In November we travelled to Beaches Negril with our children. Beaches is an amazing resort that is consistently ranked as one of the top family resorts in the Caribbean. I wouldn't just recommend it to you for the sun, sand and exemplary service but because of their amazing corporate program called the Sandals Foundation. Through this foundation, Sandals helps residents of the islands they have resorts on in matters of the environment, education and community. This is precisely the kind of thing that will keep me as one of their customers.
Thinking of heading to Cuba? Do it. You won’t be disappointed. The people are incredible, the scenery is breathtaking and the history is touchable. There are, however, a few things you should keep in mind to make your trip a little smoother.
Bring toilet paper or travel packs of facial tissue with you. Not every restroom will have this. Nobody likes drip drying.
Toilet seats are not mandatory. Who knew? Hotels have them but most public restrooms do not.
We interrupt our regularly scheduled blogging to bring you The Shit Show. Yes, that’s right, The Shit Show, where regular, happy family outings suddenly dissolve into chaos and knee-slapping hilarity ensues. Ok, maybe just the chaos. Either way, it’s a ongoing serial that happens to my family on a fairly frequent basis. Take last night for example.
My husband and I just returned from a one week holiday at an adults only resort (Sandals Royal Hicacos). We specifically chose an adults only resort because of the lack of children at such a place. Don’t get me wrong, I love my children. If I’m not taking them on vacation though I don’t want to spend my time looking at other people’s kids so that I can then feel guilty all week that I left mine at home. You see what I’m getting at? There was a definite need for time without the kids. I don’t even feel a little bit bad about that.
Varadero beach in Cuba, is a vacation paradise. Miles of white fluffy sand that meet shallow turquoise waters brings thousands of Canadians a year to enjoy it’s beauty. Last week my husband and I couldn’t wait to get down there and enjoy the first day of our vacation. We were greeted at our beach entrance by our cabana man who set us up with a million dollar view under a thatch umbrella. Ahhh, this is the life. Sun, surf, sand and........ what the what?
You know how when someone points out your inadequacies you eventually start to believe them? If they point it out to you all the time then there must be something to it, right? We are incredibly influenced by the power of suggestion, particularly the negative. This is how it is with the world sometimes. If you listen to the media enough you start to think we live in a real hell hole. It seems the world is full of jerks, child molesters, rapists, common criminals and crooked politicians.
You know what’s just around the corner, don’t you? Annual Hangover Day, otherwise known as New Year’s Day. Yes, that’s right folks. The day millions of people around the globe nurse themselves back to health after drinking far more than they should have the night before. Why do we do this to ourselves? Who the heck knows. Mine is not to question why, but rather to offer you support and guidance for the inevitable day of hell coming your way.
Last year I put out a list of resolutions on the world wide web in a sad attempt to motivate myself in to keeping a few. How did I do? Well I’m happy to report that my track record in keeping resolutions is unblemished. I did not keep one. I am nothing if not consistent. Here then is a brief review of last years resolutions:
Resolution: I will remember my damn reusable shopping bags when grocery shopping.
Unless you’ve been basking in the glory of a sunny holiday somewhere out of country, you’ve probably heard about Snowmageddon this week. My hometown of London, Ontario has been hit with over a metre of the white fluffy stuff and I’m a teensy bit jealous. Ok. I’m a lot jealous. What can I say? I love snow days.
The first thing you need to know about hosting a diaper drive (or volunteering in general) is that you do not need to collect the most amount of diapers ever collected in diaper drive history. Sometimes we think we need to do everything on a grand scale for it to be successful. This kind of thinking can deter people from ever starting an event. If you are interested in hosting a diaper drive remember that whether you collect 2 or 2000 boxes of diapers, you are a massive success. You helped. Period.
There comes a time in every bloggers “career” when they inevitably ask the question, “Do I suck?”. We wonder, “Does anyone even read my blog?” I must admit I was at this point my friends.
There’s lots of things you want to come back from holidays with, like souvenirs or a great pair of shoes, but bed bugs are probably not on the list. Like it or not though, the little pests are on the move. I have now scratched exactly 345 times since the beginning of this paragraph. As you may have guessed, I’m a little bit psycho about the little buggers. So here is a crash course on bed bugs.
Where you’ll find bed bugs: They like beds. Hello? This is kind of a no-brainer. Hotels, hostels, dormitories. They’re easy like Sunday morning and they like to sleep around.
It’s travel month at the YMC and as it happens, I have a little bit of expertise in this area. While I’ll admit that I’m a bit of a over-packer for myself, through trial and error I have determined the essentials for travelling with kids. Here are my Top 5 must haves for journeys with the children.
These are my recipe binders. 
