This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support. Living in Phoenix, AZ where the heat is already about 200 degrees hotter than where anyone else lives, one of the things we love to do to get out of the heat is take weekend road trips out of town into higher and cooler country! My husband and I will take off on our own and just take an all day drive or sometimes we get together with family members for camping trips or sight seeing trips. There are great places to visit in our beautiful state that are within just a couple of hours driving distance. This summer, we have already taken a day and driven up to Prescott, AZ. We took in a folk arts festival with our son, daughter-in-law and little grandson. It was a great day. Prescott always seems to have something going on and is such a great place to visit. Trips up to Flagstaff and the south side of the Grand Canyon are also easy to do on a weekend, as well as trips to the Mogollon Rim or even over to the White Mountains. We have done all of these trips over the years with our children. As adults, the drive to these places were relaxing and beautiful. But, to kids, a couple of hours can seem like an eternity and it takes some creativity to help them have fun and make memories with you that will last for years to come. Car Games are always a life saver.
Songs It is second nature to me to sing in the car while driving. My dad always sang with us when I was a child when we drove places. It is one of my favorite memories. We would sing old songs like "I've Been Working on the Railroad" and "I've Got 6 Pence." I taught those to my children as well. With our kids, we would also put in tapes (in the old days) and now CDs and sing along to favorite oldies. Beach Boys and Beatles tunes were some of our favorites. Our kids loved having Mom and Dad join in singing with loud pizzaz and gusto as we drove down the road. Everyone laughed and had fun. Maps We traveled with our children before the days of GPS. So, we navigated using maps! It always surprises me to learn that people do not know how to read maps. It really isn't that difficult. My kids have GPS now, but they still look at maps as well. Reading maps is a very good skill to have and maps give you a better idea of the lay of the land and the area you are traveling in than simply by following a GPS voice. Don't get me wrong, there are some really good benefits to having better technology when it comes to traveling though. For one thing, because of social media, we have a lot more access to tools and ideas that will help kids have more fun on trips and to help families create more memories together. For one thing, we can go to Etsy and find great travel game printables! Or, for your next Disney trip, this Disney Would You Rather Game will keep everyone happy until you get there. My husband and I were just settling down after his Father's Day festivities and we were talking about some short trips that we would like to take, as well as a couple of long ones! I'm starting to love the idea of his retirement coming soon and the time we can spend together. I as so glad that we still love being together and spending time doing things that we enjoy.
Are you planning any road trips this summer? We would love to hear your plans! What are your favorite ways to pass the time as you drive? Leave a comment and let us know!
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This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support.
Hi everyone! How was your Mother's Day? Mine was awesome for many reasons. #1, I have 6 awesome children. #2, I was able to speak with my youngest son who is serving a mission in Cote d'Ivoire, Africa! (Click on this post to find out why.)
If you have ever had children traveling for an extended period overseas, you will know how great it feels to hear their voice and how often you think about them and worry about them each day that they are gone. I have found a way, this time around, to keep track of where my son is and also create a keepsake for him to have when he comes home. I hope that when he sees it he will be able to tell us stories about all of the places he visited while in Africa. At this point, I need to apologize to all of my older children that I did not do this for when they were gone overseas on missions or at school. Sometimes I am just a little bit too slow thinking of these things. Sorry kids. But, on the bright side, when your children are old enough to travel overseas and/or go on missions, you will be able to do this for them! You're welcome!
Anyway, here is how it turned out and the instructions to make one for your own travelers!
I have to confess that I actually had to try creating this board twice. The first time I decoupaged everything on it. That was a mistake because the paper and the canvas didn't mix well with the wet glue and there were tons of bubbles! So, the second time I did it, I just used a glue stick! Then, if any corners were coming up, I used push pins to hold them down.
We don't have a ton of pictures of him yet because the WiFi in the little village he is in isn't very good so it is hard for him to upload them to his emails. But, his language is very good now and he is doing so great! I miss him, but I am so proud of him and happy for him.
It is so great to look at the map and find out where he is! So, whether you have a missionary going out into the world to serve, or a student doing study abroad or someone you love taking a journey of discovery, this is a great way to follow along with him!
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support. Whoot! As you read this, Madalynn and I are at Disneyland! Maddy surprised me with this trip for just the 2 of us Disney lovers together! We are spending 5 days at this magical place! Have you heard of Disney Bounding? It is a thing that people do to dress in a way that represents Disney characters without actually being in that character's costume. Maddy really wanted for us to do that, so we made shirts and ears to be reminiscent of some of our favorite characters. I have used Avery products for many of the projects like this that I have made. Their products are high quality and the Avery website is so easy and helpful to use. Plus, I can save the designs that I make in my own file for later use. My business cards are saved on there and all of my Hot Cocoa Bomb Labels. Avery is always my go-to for my printing needs. For these shirts, I used Fabric Transfers. They are available to order right from their site, or you can purchase them in stores like Walmart. Next, you go to avery.com and design what you want to print on your shirts. The nice thing is that Avery automatically will reverse the print to the mirror image so that you don't have to worry about it. I have made that mistake and wasted so much transfer paper trying to do this on my own! But, this is how our prints came out: One important tip is to be sure to trim as close to the design as possible to get the best look. If you leave too large of a margin, you will get a plastic looking outline that isn't pretty. But look how cute these Sleeping Beauty shirts came out! After you clip out the design, just decide where you want to iron it on and then have at it! Let is cool a bit and then peel it off. Voila!
Here are our Doc and Sleepy shirts! We will post ourselves wearing them as the week progresses! Check out our Instagram this week to see all of the fun! Hi everyone, Lindsey here, without a recipe for you. Turns out, I am still pregnant. This baby has really taken it out of me. (Actually this baby +full time job+the worst office chair known to mankind has taken it out of me). I have a recipe in mind that I want to make and share with you all, but I haven't had a chance to do it. Not only do I get home too tired to do anything else and force my husband to cook, but last week, as my mom told you, we were gone. See, the day we were flying to France, PH's grandmother passed away. She lived in a nursing home in Connecticut and was nearly 96 years old when she died. I'd say that's a pretty good life! Since her posterity now lives all over the country they decided to do a memorial service a few months later when everyone could come. It was this last weekend. The service itself was very sweet. I never met his grandmother, but hearing all the stories about her, and seeing lots of family pictures helped me get to know her. I already loved her because she is the grandmother to the best husband in the world, so you know she had to be great. Well, PH and I flew to upstate New York a few days early and he showed me around to his old haunts (also we went to Niagara Falls). PH moved to upstate New York when he was 13 so he had some old hangouts he wanted me to see. Our first day there we met up with an old friend of his at a place called Thirsty's. Thirsty's is a bar, but during the summer they grill burgers and dogs up in the backyard. So we sat out back and I got to hear some fun stories about PH in his youth that he maybe didn't want me to hear. We also went to Tom Wahl's, which is an upstate New York staple. It's like a 50s Diner with, you guessed it, burgers and fries. PH told me the regional food in that area is really burgers, fries, and pizza. That's okay, everyone likes those things for a reason! Finally, we enjoyed some delicious custard from Abbott's, another upstate New York special. It really was some of the best custard I have ever had!
Our trip was short and sweet, but we had a really nice time! Next time I need to take PH to Vermont and show him around my little town of South Royalton. What food is special to your region of the country? What are the special little hole in the wall places you want to take visiting friends and family to? Share in the comments below? |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
April 2024
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