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Archives for October 2021

It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

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Fall is my favorite season but Christmas is most definitely my favorite holiday. I love the coziness the Christmas lights bring to the rooms in our house, the warmth of a fire and endless movie nights. Each year I like to add a few new pieces to my collection and I’m already browsing to see what I should add this year. I think adding a few each year makes it more enjoyable and not so overwhelming and also not so expensive. One of my aunts had the most festive Christmas decorations each year and I’ll never forget that feeling of warmth and coziness in her house around the holidays-Christmas goals.

One of my favorite decorations to buy each season is new ornaments for our trees. I don’t think there is any such thing as too many ornaments-as much as my husband disagrees. Each vacation we go on we buy an ornament as our souvenir and it’s fun looking back at all our past trips through our ornaments and now that we have a bigger house I also have been able to add more trees to our house, which can only mean one thing-MORE ORNAMENTS!

If your looking to add a piece or two to your Christmas decorations I’ve rounded up some of my favorite pieces on Amazon.

Colorful Christmas

amazon colorful christmas decorations

Ornaments Garland Colorful Wreath Gingerbread House Stocking Holder Vintage Christmas Tree Tree Skirt Nutcracker Bottle Brush Trees Merry Christmas Door Mat Ginger Girl & Boy Stocking Holder Rudolph Mat

Neutral Christmas

amazon neutral christmas decorations

Simple Stocking Holder Tree Skirt Garland Mercury Glass Tree Wreath Door Mat Deer Stocking Holder Ornament Evergreen Garland White Deer Nutcracker

New England Travel

Do you ever struggle trying to figure out where to go on vacation and then trying to find all the things to do while you are on vacation ? Well let me introduce you to ME! I live for vacation planning. I will spend hours researching and googling and reading reviews on where we should go or eat or hike while on vacation. So, I’m here to hopefully help you out in planning your own vacation. 

When trying to decide where to go we wanted to go somewhere where we could spend the majority of our time outside exploring and hiking and then throw in being able to bring our camper. I haven’t been to the New England states since i was a kid and I remember loving it then and decided it would be a great place to go on a family vacation.  We decided to visit Vermont and Maine and spend the majority of the time going along the Maine coast. 

Enjoy the beauty of Stowe

Our first stop was Stowe, Vermont and it was absolutely gorgeous there. It’s a very small town but it offers so much. 

 Here’s some of our favorite places we went while we were there.

  • Go check out covered bridges
  • Stowe Recreation path- 11 miles round trip and we rented bikes at this bike shop. Along the path are rest stops, restaurants, breweries and shopping
  • Bingham Falls Hike- this was a short hike but it had a beautiful waterfall at the bottom
  • Toll road to the top of Stowe mountain- if you are afraid of heights this drive is doable. There aren’t any points where you feel like your vehicle could slide off the side and it has beautiful views at the top. Even though it was raining when we got to the top it was still beautiful and worth the drive up.
  • Get some ice cream from Ben and Jerry’s Factory
  • Get some donuts from Cold Hollow Cider Mill
  • Spend the day in Burlington- We took one of our days to drive up to Burlington and it was beautiful spending the afternoon on Lake Champlain. There’s a beautiful park and pathway right along Lake Champlain. So, we packed a lunch and enjoyed playing on the rocks and eating in the park.

Enjoy hiking in Bar Harbour

Next stop along our trip was Bar Harbour, Maine. There is something so peaceful about a rocky cool coast along the Atlantic. We were most excited about exploring Acadia National Park. As soon as we got into Bar Harbor we grabbed dinner to go and headed straight into the park. Here’s a list of the hikes and places we explored while in Acadia National Park.

  • Sand Beach– a must while in the park. The water is usually a crisp 55* but that didn’t stop our kids and many others from getting in. This mom wasn’t touching it, haha! It does get crowded but we never had a problem getting a parking spot and we went during peak season. 
  • Great Head Trail-this hike is located off sand beach and it has beautiful views over the Atlantic and if your lucky you’ll be able to spot a dolphin from the cliffs like we did.
  • Thunder Hole– you can park across from thunder hole or walk along the ocean path. It’s a giant hole in the rocks then when the tide comes in it rushes through and makes the sound of thunder
  • Otter Cliff- another part of the ocean path but we opted to park here and walk along the ocean path as it is less crowded and then we spent most of our time exploring the rocks along the coast
  • Cadillac Mountain Summit-you can hike to the summit or you can as we did and drive. Once you get to the top there are paths to walk along while up there to get the best views from the top. You do need a reservation to be able to make the drive so be sure to do so in advance.
  • Bar Island-this was one of my favorites ! During low tide you can walk from Bar Harbor to Bar Island. It was so cool to see how low the tide went and how expansive the area was to walk over there. We had a good hour out there and we were able to make it across to Bar Island and even got to hold a purple starfish along our walk.
  • Bass Harbor Lighthouse-this isn’t in the park but about 45 minutes from the park but when in Maine you must see lighthouses! On your way out from seeing the lighthouse there is a little lobster shack along the side of the road that is worth stopping by for a lobster roll.

