A Taste of the Irish
This week’s p52 theme is “Drink Up!”. While I thought about this I realized my daily drinks of choice are an lovely Irish Breakfast Tea in the morning and then water the rest of the day. I rarely deviate from that but there are 4 drinks that are always in my house.
This is actually quite funny because only one of these is actually consumed as a beverage- the rest are used for cooking and baking!
A Little Irish
Front and center is Magner’s, which, in Ireland is known as Bulmer’s. Or, in my opinion, the best hard cider in the world. That I drink, though not as often as I would like due to the fact that I can’t get it in Iowa and a 3+ hour drive to buy alcohol ceased being “cool” when I was in my 20′s.
Behind that is a lovely Irish Whiskey, Tullamore Dew, Ireland’s most popular export, Guinness, and O’Reilly’s Irish Cream, as smooth as the other stuff but not as expensive. Those three items are used for baking my famous Irish Car Bomb cupcakes, in my Steak & Guinness Pie, or a delicious Irish Stew. (PS- want some great Irish recipes for St. Patrick’s Day? Check out my Favorite Irish Recipes ebook!)
About the Image
I shoot with an Olympus PEN E-PL1. I used the “art” setting ‘pin hole’ to achieve the darkness around the edges and edited the photo with Creative Memories Storybook Creator software, using the ‘fuzzy surfaces’ effect.
A Family Golf Getaway
If they go wrong, family holidays are amongst the most stressful of all breaks. Something like a disagreement on which attraction to visit, poor-quality accommodation or boredom could leave you feeling more stressed when you return than you did when you started your holiday. Keeping everyone happy is the most difficult thing about going on holiday as a family, and as many destinations are designed exclusively with adults in mind, it can be hard to find a family-friendly hotel that meets everyone’s needs.
When looking for the right holiday destination, it’s worth checking a few things. Make sure your venue has some activities for children of all ages e.g. a play room for under-fives, sports lessons for older children. Find out if they have a crèche if you plan on taking babies or toddlers with you. Also, see if the resort has something for parents to enjoy.
Golf breaks are seen as the preserve of well-to-do childless couples who have no intention of starting a family, but more golf resorts across the UK are doing their best to provide a fun holiday package with something for visitors young and old. When it comes to golf breaks Scotland, particularly along the Ayrshire coast, has resorts which are becoming more family-friendly by offering activities that children of all ages can take part in.
Turnberry, which is home to the Ailsa golf course, a former Open venue, offers everything you could possibly want from a family holiday. While it has world-class golfing facilities and the popular Spa at Turnberry, there’s plenty for the kids to get on with. For toddlers and babies, there’s a play room, while older children can take part in a wide variety of outdoor activities such as clay target shooting, cycling and falconry. They can even have golf lessons.
Great family golf breaks aren’t just restricted to Scotland. The Belfry, another of the UK’s most famous golf courses, also has family breaks available. Lying just to the south of the beautiful Staffordshire countryside, it has a hotel, top-class dining facilities and activities for all the family, even for those who aren’t necessarily golf fans.
You can ramble around the surrounding hills, taking in views of the rural West Midlands, have fun at their AquaSpa and play on their tennis courts before retreating to the famous Belfry Hotel. Other golf resorts around the UK are striving to offer a family holiday package to remember, which makes it easier to enjoy a golf break without upsetting your kids.
Heading to Sunny Arizona
Admittedly, Iowa has enjoyed a very mild winter this year. We didn’t have any snow that lasted for more than a few days and when we did have the cold we’re used to, it lasted only a few weeks. Somehow, winter had missed Iowa and, as recently as February 1, we here in the middle of the country were enjoy outdoor recreation like bicycling.
We were… Until Saturday. On Saturday we got the snow my girls- and most other Midwest children- had been missing. Nearly 7″ of perfect snowman-making, down-hill sledding, massive fluffy white stuff, fell.
Iowa Winter
Which makes the timing of our next trip perfect. Soon my eldest daughter and I depart for Sunny Arizona. When we’re there we’ll visit a ghost town, the Phoenix Zoo, the Sea Life Aquarium, an indoor trampoline park and more fun family attractions.
Iowa Snowfall
If you’re thinking about a spring break trip to Arizona, or just want to know more about a certain aspect of the “Sunny Arizona” cities of Tempe, Mesa, Chandler and Apache Junction, be sure to spend some time on the Sunny Arizona website. And if you see something you would like to know more about be sure to tell me- I’ll do my best to visit that site or attraction while we are there and report back!
February 1, 2012
I have to admit, I’m pretty thrilled that I’ve made it into the 2nd month of p52. I’m not really a “joiner” and following themes is difficult for my overly right-brained self. But this week’s theme was custom made for the weather we’ve recently experienced here in Iowa.
I took this image on Wednesday, February 1. I had a couple hours to myself and no pressing appointments so I decided to enjoy the 56ºF day and go biking for an hour. If you live in the Midwest you know how rare these days are in the dead of winter.
Biking
I covered 15 miles- not bad for not being out on my bike since September.
I took this image with my DroidX and, honestly, was afraid I was going to drop my phone and shatter it. I don’t recommend biking and using a smartphone at the same time.
The Oklahoma Aquarium in Tulsa: An Afternoon of Family Fun
We often make the drive from Dallas to Des Moines in one fell swoop- 12 straight hours of driving with short breaks. After discovering the fun family activities in Tulsa we may never drive straight through again!
Visiting the Oklahoma Aquarium
Oklahoma Aquarium
A family can spend most of an afternoon here. The Oklahoma Aquarium is one of the few Midwest aquariums with salt water fish and a walk through shark tunnel.
