50 States Before They Graduate: Arches National Park, Utah

  Our trip to Arches National Park had a rough beginning and a bumpy, but happy ending. We jumped out of our car in the first parking lot to walk a trail with all the littles when the wind suddenly kicked up so badly and just didn't quit. Sand was in our eyes and mouths, and stinging our skin as the wind whipped us repeatedly. After a brief … [Read more...]

50 States Before They Graduate: Bryce Canyon, Utah

Y'all, I just want you to know that even though our pictures are beautiful, they aren't going to even come close to showing how beautiful Bryce Canyon is in real life. If I could go back again tomorrow, I totally would. It is definitely one of my all-time favorite spots we've visited. Besides being gorgeous, it was just a great family day for … [Read more...]

50 States Before They Graduate: Grand Canyon, Arizona

On our path to the Grand Canyon, we came across an overlook of Lake Powell. It was just beautiful. The littles and I played with the rocks up top, while my husband climbed a little lower and left our mark. The littles all wanted to climb down, but it looked a little steep to me, so Daddy had all the fun. After that brief pit stop, we headed on … [Read more...]

Traveling the 50 States with the Flat Littles

  As you know, we're studying the United States of America this year for cycle 3 geography of Classical Conversations. I have a fun idea that I would love for you to participate in! In the spirit of Flat Stanley, I've drawn a cartoon-like picture of my littles, which I'll send to participating families through e-mail. You'd print them out, … [Read more...]

Travel: Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

I was so excited for this day in Albuquerque, New Mexico! We intended to ride the Sandia Park Tramway, but the skies were overcast.  I was really bummed about missing this, but grateful they offer a view from the top via webcam on their site.  It saved us some serious time and money for what wouldn't have been a very good view.  But, … [Read more...]

Travel: Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

After spending the day in San Antonio, Texas, we headed to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico staying over in Fort Stockton, Texas, on the way.  We arrived just outside the entrance to the national park around lunch time, so we looked for somewhere to pick up lunch.  Let me tell you, that was no easy task.  Or actually, … [Read more...]

Travel: San Antonio, Texas

The first stop on our recent three week trip (besides In-N-Out Burger!) was San Antonio, Texas.  We knew we wanted to visit The Alamo, so we started our day by viewing the movie The Alamo - The Price of Freedom at the Alamo IMAX at the Rivercenter. It's a forty-two minute docudrama recreating this important battle in Texas' … [Read more...]

The 4 Things My Littles Needed When We Flew (For the First Time)

I'm so excited to finally start telling y'all about the three week trip we took in October to some southwest states.  Both my sister with her family (her high school sweetheart husband and five lovely littles) and my parents would be in Texas for a week for work, so we decided to meet up with them there for a mini family vacation.  We've … [Read more...]

One Quick Suitcase Packing Tip

My husband laughed at how excited I was when I first thought of this simple trick for packing my littles' clothing for our most recent trip.  But, despite his good-natured ribbing, I knew from experience that even though I carefully selected outfits for each of my littles (play clothes, church clothes, visiting great-grandma clothes, etc) … [Read more...]