Musings From My Minivan
I drove with my kids from our home in Chicago to Washington DC to attend the martin Luther King JR Memorial Dedication. (We drove in a brand new Buick Enclave thanks to GM social media connector Connie Burke!) The original dedication had to be postponed earlier this Summer. But not even an Earthquake or a hurricane could suppress the passion and energy this new memorial inspires in people. [Read more...]
My 41st birthday is just 13 days away. As I wrote in yesterday’s post, I am taking these final 14 days of being 40 to reflect upon what I am thankful for in particular from this last year and what I wish for in the coming year. A simultaneous countdown and count up if you will. Here is number thirteen on my list: [Read more...]
At Midway Airport on my way to my Southwest Airlines flight to Seattle for my Nintendo 3DS event I made a pit stop in the bathroom before going to my gate. While washing my hands another traveler caught my eye in the mirror. We exchanged pleasant smiles and I moved on. But as I was exiting the bathroom she caught my eye again, only this time she spoke to me. She asked if I had just gotten off of a flight. I told her “No, I am just about to get on one.” She said she had just arrived from Atlanta. I smiled and went to leave and she said, “Sometimes I think we black women are our own worst enemies.” And then she proceeded to tell me about her distressing flight to Chicago. [Read more...]
This is an original CHICAGOMOMSBLOG post from February 2010. I’m re-posting today in honor of all of my friends heading to #Disneysmmoms this week; It will be magical, I know it! And to all of my friends who aren’t going to Disney; there’s always next year!
Ever since my daughter’s illness last year my family’s financial situation has been on life support. Paycheck to paycheck, there simply isn’t enough for living. We are scraping all sides of the barrel and underneath. (Not unlike a lot of families out there.) Trying to maintain some sense of normalcy for your kids in the midst of a financial nightmare is no small task. My kids are aware of the reality of our lives, but they are kids, so I don’t want to rob them of all the fantastical magic of childhood. That’s why when Disney came a knockin’ I answered the door. [Read more...]
A year ago this weekend I was in Los Angeles preparing for the biggest event in Hollywood, the Oscars. I was a guest of Kodak, sent to cover the Red Carpet experience directly from the Kodak Red Carpet Bleachers. [Read more...]
In this economy getting away with your family is a very difficult task, either in time, or money, or both. I know the feeling on both fronts, as such finding get-away’s that meet the needs and budget of an entire family, youngest to oldest, is very important to me. I find as long as you have water, you have smiles, even if you are traveling with teen-agers. That’s why when I was invited to visit Castaway Bay in Sandusky, Ohio I was more than happy to do so. [Read more...]
I have traded in my minivan keys for the key to GM’s new Chevy Cruze this week. The car was delivered on the first Chicago Public School snow day in twelve years! Needless to say I didn’t get to take it out for a spin right away. But once the snow stopped falling it was back to the business of life for me and my family, and that meant bundling up and off for school, (much to my children’s chagrin). [Read more...]
Sponsored By
Cheerios® is giving you the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, your ultimate family vacation. As part of a paid promotion for their “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, Cheerios® is sponsoring my post today about what my ultimate family vacation would be. Read mine, Enter the Sweepstakes for a chance to actually win your own fantasy family trip or one of a bunch of other great prizes.
My ultimate family vacation? Oh my, that’s a tough call. Having just returned from the picturesque Miami, where all I could think about was how much my kids would have loved to swim in the ocean, I suppose I could say that; a vacation to the ocean. Awesome, yes. But ultimate? Not so much. For me an ultimate vacation, assuming I don’t have to worry about costs, needs to do three things:
Now my kids are 7, 9 & 12; girls on the bottom, boy on the top. They have a variety of interests when it comes to entertainment. And because of their varied ages and height differences, (my 12 year old is 6ft tall already), they have different physical needs and limitations for activities. And of course, they are loathe to spend time with each other on purpose.
While sitting in the Fort Lauderdale airport struggling to come up with an idea for this post I happen to overhear a man talking about a cruise. A cruise? Hmmmm. I inch a little closer, eavesdropping on his conversation. He starts talking about a sprinkler park, comedy shows, ice capades… Ice Capades! Ok, now I simply have to know more. So, I dismiss all pretense of eavesdropping and ask him blatant questions. Where did he go? What was it like? What activities did he participate in? Not only did I get insightful answers. I got to see pictures. (How fortuitous is that?) Turns out my new friend and his family went on a cruise to St Thomas, Puerto Rico and a private island in Haiti. Apparently all three places had gorgeous beaches and shopping, but the private island had zip lines in the hills. ZIP LINES, WOW!
