Take a dive beneath the water at Salt Springs, a unique swimming hole in the Ocala National Forest.
Daily Life
How to Host The Ultimate Pirate Themed Week for Kids
How do you pass time with kids? Grab your (plastic) sword, don an eye patch and host a pirate week!
We’ve spent many summer & school breaks home-bound. Whether it was due to work commitments, lack of finances or bad weather, spending extended periods of time at home with the kids is not foreign territory. One way I got through the time when the kids were younger was to host themed weeks. They usually centered around an outing at the end. Summer camps and science camps do the same thing, but hosting one on our own means you don’t have to follow the strict guidelines imposed by others. We’ve done Dinosaur Week with a trip to Dinosaur World as the grand finale; Royal Week with a daily reading of the Tale of Despereaux and the kids’ most favorite: Pirate Week. Check out these cool pirate themed activities for kids and host your own pirate week!
The Top 10 Most Useful Things We Ever Did As Parents
We try our best as parents, but never know if we are getting this parent-thing right. And we beat ourselves up all the time. Our kids are teens now and this is what we do know-the the top things we’ve done as parents when they were growing up that actually have made a difference in their lives (for the better). Check it out 🙂
Virtual Adventures & More: Cool Things to Do When You’re Stuck at Home
Learn about animals in the ‘School of Croc’, build a rollercoaster (or whole theme park), take a virtual paddle into a gorge, jog through a national park, and more. Check out these cool things you and the kids can do while you’re stuck at home.
5 Ingenious Ways to Get Your Kids to Read (Even If They Hate Reading)
So, you find yourself at home with the kids. Your young kids may adore cuddling up for a story time, but as they grow older, those books are replaced by electronics. The only book you’ll ever see is one assigned from school, which you suspect will never emerge from their backpack to see the light of day. How on earth do you get your (older) kids to read- especially if you don’t have many or any books in the house?
Stop forcing the ‘reading is good mantra’ (kids can smell that a mile-away) and check out these five clever & creative ways to get your kids to read- (they may not even realize they’re reading!)
Best Coastal Towns in Florida Your Whole Family Will Love
Ditch those busy Florida beach destinations and rediscover the real side of Florida, where life is slower, ice cream parlors on the main street are the hot-spots, flip-flops are the main footwear and fishing poles are trendy. Here are the best Florida coastal towns your whole family will love.
How to Plan a Fun & Affordable Family Vacation
Planning a fun and affordable family vacation ahead of time is easier (and less pricey) than leaving it ’til the last minute, and here are some handy tips and tricks to help you plan a vacation the whole family will love.
Getting Alligator Educated at Orlando’s Gatorland
One by one, the 12-14 foot gators slid onto the beach in front of me, their feet thrusting their huge armored plated bodies forward across the surface of sand and crushed shells. A row of giant jaws parted in anticipation, revealing rows of gleaming sharp teeth…
The Art of Coffee at Chica’s Cuban Cafe in Deland, Florida
The sweet smell of fresh roasted coffee beans wafted under my nostrils as the server placed an over-sized coffee cup on the table in front of me. In the little town of Deland, Florida, I was about to embark on a ritual that spanned centuries in the western world…coffee.
The First Day of School: Why You Are Doing It All Wrong
Summer ends and school begins. Soon all the photos of scrubbed children with shiny new backpacks and fresh clothes will fill up the Facebook and Instagram feeds. But what the unsuspecting parents who snap away at their posed kids, before shipping them off to new teachers, new classmates, don’t realize is they’re doing it all wrong. And this is why…