We had a few reasons for doing a southern road trip this week. One was to get to warmer weather. Our drive through the Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina mountains today was sunny and 60°s and still showing some autumn color. We finished our drive to Chapin, South Carolina which is a small townContinue reading “Chapin, South Carolina”
Author Archives: Tiffany
Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 7
Our day yesterday was pretty typical by Thanksgiving standards and today we did the quintessential Black Friday activity – we went to a major retailer!! But first we had a school day and continued diagnosing the dishwasher issue (latest thinking is the control panel). Then all 5 Adventurers piled into Jeremy Picklepants and headed toContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 7”
Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 5
Some of our adventures today were likely the same as many families in the US, preparations for our Thanksgiving festivities on Thursday. The first activity was grinding cranberries, apples and oranges for Mamoh’s cranberry relish. It’s always fun for the kids to use kitchen machinery and the Kitchen Aid grinder attachment was no exception. SuaramContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 5”
Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 2
A chilly, rainy, November day kept us mostly in the house finding our own fun today. Brian continues his recovery and walked his longest distance in a month. He and Tiffany took a stroll around the block – no cane, no pain. All good. CreeperPuppy had his favorite cuddle head to space – or atContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 2”
Cincinnati, Ohio; Day 3
Today the Adventurers took things on the road including school. We went on a field trip to a unique Cincinnati museum but made a few stops first. Our first stop was to a Cincinnati institution Suders Art Store. It’s been around since 1924 and in its current location for 90 years. Suaram’s eyes popped atContinue reading “Cincinnati, Ohio; Day 3”
Cincinnati, Ohio; Day 1
We moved to a new base camp for adventures! We traveled about an hour up the road to the northern suburbs of Cincinnati. We’ll be here for a few days enjoying the city, having school of course and spending time with Brian’s mom and stepdad who drove down from Michigan. But before we left Leesburg,Continue reading “Cincinnati, Ohio; Day 1”
Leesburg, Ohio; Day 21
Today is predicted to be the last good weather for a while so we took advantage at the local Leesburg playground. The kids had fun exploring all the equipment but demonstrated they are getting close to aging out of parks like these. On the spring riders they almost touched the ground and had knees practicallyContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio; Day 21”
Leesburg, Ohio; Day 20
Today’s adventure was small but sweet…literally. We went to the local Leesburg bakery for a mid morning snack. It’s called Batter Up Bakery and it’s slogan is ‘If we bake it, it’s a hit!’ We have to agree. Suaram tried a cream horn for the first time (Mamoh was already a fan) and the restContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio; Day 20”
Leesburg, Ohio; Day 17
Today started cold, in the twenties, but quickly warmed to a sunny sixties kind of day. We took advantage of the weather and headed to a very neat park nearby in Wilmington, Ohio. It had all the things the kids like. A picturesque setting, lots of playground equipment, and a music studio. This park evenContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio; Day 17”
Leesburg, Ohio; Day 15
We welcomed back our guest lecturer Mamoh for cooking science adventures today. CreeperKitty was her student and helped make bread in the bread machine. He picked a basic white bread with a light crust. Together they read the recipe, measured, poured and programmed the settings on the machine. Once it was mixing they retired toContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio; Day 15”
Leesburg, Ohio; Day 14
Today was an Adventure in waiting that finally got us a big step forward. What are we waiting for? – COVID-19 vaccine shots for the kids so they could be protected and we could better manage travel requirements. First we waited for months for the vaccine to be tested and approved, that waiting ended TuesdayContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio; Day 14”
Leesburg, Ohio; Day 9
Today was another birthday in the 5 Adventurers family – this one for Tiffany and she had a great day. To start, Tiffany’s Mom took her to the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati to see the musical stage production of Pretty Woman. After being away from stage shows for a couple years due to the pandemic,Continue reading “Leesburg, Ohio; Day 9”
Leesburg, Ohio; Day 8