Immediately I fired up my computer and checked out some of the cruise lines out there, and what I found was remarkable. As you would expect I found cruises going all over the World, exploring sights that would not just be pleasurable, but enlightening. Places like the Bahamas, Bermuda, Mexico, Alaska, even the Panama Canal! However, the biggest bonus happens on the ship itself. I found children’s clubs separated by age, such as 6-8 year olds, 9-11 year olds and 12-14 year olds. And for those groups there are specialized activities such as spin art, volcano creation, dodgeball, karaokee, and pool parties to name a few. And this is in addition to sprinkle parks, wave pools, basketball courts, miniature golf and more on deck. While the kids are engaged, adults have play time or relaxing time of their own. However, this isn’t just limited to daytime, there are plans in place for kids to be occupied in the evening hours too. making it possible for adults to attend evening shows, dance in a nightclub, or just have a quiet dinner.
Wait a minute! Let me get this straight. There are on board cruise kid clubs separated for 7, 9 and 12 year olds, with supervised, and engaging artistic, musical and physical activities. These clubs allows for an adult, (say me), to have some personal time to re-energize before rejoining the kids for family fun?! That is the ultimate. My ULTIMATE FAMILY Vacation.I want to take my kids on a cruise to a new World across the sea. A wild adventure which will have us dancing in sprinklers and on nightclub floors, swimming in wave pools and on white sandy beaches. Eating in ornate restaurants and in shore cafes. I want to make a memory with my children that will bring us closer by attending to our individual needs. Sign me up today!
Now, I just have to get over my lifelong fear of cruise ships. Minor technicality, right? 
Don’t forget to enter the “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, for a chance to win your own ultimate family vacation. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.
SMILE On!
ML
Level 6: Miss Lori was compensated for posting about the event mentioned in this post.
Miss Lori can be found Musing from her Minivan at MissLori.TV , Wearetherealdeal.com , YoungChicagonista , ChicagoMomsBlog , and ChicagoMoms.com. You can also see her Activating to Be Great at Miss Lori’s CAMPUS on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Do you believe in fate? I have to admit that I have wanted to, but my life hasn’t really rolled along like that. However, I do believe in gut instinct. Although, truth be told I believe it to be a muscle that you have to learn to exercise properly. I have always had “feelings,” but I haven’t always known how to listen to them, or to act upon them. This year I have had a recurring notion happening in my life. (Well, I have had a lot of them, but only one appears to be particularly positive.) Wait, I should back up to the beginning…last year.
My daughter has been struggling with an illness for a while now, but she has yet to be diagnosed. She has an enlarged pancreas but no one can seem to figure out why. It’s been excruciating emotionally, watching her struggle so. Particularly during the holidays last year. What made it worse was that with the piling up of medical bills money was really tight. For my beautiful daughter the one wish I had for her, beyond having her get better, was to be able to take her to Disney World. I wished it deep in my bones. I spoke it every night. I told the World. I put it out there, even though I had no possible way of fulfilling such a dream. Well, that is until I got a fateful email from Disney inviting me to be a part of the first Disney Social Media Moms Conference. And just like that a dream was fulfilled. Okay, but this is where the fate thing starts actually. (And you thought this was just going to be about my daughter? Who by the way is doing, better but still hasn’t been diagnosed and still suffers daily.) While attending the #Disneysmmoms conference I had the unique opportunity to not only meet, but hear an absolutely phenomenal woman speak. Maxine Clark, CEO of Build a Bear Workshop. Listening to her story, to her ideas about children, and community, and responsibility, and friendship… well I fell in love right then and there. No, I’m serious I started drawing her name in my notebook with little hearts around it. (Wait, strike that. I don’t want to get arrested for stalking). Okay, but it’s true that I was absolutely enamored. The little voice inside of me said, You are going to work with this woman!” Well, actually it wasn’t just the little voice inside of me, it was the big voice outside of me too. Because I told Maxine plainly that I absolutely wanted to work with her somehow, someway. I wrote about it, I tweeted it, I updated my facebook status about it. Well heck, I had such great success giving my dream up to the universe before, why stop now. [Read more...]
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
