I haven't been writing up as many taste tests lately because the kids wanted me to focus more on our travel stories, but this one felt timely and appropriate.
In the fall season of years past, we've tried quite a few Pumpkin Spice flavored things. Wendy's Frostys and Cold Brews, Krispy Kreme Donuts, Soda and Popcorn, Caramels, Kit Kats and M&Ms, Jelly Bellies, Cheerios, and even Frosted Flakes cereal. But this one... This one seems like the most unique.
Cup Noodles. But Pumpkin Pie Flavor.
Time for part 2 of all the fun stuff we did while in Colorado.
One of the holiday traditions my brother and his wife try to do each year is get over to the expensive and exclusive Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs to look at the Christmas lights. Lately the hotel has become even more exclusive, not letting the general public visit, reserving their grounds only for those staying overnight. There is however a workaround that they've found, and that's to book a reservation for one of their restaurants!
We're in Colorado for Thanksgiving, but that's not the only thing happening this week. We're plenty busy while we prepare for the big day!
Everyone loved seeing Wicked last year, so when Wicked: For Good came out this weekend, we put together a big party to go see it.
Happy Thanksgiving! It's the time of the year for being Thankful for what you have and hanging out with family you love. For our Thanksgiving, we're headed to Colorado to be with my family!
It's day 3 in Hawaii! Let's see what adventures we can get up to today.
Let's continue our summer travels. We're in LA right now having finished the Pasadena Chalk Festival and hanging out with friends and family. Now we're on to the next thing.
It's early. Like really really early. 5am early. But that's what time we needed to get going to get our rental car returned and get over to the airport.
It's been an amazing time in Los Angeles with a lot of surprises and a bunch of fun memories. It's time to wrap things up here before we move on to the next trip of the summer!
Continuing our story from this summer, we're in California and my whole family came out to surprise me as an early birthday celebration. Theresa's already organized a trip to the Hollywood Bowl, The Broad, the Comedy and Magic club, and more. But there's one surprise that she's kept under wraps. The family knew about it, but I was going to be surprised.
Happy Halloween! We love this fun, fall, time of year!
The kids are really into the Mandalorian and Grogu and decided pretty early on that that’s what they were going to dress as for Halloween.
Time to wrap up this Fall Foliage visit to Vermont with all our family.
Leaving Jay Peak, our group continued to the West, searching for more beautiful hillsides in Vermont. We weren't disappointed.
Today we've got a lot on our plate with lots of driving and lots of searching for beautiful Vermont fall leaves! We're in Vermont visiting our friends Jake and Pauline Couture who own a maple sugar house and Bed & Breakfast.
After leaving the Ben & Jerry's Factory, it's time to continue our fall leaf exploration. We're done down here in Waterbury, so let's head north.
Visiting Vermont, one of the must do stops is the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory!
I was online at midnight, 2 weeks prior to make sure we could get reservations for a factory tour. With 10 people, we'll be taking up quite a bit of the tour group!
Welcome to Vermont! We're here with a whole bunch of family for fall foliage! We're visiting our friends the Coutures, who own a maple sugar farm and bed & breakfast. We've rented out the entire house and are ready for a fun day of adventure!
Happy Fall! As summer winds to an end everywhere in the US except Florida (it's still super hot here), it's the season where leaves turn from bright green to yellows, oranges, and reds, before falling off the trees for the season. We love going to different places to experience fall foliage and this year, we're headed to Vermont!
We were awake and out the door by 6:30am in order to get to the airport for our flight.
We love that our local Chick-fil-A does such fun events. Tonight, it's kids cooking class! They are inviting kids 12 and under to come make one of their most popular menu items!
Good morning! It's going to be a beautiful day to be at Magic Mountain! Once again we are awake early to go to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. It's really nice that Theresa has hotel status here. We've had some really good meals. Alli learned today that she could even have a smoothie for her drink today! Love it!
It was a fun morning playing volleyball with my friends, but it's Sunday and we're checking out of our hotel in El Segundo and driving north for a few more days at Magic Mountain!
And because it's Sunday, Theresa is here with us!
Continuing our stories from this summer of 2025. The hotel breakfast is just okay, so we're not always motivated to get up in time to go eat. Today is pancakes though, so Alli joins me. Ian will come if it's biscuits and gravy.
After having so much fun at the Magic Mountain and the Pasadena Chalk Festival last week, now, we're down in the South Bay of Los Angeles. Theresa is working, so I've got the kids during the day and we need something to do. Luckily for us, we've got the Chuck E Cheese Summer of Fun Pass!
There's many different levels, Bronze, Silver, and Gold, and we opted for the top tier, giving us 250 game credits per day, plus 50% off food! We've been making good use of our pass so far this year, but with all this free time, I think we're going to hit it a little harder.
We got an even earlier start today so we could get up and have breakfast before we headed to Magic Mountain. Our server Antonia is so nice. We've seen her all three mornings and she's awesome. My eggs benedict were runny, just like they were supposed to be.
Washington was fun, but now it's time to head to our next stop on this giant summer trip. So far we've stopped at Colorado, Las Vegas, and Washington, but now we're headed back to where the kids grew up. California!
