Seasons are one of the best gifts of nature. It is fascinating how the “feel” and “look” of the environment and atmosphere livens our mood and changes the pace of the universe. The beautiful blooms and greenery of spring leaves…
THE WONDERS OF PICKING YOUR OWN
Getting kids to understand and appreciate the value of food is synonymous to a herculean task, or so I thought until I interviewed a chef and local foods advocate several years ago. She says that instilling food values in your…
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Where We’re Going This Summer
What is your ideal summer family trip? A return visit to a familiar place that you know and love, where you can slip into a relaxed, carefree routine? Or an adventuresome journey to a strange, new place where you can…
Summer Dreaming
One of the ways I love spending my summer is by traveling and visiting new places. However, planning a vacation with kids in the picture is not such an easy feat. My husband has a joke that I start planning…
Summer Book Club
In some ways, I feel like my mother’s philosophy of raising children can be distilled into two of her favorite expressions. The first one is this: Only boring people get bored. This was not so much an expression as it…
RAISING THE (SAND) BAR
It’s always summertime somewhere, and for many people that means hitting up the local beach or visiting a beach town while on vacation. If you think that spending time at the beach is limited to just swimming, there’s a lot…
At Home in the Irish Countryside
Growing up on opposite coasts, my husband and I had parallel fantasies of leaving our suburban childhoods for the “civilized” life: we would be rich and European, ideally with a manor thrown in. These (now slightly embarrassing) imaginations may be…