think, is when I fell in love with my city. This weekend I was on a plane returning home from a conference and a business traveller behind me asked…

  • active family travel - family - Parenting - parenting - Travel

    My Explorer – Kennedy Space Center #Travel #WordlessWednesday

    It was almost four years ago now when we travelled to Florida for my oldest daughter’s tenth birthday. We wanted, or needed, a vacation at end of the school year, which is always challenging when you have children with special needs. But this time we planned something different. Ten felt like a huge occasion and we wanted to celebrate it while inspiring our daughters to learn. So we took a full day and spent it exploring Kennedy Space Center. We dined with an astronaut and both of my kids were curious and peppered him with questions. It was one of…

  • active family travel - family - parenting - Travel

    Florida Destinations – Five Lesser Known, Less Crowded Spots to Visit #TravelTuesday

    Who doesn’t love Florida? I have been a few times and every single visit I see something new, or find some new city or spot that I would love to return to. We all know the popular spots and many of us have visited spaces like Orlando, Kissimmee, Tampa, but I wondered what other Florida destinations might be just off the beaten track, so I did a little hunting. Florida Destinations – 5 Lesser Known, Less Crowded Spots Florida is a wonderful state to enjoy a vacation. Its sunny, breezy weather and absolutely beautiful beaches make it one of the…

  • active family travel - family - Travel

    Dolphin Kisses – Last June in Mexico #WordlessWednesday #travel

    Last year we were lucky to attend a Puerto Vallarta, Mexico media trip together. Our family has travelled a few times since and this dolphin excursion that Payton and I went on in Puerto Vallarta remains one of the highlights of the last 5 years for my older daughter. I have seen numerous swim with dolphin excursions up close in the last year as we travelled. This one was the best, most humane, cleanest and best run dolphin excursions that I have ever seen. You can read my full travel story about Dolphin Discovery here in the travel section of…

  • active family travel - family travel - Quebec - Travel

    Dog Sledding Near Mont Tremblant

    Dog Sledding Near Mont Tremblant on a wintery March day can bring out the child in anyone. Snug as a bug in a rug. We are racing through the snowy upper Laurentians in Quebec, about 45 minutes from Mont Tremblant resort.  It is peaceful and calm and the mountains are majestic as the snow continues to fall. Three of us are on this one dog sled lurching out of the starting gate and my older daughter rides safely behind us with a driver of her own. Content. This is the definition of contentment and peace and it makes you almost…

  • active family travel - adoption and tweens - family - Parenting - parenting

    What Does Ten-Years-Old Look Like?

    This past month my youngest girl turned 11 and we celebrated with a Minecraft cake and a sleepover and a family dinner at Lone Star Texas Grill. We all learned to ski together as a family in Tremblant the weekend before her birthday party. In many ways, that was the perfect start to sporty spice’s birthday week. This is the daughter I still joke never met a sport she didn’t like. The one who wandered off at Disney when she was four and nearly gave me a heart attack on the spot. The one who sported my eye shadow the…

  • active family travel - family - family travel - homes - parenting - Travel

    It’s Time to RSVP For The #ParkbridgeLife Twitter Party April 15 at 8 p.m. EST #travel

    It was a rainy afternoon in August and our second day at Parkbridge Resorts, Lakes of Wasaga. We were there for three nights as guests. The kids had a friend with them and I was wrestling with the urge to tell them all to get off their Nintendos when I heard my youngest daughter holler: “There’s something over there by the lake.” All three children threw their sandals on and they ambled towards the lake. That weekend we had already spied dozens of groundhogs, we’d been swimming multiple times, made our own fishing poles of twine and branches, spied many…

  • active family travel - family - Health - parenting - Quebec - Travel

    Hugs from Dad #WordlessWednesday #Travel #Tremblant

    I rarely share shots of my spouse here. Why? Because he hates having his picture taken. Sad but true. Husband of blogger hates having picture taken. Honestly. So capturing a nice shot of him on film is a big deal for me. I often point my iPhone at him when we travel and he turns or moves ruining the shot. Early in March we were all invited to Mont Tremblant to visit as a family unit. While we were there, the entire family learned how to ski in two days!! I am super proud of that, in case you couldn’t…

  • active family travel - family - Giveaways - parenting - Travel

    Save the Date For Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities Twitter Party – $1200 in prizes April 15 8 p.m.

    Super excited to share this save the date post with everyone! Remember last August when we visited Parkbridge Lifestyle community in Wasaga Beach? It was really lovely. You can read more about that if you click through to the post from last August. We know that it is almost spring and some people are already starting their summer resort and cottage planning. After all when you live in Canada where we have a mere two months of summer, you need to get accustomed to wringing it for all it is worth. So you plan every last weekend and you map…