Harlem Globetrotters – Huntington Center Toledo

Family Selfie at the Harlem Globetrotters show

A Gift of The Harlem Globetrotters

For the last couple of years, I have made it a mission to stop purchasing so many “things” and to start giving the gift of fun, togetherness and time.  In December of 2015, the Christmas gift to our family was an outing to see the Harlem Globetrotters at the Huntington Center in Toledo, OH.  To date, this is one of the most fun we have had as a family with a Christmas gift!

I’m not a huge sports fan, but even I had a great time at the show.  There is

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Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.

The Creature Conservancy

The Creature Conservancy - Black Swan Pond

The Creature Conservancy

Where in Ann Arbor, MI can you see an Arctic Fox, a Reindeer and an albino Alligator?  The Creature Conservancy !

Warm sun on our faces, Alex and I entered and were immediately intrigued by the black swans floating gracefully in the pond directly in front of us.  In the distance to the right side of the pond, Emus wandered down to the waters edge to get a drink.  A gentle breeze created tiny ripples in the water, prompting me to take a deep relaxing breath.

Slowly walking to the right, Alex and I headed toward the main building.  Immediately upon entering, we met Luna the albino Alligator.  We watched Luna for quite some time, swimming back and forth in her enclosure.  It never occurred to me that Alligators could be albino, or what they would look like – Luna is beautiful!

The Creature Conservancy - Luna the Albino Alligator

After visiting Luna, we saw countless turtles and snakes.  As we wandered, a playful and talkative raven named Poe caught our attention.  Poe loved to bob his head, and say his name – “Poe Poe!, Poe Poe!”.   We saw a sloth, muntjac deer, crested porcupines, an armadillo, barnyard animals and more.

Animal Presentations

Sven the Reindeer was the featured animal the day that Alex and I visited, and we entered the center room of the main building to watch Sven on the stone stage.  Sven proudly shook his antlers, and strutted the length of the barrier to show everyone just how beautiful he is.

Other presentations included cougar feeding, alligator feeding, and cougar play time.

The Creature Conservancy - Sven the Reindeer

Hands On

The best part of the visit, was how many opportunities there were for hands on, interactive moments with the animals.  Everything was very up close and personal, and in many cases you could touch the animals.

The Creature Conservancy - Armadillo

The entire location – indoors and out – had the relaxed, homey feeling of a farm, and people who work there are clearly passionate about what they do.  The animal handlers were friendly, outgoing and eager to talk about the animals they care for.  Alex and I were only there for a couple of hours, but we learned so much on our visit and walked away with a greater appreciation of the creatures that we share this planet with (and the people who advocate for them).

The Creature Conservancy - Hugh and Nicole, the Black Swans

If you’re looking for a relaxing, low key outing with your kids in the Ann Arbor area, the Creature Conservancy is the perfect place to spend a couple of hours.

The Creature Conservancy - my own little animal, Alex The Creature Conservancy - Rico the Macaw

The Creature Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that takes in injured, non-releasable wildlife and occasionally acquires individual animal ambassadors to meet their teaching goals.  To learn more about The Creature Conservancy, visit their Website.=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.

What is Geocaching?

What is Geocaching?  Only my family’s favorite outdoor activity that can be done practically anywhere at any time!

According to dictionary.com, geocaching is “the outdoor sport or game of searching for hidden objects by using Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates posted on the internet”.  This is at the same time everything that geocaching is, but explains nothing of how awesome it can be.

With more than 2.5 million geocaches in over 180 countries, you truly can geocache just about anywhere – we even found one on Castaway Cay, when we stopped on our Disney Cruise!  Not only for vacation, geocaching is a great activity for killing time between softball or hockey games, and breaking up long car rides (we have found several at rest areas and picnic spots).  Geocaching has also encouraged us to explore our own city, and brought us to places we may not have visited otherwise.

Geocaching on Castaway Cay!
Geocaching on Castaway Cay, Bahamas

How to get started Geocaching

Geocaching can be done with a GPS unit, or a Smartphone.  I know there are some geocaching purists out there that snub their noses at the use of a smart phone…but it’s my preferred method and I’m sticking to it.  To get started, register for a free basic account on Geocaching.com, download a geocaching app to your phone and sign in to your account through the app.  Geocaching.com provides their “official” app for free (Apple & Android), but we much prefer Cachly – yes, Cachly is $5, but well worth it in terms of functionality and ease of use.  The Geocaching Junkie already did a great comparison of the apps HERE, if you want to weigh the pros/cons of which app to use.

Once signed into the app, you can look at the map which will show you where you are, and all of the Geocaches around you.  Select a geocache to see the type, description, difficulty level, and terrain – make sure you know what you are in for before attempting to find a cache.  If the description says there are mosquitos, bring insect repellant.  If it says bush whacking is necessary…maybe don’t wear flip flops.  Also, when you are just starting out you may want to stick with a difficulty of 1 or 2, and work your way up to the more difficult caches.

