Travel
From girl's getaways to couples weekends away and family travel too. Find everything you need here on Thrifty Mommas Tips to make planning your next big adventure a breeze. Travel confidently with all of these tips and ideas for what, when and where to go. Learn to ski, go sledding on a dog sled near Tremblant, zip lining over the tree tops or snorkelling with mosquito jellyfish in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Most of this travel content has one common theme - it's all about traveling affordably for your family. If you haven't traveled, you haven't lived. Travel can be one of the greatest educational experiences undertaken in a lifetime. Seeing new areas of the world is extremely rewarding no matter how you travel or where you go. Whether you are a backpacking millennial or a cruising retiree, enjoy the content on Thrifty Mommas Tips and learn before you go, so that you can make the best of your time away. The family cruise content is comprehensive and an excellent tool if you are planning or dreaming of cruising in future. Read my in depth series that ties child sponsorship in Colombia together with travel to the South American country and then don't forget to peruse the Zambian fellowship series too. Impactful and meaningful, voluntourism serves a different purpose than a recreational family trip. But, there's quite a lot of both sustainable travel and impactful travel adventures coupled with family travel opportunities to make memories that last for years. Where will you go next and who will you take with you?
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Old School, Meet Digital #WordlessWednesday #travel
This was an epic moment for me. Chicago and Blogher13. I just had to see The Chicago Tribune. A long way from the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, and Ryerson Journalism school and London Free Press. I’ve had bylines a lot of places over the years: from The Kamloops News to the Free Press, the Record, the Toronto Sun, Today’s Parent and Canadian Family, and dozens of small dailies, plus my favourite moment, a few published essays in the Globe and Mail. But standing inside the lobby of this grand lady, I remembered why I got into this business of writing.
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A Word Called Inclusion: #Specialneeds at Camp
Remember this? Two weeks ago, when I was heading off to Chicago, I was still agonizing over whether Ainsley, my busy, sporty girl with special needs, could handle sleep away camp. I wrote a whole post about children with special needs at camp. Parents of special needs children are used to worrying. We worry about finances, and school, and life when we are gone. We worry our kids may never be able to cope fully, and enjoy, and be supported in the world without us. We worry with good reason, because frankly I have seen systems and systemic failures for children with special needs in areas of school, home, child welfare…
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Cheezborger #Travel #WordlessWednesday #Linky
Cheezborger, Cheezborger. Chips no Fries. Our last afternoon in Chicago we wanted something fast to eat and the Embassy Suites bell boy recommended this place, which I had never ever heard of, but is apparently a legend from Saturday Night Live Days. We walked in (Margarita Ibbott and I ) and it was totally skeevy. I tried to order something other than a cheeseburger and I thought the cook was going to lunge across the counter and strangle me. Good thing I didn’t ask him for french fries which is what I was really craving. This is a Wordless Wednesday and y’all know I am rarely wordless.
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Win a Family Trip to Syracuse ARV $950
Welcome to the Syracuse Family Getaway Giveaway! This Giveaway is made possible by the Syracuse Tourism Organization! HOSTED BY: OTTAWA MOMMY CLUB CO-HOSTED BY: CANADIAN BLOG HOUSE ~ JOURNEYS OF THE ZOO ~ LIFE IN PLEASANT VILLE ~ SHANNON’S VIEW FROM HERE GETAWAY PACKAGE: 1 room with 2 double beds for 2 nights at Double Tree Hotel by Hilton for a family of four with buffet breakfast for four each morning based on availability. Valid through 4/30/14 4 Tickets (2 adult & 2 children) to the Pole Position Raceway in DestinyUSA 4 tickets (2 adult & 2 children) to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo 4 tickets ( 2 adult & 2…
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First Day in Chicago #Blogher13 #travel #health
Day One in Chicago and we celebrated with a Sea Dog Cruise at Navy Pier, hosted by Madame Deals. The architectural and fireworks cruise was a fantastic way to see the night landscape in Chicago and a fun chance to catch up with some blogging friends. I woke up super early and grabbed a taxi to Margarita’s house where I knocked on the door at 4 a.m. and had no answer. Panicking just a wee bit, thinking she left without me, I rang her doorbell and she answered: “I hit snooze.” Half an hour later we were on the highway and shortly after that we crossed the border near Port…
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Hoping for Okay: Sending A Special Needs Child To Camp
Sending kids with special needs to camp is never simple. You have to vet camps hard to find one that might be capable of handling your children. Oh I know most make mention of inclusive policies and such. But, I have seen how this works in practice sometimes and it doesn’t. So, forgive me while I hold my breath and pray that this camp works this time. This morning, I woke fingers crossed and holding my breath. Today I have both kids at camp. No fires to put out. No demands beyond work. No calls from the camp stating: “What were you thinking? Come and get your kids right away.”…
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Almost Ready My #Blogher13 #travel To Do List
It’s almost time again for #Blogher13 and I am happy to say I am almost ready. I have spent a large part of this week getting things in order. Of course it helped a wee bit that my kids have been enjoying Modern Martial Arts day camp in town. Awesome week for them equals much work done here. My Conference Prep List. 1. Hair. Check. Cut and Freshened Up (I’m not about to say dyed so get over yourself.) 2. Pedicure. Done. Chicago Champagne shade of OPI nail polish (how could I resist as I am heading to Chicago for the first time ever ) and a lovely new salon…
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Blue Mountain Resorts Summer Activity
Skiing, snowboarding, skating. Blue Mountain Resorts and winter go hand in hand, but what do you know about summer at Blue Mountain Resorts? What can there possibly be to do in the summer? Turns out there’s activity around every corner at Blue Mountain these days. My kids are nothing if not active, so when Blue Mountain Resorts invited us to stay with them in June and test drive some of their great activities, well giddy up I said. Bring it on. What Can You Do in Summer at Blue Mountain Resort? We arrived on a Wednesday in a spell of very warm weather. First off Croc a Doodle pottery. Both…
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Global Resort Homes Great #Giveaway #GRHCanadaNow
Follow my blog with Bloglovin Imagine a place where the pool never closes. Just close enough to all the major Orlando theme parks. Your own private home with kitchen and as much privacy as you wish. Thriftymommastips.com is sharing this epic giveaway opportunity with you. Here’s hoping one of my lucky readers hits the jackpot.I hope to be able to visit this hotspot myself some time this year. Several friends have been to Global Resort Homes and have nothing but excellent memories of their stay. Kidsumers has been there twice now and has a great post on what to expect with Global Resort Homes. Good Luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Safari Birthday #travel #WordlessWednesday
This is how you turn 12 at Kalahari Resorts. I was on the ground watching my kid soaring past me – again. Happy Birthday Payton! Wordless Wednesday is a photo meme.