Road Trip Tips – Easy Games to Pass Time in the Car
Karlie having fun and being goofy on the road trip.
On the road again….! After a full day of work, horse camp, packing the van, and more fun we set off on another road trip adventure with the whole family. The kids are excited and we have several days worth of fun on the road planned. We get to go to a few places we’ve never been before so that is always fun for the family!
Road Trip Game ideas (here are a few that we played on this particular trip):
- Road Trip Bingo – you can buy a road trip bingo board or create your own if you know some of the items you will be seeing such including road signs, building, national monuments, animals, etc….
- I Spy – you don’t need anything to bring for this game. You just have someone say “I Spy With My Little Eye” and the rest of the family has to guess what object they see whether in the car or outside of the vehicle.
- License Plate Game – how many of the 50 states can you see while on the road trip, if I remember correctly we got 37 US states and even some Canada ones too! It was the closest we have ever come to getting 50 states!
- 20 Questions – this does not require any prep or packing either. Have one person think of a plant, animal, or thing and the rest of the family gets a total of 20 questions to determine what object they were thinking about. The person answering the question can only answer “yes” or “no” and nothing else.
- Animal Game – the first person to spy an animal or pen of animals (a herd counts as 1 point) gets one point. If there are different types of animals in the same pen or location (such as horses, cows, donkey, etc…) they can get additional points for each type of animal if they call them out first. Wild animals or unique farm animals (other than birds) such as deer, coyotes, emus, llamas, etc…. get a bonus 5 points for each type they see. Our rule is at least one other person in the car must see the animal as well.
- Car Game – everyone picks a different color of car and gets a point for every car they see with their color. This game works best in a quieter traffic or two lane highway since in a big city the score keeper will have a harder time keeping up and it becomes a series of yelling “I see a red, white, blue, green…..one!”
- Historical Marker Game – the first person to see something of historical significance gets a point.
- ABC Game – this one is great for areas with a lot of road signs or billboards. You start with the letter “A” and find a written word that starts with that letter than move onto “B” and so forth.
- Car Color Bingo – we picked the car color “yellow” and the first person to spy a yellow vehicle would call out “Bingo yellow Penske truck or Bingo yellow convertible, etc…” and they would get one point per vehicle they spotted. Another person had to see the vehicle to count and the majority of the vehicle had to be yellow in order to count.
These were a handful of the ones we played on our road trip. Hope you enjoy some of them if you are going on a road trip too! It is a great way to pass the time and have fun. We all want road trips with the whole family to be fun and pleasant for everyone!
We stopped for dinner at a Chic-Fil-A along the way and let the kids run around in the play area for a few minutes while we waiting for the food. It was a great way to let them stretch their legs and have fun. It helps break up the time just sitting idle in the vehicle too.
Our family enjoys road trips! It is a fun way to spend extra time since we are all packed into the van together. While in the car we have plenty to talk about, games to play, snacks, videos to watch, audiobooks to listen, and even summer workbooks to complete, stories to tell, memories to laugh about, books to read, and more so the time goes by quickly! Yes, we are one of “those” families that make their kids do summer workbooks to keep them up to speed during summer vacation, although we don’t necessarily make them do it everyday (road trips are a great time to get a few pages of some workbooks done). Even though we have a DVD player in our van the kids are not allowed to watch it very often. It is our rule that unless the trip is 5 or more hours the DVD never gets opened. Since we had a 40 plus hours of driving ahead of us the kids were excited to watch a few DVDs on this trip! What do you do to make road trips fun for your family and break up those long hours in the vehicle with the kids?
Book: “The Dragon and the Turtle Go On Safari” by Donita K. Paul & Evangeline Denmark
I was really excited to get The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari by Donita K. Paul and Evangeline Denmark to read to the girls. It is a story about two friends Padraig (the dragon) and Roger (the turtle) on a camping adventure together at the base of “Mount Sillymanborrow” (their backyard). They have a camp fire, toast marshmallows, eat baked bugs, sleep in a tent, and let their creative imaginations send them on several fun Safari adventures. Throughout the night they encountered a variety of “jungle” beasts – they heard noises from a howler monkey (owl), giraffes (squirrel), elephants (raccoon), fed a rhinoceros (dog), and rescued a baby leopard (kitten).The two friends shared in the adventure together, supporting and encouraging each other when they were frightened. Roger even nicknamed his friend Professor Padraig since he was an “expert” on jungle animals. They chose to do activities that both friends wanted to do which also distracted them from thinking about the scary noises around them. I liked how both friends encouraged each other throughout the night and never made fun of the other one even when they were scared. If one friend did not want to do an activity (such as listen to a scary story) they just picked another safari activity to do together. Even though they were scared they still were brave enough to help another animal in distress, the kitten.
