I haven't posted in years and was never very active. However, the curriculum boards were my "go to" for reviews- I found so much wonderful curriculum through these boards and people who were so generous with sharing their wisdom. I am stopping by tonight because I'm finishing our 10th and final year of homeschooling, feeling bittersweet, and hoping to find a few posts about finishing the journey. Anyway, sorry to ramble- I just started a brand new blog a few weeks ago. It's a Christian blog- mainly focused on mental health, with some travel and other stuff. Here it is- http://morethanconquer.com/ Karen

www.flipkey.com This is a vacation rental by owner through tripadvisor. Unlike homeaway or vrbo, they do charge a booking fee. Airbnb charges a booking fee as well.

Totally doable!! We do this several times per year. We rent the kids Redbox movies to watch in the van. It's so convenient to reserve the movies you want and then return them several states away. I'm not certain if Rebox is everywhere yet, but we really like it! For the adults, we subscribe to xm radio. Before we had xm, I would read reader's digest or other magazine articles to my husband while he drove. Sometimes we also check out a book on tape from the library.

Or tomato hornworms...I accidentally touched one yesterday while picking a tomato. :willy_nilly: My dream garden would have fruit trees, berries, veggies, herbs, a cutting garden for flowers to place in my home.

The title of your post made me LOL! I want a Fitbit but fear that I'll be extremely shocked at my numbers. I would rather imagine myself as "active" than learn the truth. B)

Our go-to cruiseline is NCL. Cruising is my favorite relaxing vacation! I don't have to cook, wash dishes, make the beds...time to plan another cruise!

Thank you for sharing your photos. I had no idea the beaches were so wide. Wow. That brings a whole new level of understanding.

Now that sounds like fun! Where did you stay?

Why did my husband invite his his sister and bil to come for dinner and spend the night the evening before we leave for a 2 week trip? :huh: :confused1: Oh...and...why did he invite his brother, sil, and 2 kids to stay at our house for a couple of days while we're gone. :willy_nilly: That's 3 beds to put clean sheets on at 6 in the morning! Guess I'll have to roll his sis out of bed to wash sheets...yes, we only have 1 set of sheets per bed. Must. buy. more. sheets. :nopity: Oh well! Trying to look past the crazy and get excited about the trip! :D

In order to avoid cooking/cleaning, you'll need a cruise or all-inclusive. We enjoy cruises and have been on several. All the mainstream cruise lines have kids' programs- you don't have to do Disney. Royal Caribbean sails out of Galveston. Carnival also sails from there but we've been disappointed in our last 2 Carnival cruises and said "never again." We also enjoy Norwegian and Holland America but I don't know if they are in Galveston right now. September and October are nice times to cruise, with much lower rates than summer. Also, if you wait until November-February (non-holiday weeks) can be found for a great price. There is also the port of New Orleans- we only have Carnival here in the fall. But in November, we have ships from Norwegian and Royal Caribbean coming. We love to travel!

She still has the first few modules so we may try that. I just hate to start something, not like it, and switch. But at least we won't be out any money.

We are another family who loves CLE! My seven year old son is halfway through 2nd grade in their Reading, Math, and Language Arts. We've used it with him from the start. Oh, how I wished I'd known about this program for my dd. It's affordable, he enjoys it, and it simply works for us!

Thank you for asking this question- I came here looking for some feedback on Videotext as well. A local friend highly recommended it to me and successfully used it with 4 of her kids. But, I'm concerned it won't be enough.

This may sound odd, but my (then) five year old did this a few times last summer before we made the connection...too much watermelon before bed! Apparently it is a very effective diuretic. :lol:

Eating Well I have subscribed to most cooking magazines over the years. This is one of my favorites. I enjoy both the articles and the recipes.