Today continued our themes of school and Halloween and added a little vaccines to the mix. Today’s Halloween activity was some arts and craft kits supplied by Tiffany’s sister Tara. The kids loved making these houses and spent a lot of the day building and painting them. Suaram’s costume arrived so they also spent timeContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio; Day 8”
Leesburg, Ohio; Day 7
We jumped into the Halloween adventures with gusto today. Rain was in the forecast so we took an extended break during school and headed over to the local pumpkin patch. The kids picked out some good carving pumpkins and a couple small ones and had a great time checking out the other activities the farmContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio; Day 7”
Leesburg, Ohio; Day 6
Shopping and school today. Since the approval of the COVID-19 Vaccine for kids 5-11 seems imminent, we’ve decided to keep having US based adventures until we can get the kids their two jabs. That keeps us in the country at least through the end of November The thing about November in the Midwest is thatContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio; Day 6”
Leesburg, Ohio; Day 4
Just because we’re traveling the world doesn’t mean we get to ignore good dental health. That means today’s adventure was teeth cleaning for everyone. Tiffany’s Dad was able to get 5 cleaning appointments at a dentist in Georgetown so these Adventurers headed out before the sun was fully up to get there on time. LotsContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio; Day 4”
Leesburg, Ohio; Day 3
A quiet day today. We (ad)ventured out to nearby Hillsboro for lunch with Mamoh and Tara at the Japanese Steakhouse. It not only had a tasty hibachi, it gave the California kids a chance to get some sushi for only the second time in 10 weeks. They gobbled it down before we remembered to getContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio; Day 3”
Leesburg, Ohio; Day 1
Today started in Georgetown and ended about an hour away in Leesburg, Oh. But before we traveled, we had a little adventure with one of the Bailey House cats. Despite warnings that the cats would scamper into the cellar if the Pantry door was left open, Tiffany took her sweet time looking over the shelves.Continue reading “Leesburg, Ohio; Day 1”
Georgetown, Ohio; Day 3
A quiet Georgetown day. The kids played with Suaram’s birthday gifts, Brian and Tiffany took care of some administrative tasks. We were back to school in the afternoon and started a new class book. This time it’s Armstrong Sperry’s Call It Courage. Although there was some complaining from a couple of students about the selection,Continue reading “Georgetown, Ohio; Day 3”
Georgetown, Ohio; Day 2
Today was Suaram’s birthday! The 5 Adventurers celebrated her all day with a birthday banner, a birthday shirt and a big family dinner with all her Ohio Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandparents. It was so fantastic that everyone traveled an hour on a school/work night for her special evening. Brian made her favorite garlic shrimpContinue reading “Georgetown, Ohio; Day 2”
Lemont, Illinois; Day 1
Today the 5 Adventurers drove Jeremy Picklepants south about 100 miles to Lemont, IL. It is a charming town in the greater Chicago area and the home of one of Brian’s good friends from college and her daughter. They have a gorgeous house originally built in the 1880’s and so many board games tjat theContinue reading “Lemont, Illinois; Day 1”
West Allis/Milwaukee, WI; Day 1
Today was a quiet day for the Adventurers recovering from a 14 hours of travel and a late night yesterday. We slept in at the airport hotel in Milwaukee and then walked 10 minutes to Denny’s for a familiar Grand Slam breakfast. Even though our ten weeks in Central America flew by, we’re still adjustingContinue reading “West Allis/Milwaukee, WI; Day 1”
Panama City, Panama; Day 3
Today we got to do our field trip to the Miraflores Visitor Center for our school’s Panama Canal Unit. The school staff/parents were more excited than the kids but in the end, we all were very impressed. There were some adjustments due to COVID-19 so we didn’t get to see the IMAX movie which wasContinue reading “Panama City, Panama; Day 3”
Panama City, Panama; Day 1
Today we traversed the entire American Continent – twice! We left Playa Blanca and headed east toward the Canal Zone and Panama City. Instead of going straight to our next AirBnB we headed north toward Gatun Lake and the town of Gamboa. Our first view of the canal was as we crossed the Centennial BridgeContinue reading “Panama City, Panama; Day 1”
Playa Blanca, Panama; Day 1
Our traveling day today took us 350 km from Boquete to a nice beach spot called Playa Blanca. We spent a little over 4 hours on our old friend the Pan-American Highway and passed through David and Santiago, two of the larger cities in the country. We packed a lunch but a couple of hoursContinue reading “Playa Blanca, Panama; Day 1”