Although the authors had a several wonderful underlying points in the story I was disappointed in the flow of the book. It came across a little choppy in areas; the words didn’t flow together smoothly and the girls didn’t get some of the jokes. The story at the end of the book “The Legend of Mount Sillymanborrow” didn’t seem to fit well with the story and I had to explain it to my girls. With that being said, I really enjoyed the very last page – “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid… God goes with you; he will never leave you.” – Deuteronomy 3:16 The authors did provide some really good discussion questions for kids and I liked how they encouraged our girls to think of positive ways to help a friend when they are scared. Overall I think the book had some really good points and brought out some teachable moments for the kids, however, I would suggest checking the book out at the library first to make sure it is a good fit for your family prior to purchasing it.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher through the Waterhouse Multnomah. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Vacation: Swimming with the Turtles in Barbados (Part 2, Pictures)
We had a blast spending time on the Caribbean Island of Barbados this year!
Here are a few pictures of our adventures on the island!
We made it to Barbados! Welcome to Barbados! Jake and I near the Welcome sign at Barbados, which is our last Caribbean Island before heading back to Puerto Rico! We are ready for the fun adventures today. When we stood at this sign we had no idea how many memories we could pack into one day at the beach on Barbados!
Clouds gathering on Barbados! The big puffy clouds eventually turned into gray rain clouds, but they did not damper our time at the beach. It was actually neat swimming in the ocean and hearing the pitter patter of rain drops clicking on the top of the water. Yet another adventure I had never experienced before. When you grow up in Kansas, the majority of your water experience is on lakes not at the ocean because you are so far away from any ocean beaches. Actually the first time I saw the ocean was when I got engaged to my man, Jake, in Aruba (which is another amazing place to visit).
Cute little pink and white cottage clothing store on Barbados. This is another “princess” looking cottage we took a picture of for Brina who loves anything pink and princess. She is our “girly” girl who loves princesses, babies, and animals. Although we missed them during our excursions it was nice to snag a few pictures to share with them. They loved that we thought of them during our adventures away.
Beautiful Blue Monkey beach at Barbados. The water was BEAUTIFUL at Blue Monkey beach in Barbados. It was the gorgeous turquoise blue that you could stand in and look down to the bottom of the ocean and see your feet. The dark patches under the water in the picture above is where we saw the most colorful fish snorkeling and it was in a spot we could touch. It was nice to relax, swim and look at the colorful fish swimming all around us.
Swimming and snorkeling! For Christmas Jake got me a waterproof, shock proof camera that we were able to take into the water with us to capture some of the fish to share with the girls. Here are a couple of the fish we encountered near the coral as we were swimming just off the beach at Barbados. If you look closely you can see another fish down in near the sand in the corals.
We had beautiful fish swimming all around us. This type of fish we saw several times. I am not sure of the name but it was pretty with its face turquoise blue, a couple black stripes, and a golden yellow body. We had the opportunity to see a lot of different fish but with us swimming, but the fish were moving quickly so it was hard to capture all them.
Beautiful fish off the beach of Barbados! This was probably one of my favorite ones that we seen next to the beach. It was really beautiful almost rainbow striped with vibrant colors (taking its’ picture under water doesn’t do it justice but it is the closest we could come).
Turtle swimming right below us at Barbados! I cannot express how much I enjoyed swimming with the turtles in Barbados! It was such an amazing experience to be swimming right beside a huge turtle, beautiful and peaceful at the same time. I could literally reach out and touch the turtles. Turtles really are awesome swimming and it was almost relaxing just watching them glide through the water. I hope to do this again some day!
A couple of sting rays swimming right underneath us! Two sting rays were swimming together right beneath us. Wonder if they were a family! We seen them several times always near each other swimming. I didn’t get as close to the two sting rays but it was very excited to see them swimming with us.
Hey Friend! Words cannot explain how excited I was to swim with the turtles on Barbados! Gorgeous turtle swimming right in front of us. I never thought of turtles as beautiful animals until this experience in Barbados. We were blessed to have the opportunity to enjoy so much of our wonderful creation from animals to plants and so much more during our trip. Karlie is our girl who loves sharks, rockets, planets, matchbox cars and animals. She was so excited to see this turtle and amazed that we could be swimming with them. She had two questions for us after seeing this picture – She wanted to know why we couldn’t bring it home with us to put him in our turtle tank, ha! Her second question was “Did we get to swim with any sharks?”