Once you have selected your cache, take the option to “Navigate to Cache” and head that way!

What are you looking for?

There more than a dozen different types of geocaches, and a “hidden object” can be just about anything.  Our favorites tend to be Traditional Caches, which are actual physical containers of some sort, and Earth Caches, which take you to beautiful and/or interesting places that you may not have found on your own.

And when I say that traditional caches are “containers”, I mean that they can be absolutely anything that will hold a paper log.  They can be very small and contain nothing but a paper log, like the tiny plastic tube of an eyeglass repair kit or as large of a container as can be hidden.  One of our all time favorite caches was a repurposed newspaper dispenser – yes, you needed a quarter to get into it, but you got it back from the little orange holder at the top – inside was a bucket full of awesome trading items.  To date, the largest traditional cache we have ever found!

Geocaching Fun Find - a Newspaper dispenser
Alex, with the largest geocache we have found to date!

While some geocaches are hidden in relative plain site like the newspaper box, some are very cleverly hidden.  We have found them in trees (with a pulley system to get them down), in hollow logs, and in containers that are made to look like other items.  A very common “trick” is containers like magnetic bolts that unscrew to reveal the log inside.

Geocaching containers can be anything - even a "rusty bolt" cache
Our first magnetic cache find, in a “rusty bolt”

What do you do when you’ve found it?

Half the fun is finding the cache, but there is still more to do! All traditional caches will contain a log.  In the smallest caches, the log will be the only thing inside.  You simply put the date and your geocaching name on the log and replace it.  In larger caches, there may be trading and/or collectible items inside.  If you do choose to take something from the cache, it is expected that you will leave something of equal or greater value.  On many occasions, we will leave treasures without removing anything from the cache – our way to pay it forward to other geocachers.  You will also want to log your cache find on geocaching.com, using your chosen app.  When logging online, you may write a story, give helpful information to the cache owner (needs new log, etc) or upload photos.  Please be sure when uploading photos that you do not ruin any surprises for geocachers that come after you! Note: trading/collectible items are different than TRAVEL BUGS.  Travel bugs are intended to travel from geocache to geocache, and not to be kept by a cacher.  If you do not know what to do with a travel bug, please leave it for another geocacher, or read a simple explanation of what to do with them HERE.

Souvenirs and Milestones

Souvenirs are virtual badges collected in your Geocaching.com account, and are earned for different activities.  Each different U.S. state that you geocache in will earn you the souvenir for that state.  Souvenirs may also be issued for events – for example ‘Haunted Hides’ near Halloween, and ‘International EarthCache Day 2016’ near Earth Day.

Outside of souvenirs, it is fun to track geocaching “firsts” and milestones such as your 10th, 50th, 100th (and more), geocaches.  Our family recently commemorated our 100th find with a poster and family selfie at the site of the 100th geocache!

Geocaching Milestone - 100 Geocaches!!
The day we found our 100th Geocache

Geocaching is FUN, you should do it.=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.

Teamwork Required for a Great Family Escape

The quest for the VACCINE - Escape Experience Chattanooga

A Great Family Escape requires a survival vest

“What is this?”

“Tools.  You will need them.”

*searches survival vest.  finds flash light, string with magnet and other random items*

“Mom, I don’t want to go.”

“you’ll be fine”

“please, mom”

*grabs kid by the hand and drags her into a dark, post-apocalyptic kitchen….*

This was the beginning of the excitement at Escape Experience Chattanooga, our second escape experience as a family, and unknown to us Continue reading “Teamwork Required for a Great Family Escape” =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.

Packing for our Disney Cruise

2016-08-23_0002To say that I’m a bit anal about packing is the understatement of the century – and packing for a Disney Cruise took it to a whole new level.

How do you pack for comfort and convenience, as well as formal night, semi formal night, pirate night and those just in case scenarios?  Ok, well the just in case scenario took a back seat, because with my family of 6 and our essentials, there was no room for a whole lot extra.

Rather than bore you with my entire packing list (Type A snooze-fest), I thought I’d share a few of the things that I was very thankful to have packed, and a few that we could have done without.

Disney Cruise Essentials

Note:  Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means if you click on a link or purchase an item from a link in this post, I may make a small commission.  Thank you for your support! 

Lanyard Holder/Pouch Combo

Disney Mickey Mouse Cross Body Shoulder Bag  It was “just” large enough to fit everything I needed just about anywhere.  Things I carried in it for most of the trip:  phone (iPhone 6+), pocket camera, camera battery, lip balm, disney pins and hair ponies.  There was also a clear window in back for my Key to the World Card (easy access was nice, considering we had to have a card inserted into a slot in the Stateroom entrance in order to use electricity – no card, no lights.)

