December 12, 2019

A Weekend in Budapest

December 12, 2019/ Meghan Oaks

In early October, Aaron and I were fortunate to be able to take another mini-vacation together without our girls. We headed to Budapest for a long weekend. Yes, you read that right, a long weekend, in Budapest, from the US. In retrospect, it was kind of crazy, but it was so completely worth it! We were actually just talking about it recentely and we both agreed that there was not one thing that we regretted about that trip, which for us is kind of shocking as we usually have at least a small regret. I’m going to chalk it up to my expert planning skills ;)

December 09, 2019

Learning to Cook in Budapest

December 09, 2019/ Meghan Oaks

During the planning stages of our Budapest trip, I read another blogger’s post in which she took a cooking class in Greece while there on a solo trip. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in my head. Aaron and I love eating, we love trying local food, we love cooking. Of course we would love a cooking class! I swear, in all our years traveling, I’m not sure why we never even thought about taking a cooking class before. In retrospect, I feel like we missed out on some amazing experiences - Paella in Barecelona, something involving complicated cooking techniques in France, pasta in Italy, heck, even apple strudle in Germany. I barely finished reading the that post, before immediately googling “Cooking class in Budapest.” Much to my chagrin, there were quite a few to choose from!

October 03, 2019

Dining in Total Darkness

October 03, 2019/ Meghan Oaks

Hands on the shoulders of our server in front of us, Aaron’s on mine, we formed (what I’m sure was) an awkward human chain. As we slowly shuffled our feet, both trying to keep up with our server, but not trying to step on the heels of the person in front of us, we passed through a dark, heavy, velvet curtain designed to keep all light out. As the curtain drew to a close behind us, we found ourselves engulfed in complete and utter darkness. A darkness so black, it felt almost oppressive. And this is where we were eating dinner.

August 27, 2019

Reflections On Our First Vacation Without Kids

August 27, 2019/ Meghan Oaks

Clearly, we love traveling with our girls, and are big proponents of traveling with kids in general. We usually take our girls everywhere and, typically, if we can’t afford to take them, then we simply don’t go. We don’t have family nearby, so the daunting task of coordinating logistics to take a trip without them has always been a deterrent. Plus, I want to show them the world! And see their little faces light up when they experience it! There’s a bit of #momguilt that tugs at me when I consider not taking them along. So, in the 3.5 years we’ve been parents, we’ve been taking our daughters along for the ride. Except for recently. In July, we took our first ever trip without kids since becoming parents. And let me tell you, it was glorious. Amazing. So. much. easier. While I still love my girls tagging along, and we haven’t sworn off family travel completely, I will admit that this trip was pure luxury.

May 28, 2019

New Orleans: Audubon Insectarium and Butterfly House

May 28, 2019/ Meghan Oaks

We’re finally settled into life and Louisiana and starting to explore the Pelican State. I’ve said it before, but I’m so happy to be living somewhere where there are things to DO. Things to see and explore. Culture to experience. And man, the culture here? TOTALLY different than Michigan! But, that’s a whole different post. Today, I want to share with you something the girls and I did one weekend: we took a visit to the Audubon Insectarium and Butterfly House!

April 17, 2019

Houmas House Plantation and Gardens

April 17, 2019/ Meghan Oaks

Recently my sister came to visit us at our new place in Louisiana, giving us a perfect excuse to play tourist ourselves! Since we only recently moved here, and we have been in the midst of unpacking, working, and life, we haven’t had much of a chance to get out and explore our new area, which is a shame. Long before we moved here, plantation visits were on my radar. Some have been converted into B&Bs that you can stay in (many of which are haunted!), others you can visit for a small fee, but some are still privately owned. Turns out, Baton Rouge, on the east bank of the Mississippi River, is right in the heart of plantation country. After some brief internet research, we chose Houmas House to visit. It’s only 30 minutes from our house and had tours on the day we wanted to go.

March 04, 2019

Building Our Village

March 04, 2019/ Meghan Oaks

We’ve never had the experience of living near family while having children of our own. Being able to call them up with only a few hours notice to babysit because our sitter canceled has never been an option. To those of you living far away from family - whether by choice or circumstance - you know this is a luxury, a luxury you don’t really get to experience. Instead, having family babysit requires careful, and often expensive, coordination, and is something that most are not able to do very often. But we still need date nights. The girls still get sick and have to stay home from daycare. One of us (usually Aaron) still has to travel for work. So instead of having the built in village of family to rely on, we have had to build our own. And that’s something that takes so much work.