A sting ray scooting along the ocean floor right below us! One of the sting rays swimming below us on the ocean floor. Simply amazing!
Josh and Amber flipped their jet ski, opps! I had my first experience riding on a jet ski in Barbados as well. It was all I could do to hold on and not fall off when we were racing across the ocean so there weren’t as many pictures of us ON the jet ski’s. Shortly after we got on the jet ski’s I look over at Josh and Amber riding and see Amber hanging off the back followed by a crash and a flipped jet ski. Although difficult we managed to get the jet ski flipped back over but they had to go into shore to get another one to ride. Thankfully, we only had to do that once. It was pretty funny sight to see though!
Mom and Dad relaxing on the beach! Mom relaxing in the shade and Dad sunning himself after getting wet jet skiing. The tide was moving in during our time at the beach so Mom, Dad and Becky thankfully rescued our backpacks, shoes, water bottles and other stuff from floating out. To this day I still don’t know how we didn’t lose something with the number of times we were chasing sandals in the current and moving the canopy back.
Beautiful flowers in Barbados! Beautiful flowers to welcome and wave us goodbye on the island of Barbados. They thought the rain was refreshing and delightful as much as we did. You can still see some of the rain drops on the flowers and leaves!
We had a blast on Barbados! Swimming with the turtles, sting rays, snorkeling and jet skiing were amazing. The time flew by so quickly! It was a great day with family! We created a lot of neat memories and had the opportunity to enjoy new experiences. I highly recommend Blue Monkey beach if you ever get a chance to visit Barbados!!!
A Vacation To Remember series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Vacation: “Sky Safari Zip Lining ” – Basseterre, St. Kitts (Part 2, Pictures)
The following are some pictures from our day in Basseterre, St. Kitts!
We arrived in Basseterre, St Kitts! We had a fun time exploring the capital of St Kitts. Basseterre was a neat place to walk the streets and meet people. They had monkeys you could take pictures with after getting off the port, if you wanted a picture with the monkey you had to pay $20. You learn quickly to say “no, thank you” because there can be so many people asking for your attention.
Dad getting an aloe massage! While the rest of us were walking through the shops Dad sat down for a few minutes at a table and ended up getting an aloe massage. The guy said he looked 20 to 40 years younger after the massage, it was pretty funny to watch!
Sailboat Cruise Ship, really neat! There was a sailboat cruise ship at Basseterre, St Kitts. We encountered a lot of amazing boats during our vacation!
Coca Cola appeared to be a universal soda of choice in many of the islands! Coke was a popular sign no matter where we went. Here is one of their advertisements painted on the side of a building in St Kitts.
Building a house in Basseterre, St Kitts! A construction crew working on a home. Often times they would go ahead and run the pipes before building the next level that way they had a head start when they were ready to build again.
Beach at Basseterre, St Kitts St Kitts had beautiful turquoise water and white beaches. We didn’t make it to the beach that day because we went on the Sky Safari but we heard a lot of great feedback from other people on the ship.
Catch of the day, Basseterre, St Kitts! The catch of the day! The fish were almost as big as the fisherman carrying them. One of the big industries in St Kitts is fishing. These guys are rinsing off some of their fish they caught earlier that morning.
We made it to our Sky Safari Zip Lining Adventure! We arrived at our excursion. They took us by bus to the Sky Safari Zip Lining adventure! It was a beautiful place and soooo much fun going on the zip lines.
Standing in the Botanical Gardens overlooking the town and ocean! Amazing view while standing in the Botanical Gardens and overlooking the town and the ocean. It was a breathtaking site, absolutely beautiful!
Fresh coconut in Basseterre, St Kitts Fresh coconuts were hanging in the trees all over the island. They had a spot where there were so many coconuts they just couldn’t eat them all. Almond trees were in abundance as well.
Beautiful flower in the Botanical Gardens, St Kitts! Beautiful flowers in the Botanical Garden in st Kitts! They had interesting flowers, trees, and artists to see!
Fresh Fruit on the trees in St Kitts! A tree loaded with fresh fruit, I think these were the goya fruits. Very popular in the islands!
Local artist in St Kitts demonstrating how she uses wax, paint and canvas to create her paintings. A local artist showing us how she does her paintings with wax and canvas. Each color takes a day to paint and dry some paintings take days before they are complete. Very interesting to watch.
