livingfamilytravelmediahome decor

Manitoulin Island: Highlights from our Roadtrip

IMG_20150811_211431

If you live in Ontario, there's a good chance that you've heard of Manitoulin Island and said to yourself: "Oh, I must visit there one day!" That's exactly how our family felt, so we were sure to include it in our list of places to stop for our family's summer roadtrip 2015. To say we enjoyed our stay on the Island is an understatement. We only had three nights on the island, but could have easily spent far more time exploring, hiking, and … [Read more...]

Summer Road Trip 2015: Northwest Ontario

road trip 2015

After last year's epic adventure to Australia, this year's summer holiday needed to be a bit more subdued. My husband suggested a road trip across Canada -- from Ottawa to Vancouver. Um, how is that scaling back exactly? He then countered with a camping road trip in Northern Ontario. I was not excited: is there anything but mosquitoes in Northern Ontario? I was wrong. So very, very wrong. For our 10-day trip, here is the route we took: 1. … [Read more...]

Now It’s Your Chance to Win a Trip! How does Sandals Jamaica Sound to You?

CTS #FeelGoodMovies Contest

Yesterday, I told you I won a trip. So, it's true, people actually win these things!  Today, I was going to tell you all about my trip to Northwest Territories. But since we (in Ottawa) just got a massive dump of snow, I thought you all might want to know about this contest as soon as possible! Remember how much I loved going to Beaches Boscobel in Jamaica? Well, Sandals is the cousin to Beaches. Where Beaches if ultra-family, Sandals is … [Read more...]

Beaches Boscobel, Jamaica: A Tween’s Perspective (Day 4)

At the entrance to Mystic Mountain

Stella, who is almost 10 years old, and I have just returned from Beaches Boscobel in Jamaica, where we were invited to experience the resort. If you’re a parent and you travel to the Carribean during winter, then you’ve likely heard of Beaches Resorts. This chain of resorts is known for providing an above-and-beyond experience to families and their young children. But what about the “tween”? When your child is not a “little kid” nor are they a … [Read more...]

Beaches Boscobel, Jamaica: A Tween’s Perspective (Day 3)

Writing in her journal on our balcony at Beaches Boscobel

Stella, who is almost 10 years old, and I have just returned from Beaches Boscobel in Jamaica, where we were invited to experience the resort. This resort is all about providing a full family experience, so I am sharing Stella's journal -- spelling mistakes and all -- with you so that you can get an older child's perspective, not just an adult's.  On Day 3, we had a really special experience because we left the resort and had a visit to a … [Read more...]

Beaches Boscobel, Jamaica: A Tween’s Perspective (Day 2)

Sandals Golf & Country Club, Jamaica

Stella, who is almost 10 years old, and I have just returned from Beaches Boscobel in Jamaica, where we were invited to experience the resort. If you’re a parent and you travel to the Carribean during winter, then you’ve likely heard of Beaches Resorts. This chain of resorts is known for providing an above-and-beyond experience to families and their young children. But what about the “tween”? When your child is not a “little kid” nor are they a … [Read more...]

Beaches Boscobel, Jamaica: A Tween’s Perspective (Day 1)

IMG01217-20120429-1745

Stella, who is almost 10 years old, and I have just returned from Beaches Boscobel in Jamaica, where we were invited to experience the resort. If you're a parent and you travel to the Carribean during winter, then you've likely heard of Beaches Resorts. This chain of resorts is known for providing an above-and-beyond experience to families and their young children. But what about the "tween"? When your child is not a "little kid" nor are they a … [Read more...]

Everything’s Amazing and Nobody’s Happy

Hello my lovely bloggy friends, Stella and I are now in Jamaica (my Jamaica 101 post)! We were invited to come and visit the Beaches Boscobel resort in Jamaica and it's actually our first "girls' trip" together. Beaches Resorts cater specifically to families, so we are here to experience the resort and its activities to the fullest. I will be telling you all about it ... but first, I want to tell you about the trip to get here. To fully … [Read more...]

Jamaica 101

Stella, my 9-year-old daughter, and I are going to Jamaica next week. I know ... awesome, right?! We are really excited, despite the realization that we actually know very little about this country. So, won't you join us as we teach ourselves a touch of geography, history, and social studies? Where in the world? First of all, the WHERE! Below is map showing the island of Jamaica in red. From our home town of Ottawa, if you were to catch … [Read more...]