Post contains affiliate links as a service to readers. Any purchase made via qualifying links equals a small commission for me. Being an aunt is a kick in the pants. I get to buy the cutest things and spoil my niece and nephews and I keep some super fun toys here always for those times when they visit. This summer I will have them here for at least one visit. Our pool is a huge draw, but this year I also have Playmobil toys like the New Playmobil Wildlife Adventure Treehouse. PLAYMOBIL is known for its imaginative play and iconic figures. Now…
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It’s my last day visiting Martin County, Florida. I wake up, throw a swimsuit on and race to the car where Nerissa, tourism manager and host, meets me and drives us both to Stuart Beach. It’s a short drive so there’s no time to stress. Brett from Ohana Surf School meets us on the sunny June morning when I give surfing school a try. One of the things I love most about writing is the sheer ability to learn every single time you write a story or a post. Sometimes that’s a small lesson about a product. Other times it is a…
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It’s easy to take things for granted when you live in Canada. We have what we need. We live in one of the richest countries in the world. As a parent, it’s my job to challenge my family and my children to see beyond our backyard. I’m raising my kids to be global citizens who care and believe they have power to help change the world for the better. So, what does that look like? This summer as the Rio Olympic games get started, I’ll use the media coverage to find moments to talk to my kids about issues like…
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Look away if you aren’t the kind of person who likes sentiment. It’s been a long time since I posted one of these stories about my life, my kids, snapshots of us, the Growing Pains and grace notes inside the nutty every day chaos of parenting, and growing youth, not kids, not toddlers, young adolescents. My girls amaze me more than they know most days. Their strength is apparent to me, their Mom, and yet they very often don’t see it themselves. Some strange warped tween and teen girl mirror only lets them see first the tiny little mistakes, then the itty bitty fleeting…
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One of the things I love most about travel is that travel is different things to different people and it is what you need it to be. It is slow, or fast, or multigenerational or empty nest, or foodie, or adventure. It can also be special needs travel. There are as many ways to travel as there are travellers. This month I am joining 30 other travel bloggers to celebrate all kinds of travel. It’s my second year doing this travel blogger series. You can read each of the amazing posts about travel on wordtraveling.com. Special Needs Travel My daughter,…
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The History of Mother’s Day The history of Mother’s Day is quite long. Most people think it began in the early 1900’s, and while the move towards an official holiday began around the time, the actual history of Mother’s Day dates back much, much further. It’s roots can be traced all the way back to ancient Greek and Roman culture. Ancient History of Mother’s Day The history of Mother’s Day has its beginnings in an ancient annual spring festival of the Greeks which was dedicated to their maternal goddesses. At that time, the day was used to honor Rhea, the…
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Join us this week as we discuss World Vision and their amazing work bringing clean water to areas of the world that struggle without access to this basic resource. On Tuesday, May 3rd we will be talking about some of the incredible work World Vision Canada does around the globe. We will talk about the World Vision Clean Water challenge and we’ll take a few minutes to chat about some of the ways we plan to have fun with water this summer too. We have 3 Visa Gift Cards to give away with World Vision Water bottles. $25 Visa Gift…
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I love printables. Free puzzles, printables and crosswords make me happy. I hope they also make you happy. These printables remind me of vacations we have taken together as a family. When the kids were small I would keep a batch of these on hand for road trips and airplane trips too. Activities like these were great for the budget. Help the ship go through a maze and find tropical island with palms. Enjoy this educational game for children. This maze printable might keep them busy for a few minutes. Plus there’s a bit of a pirate theme that appeals…
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My family and I love going to water parks. There’s really nothing like them. Water parks offer fun in the sun, water play, family togetherness, and memories that last a lifetime. You might think you have to travel to Florida or some other sub-tropical U.S. Destination to find a great water park, but I’ve got a list of water parks for you that are actually close to my Ontario, Canada home. These water parks are near Detroit, Michigan. 4 Water Parks Near Detroit, Michigan All of the water parks below are wonderful destinations for family fun, and they’re all within a 4…
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I’ve got a Spring word search for kids on my mind today. If you know me at all, then you know that my entire family loves printable fun word searches and crosswords. Last night I supervised my daughter doing a cute crossword for grade nine English class. It was all about literary terms like – fill in the word – a comparison using like is called a: SIMILE. And a comparison that doesn’t use like is a: Metaphor. Anyways that was fun homework. I can totally get behind that kind of homework. This Free Spring Word Search for kids is not…