Flowers & Bench at the Botanical Gardens in St Kitts! Beautiful white bench with flowers peeking through at the Botanical Gardens on St Kitts! They had plenty for flowers, plants, and trees to see or you could just relax on one of their benches.
Neat "Wagon" Wheel Bench in St Kitts! I really thought this wagon wheel bench was pretty neat. The Botanical Gardens had great stuff to see or you can take a moment to relax and enjoy the surroundings while we were visiting.
A friend running past in the Botanical Gardens! We saw several lizard or iguana type animals during our excursions. Although it was neat to see them running around I was thankful they wanted to keep their distance from everyone. I think our guide called them ground lizards.
Old Sugar Mill in St Kitts Sugar Cane was once very popular industry on St Kitts (and many of the other islands). This sugar mill was no longer active but was very neat seeing how they use to make the sugar from the cane.
St Kitts form of Poison Ivy! This is St Kitts form of poison ivy, none of us volunteered to touch. We decided to take our guides word for it on that one. No one was wanting any type of poison ivy reaction on our vacation.
Apples growing in St Kitts This is a St Kitts apple growing in their tree. Almost everywhere you walked you could see fruit growing in trees. Even though the apples are not the same as ours I am sure they are delicious. They don’t eat the skin on their apples.
Very thorny tree in St Kitts! This tree was near the Sugar Mill in St. Kitts, in the past it was said that when slaves first came to the islands they were tied up to these thorny tree for several days. I didn’t even want to touch it because the thorns were so sharp, ouch!
Jake's all geared up for the Sky Safari zip lining adventure! Jake all geared up and ready to go. My handsome man helped me get all my gear on as well. The hats and harness were pretty comfortable and everyone had a blast on the zip line. Fun times together with family!
Basseterre, St Kitts Goodbye Basseterre, St. Kitts hope to see you again! It was wonderful spending a day with you and we enjoyed all the fun adventures on your island!
A Vacation To Remember series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Vacation: “Sky Safari Zip Lining ” – Basseterre, St. Kitts
Sky Safari Zip Lining Adventure in St. Kitts, our gear is on and training complete, whose ready for some fun..... The fourth day of the cruise we stopped at Basseterre, St Kitts. Basseterre is one of the oldest in the eastern Caribbean and was originally part of the French colony. Then in 1727 the British made Basseterre the capital of St. Kitts. The island is known for its rich volcanic soil, tropical climate, and almost 70 sugar plantations. Although the peek years for sugar plantations have past you can still see the old plantations, sugar cane fields, abandoned fortresses, city squares, and architectural structures. The volcanoes are dormant on St Kitts and the mountains are a great place to take a hike.
Our excursion today was AMAZING!!! The whole group went on the “Sky Safari Zip Lining” adventure. We went on a zip line that was 1,400 feet long, 25 stories above ground, and up to 40 plus miles per hour. There were four zip lines all at different spots on the mountain. On three of the zip lines we went one at a time and on the last line we raced a partner….I raced with Jake. We both thought that Jake won but when we got the pictures it looked like I made it to the platform first, interesting! The zip line clipped into a harness and was super easy to learn how to do. On the way down we were up so high the boats in the ocean seemed tiny plus our feet were hitting the tops of trees as we flew along the zip lines, it was awesome!
We had a blast in St. Kitts! If you have a chance to go sometime, we definitely recommend you check out the Sky Safari Zip Lining.
Facts about St. Kitts:
- Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II
- Governor-General: Sir Cuthbert Sebastian
- Prime Minister: Denzil Douglas
- Capital: Basseterre, St. Kitts
- Total area: 65 square miles
- Population: 49,898
- Monetary: East Caribbean dollars
A Vacation To Remember series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Information on St. Kitts found on Info Please.
Vacation: “Catamaran Adventure” on Philipsburg, St. Maarten
Beautiful butterflies & flowers at Philipsburg, St. Maarten. This butterfly fluttered around us for several minutes before landing on this flower. During our recent trip we were able to stop by Philipsburg, St. Maarten! Philipsburg is the capital of St. Maarten and on the Dutch side of the island. the island is well known for it’s most popular “must-have” ingredient….SALT! In the 17th century the Dutch settlers started harvesting the salt from Great Salt Pond and sending it by the ship load back to Europe. The natives nicknamed the island “Soualiga” or “Land of Salt”. Today the island is split with France owning the Saint Martin side and the Netherlands Antilles owning St. Maarten.