We're in Washington to celebrate Eli and Josh's gradation from High School. Yesterday was their graduation ceremony, but we've still got a couple days here in Washington before we leave.
Jon mentioned going for a hike and Ian's ears perked up. Just like Theresa, he loves finding "free food" that people like. He remembers on a previous hike here that we found salmonberries growing alongside the trail.
Joe - That was in August last time though Ian, so I don't know if any will be ripe yet.
Ian - I still want to try and see.
Time for the next stop on our summer journey! Today we're flying to Washington!
No, not in that plane Ian and Alli.
Theresa and I had a fun time while we were in Vegas. But the kids and grandparents had a fun time while we were gone too!
One of the things Gram loves to do with the kids is have a formal tea party.
We're in Colorado with the family at the start of our summer vacation! But it's a special day for Theresa and I coming up. It's almost our 25th anniversary! And so, since Gram and Pop Pop offered to watch the kids, Theresa and I were free to go out and celebrate!
Welcome to Colorado! The first stop on our summer journey! The kids were super excited to be here because they really wanted to play with their cousin Avery. Whenever they get together, they like to take over the basement and have a "festival" where they make and create all sorts of things. They've been planned things in secret for weeks via FaceTime, so we know they're up to something good.
What a summer it has been! We've been so busy traveling, I haven't stopped to write it all down. Now that we're back in Florida and getting into a routine, I have some time to settle down and get all this recorded.
Time to continue the fun day that Theresa has planned for my surprise birthday weekend! We've got my family here from Colorado and Washington and we're exploring Los Angeles together!
Theresa gathered all my family in Los Angeles for a birthday surprise! It was a big surprise to me because it wasn't my birthday for another month! But it's actually Megan's birthday today!
I've taken a break from blogging over the summer, but we're going to jump ahead a little bit in the summer to this story.
We'd finished the Pasadena Chalk Festival, hung out at Six Flags Magic Mountain, and had just arrived back in Manhattan Beach at the hotel for the night.
The next morning, Theresa said she got a text from the front desk that we'd need to move rooms.
Theresa - Let's go check out the room before we have to move all our stuff.
Well that's odd, but okay.
We had a fun time at the 2025 Pasadena Chalk Festival.
We made our mural "Grogu Goes To Hogwarts" and had a lot of fun with it. There were so many other artists at the festival this year. I tried to get pictures of all of them. I'll post them here without too many comments on my part. There's 180 photos on this post, so I suspect it will take a little while to load.
As part of being an artist at the Pasadena Chalk Festival, you're highly encouraged to donate a canvas for the festival to raise money for the Lightbringer Project, a group that helps bring art to underserved kids in the community.
The first year you participate in the Chalk Festival it's $30. Every year after that it's free! When you're there, they give you plenty of chalk, water, snacks during the day, breakfast, tote bags, shirts, and artist dinner on Thursday, and there's awards for the winners. They even give you a blank canvas to return with paint on it! Painting a canvas seems like a simple thing to do in return.
Happy Father's Day! I love that I get to spend it with my kids doing something together at the Pasadena Chalk Festival! We started our "Grogu Goes to Hogwarts" mural yesterday, and today we'll be finishing it up!
It's time for the 2025 Pasadena Chalk Festival! I'm excited! We've got a fun mural this year. Last year we asked the question "What if Pokemon went to Disneyland?"
This year, we wondered "What if Grogo went to Hogwarts?"
I asked the kids what time they wanted to get started the night before. They said, "9 or 930? But we'll get up earlier for you if you want to. Since it's Father's Day."
I do want to get an earlier start to the day for sure. I know that working in the sun during the afternoons can be brutal, so it's easier to get a lot done in the morning when it's cool. By 7am, I was at our spot and getting the time-lapse camera set up and T and the kids were there a short time after.
It's Father's Day Weekend and time for the Pasadena Chalk Festival!
On Thursday, we all made our way up to Pasadena. At 4pm, you're allowed to claim your spot. I contacted the organizer and asked to be near our friends Charlotte, Curt, and Ruston, and when we arrived, we all had spots together! And check it out! We're in the exact same spots as last year!
Come on out to the Pasadena Chalk Festival this weekend to see us!
It's this Saturday and Sunday at the Paseo in Pasadena!
There's over 200 murals, drawn by 500+ artists, so you're sure to find something you enjoy. And on Saturday there's even a classic car show!
Last year, we wondered "What would it look like if Pokemon visited Disneyland?"
This year, we're wondering "What would it look like if Grogo went to Hogwarts?"
Let's continue with part 4 of Day 6 while we visit Shanghai Disneyland and all the other Asian Disney parks.
It's been a fun morning so far at Shanghai Disneyland. Let's continue through to the afternoon. There's a few shows that we don't want to miss.
After a fun ride on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Shanghai Disneyland, let's head over to Adventure Isle and take on that one-of-a-kind Challenge Trail!
It's the 6th day of our big Disney trip and we're in Shanghai China going to Disneyland!
It's time to wrap up Day 5 of our around the world Disney trip. We're at Shanghai Disneyland, having done so many fun things already.