Spend the day in Camden

Our next stop along our trip was Camden, Maine. It’s just the quaintest town right along the water and is a great place to stop by for the day. When I think of Maine coastal towns this is how I imagine them looking. Spend the day taking in all the beautiful old homes, shopping and grabbing something to eat. While we were in Camden we really wanted to do a sailboat ride and had a 2 hour tour booked but then our tour got cancelled due to a thick fog that came in during the night but I will say that if we ever get a chance to come back here it will be at the top of my list of must do!

Visit the oldest lighthouse in Maine

Last on our stop was Kennebunkport, ME. This town is yet another town that is quintessential maine. Here’s a list of things to do while visiting.

  • Do some shopping in town and be sure to check out this cute Parisian Cafe
  • Spend the day at the beach– (be sure to buy a parking pass at the general store)
  • Drive up to Portland, ME and see the oldest lighthouse in ME 
  • Spend the day in Portland and check out some local breweries or if beer isn’t your thing go try a kombucha brewery. I never in my life thought this is something i would do but this brewery had some of the best kombucha while in Maine.
  • Go to Holy Donut and try some potato donuts.

This vacation was super relaxing and we spent more time hanging out at the pool and having dinners in our camper versus eating out and it was definitely a change of pace from my usual go go go type of vacation I plan. I think I could have spent my whole vacation just staring out along the coast because it was quite the sight to see. 

Happy Planning !

The Joys of Travel

Disclosure:This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission if you shop through my links at no additional cost to you.

My love of travel runs deep. There is something exciting about going somewhere new and experiencing a new region or culture that gets me so excited. My dad even calls me a gypsy because all I want to do is go go go but I want to make as many memories as I can with my kids before they leave the house and hopefully give them the traveling bug, as well. 

Now I know traveling isn’t cheap and there were moments where I thought am I spending too much money on traveling but then after this last year and half I’ve appreciated it so much more when you realize how it can all be taken away from you and how we take for granted our ability to just get up and go whenever we want (almost). 

Now as much as I love a grand vacation, traveling doesn’t have to be something where you spend thousands of dollars and travel across the ocean to make lasting memories.  Traveling can be driving an hour to a dairy farm to try ice cream or driving to a nearby town to try their local donuts or explore their park- speaking from experience. Don’t get me wrong I also love the grand vacation but I never want anyone to feel that because they did something small that it’s any less meaningful. Some of our most memorable moments cost very little.

Here is a perfect example of making memories with our family without a ton of cost. Last summer when covid was preventing many from traveling we decided to take day trips out to the mountains in North Carolina. We would pack snacks and our lunch and drive 2 1/2 hours to the Blue Ridge Parkway, hike around for 2 or 3 hours, have a picnic then finish our day with some ice cream in a local town. It was and still is some of my favorite days. We all loved exploring the woods and playing in creeks and catching crawfish and we did it all for less than $50. I’ve also come to realize that when we go on vacation or take day trips all our kids need is some outdoor space to be able to explore and some sweets and the trip gets the “best vacation” title. 

If you’re looking for some ideas to make those lasting memories whether it be with your kids, friends or just need some ideas to get away I hope this list will give you some inspiration.

  1. Download the app AllTrails and put in your location and you can find tons of hikes in your area and even filter it so you can see hikes with waterfalls or distance and so much more. It’s such a great app and I can’t even count how many times we’ve used it.
  2.  Find a local dairy farm or animal farm to spend the day at
  3. Check out a local museum. You’d be surprised to find out how many towns have free museums to explore
  4. Go camping- ok yes this will take a bit more planning but camping at state parks with a tent is around $25 a night. Pack some hot dogs, eggs, instant coffee, firewood and I’m telling you it will be some of your best nights! 
  5. Find a new game to play outside and have a picnic outside or bonfire in the evening
  6. This may seem too easy but do a fancy dinner. Make your regular dinner but dress up to eat. We’ve done this a few times and the kids still talk about it. They get so excited dressing up in their “fancy clothes” and having our dinner feel special. 

Here’s some our favorite outdoor games and toys

One Two Three Four Five Six Seven

I hope this list gives you a head start in creating some new memories and getting out and enjoying where you live. Happy exploring!