The first wildlife to greet us upon arriving at the island was a beautiful little butterfly, it must have been one from the Butterfly Farm on St. Maarten sent to welcome us to their island. St. Maarten has great “beach taxis” that will take you back and forth from the boat to the beach all day for $6. If you are looking to spend the day at the beach this was a great deal plus you could come back to the boat for lunch then head back out to the beach for free as long as you still had on your wrist band. St. Maarten is also a great place to shop and pick up some neat souvenirs for those back home. Some of our group went to the beach that morning to swim, collect seashells and relax while others went strolling down through the town and shops. It was a fun and relaxing morning at St. Maarten.
That afternoon we all went on the “St Maarten Reef Express” which took us to two snorkeling locations. On the way to our excursion we walked past a huge private boat, it was said to be Steven Spielberg’s private boat! They had a lot of wind and storms that week so the water was a little cloudy but the weather was beautiful. We were able to see some fish but didn’t get to go to the ship wrecks due to the cloudy water. The food, drinks and ride along the beach were amazing. We even got to see a plane almost land on the beach. St. Maarten’s airport is located very close to the beach and when planes land they look like they are landing on the beach while people are enjoying their time sun tanning or swimming in the ocean. Along our catamaran adventure we saw amazing boats, pastel homes, and were able to swim in its turquoise blue water.
Here are a few fun facts about St. Maarten AKA St. Martin (depending on which side of the island you were on at the time!):
- Official Name(s): St. Martin – dependency of French overseas AND St Maarten – part of the Netherlands Antilles
- Population of St. Maarten – 40,100
- Capital of St Maarten – Philipsburg
- Language of St Maarten – Dutch and English
- Currency – Netherlands Antilles Florin (although US Currency is widely accepted)
- Religions – Catholic, Protestant and Others
- Land Mass – 13 square miles
- Landforms – The island is known for its white sandy beaches and coves. They have a lot of greenery in the hills and valleys of the island, the highest point of the island is 1,200 feet. They do not have any significant rivers on the island.
- Climate – warm throughout the year, the high temperatures vary just slightly between the seasons.
Information taken from World Atlas
In an later post we will share some of the pictures we took during our adventure on St Maarten. If you ever have a chance to go to St Maarten we trust you will enjoy it as much as we did. Maybe we will have the opportunity to visit and explore their beautiful island again in the future, you never know!
A Vacation To Remember series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Vacation: “Nature’s Little Secrets” – Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Our first view of Tortola, British Virgin Islands, beautiful islands! During our recent trip we were able to stop by Tortola, British Virgin Islands where the licenses plates read “Nature’s Little Secrets”. Tortola is the largest and the capital of the 60 islands. We took a shore excursion called “Tortola Highlights”! The excursion started out in an open-air safari bus (aka a large open taxi). We took a scenic drive through the beautiful island of Tortola. The driver told us pieces of the history and culture as the bus climbed up the narrow curvy roads. We passed many local villages including Trench and Fahie Hill.
Tortola wasn’t always a peaceful island, it is said to be the spot where many pirates such as Bluebeard and Sir Francis Drake used to hide in the coves to pounce on the treasure ships as they sailed past. The old pirate dens are now used for snorkeling, exploring, or relaxing on the beach. British Virgin Islands includes Norman’s Isle which is believed to be the source of inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island”. Pirate Jost Van Dyke’s island is well known for it’s beaches. Virgin Gorda is the place where Rockefeller first promoted the island as an ideal tourist destination.
The island has “range” free livestock – cows, chickens, horses, goats everywhere, there was no place for them to go unless they wanted to take a long swim in the ocean. Tortola’s main source of revenue was sugar cane, however, their primary source is now tourism. You can find plenty of rum distilleries, old sugar mills, and colonial landmarks while exploring the island.
At the top of the island we stopped at the “Sky Top” Restaurant which was the highest point on all the islands. We were able to get a panoramic view of the British Virgin Islands, it was beautiful! The biggest hit for the “Sky Top” restaurant was the view, if you wanted to use the restroom you had to buy a drink (a can of Coke was $4.50), buy an expensive souvenir, or pay a $1 cash to use their facilities. The restroom had a working toilet but soap and paper towels were not available.
