adventure and travel to discover the unknown and uncommon…with kids
The Jersey Shore! Home to sun, surf, sand, and elephants.
Elephants?!!
That’s what I thought when my sister asked me if we wanted to join them on a visit to Lucy the Elephant on our way down to Cape May. “It’s only the oldest example of Zoomorphic Architecture out there”, my brother-in-law said. I can’t resist anything old and unique so of course I said yes! Continue reading “an elephant on the jersey shore”
My first mistake was opening Pinterest. During my morning workout I suddenly remembered that I had not planned any games for my daughters 5th birthday. A birthday party that was going to happen that afternoon! So I cut my workout short (yea, an excuse) and went to Google “mermaid games”. What appeared on the screen in front of me made me realize that 1) a mermaid party theme must be a common request for a 5 year old girl and 2) I was failing at the birthday party component of parenting. Continue reading “the dreaded kid’s birthday party…or why my parties will ever make a pinterest board”
It was early morning and the day was already warm. I walked around the empty field, enjoying the stillness of the morning, yet nervous because everything had to be perfect. I looked down and breathed a sigh of relief because of what I saw in front of me. Soupy, wet, thick mud. Perfect!
It all started when I convinced a bunch of my friends that we should sign up together for a mud run. A mud run, in case you don’t know, is a race involving obstacles and, of course, mud! These are extremely popular events right now! In just 2 years these events have gone from 41,000 participants to 1.5 million! Most events are for adults only or have a kid version of the event before the actual event, but I realized there are virtually no for kid only mud runs. And who loves mud and obstacles more than kids? I decided to change that and create a kid’s mud run! Continue reading “a little dirt never hurt: a mud run for kids”
We were completely alone. I don’t even know how that was possible given how crowded the park was, but here we were alone. All was quiet except for the birds, wind in the pines, and of course, the river. The river,never quiet, just tirelessly moving forward.
Craving a day without crowds we had hiked back to a schoolhouse in the middle of the woods. The drive was a bit out of the way and then the hike required a climb up a steep road still closed off for the season, but it was worth it when we realized nothing was around.
Over Spring Break we took a trip to the Smoky Mountains. In order to break up our 12 hour drive, we stayed a night in Fayetteville West Virginia and spent the next day exploring the area. Fayetteville is a quirky little town that is home to the New River Gorge Bridge which is the longest arch bridge in the US and, at 876 feet above the New River, the 3rd tallest.
My name is Heather. My mom swears she had never heard the name before and named me after a song from Brigadoon, but everyone from my generation is named Heather. Either that or Jennifer, Michelle, or Melissa. My roommate in college one year was named Heather as well. People would call our room and ask for Heather! It drove us crazy so we would just start talking to whoever it was until they realized it was the wrong Heather (kind of awkward with the boyfriends!). Then, when I started working, my counterpart’s name was Heather. It got very confusing for the doctors that we called on!
So, when I started having kids, I wanted to name them names that not everyone had. I completely struck out with my first child. Continue reading “my big naming fail”
Basketball season ended last week. It was a great season all around for all of my kids, even my 4 year old. She learned to dribble the ball while watching all of those practices from the sidelines! I am proud of the improvements that they all made and joy they had in playing the sport.
I was one of the coaches for my 4th grade daughter’s team. The term coach should be used very loosely here, but I did what I could (my husband and two other men were the main coaches!). During the games I had the privilege of sitting on the bench with the girls and rotating them into the game. It was so much fun! Here, I had the opportunity to really get to know the girls. Their true personalities came out as they played ball and watched their teammates compete. Continue reading “what winning really looks like”
Today I started the day, as always, with a steaming cup of coffee. There’s nothing better than that first sip of coffee early in the morning. Clutching a hot cup of coffee just makes me happy!
Tomorrow I will not have my morning cup of coffee. In fact, I will not have it again for 40 days! That’s because tomorrow I am starting the Forty Days of Water. It is a fundraiser during the Lenten season for blood:water mission, which will build clean water projects for communities in Uganda. During this time I will drink only tap water and donate the money I save by not purchasing drinks to blood:water mission. Continue reading “forty days of water”
It’s cold in Northern New Jersey. In fact, we are right in the middle of a snow storm as I write this! This time of year can seemingly last forever. Short days, snow and ice, dirty cars, steel grey skies, and fly away static-y hair (my own personal pet peeve) make it feel like winter will never end! But there is a bright spot for our family. It’s what makes the winter pass quickly…basketball!
Right now we are smack in the middle of basketball season. Three of my four kids play it. My 6th grade son plays for his school and my 4th grade daughter and Kindergartener son play for Upward, an excellent basketball program run by our church. My husband coaches my daughter’s team. I am also considered a coach but I basically hang out on the bench with the girls during the games. We are often at basketball practices and games 4-5 times a week! But, I love every minute of it!
So, in honor of our winter pastime, I created a Basketball Top Ten. The top ten reasons why I like basketball… Continue reading “how to make the winter pass quickly”
On a warm spring day this past year we went on a short hike to explore another forgotten building. We hiked up an old rutted road that was slowly being reclaimed by the forest. The road climbed and twisted and soon we found ourselves staring up at a whitewashed tree with a huge white owl on a branch! Had we wandered into a magical wonderland? No, we had found Outlook Lodge! Continue reading “slow fade”
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