November 8, 2017

Mother-Daughter Getaway: A Fall Visit to the Charlotte, NC Area

Georgia and I recently ventured back east to visit family in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. Before I dive into the details of our trip, I thought I’d explain first how we got there. Instead of flying directly to Charlotte, we opted to fly to the Raleigh-Durham airport. We then rented a car, and drove the rest of the way, about 3 hours, to our ultimate destination just south of Charlotte.

I outline why we love this option when flying (especially with kids) in our “No Layovers!” post, but basically, we are loyal to Alaska Airlines, and our air carrier of choice does not yet have a direct flight to Charlotte. Sure we could fly to another city and connect to Charlotte all through the Alaska Airlines interface, but when it comes down to it, another flight would add more time, more variables for delays, baggage issues, and other possible headaches. Especially when a car rental is necessary anyway, flying direct to an airport that isn’t necessarily the closest is a great option.

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November 1, 2017

Fall Visit to Gold Creek Pond (Snoqualmie Pass, WA) with Kids

Not that we ever need an excuse to head out on an outdoor adventure, but with Slaed out of town on a recent weekend, I knew that the kids and I could not sit idle. When solo-parenting, I find it’s a lot more fun and manageable to get out and be active rather than dwell on my lack of partnership!

Gold Creek Pond has been on our list of places to visit for several years now. As the kids and I headed down I-90, I must admit that I second guessed myself several times. It was pouring rain. Blinding, hard to see the car in front of me, worried about driving too fast and too close to other cars, RAIN. Where was the friendly, misty Seattle area rain that we are used to?

I started going over alternatives in my head, and how I was going to break it to the kids that we wouldn’t actually be making it to this hiking spot. And as those alternatives churned in mind, I just kept driving. I talked myself through the overwhelm, and convinced myself not to abandon our plans. Eventually those intermittent downpours subsided and we found ourselves at the trail head! I’m so glad that I didn’t chicken out.

Here you’ll see some quick highlights of our visit, and hopefully you’ll see why we think Gold Creek Pond is such a great outdoor destination for kids!

Fall Visit to Gold Creek Pond with Kids

Fall Colors!

We visited on the first day of October, so the fall colors were not out in their full glory, but the peeks that we saw were gorgeous! I imagine at by mid October, the oranges, reds, and yellows are out in their full glory.

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October 30, 2017

Fun Fall Reading: Children’s Books Featuring Spiders

Along with the changing leaves and cooler temperatures, at least here in Seattle, we often see an influx of spiders. Luckily we don’t find them much in our house, but it is a lot of fun to spot spiders on our walks. The webs are particularly beautiful lit up in the early morning sprinkled with dew. What’s your feeling on these 8-legged creatures: Do you share our appreciation or do you steer clear?

No matter your attitude, spiders and Halloween go hand and hand. The kids love pointing out the creepy, hairy critters decorating our neighbor’s porches and stairs. In the spirit of the season, I wanted to share a handful of our favorite children’s books where a spider is featured.

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October 26, 2017

Rainy Weather Halloween Costume Idea: Yellow Duckling

We’re all for simple and intentional around here when it comes to holidays. In an effort to spend more time connecting and having fun, preferably outside and/or adventuring, we opt for easy, not fussy.

For Halloween, with ideas in mind, we often hit up our local consignment stores and thrift shops, and browse our neighborhood parenting network for costumes. Last year for Georgia’s costume, we did things a little differently though.

We live in Seattle. Chances are, we’re going to be presented with some precipitation on Halloween. At the very least, even if it doesn’t rain, there will be some left over puddles from when it did a day or two before. So rather than have to put rain gear over her costume for trick or treating, we turned her rain gear into a costume!

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October 24, 2017

Lummi Island, WA Long Weekend with Kids

Needing one last family getaway before the busyness of the school year took over, we headed to Lummi Island over Labor Day weekend. Lummi Island is one of Washington State’s San Juan Islands, and is accessible by a small ferry that crosses over from Gooseberry Point (in the Lummi Reservation) near Bellingham.

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October 9, 2017

Healthy Breakfast for Adventure Families: Apple Carrot Squash Muffins

With Bergen starting Kindergarten this year, our slow preschool mornings have disappeared. We used to be able to take our time. I’d get up early, have the ability to get several tasks completed, sip coffee at a leisurely pace, and the kids could wake-up slowly. Breakfast could be more elaborate because we had time on our side.

These days, school starts shortly before 8:00, and even though it’s only a difference of a little over an hour compared to Bergen’s preschool days, it’s shifted our morning in a huge way. Bergen adores smoothies, but with the rush to get out the door in the morning, the whole process just seems overwhelming to me. I could put together clever freezer packs ready to be added to the blender, but then there’s always the looming clean-up that keeps me from wanting to bother.

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