Category: Travels

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A Howling Fun Sunday

I love it when a plan comes together. Earlier this spring, my friend Liz and I were discussing assorted Indiana attractions, and we thought it’d be fun to take our families together to see Wolf Park. As luck would have it, we were able to coordinate calendars, and last Sunday, we headed north.

Wolf Park is only a few minutes off of I-65, so it was an easy trip. When we arrived, we were able to join the 2:15p tour.

Wolf Park, West Lafayette, Indiana
Signs make it easy to learn the wolves’ names.

Wolf Park, West Lafayette, Indiana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wolf Park offers tours during operating hours, and it’s the only way to see the wolves and coyotes. While we waited for the tour to begin, we could visit the foxes, who were quite entertaining.

wolf-selfie
Wolf Selfie!

On our tour, we started strolling around Turtle Lake, the park’s largest enclosure. We were able to see many of the wolves in the smaller enclosure as we made our way around. As we walked, our tour guide gave us a lot of really interesting information.

Wolf Park walking tour
Our tour group was good-sized for a steamy June afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also got to see coyotes, and learn how they differ from wolves. Coyotes are much smaller, and and a lot more common. They also howl  – and we were able to howl with them (wolves are mostly silent, btw)! Wolf Park is also home to a herd of bison, which were fun to see. They are apparently a very low maintenece animal, aside from vet checks every so often, they are left largely to themselves.

scarlet-fox
One of the foxes we all became smitten with.

The last stop on our tour were the foxes again, and these adorable little creatures captured our attention. Scarlett and Joker were very active, climbing all over the place,

After our adventure at the park, our own cubs were famished. We headed out to Triple XXX, of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives fame. It did not disappoint. Liz & I ordered the famous peanut butter burger, while the guys picked more traditional burgers. We inhaled the fresh root beer, and even had a little room for dessert. Triple XXX is also #33 on the Burgers, Brews & Dogs food trail– the perfect trail for summer family travel.

me & liz
Friends who blog together, stay together!
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Everyone sits at the counter at Triple XXX, which was just fine with our clan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, our little adventure was about a half day long- it was a perfect Sunday excursion. Still on our list around Lafayette is Prophetstown State Park. We’ve been to the waterpark there, but not the working farm. Maybe our two families will make before the end of the summer!

Disclosure: Thanks, Visit Lafayette-West Lafayette, for the admission to Wolf Park – we really enjoyed our visit!

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Fuel Your Summer: Fuel Savings and Summer Travel {+a BIG Giveaway}

KrogerPInfotor2It’s summertime! here at Casa de Kahuna, we are wrapping up a fun week of Vacation Bible School, and the kids are eager to start day camp. We’ve got a weekly summer routine that’s taking shape, but we have a couple of fun things in store to shake up our summer.

I’m taking off at the end of the month for the first of my fortieth birthday weekends, and the rest of the family is motoring up to Chicago for a weekend with family. Mid-July we are heading to the Smoky Mountains with my parents for a week of sightseeing, swimming, and with any luck, unplugging. I’m also hoping for a few more stamps on my National Parks passport.

kids stepping in ocean

Most of our family vacations have involved water- either the beach or the pool. Above, here’s Meg stepping into the ocean for the first time in 2007 in North Carolina, and Andrew stepping in for the first time in 2009 in Massachusetts. We’ve seen the Atlantic Ocean as far north as Massachusetts and as far south as Florida. We’ve swam in pools from here down to Atlanta. Now that both kids can swim, I’ll be able to do less lifeguarding, and maybe more reading. We also like to see landmarks, tourist attractions and anything else that catches our fancy. I love vacations.

disneyfotor

We tend to pretty economical when it comes to traveling. We’ve never flown as a family of four. We search for hotel deals, pack a lot of our own food, and set moderate limits when it comes to souvenirs (See those mouse ears? That’s what they got at the Magic Kingdom!).

One thing we can’t control on vacation is the price of fuel. The only thing we can do is overestimate costs and keep our fingers crossed that we’ve estimated well. I take that back- there’s one more thing we can do. Kroger is running a Summer Fuel special, where shopping on the weekends (in June 2013) will earn you 2x the fuel points (groceries only). You read that right- every $1 spent in Kroger stores on the weekends during this promotion is worth 2 fuel points… and every 1000 points is worth $1 off per gallon. Not bad, right?

seerockcityfotor

By earning Fuel Points twice as fast, it’ll be no time at all before we’ve got the 1000 fuel points needed to save $1 per gallon when we fill up the van for our family vacation. That savings will come in handy- who doesn’t want a little extra cash on vacation? It might mean an extra meal out, more fun souvenirs or perhaps more adult beverages (it is vacation, after all). Spending less on gas means there’s more to spend on fun things (I could have purchased so many fun things at the Rock City gift shop). To earn double fuel points on June weekends (Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays), follow this link to enroll: http://bit.ly/16XJg2x. Hook up your Kroger Plus card and you’ll be on your way!

{The BIG Giveaway}

To get you started on your Kroger shopping, I’m giving away a $100 gift card to one lucky reader (I KNOW. Happy grocery shopping).

To enter, tell me where you’re off to this summer, or one fun thing closer to home you’ll be doing this summer.

For additional entries, do any or all of the following, and leave me a comment for each thing that your did:

This giveaway will be open until next Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 9pm. A winner will be notified, and will have 24 hours to repsond. If there’s no response, I will choose a new winner. Thank you so much for playing, and good luck!!

Disclosure: I was compensated with a gift card for myself for facilitating this giveaway. All of the opinions on this promotion are my own, as are the photos of my adorable children.

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Family Vacation 2011

About 12 hours the Chik-Fil-A Leadercast , we loaded up Kahuna One and headed south. We were Orlando bound, for a week of fun in the sun.

Fun and sun were had by all!

We had a full week of fun at my parents’ timeshare (thanks, Mom and Dad), complete with hours and hours of swimming by the pool, ice cream eating, and watching cable TV.

We also met the Mouse. If you’ve met the Mouse, you know that it’s an expensive venture. We were on the fence about doing it,  as I’m sure many parents are, because if your kid wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, you may as well have set fire to a couple of  hundred dollar bills and call it a day. (I wrote about the money aspect of our Disney visit at Persephone this week)

Guess what? The kids woke up on the RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED.

We got there in plenty of time to see the welcoming show and see Mickey open the park.

We met thirteen different characters, including three princesses, Mary Poppins, Woody & Jessie. They signed our autograph books and gave hugs and made the kids feel like a million bucks.

We rode fifteen rides, MaM rode three of them twice. There were no lines, the crowds were thin and navigating the park was easy.

We had a sit down lunch, which was perfect for cooling off and taking a  breather during the heat of the day.

We were actually able to stay through until the park’s fireworks finale.

A week later, the kids are still talking about it.

I love vacation.