Tortola is also known for their white sand beaches and mountains full of fruit trees. We stopped for a swim at the Cane Garden Bay. We traveled around the entire island over Zion Hill for the scenic drive along the Sir Francis Drake Highway and back to Road Town where we browsed through some local shops. The driving was a little bumpy in areas as they recently had a storm that dropped over 4 feet of rain. We got stuck in a traffic jam due to a car accident but we all managed to make it back to the ship on time. It was interesting hearing the highlights from the drivers’ point of view, he was very proud of their schools, churches, and a new hospital they recently built.
If you go to Tortola make sure to bring cash for tips and to use the restroom as well as hand sanitizer! Tortola is a beautiful place with breathtaking views of the other islands. It is worth exploring if you are in the area! We hope to one day go back for another visit! I will be sharing in a future post some of the pictures we took while on the island of Tortola!
Below are some more facts regarding Tortola and the surrounding British Virgin Islands:
- Monarch – Queen Elizabeth II
- Governor – His Excellency Boyd McCleary
- National Anthem – “God Save the Queen”
- Flag – “Union Jack”
- Territory Status – Non-Sovereign, overseas territory of the United Kingdom, internal self-governing
- Legal System – English Law
- Largest Island – Tortola
- Language – English (official), Spanish
- Population – 28,882
- Religion – Christianity (major), Hinduism, Islamic
- Monetary Unit – US Dollar
- Economy – One of the most prosperous in the Caribbean. Highest Income Generators – Tourism & Financial Services
- Sales Tax – None
- Life Expectancy – 70 to 78
- National Flower – Oleander
- National Bird – Turtle Dove
- National Tree – White Cedar
A Vacation to Remember
We watched this beautiful sunset as we left South Carolina! Everyone needs a little time away. Seriously, life gets busy and schedules quickly become overloaded. It is important to take some time to relax, enjoy life and create memories. Every vacation is different some are restful while others are jammed packed with activities. Chose the vacation that suites your family. Try to plan a vacation with your family at some point this year even if it is only a long weekend away with your spouse, family, or extended family. You will cherish the memories you make for a lifetime.
My husband and I recently went on a cruise with my parents, my siblings and their spouses. It was wonderful to escape for a week and have fun together. The kids had a blast staying with friends while we were away and had a little vacation of their own away from Mom and Dad. The neat part about a cruise is once you arrive on the boat all your meals are provided, the hospitality is amazing and your room is cleaned multiple times a day. You truly are spoiled!!! My husband and I had a blast spending time with family, meeting new people, exploring the ship and islands. We always had plenty of activities, food, and entertainment. We were rocked to sleep every night as the ship went from island to island and every morning we woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the ocean. We could have continued cruising through the awesome islands, however, we were starting to miss the kids and figured we should get back to the regular routine.
Over the next few days I will be sharing pieces of our recent adventure with you. Some posts will be just for fun while others include helpful tips when traveling and cruising. It was an enjoyable trip and we hope everyone gets an opportunity to go on a cruise at some point. Go ahead start planning out your next family adventure!
A Vacation To Remember series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Creative Initiatives – ZoobaLoobaDoo
It is our role as spouses, parents, friends, and business associates to stimulate the creative side of others. In our home we enjoy coming up with new ways to solve a problem, complete a project, or just have fun. ZoobaLoobaDoo is one of those creative family words we developed in our home to get the family excited about certain activities.What is ZoobaLoobaDoo?
ZoobaLoobaDoo is a fun and creative excursion with a purpose.
When errands need to be done and kids are in tow we go on a ZoobaLoobaDoo adventure together which always includes something fun along with the tasks to be completed. The fun activity could be as simple as getting an ice cream cone, playing a game, going to the library or another kid approved activity. When they girls were first learning the word they would tell me to “say that crazy word Mom so we can go with you on your errands.” Now when we tell our girls we are going on a ZoobaLoobaDoo adventure they get excited because they know that a piece of the activity is just for them. Having that element of surprise and creativeness makes it fun for everyone involved. I have the joy of coming up with a fun activity while they are excited to participate and discover what the adventure will be that day.
Stimulate creative conversation in the lives you touch. Encourage your family, friends, and business acquaintances to use their imagination and you may be surprised at the outcome. Creativity allows us to come up with better solutions to problems, helps us tackle projects and injects an element of excitement into our lives.
Life is too short to be boring, bring out the fun and creativeness first in yourself so it can spread to those around you. How do you allow creativeness to shine through in the people in your life – your spouse, kids, friends, family, co-workers, clients….? When you allow creativeness to shine through in your life what happens? Share with us your ZoobaLoobaDoo. If you don’t have a ZoobaLoobaDoo to share, start the excitement this week and you will be amazed by the results.
