Party Through the USA

With Disney parks starting to reopen around the world, many families are starting to think about vacations again!  Or maybe you're not heading to a Disney property and just want to spice up your annual trip to the relatives.  No matter where you're heading, you need to bring some clothes with you.  I highly suggest that you make packing cubes part of your organizational plan.

On a lot of family packing blogs, they suggest that you pack your family's clothes in ziptop bags, one bag for each person for each day.  That's a lot of plastic bags!  I know that they can be reused, but that only works if kids are gentle with the bags when they open them.  Or if the bag doesn't get punctured in some way during the trip.

Instead of using slippery plastic bags, our family uses packing cubes.  If you've never heard of them, packing cubes are thin fabric bags that have zippers to close them and usually a handle for carrying them.  Most people use them inside of their normal…

Despite all the device options available to families today, sometimes you still find yourself needing additional activities for your kids.  Maybe your screens have lost their charge or you're stuck in traffic for longer than you expected or the games and movies have lost their novelty.  What will do you?

Or, maybe your family prefers to go on old fashioned screen-free road trips, complete with staring out the window, playing the license plate game, and sing-along songs.  There's are so many great songs to sing with kids to keep them entertained, engaged, and enthusiastic.  You might even get them to laugh.  Here's my list of 20 great sing-along songs!

1- Down on Grandpa's Farm

2- There's a Hole in the Bucket

3- On Top of Spaghetti

4- 99 Bottles of Pop on the Wall

5- The Ants Go Marching

6- Peanut Butter Pirates

7- My Aunt Came Back

8- Down By the Bay

9- Boom Chicka Boom

10- Wheels on the Bus

11- Little Red Wagon

12- I am Slowly Going Crazy

13- Billy Joe McGuffrey

…

We build our fire pit for our yard three years ago and have loved it ever since.  It is our primary outdoor BBQ location, a practical place for burning yard waste, and a gathering place for friends.  I love having a cozy fire to sit around, and it makes even an ordinary weekend feel like a vacation.  Besides, does anyone really hate toasted marshmallows?



Before you begin, check the fire pit laws in your area and make sure you know if you'll need a permit to burn.  Many parts of the country have burn bans during certain times of the year, so know the laws in your area.  Be fire smart!

Our fire pit was very simple to make and cost less than $100.  For the amount of enjoyment and time we spend at the fire, it's been a great investment.  We purchased concrete wall blocks for around $2 each and used them to form the ring around the fire.  There are 35 blocks in our ring, with __ on each of the three levels.

The middle of our pit is just dirt.  DO NOT PUT CONCRETE UNDER THE FIRE as…

We got to visit two airplane museums for Valentine's Day weekend.  I wrote about the Seattle Museum of Flight several months ago, so today I thought I'd talk about the second destination- the Flying Heritage Museum.  This hanger-based museum is located in Everett, WA, just a short drive from Seattle and features a rare and private collection of mainly WWII aircraft and tanks from every country in the world war.

The mechanics in the museum keep all the planes in working condition for flights, which happen at least once a year.  They also restore planes that have been recovered from crash sites.  For my airplane mechanic husband and WWII airplane crazy boys, this was a great place to spend Valentine's Day.



My husband and sons (7 and 6) loved walking through the hangers and naming off all the different planes.  The boys have learned how to fly many of these planes on a flight simulator (in fact, my husband has been spending his quarantine time building a full cockpit simulat…

I know that no one is traveling now with the global crisis we're dealing with these days.  However, I don't think it's ever the wrong time to start planning for your next adventure.  Enjoy this list- it's been a long time coming.

I have written this article so many times in my head that I thought I had already made a blog post about it! I was a bit shocked when I looked it up and discovered that I hadn't posted it yet.  Making things for travel and crafting things during travel is one of my passions.  For better or worse.

I've been crafting in the car for as long as I can remember.  As a child, I did coloring books, plastic canvas, and friendship bracelets.  As an adult, I've knitted, crocheted, made friendship bracelets, and cross stitched.  Before I pack anything else for a trip, I decide which crafts I'll be working on.  Whether it's just for a half hour trip to the city or a three day adventure, I always have to be crafting!  Being a passenger i…

*This blog is not affiliated with Boeing or the Museum of Flight*

For the second time in our life as a family, we spend Valentine's Day weekend at the Museum of Flight in the Seattle area.  The first time we did we went, our kids were 3, 2, and 1.  They're now 8 (Dragonfly), 7 (Skimmer), and 6 (Tadpole).  The boys, Skimmer, Tadpole, and my husband, love all sorts of aircraft, so the Museum of Flight is perfect for them.  We visited the museum on a Saturday, which was understandably busy, but it also had a lot of happy energy.

RELATED: SEATTLE WITH 3 KIDS UNDER 4



The museum has two sections on the American space program.  The first section is within the main hanger and talks about the early days of space exploration, the Space Race, and Apollo 11.  The kids were very excited to see Katherine Johnson's picture (Hidden Figures) and the astronaut suits.  There's also a room with a big moon (pictured) and all the Apollo 11 pieces and equipment.  There are lots of interactiv…