Family

The magic is back! The magic is here. To say I was excited to be invited to the Disneyland reopening on April 30th is an understatement. We have been patiently waiting for more than a year to be back at Disneyland. Literally a week or two before we received our invitation, my kids were reminiscing about all their favorite things at Disneyland and talking about how much they miss it. Prior to the closure, we had visited only a week before and got to experience the Magic Happens parade. Some of our fondest memories in the parks happened right before the closure, so we were beyond excited to be back.

Today is National Kids and Pets Day – yes, that’s a thing! To be honest with you, I wasn’t sure I was going to get my kids a dog. I grew up with a dog and we had a dog before we had kids (Leon passed away from old age when my kids were babies). But over the last 6 months, the kids have been nonstop asking for a dog. I finally caved in after I found Coco from a local rescue. She was exactly what I was looking for, and getting her is the best decision I’ve made. My kids love her so much, and she has become such an important part of our lives. If you haven’t gotten a pet for your child yet, here are 5 reasons why every child should have a pet.

Last weekend we took our new rescue dog named Coco to Rosie’s Dog Beach in Long Beach, California. This was our first time taking a dog to the beach, although we frequent this beach quite often. There are a lot of great dog beaches in Southern California.

Say hi to Coco! She is the newest member of our family! I’ve been thinking about adopting a rescue dog for a while now, so I thought I would share my experience with you. Although puppies are great – they are adorable and it’s so much fun to watch them grow – I felt certain I wanted to rescue a dog rather than get a puppy from a breeder. The thing is, there are so many dogs in the world that need good homes, so it felt selfish to me not to adopt a dog that needed a home.

Are you struggling to keep your kids’ (or your own) snacking in check since we are all spending more time at home? I know this can be such a struggle for families. That’s why I wanted to share some tips with you for how to keep snack-time nutritious and yummy too. If this is an issue you’ve been having at home, here are three tips to keep snacking in check while your kids are home.

When I was in college, St Patrick’s Day was one of my favorite holidays. I loved the excuse to go out and drink green beer and green long islands (yes really). Now that I have kids, St. Patrick’s day is much more about fun foods. That’s why I wanted to share 10 fun St. Patrick’s Day desserts.

The last year has been unexpected and difficult, yet it has also been beautiful. I never envisioned I would have to navigate parenting during a pandemic. So, I wanted to write a letter to my children, not only to thank you but to remind you just how proud I am of you.

My mail-in ballot arrived the other day. As I opened it, I thought what a great opportunity it was to talk about voting with kids. I hadn’t yet talked to my kids about the election. I overheard them mention something about Donald Trump, which I assumed they’d heard on the news. As of yet, I have not talked to my kids about politics whatsoever. They do not know anything about my beliefs and we hadn’t covered anything about voting. When my ballot arrived, I changed all of that.

When my friends at the Okayest Moms asked me to be on their podcast, of course, I said yes! I met Brittany and Heather a year ago at the Beaches Social Media on the Sand Conference. We clicked right away because they are so much fun and don’t take themselves seriously. They are funny and real, especially when it comes to motherhood. Click below to listen to the Okayest Moms Podcast.