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Missing Travel? 4 Books To Soothe Your Wanderlust
I love to travel because I think you learn as much about yourself as you do the place you visit. I’m longing to travel but not quite ready to venture too far with the ‘rona lurking. Instead of packing my bags, I’ve been pouring myself a glass of wine and settling into a comfy chair in a shaded part of my patio, living vicariously through characters in books. Today I’m sharing four books where the main characters venture abroad, and in the process, push themselves out of their comfort zones! The Little Bookshop on the Seine, Paris Is Always A Good Idea, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and Eighty Days to…
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Exploring ORIGINS at the Perot Museum
Sitting in the Hoglund Foundation Theater at the Perot Museum yesterday, I listened as Professor Lee Berger explained that the discovery of Australopithceus sediba began with his then 9-year old’s comment: “Dad, I found a fossil.” That moment would eventually lead to this moment at Perot Museum of Nature and Science. They, in partnership with the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University) and the National Geographic Society, have brought the 1.97 million year old specimen to Dallas for a Origins: Fossils from the Cradle of Humankind. Speaking a museum membership holder, I can’t wait to bring my family back to explore this exhibition! Origins: Fossils from the Cradle of Humankind The exhibition, which…
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Always Pee Before Airport Security
There are 99 reasons I hate flying out of a certain airport, and 98 of them involve the inevitable flight delay we will encounter. Yesterday I added the 100th – the random security check that goes awry. When we left my son’s soccer camp in Charlottesville, Virginia for our drive to the airport, our flight was on time. By the time we reached the highway, it had been delayed 15 minutes. Then 30. Then 45. Then 2 hours. We stopped along the way at a shopping center to stretch our legs, kill some time, and get something to eat (because the airport food, or lack thereof, accounted reasons 52-58…
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Summer Fun at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science
If you are looking for something to do in the Dallas area this summer, look no further than one of my favorite local destinations: The Perot Museum of Nature and Science. There is so much to explore there this summer that I wanted to share all the goings on! I was recently invited to Family Media Day at the Perot Museum, where they kicked off the morning with a film in The Hoglund Foundation Theater with DREAM BIG 3D. Narrated by Jeff Bridges, the film is a celebration of human ingenuity behind engineering marvels big and small. I will warn you – I cried, several times. Yes, in a movie…
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8 Reasons You Need to Go To Hay Festival
Note: This post featured events from the 2016 program. To view/book events for the 2017 Festival running 25 May – 4 June, click here to for current offerings and up-to-date information.* It’s early morning and I woke to the crash of thunder and a crack of lightning. Perfect. The weather is spot on to match my mood, because my hopes to be at Hay Festival this week were dashed by airfare prices, and I love my firstborn just enough to not sell him for passage. (Damn you, British Airways and your blackout periods for using air miles.) The stereotypical wet Welsh weather is falling here while lovely Hay-on-Wye is experiencing lovely weather. It’s been three years since…
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Adios, España!
I currently sit in the business class lounge at the airport in Madrid, courtesy of my ever-traveling husband and the nicer seats we have for this flight. A global symphony surrounds me – Spanish, Italian, French, British and the occasional American. The sights are decidedly and distinctly European – men in skinny jeans with sleek sporty (but non-sport) shoes, sweaters layered with dress shirts, the ever-present “man bag” (which no amount of cajoling could convince my own husband to wear.) Women in equally skinny jeans or sleek leggings, fashionable short boots, scarves perfectly tied as only they can do. Everyone here, it would appear at a casual glance, at least. is…
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Home Away from Home: Residence Inn
Recently I drove to Austin with some fellow bloggers for the Disney Social Media Moms Conference “On the Road”. Since the conference officially started at 8:30am, I knew making the four-hour drive from Dallas EARLY that morning would be a deal breaker – nope, there was no way was I going to be up at 4am to make the drive, then do it all again after lunch. This girl needs her beauty sleep! Enter the Residence Inn by Marriott – a family favorite. In addition to the things like free wireless internet, flat-screen HD TVs to veg out in after a day of driving, what I like best is that there are…
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Life is always an adventure at Sea World Texas
My family loves and adventure and can’t be still for long. When the opportunity to attend AdventureCon at SeaWorld in San Antonio arose, we jumped at the chance to attend. Unlike other blogging conferences, this one was a family conference. While I was attending the Saturday conference sessions at the hotel, my family would be treated to experiences of their own with trainers, and have the chance to explore more of SeaWorld and Aquatica. Aquatica was the real draw for the kids – when we visited SeaWorld over spring break earlier this year, the weather wasn’t cooperating and it was too cold for us wimps to brave the water park (we…
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Visiting the Outer Banks #OBX
If you were to look at the photographs from any given year of our vacations at the Outer Banks, you would find some version of this photo: Every year we rent chairs and umbrella from a local company. Every year, the chairs and umbrella look the same. I find comfort in this sameness, this constant in our trips. It is as dependable as the fact that, at some point in the trip, the skies will darken and the wind will churn up the surf, a signal of the rain to come, one child will get a sand rash from hurling their small bodies at the waves, the other will likely sunburn a body…
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Sea World, Texas Style
We traveled to San Antonio for our Spring Break vacation. One of the top things on our to-do list was Sea World San Antonio. The morning had started out overcast and chilly, but we didn’t let it deter us! With confidence in the weatherman’s forecast, we headed out to the park. We found the best deal online at the SeaWorld website; we printed our tickets at home (including pre-paying the parking – you save $2) and we headed straight for the security check at the entrance. It appeared not everyone was as brave as us, and crowds were light and manageable. The best part about the cooler weather: there was no wait on…