Boquete, Panama; Day 22
Today we did school and finished our first class study book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Shortly after that, Brian and Tiffany had something that felt like a rabbit hole experience. While the kids played math games at the end of school, the teachers moved to the ‘lounge’ aka the living room and struck up aContinue reading “Boquete, Panama; Day 22”
Boquete, Panama; Day 21
Another school day today – math, language arts and another portion of the Panama Unit. Brian continues to invest quite a bit of time in preparing his lesson including today’s 6 PowerPoint slides. Suaram’s take away was that Dad was MUCH better at slides than she’d ever realized and had some cool techniques she didn’tContinue reading “Boquete, Panama; Day 21”
Boquete, Panama; Day 20
No significant adventures to report today so some random updates… We did a one day weekend for school so today we did a couple of chapters of Alice in Wonderland, Writing and Science. We did Alice first and barely got it done before the afternoon deluge. Frankly we had to work a compromise with theContinue reading “Boquete, Panama; Day 20”
Boquete, Panama; Day 14
A quiet day of school and afternoon rain. Dad got to do the first part of his Panama Canal unit. In keeping with that theme, art was making origami boats and sailing them in the pool. As school ended we had another power outage. It was only for about an hour though so it didn’tContinue reading “Boquete, Panama; Day 14”
Boquete, Panama; Day 12
Despite our nice setting nestled in the mountains of Panama, we’re not too far from the Pacific Ocean so today’s adventure was the Las Lajas beach. Brian and Tiffany managed to turn a 1.5 hour drive into a 2.5 hour drive to get there. We were stopped at a light and were considering whether toContinue reading “Boquete, Panama; Day 12”
Boquete, Panama; Day 11
Despite it being a Saturday we made it a school day so there were no big adventures today. We did finally take a few pictures of our AirBnB house and our ‘yard mates’ for lack of a better description. The house itself is one story, three bedroom/two bath and about 1,800 square feet. It hasContinue reading “Boquete, Panama; Day 11”
Boquete, Panama; Day 8
Today was more of our routine (with the power on thankfully). It was Suaram’s turn for a date with Mom this morning. Before the pandemic their typical date would be mani/pedis at the local nail salon but the last time they did that was in February 2020 – until today that is. With masks on,Continue reading “Boquete, Panama; Day 8”
Boquete, Panama; Day 7
We’ve been in Boquete nearly a week and must be settling in since we were visited by our old friend. Yes that’s right, today started with a power outage. We think it started around 3am and everything was still dead when we got up in the morning. This house has an electric stove so noContinue reading “Boquete, Panama; Day 7”
Boquete, Panama; Day 5
Today was a lazy Sunday here in Boquete. The sun was shining brightly this morning but we spent time inside doing some online adventures. The kids FINALLY convinced Mom and Dad to join them in a Minecraft world. It was hosted by Suaram and titled ‘Suckers’ which seems pretty appropriate. Tiffany started building a houseContinue reading “Boquete, Panama; Day 5”
Boquete, Panama; Day 2
Today was mostly about getting organized for our multi-week stay in Boquete. We started the morning off with breakfast at our new favorite Va&Ven. Unfortunately they didn’t have any breakfast sandwiches so instead we had empanadas again. They’re better for dinner, but at least we got a little fuel to get our day going. AfterContinue reading “Boquete, Panama; Day 2”
Boquete, Panama; Day 1
Today was a travel day from the tropical, sunny Caribbean up the mountains to a lovely house a few minutes outside the city of Boquete. We lost 15 degrees of temperature and gained 1,800 ft in elevation. We crossed the Continental Divide and said goodbye to the Caribbean since we don’t know when we’ll seeContinue reading “Boquete, Panama; Day 1”
Bocas del Toro, Panama; Day 1
We made it to Panama! Whew! Sometimes adventures can be exhausting. We had an option to fly from Costa Rica to Panama- from San Jose to Panama City. But our first stop in Panama was planned to be the island archipelago on the northwest coast called Bocas del Toro. It’s only about 3 hours travelContinue reading “Bocas del Toro, Panama; Day 1”
Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica; Day 6
Today is our last day in Puerto Viejo and it’s also our last day in Costa Rica. We arrived 37 days ago and spent our first two weeks in school. We swam in the Pacific, the Caribbean Sea and in a few waterfalls. We were all amazed by the green sea turtles and the horsebackContinue reading “Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica; Day 6”
Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica; Day 5
A short post for a quiet day. The adventurers stayed close to home with the kids reading and making up games with their cuddles. The plot included many paper snowflakes so we are enjoying a bit of pretend winter here in the tropics. We did a little shopping. It’s amazing how fast clothes tire outContinue reading “Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica; Day 5”
Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica; Day 4
Today’s main adventure was a morning Chocolate tour – an activity where you see the process from the cacao bean to the chocolate we know and love. Or at least that’s what we tried to sell the kids. Cacao was one of the major crops in Costa Rica until the 1970s when a fungus killedContinue reading “Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica; Day 4”
Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica; Day 2
After yesterday’s travel day we relaxed a little this morning. We all found the sleeping tolerable with no air conditioning. Still more hot and humid than we prefer but we got some sleep even with the howler monkeys doing their thing close by. We added a picture showing our two part house. Kitchen/living room/bath andContinue reading “Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica; Day 2”
Tortuguero, Costa Rica Day 2
Today started at 5:15am. We were supposed to be waking up to a 6am canoe adventure in the rivers of the National Park. Instead, we were greeted with thunder, lightning, heavy rain and no power in our hotel. We considered rolling over and going back to sleep, but weather changes quickly in Costa Rica soContinue reading “Tortuguero, Costa Rica Day 2”
Tortuguero, Costa Rica; Day 1
We do have Wi-Fi access! We were pleasantly surprised our family hotel room has Wi-Fi access, it was advertised as having three full sized beds, air conditioning (a luxury we splurge for) and a shower. Hot water is still TBD and wifi was supposed to be a no, yet here we are. Today was aContinue reading “Tortuguero, Costa Rica; Day 1”
La Fortuna, Costa Rica; Day 3
This was one of our Costa Rican days where the adventures were wonderful, diverse and may not fully translate to the blog (but we will give it our best shot). We took all these great photos today. Costa Rica has fully embraced environmentally conscious attitudes about many things. For example, the country has relied onContinue reading “La Fortuna, Costa Rica; Day 3”
La Fortuna, Costa Rica; Day 2
What a day! This is the first time visiting Costa Rica for the 5 Adventurers. It’s a popular destination because it’s natural ecology is appealing (volcanos, beaches, tropical forests, waterfalls) and also because it has built a reputation for outdoor adrenaline activities. Ziplines, horseback riding, rappelling, ATV riding tours, hiking, scuba and snorkeling etc etcContinue reading “La Fortuna, Costa Rica; Day 2”
Monteverde, Costa Rica; Day 2
Today started a little earlier than most (we actually used an alarm clock!). We had a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, coffee, milk, fruit, papaya juice and the best tasting Fruit Loops the kids and Dad ever tasted. The cook was very gracious and the owner explained all the food, coffee, marmalade and jamContinue reading “Monteverde, Costa Rica; Day 2”
Playa del Coco, Costa Rica; Day 7
Today was our last full day in this location and the kids were again in charge of the adventures. It was a blue sky morning so they decided to head into town – back to the main beach in Playa del Coco and the place we went to on our second day in Costa Rica.Continue reading “Playa del Coco, Costa Rica; Day 7”
Playa del Coco, Costa Rica; Day 6
By day six Brian and Tiffany had pretty much completed our modest beach/pool ‘to-do list’ so we decided today the kids could pick our adventures. What would they pick? Pool? Beach club? New beach? Repeat beach? Turns out their choice was none of those. Early morning started with a classic card game of War thatContinue reading “Playa del Coco, Costa Rica; Day 6”
Playa del Coco, Costa Rica; Day 3
Today was a fantastic day relaxing by the pool. It was warm but just enough overcast so that the sun didn’t bake us all day. The water was also warm and the rain held off until after 5. What could be better? The snack bar was open so drinks and food were easy and broughtContinue reading “Playa del Coco, Costa Rica; Day 3”
Playa del Coco, Costa Rica; Day 1
Today was technically a travel day, but as those go it was pretty easy. We started off the morning packing up our stuff at the Liberia AirBnB. The kids have collected some souvenirs since arrival so we had to figure out how to stow them. But the hardest part of packing were the random thingsContinue reading “Playa del Coco, Costa Rica; Day 1”
5 Adventures Together 