Disney Cross Body Bag - Disney Cruise Essential

I had also brought this smaller lanyard/case that ended up being too small for me, but my family members with smaller phones loved it; and this lanyard pouch was perfect for my kids.

Sony DSC-TX30/D 18 MP Digital Camera – I used this waterproof point and shoot far more than my DSLR.  And while I’m not sure if I could ever leave my DSLR behind when I go on vacation, I seriously wonder what I needed it for this time around.   Light, convenient, easy to use, and because this camera is waterproof I was able to take it with me everywhere and not worry about ruining it. 

DIY Pirate Costumes

It is not mandatory to participate in Pirate Night, but so much fun that many of the passengers do it.  I wish I could remember on which blog or pinterest page I saw the DIY Pirate Costumes so I could give them credit!  If you search google (or look on pinterest) for DIY Pirate Costume, you will see this idea a lot – black pants (cut up sweat pants for the guys), white tshirts and red no-fray fabric cut into sashes.  We supplemented with some inexpensive accessories purchased on Amazon and/or at the dollar store and voila, instant pirate!  Robby had the coolest costume though – purchased second hand from a friend so he could be Captain Jack Sparrow.  Robby says he can’t smile or his mustache will fall off.  Disney will actually provide a bandana for each person in your stateroom, so you will have that as well.

DIY Pirate Costumes on Pirate Night - Disney Cruise

Collapsible Laundry Basket

The Staterooms are manageable, but SMALL, especially if you are squeezing in four people per stateroom.  They get messy quickly, and one thing I was thankful to have was a collapsible laundry basket for keeping the dirty clothes together off the floor and furniture.  It also made it much easier to make a trip to the ship laundry room half way through our vacation.  Because it folds completely flat, it was easy to pack into our checked luggage.

Disney Pins

My girls collect trading pins, and wanted a few Disney pins to be able to trade with the Officers and Crew Members on pin trading night.  The pins are extremely expensive to purchase on the ship, so I bought a pack of 25 on Amazon HERE.  Yes, I realize they are probably not “official”; no, my kids did not care (nor did anyone they traded with).  I split the 25 between my three kids and gave the odd numbers out to my niece and nephew.   It does take a couple of weeks for the pins to be delivered, so be sure to order early.

Other Helpful Items

Waterproof Mascara – I forgot mine, my daughter remembered hers.  I was jealous.

Clothes Pins – You only need a few, they come in handy for securing wet clothing to the clotheslines available in the bathroom shower.

Disney Navigator App (Apple | Android)- ok we didn’t technically “bring” this, but we did download it onto our phones at home before leaving.  It was indispensable when it came to planning our days/evenings, and knowing what time and where activities and events were being held.  In addition to events, there is also an onboard chat/message function within the app that effectively allows you to “text” anyone you add as a contact. Ship wifi is free for Navigator App only.

Athletic or other close toed shoes – assuming you are doing an excursion that requires them.  We signed up for the Zipline Tour on Tortola (so much fun!) which required them.

Door Magnets – not a necessity, but the kids had fun with these.  Again, Google and Pintrest are your friends.

2016-08-27_0002

Leave Behind

If you’re googling “what to pack for Disney Cruise” then you will run across many articles that have long lists of items to bring that do seem clever or interesting.  A few that I wish I had left home:

Item to leave at Guest Services for Characters to Sign – all we brought was a photo mat (though you will see suggestions for pillow cases and other items), but when I attempted to leave it at Guest Services to be signed and picked up later I was informed that they no longer do that, and the only option for character signing was to go around to each character with your item and request signatures.  If my kids had been younger and interested in the autograph book option we may have done that, however I did not want to carry around the photo mat and ended up leaving it in the stateroom.

Power Strip – they are no longer allowed in the staterooms

Water bottles – we bought collapsible water bottles, but never used them.  We did see other people using theirs, but for us it just seemed easier to use the cups provided.  We did however purchase very expensive bottled water whenever we left the ship, which I suppose could have been avoided.  Oh well, it was vacation.

Other options like hanging organizers, etc seemed pointless.  Yes, the state rooms are small, but they are efficient and we found that there were plenty of options for storing/organizing our things  if we bothered to put them away (especially with the collapsible laundry basket that we brought)

Conclusion

None of these tips will make or break your vacation.  In the end we truly would have been fine without our “essential” items, and the things we packed but didn’t need were not a huge hinderance.  Disney really does a great job of ensuring that guests are taken care of – if you forget anything, you will most likely be able to get it from Guest Services or purchase it in one of the shops on the ship.

No matter what – it is Magical…=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Tressie Davis is a blogger and photographer located in Chelsea, MI.