November 20, 2018

Visiting Burg Eltz - Rick Steve's Favorite European Castle

November 20, 2018/ Meghan Oaks

In September 2017 (omg, this was way over a year ago!), when I was pregnant with Julie, we made a trip to Germany to celebrate two of our friends getting married. It was a perfect excuse to visit Germany during one of the best times of the year, and a perfect excuse to play tourist in our former country of residence. We tried to do some things that we hadn’t done while we were living there as expats and one of those things was visiting Burg Eltz. See, Burg Eltz is one of the most famous castle in not only Germany (after Nueschwanstein of course), but in all of Europe, and has the unique designation of being one of Rick Steve’s, the well-known host of the aptly titled Rick Steve’s Europe, favorite castles in Europe. Needless to say, I had high hopes for this castle!

November 16, 2018

Camping With Toddlers: An Epic Failure

November 16, 2018/ Meghan Oaks

“Camping with toddlers” is a sentence that strikes fear into most parents’ hearts. It’s most definitely not a “vacation.” There’s the tent, the sleeping bags, cooking outdoors, what to do with the baby that puts everything in her mouth or the toddler who has no fear in a land of snakes, and the tetris-like skills required to figure out out how to fit all that gear in a car. Some people love it and there is no shortage of pinterest-worthy, idyllic photos of parents blissfully enjoying a bonfire in the woods while their young kids play gleefully next to them. I fell victim to these. I had grandoise fantasies of watching my kids explore the outdoors, not worrying that they were covered in dirt - “It’s good for them!” I tell myself - but the reality is, I strongly dislike mud and dirt on my pillow and in my bed. But, I still love camping and bon fires and sleeping under the stars. So, we decided to try the whole family camping business when we headed to the Valhalla Missile Silo to do some diving. And boy oh boy, was it one of the most epically bad weekends of camping I have ever, ever, had.

October 10, 2018

Spoetzl Brewery - Home of Shiner Beer

October 10, 2018/ Meghan Oaks

Two hours west of Houston, at the convergence of US-90 and TX-95, on the edge of Texas hill country, lies the tiny town of Shiner. One of the most well-known small towns in Texas, Shiner is home to Spoetzl Brewey - the makers of Shiner Bock (among others). Ask any Texan about Shiner and they will know it. In true Oaks fashion, we had wanted to make a visit to the brewery, something that falls right in line with all of our other brewery tours. Our trip to Austin for Memorial Day Weekend, provided the perfect opportunity to finally do it.

October 02, 2018

Diving the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary

October 02, 2018/ Meghan Oaks

Years ago, I remember Aaron telling me about Flower Gardens and how it was this incredibly unique place in the Gulf of Mexico and that he wanted to dive it (if it’s underwater, he wants to dive it, but that’s beside the point). The problem is that the only charter to go there leaves out of Freeport, TX and is usually sold out when it isn’t blown out. If you live outside of a day’s drive from Freeport, it’s too risky to plan a trip down, pay for flights, only to be told that the seas are too rough and that a storm is blowing in. So, it was put on the back burner and there it stayed. Until this past June.

September 27, 2018

The 6 Earliest Christmas Markets to Open in 2018

September 27, 2018/ Meghan Oaks

A few months ago, Aaron and I got a killer deal on tickets to Germany over Thanksgiving week thanks to emails that we get from Scott’s Cheap Flights. We fly out the day before Thanksgiving and will be in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Austria for about a week - I’m so excited!!! I’m MOST excited to visit a few Christmas markets while we are there! Sadly, we will be flying back to Texas before most of the markets open. But I have been able to find some that will be open while we are there and they are most definitely on our itinerary! I’ve compiled a list of 6 of the earliest opening markets for the 2018 season in case you, like us, booked a trip that ends before Christmas market season really gets into full swing, but still want to visit a few.

September 20, 2018

Tips For Traveling With Kids - Part 3 - Packing

September 20, 2018/ Meghan Oaks

In our third installment of tips for traveling with kids, we are going to cover my most hated task - packing. But, we've found a few ways to help make this necessary burden a little more bearable and we'd like to share those tips with you.

September 05, 2018

Tips For Traveling With Kids - Part 2 - You've Arrived!

September 05, 2018/ Meghan Oaks

So you've survived the drive, flight, or train - or even all 3! - and finally arrived at your destination. Now what? After a few years of travel, we've picked up a few tips and tricks that make our vacation a little easier with kids in tow.