National Geographic family safari in Tanzania, day 2
On our second day in the Serengeti, we started out with a nature hike. This particular area is full of animals but not many predators or cats, so it was safe. (This would not be the case at our next campsite in the Serengeti, where we weren’t allowed to walk to our tents alone.) Our guides came along and were great with the kids, helping them identify animal tracks and plants. We were told we would eat breakfast after the hike, but what we didn’t know is that we would be eating . . .
Meeting our Tanzanian penpals
About six months ago, my kids started writing back and forth with some Massai children in Tanzania. This is a feature of National Geographic’s family expedition to this location, and it was a really neat experience. For a long time, my kids had no idea they would actually meet their new penpals. So when I told them about the trip and that they would get to meet the kids they had been writing, they were really excited. Karis’s penpal was a sweet girl named . . .
National Geographic family safari in Tanzania, day 1
For the past week and a half, we spent a magical time in Tanzania on a family expedition with National Geographic. I have so many stories to tell from our time there that I’ve decided to break it up into several posts. Our first day we hit the ground running, and were picked up at our hotel near the airport in Arusha, Tanzania bright and early. We took a van to the small Arusha airport and got to know the other families on the trip with us. There were several kids the same age as ours, so there . . .
Massai jumping
We’ve spent the past week in Tanzania on a family expedition with National Geographic. I’ve got so many stories and photos to share, but first we have a long journey home. In the meantime, I wanted to share a couple of my favorite pictures of the trip, from an afternoon we spent with a group of Massai people. Massai warriors are known for their incredible jumping skills. It is something they have a lot of pride in, and a group came and demonstrated their jumping for us. It really was . . .
Two days in Paris with kids
On our way to Tanzania for a week-long safari, we decided to open up our layover in Amsterdam and spend two days in Amsterdam and two days in Paris. Thanks to the high-speed Thalys train, we were able to get from Amsterdam to Paris in about 3 hours. We arrived to Paris around midnight, when the kids’ exhaustion and jet lag morphed into giddiness. Nothing like a 1am dance party in Paris. We found a hotel that had three beds per room just outside of Paris’s main train station. This was great . . .
Two days in Amsterdam with kids
When booking our tickets to Tanzania, we realized that we had a short layover in Amsterdam in between two ten-hour flights. Its a long haul and we decided to inquire about opening up the layover for a few days. It would allow us time to catch up on sleep after an overnight flight, break up the long flights, and also spend a few days in a new country. It didn’t cost anything extra to do this, and I’m so glad we did. Here is how we spent two days in Amsterdam with our kids.* This is . . .
We’re on a boat.
We are on a cruise with Carnival this week . . . I was chosen to be one of ten instgrammers for their live “moment tracker”, which basically means my job this week is to have a great time on the cruise with my family and then upload the photos. Um, done! Here are some highlights so far: You can follow along with our trip at Carnvial’s “moment tracker” website. . . .
twenty-one kid-friendly features onboard royal caribbean
I wanted to share some of the best aspects of our cruise in relation to traveling with the kids. This was supposed to be a top ten list, but I couldn’t narrow it down to 10. Or 15. Or even 20. As a Fisher Price ambassador, one of the reasons for our trip was to experience the ways Fisher Price and Royal Caribbean have teamed up to make the cruise even more fun for young families. Here are a few of the stand-out features of the Allure of the Sea for my kids: Free ice cream All day, every . . .
Top Ten Cruise Highlights
1. Getting away from the kids for three whole nights (as much as we love our children), and not being on a mission trip! (as much as we love missions)2. Having fun with awesome friends who made a good time of whatever activity we did3. Watching my husband sing "Summer of 69" in a karoake bar, and then display his savant knowledge of 1970's song lyrics at the piano bar4. Observing lots of drunk people hit on each other and thanking my lucky stars I'm out of that whole game5. Getting to know . . .
