Snow Tubing in Sapphire Valley

IMG_1959I don’t like cold weather and being from Louisiana, I don’t have much experience with snow. Yet I found myself bundled in ski pants, ear muffs and snow boots when we visited Sapphire Valley Ski Resort in North Carolina this past weekend.

Although, the resort offers snow skiing, we decided to try tubing instead. The skiing seemed too complicated given that our children have never skied. When we suggested ski school to them, Thing 2 freaked out. “No, I want Daddy to teach me to ski,” she cried out. Thing 1 was indifferent as she’s not really an outdoor type of person. (more…)

Read more about the article Washington DC & Virginia Itinerary (Including Shenandoah National Park)

Washington DC & Virginia Itinerary (Including Shenandoah National Park)

In 2013, our vacation plans called for a week-long trip to Washington DC and Virginia as soon as school ended in May. In retrospect, we should have waited a few days. After picking up our kids directly from school on their last day, we stopped in Charlotte to have dinner with some friends and then drove as far as Durham, NC that night. Colonial Williamsburg was crowded when we arrived around 11:30 the next day (which also happened to  be the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend). By the time we got to DC on Sunday afternoon, everyone was tired and cranky. We learned a very valuable lesson – give our kids at least a day or two to unwind from the school year before going on a week-long trip! (more…)