I recommend walking the long, nautical hallway to the sharks and working your way back to the entrance. The Oklahoma Aquarium has dozens of nooks to explore and this may be the best way to ensure that you see it all.
Top 10 Things to Do at the Oklahoma Aquarium
- Take a fun photo in the shark cage. With sharks “circling” above this is a fun photo opp! Then enter the shark adventure to let sharks “circle” you for real!
Shark Tank!
- Feed the turtles. For a small fee you can buy carrot shreds and borrow long sticks with clips at the end- you don’t want your fingers too close to the turtle’s sharp beak.
- Get touchy feel-y. Multiple touch stations get you up close & personal with sharks, rays, shrimp, crabs and more.
Touch Tanks of sharks, rays, crabs and more
- Giggle at the antics of river otters. If you can, be there for the daily feeding at 3pm. The Ozark Stream also has a camera that allows you to see inside the beaver’s den.
- Find the fish that breathes air!
- Listen closely for the electric eel’s current. Eels are fed Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 2:15pm- definitely worth seeing if you are there!
- Find Nemo. And Dory. Learn to say anemone.
Nemo, Dory & more Underwater Friends
- See the diver in the coral reef daily at 3:30pm.
- Find the starfish with more than 5 legs! Or find the starfish’s mouth- that’s really cool, too!
- Wrestle and alligator outside. OK, so it’s just a statue of an alligator, but it makes for some really great photos.
Alligator Wrestling!
The Oklahoma Aquarium is just one of many fun family activities in Tulsa. We can’t wait to experience more in the future!
Have you visited the Oklahoma Aquarium? What was your favorite feature?
Thank you to Visit Tulsa for providing my family with aquarium tickets!
Inspired Family Travel: A Bicycle Trip Across the US
I love bicycling. My girls were strapped into a Burley bike trailer at the age of 6 months and have been trailing along behind me ever since. The longest ride we do, as a family, is almost 20 miles, round trip. It’s a long way for girls ages 6 & 4, but they do a great job with no whining.
I began looking at our little cycling adventures quite a bit differently after reading Twenty Miles Per Cookie: 9000 Miles of Kid-Powered Adventures by Nancy Sathre-Vogel. Known around the internet as “Family on Bikes“, Nancy and her family- husband John and twins Daryl and Davy- are the definitive source for information about Bicycle Touring with Children .
Twenty Miles Per Cookie shares the 9300 mile, year-long bicycle adventure the Vogel’s undertook- across the US and parts of Mexico. It’s a trip few families would ever consider and even fewer would actually undertake. Reading Nancy’s words of the journey, from the struggles of weather and heat, bicycle breakdowns, Mexican smugglers and the kindness of ‘Road Angels’, I felt like I was along for the ride. I cried with joy when Gatorade was left, hidden in cairns, along a hot stretch of desert road by strangers in a beat up pickup. I felt Nancy’s frustrations when days brought her family to near-breaking points. I was terrified for them when they crossed the border into New Mexico.
This is a family adventure story that will leave you inspired to experience more with your family- even if it takes place locally. I think it would be a great book for a family to experience together (there is a bit of harsh language, so maybe do a bit of editing if you’re reading aloud). Twenty Miles per Cookie will provoke conversations with your family and maybe even have you planning your own biking adventure! I know it has me considering tandem bicycles when my girls are just a bit older!
Want to be even more in awe of this cycling family? Visit their website and follow their 3 year journey along the PanAmerican Highway- 17,300 miles from Alaska to Argentina.
Disclosure: I received a pdf copy of this book for review.
Thrilled to Be the Travel Community Leader at BlissDom
I wasn’t really sure how I would work this week’s p52 theme, Self Portrait, into this site. I don’t talk much about myself here and the majority of my photos star my adorable girls. Then I remembered that I am the Travel Community leader at BlissDom this year and I should really do an introduction post. So I’m killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.
Self Portrait
So, this is me, in my favorite chair, which I rarely get to sit in. If I do have the opportunity- after writing, taking care of my family, exercising and travel- you’ll find me curled up here with a book or my Kindle . Reading is my favorite hobby.
Leading the Travel Community at BlissDom
BlissDom is the only conference I never miss; this will be my 4th year of Bliss. I’ve made so many friends the past few years and BlissDom gives me the chance to see them ‘in the flesh’ (a sad rarity) while being surrounded by women who ‘get what I do’ (another sad rarity).
So, about the Travel Community Leader thing… I’ve been blogging since 2004 and began focusing on travel in 2005. I’ve worked with large corporations, PR firms and small CVBs. I’ve been pitched for trips and I’ve pitched my own. I’ve learned a thing or two about how to establish relationships that will continue to grow after a trip is over. I’m looking forward to chatting with anyone who has questions about travel blogging, pitching CVBs, tourism boards, hotel chains or large corporations. Looking for outlets that pay travel bloggers? I’ve got a few of those, too. I would also love to chat with you if you want tips on traveling with kids… I’ve been at it since my girls were babies, I’m a pro by now.
Let’s chat before BlissDom! You can find me on the Family Rambling Travel Media Facebook page, @iatraveler on Twitter, and even Google+ (though not as much as I probably should). If you have a question go ahead and ask or if you want to sit & chat at BlissDom let’s set up a time- I’ll probably recommend we meet at Findley’s Irish Pub (just a warning).
About my photo…
I have been playing with my new camera, an Olympus PEN E-PL1 . I adore it. The size is fabulous for a traveler, the interchangeable lenses give me more options and with the choices of shooting in a variety or automatic modes or in completely manual modes, I’ve finding that I love taking pictures! For this photo I used the ‘Art; Soft Focus’ setting. I’m really happy with the soft feel of the photo- definitely a nice setting for those of us who are not as young as we once were…
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