• active family travel - Health - infertility - parenting - Parenting - special needs

    Hoping for Okay: Sending A Special Needs Child To Camp

    July 23, 2013 - By 

    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…

  • Travel

    Almost Ready My #Blogher13 #travel To Do List

    July 19, 2013 - By 

    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…

  • Travel

    Blue Mountain Resorts Summer Activity

    July 8, 2013 - By 

    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…

  • Giveaways - Travel

    Global Resort Homes Great #Giveaway #GRHCanadaNow

    July 5, 2013 - By 

    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…

  • active family travel - Parenting - parenting

    How Do You Measure Eleven?

    July 2, 2013 - By 

    This was 11. This was 11. The year you grew maybe an inch in height. Not so much really compared to all the years that came before, but then again who really measures growth in inches? Eleven was the year you faced camp, for the first time on your own. A week with friends and it was glorious, or so I am told daily as the camp countdown begins another year. This was the year you finished grade six. The year I had to pull you out of school for two whole weeks because of a terrible fit between you…

  • Travel

    Blue Mountain, Collingwood Scenic Caves

    June 27, 2013 - By 

    My kids have the hearts of explorers. So last week when we had the chance to stay at Blue Mountain Resorts, Westin Trillium House for a family blogger retreat and we saw that a visit to Collingwood Scenic Caves was on the schedule, well I knew we had to bring walking shoes and take photos. When I was a child my Mom drove us to Collingwood for family vacations in the summer. I vividly recall exploring Collingwood Scenic Caves and the Blue Mountain Resort area way back in the late 1980s. Collingwood was one of my Mom’s favourite Ontario destinations…

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    family - Travel

    The Westin Trillium House Review

    June 26, 2013 - By 

     Last week we were invited to take part in the Blue Mountain Family Blogger Retreat 2013. We stayed three days at the Westin Trillium House. While there, we tested out many of the great activities at Blue Mountain Resort, and some in Collingwood too.     The Scoop on the Resort Itself   I have so much to share with you that I am breaking it down into instalments. This is my review of the Westin Trillium House. Sharing some of the great activities in the Collingwood area soon.    Blue Mountain      For those of you who don’t know…

  • Health - parenting - Travel

    Dear Mom Camp Series: Five Ways to Prepare Your Special Needs Child For Camp

    June 24, 2013 - By 

    The June instalment of Dear Mom #muskokawoods camp seriesHow do you Prepare Your Special Needs Child for Camp? Dear Mom: Just 29 days!!!! The countdown is on. I am going to pack my new swimsuit, sunscreen, a sketchbook, markers, shoes, a brush, no scratch that two swimsuits, Cutie, one blanket, my favourite Aeropostale sweater, one pair of jeans, seven books, underwear and a sleeping bag.  I love you and it’s so awesome to be going with Ainsley this year!! It’s going to be amaze balls! Love: Payton Alright, alright. Those of you who have been following this sponsored series in…

  • Travel

    #WordlessWednesday My Parasailing Family #Travel

    June 12, 2013 - By 

    My family is daring. I am not. This is the photo I took of them getting ready to go parasailing. Five minutes after this photo the three of them were flying down the beach watching sea turtles and such from way too high for this Mom. Thank goodness the husband has no issue with heights at all.