Category Archives: Family Fun

Dining Out, Family Fun, Sheboygan, Travel, Travel Wisconsin, Wisconsin

Everything IS Better at The Blue Harbor Resort

If you are looking for a destination for a great family getaway you should consider a visit to Blue Harbor Resort & Spa in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Blue Harbor Resort is the #1 resort on Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan Coast and offers 180 hotel rooms and 64 villas. Our family was recently fortunate to visit Blue Harbor for 3 days/2 nights and check out everything they have to offer.

Now, as you can probably imagine, traveling as a group of 7 we tend to need a lot of stuff and we take up a lot of space. Thankfully, Blue Harbor has a room to fit everyone’s needs.

Loft Fireplace Suite

We stayed in a Loft Fireplace Suite, a 736 square foot room that sleeps 8 and offers 2 queen size beds and a full-size sofa sleeper on the first floor complete with a full bathroom, wet bar, mini-fridge, microwave, 2 flat screen TVs, fireplace and a small balcony as well as a loft area with a 3rd queen size bed, half-bath and a 3rd flat screen TV.

Blue Harbor also has additional suites and villas available to meet the specific needs of your family, including rooms with bunk beds or those that are perfect for a romantic getaway!

Now, as much as I wanted to crawl right into that giant and fluffy queen size bed, the kids definitely had other plans and were dying to hit up some water slides at Breaker Bay, Blue Harbor’s year-round indoor water park.

Breaker Bay

The weather is always nice and the water is always 84° in this 54,000-square-foot entertainment area and everyone is sure to have a great time!

Breaker Bay has an interactive lighthouse water fort that features a nearly 1,000-gallon tipping water ship, an activity center that is interconnected with suspension bridges, cargo nets, web crawls and more than 60 guest-activated water effects, 4 water slides, lazy river, pool, jacuzzi tub and the Riptide surf simulator.

Everyone had a great time playing in the water, going down the slides, playing water basketball and just having a lot of fun!

This trip was Ellie’s first time on a water slide and although she wasn’t quite sure about it at first, she was hooked by the time our trip was over!

For Libby and Alexander, it was a constant race to the bottom!

As for Joey, he just really liked being in the water and playing!

Ride The Riptide

One thing that was an absolute hit with Alex and Alexander was The Riptide Surf Simulator. I’m pretty sure they would have spent all of their time body boarding had we not had other things on the agenda while we were visiting Blue Harbor.

Dining at Blue Harbor

On our first morning, after a long night of swimming and a toddler who didn’t want to go to sleep, I was ecstatic to learn that Shoreline Café offers a full line of Starbucks coffees as well as some delicious treats.

Although the kids were exhausted after hours and hours of fun at Breaker Bay, we still had the chance to enjoy some of the delicious food from the different restaurants at Blue Harbor.

On our second night, we had dinner delivered right to our room from The Beacon while Joey napped before heading out to the Tripoli Shrine Circus.

Dinner was absolutely delicious and we have been craving those crisp Wisconsin cheese curds since!

We were also very pleased that The Beacon offers a kids menu with a large selection as well.

Once we returned from the circus and got the kids all settled in for the night, we left them in the capable hands of our trusty teenagers and Alex and I took some time to ourselves to enjoy a nightcap at On The Rocks Bar & Grill where we were happy to find New Glarus Spotted Cow on tap!

Blue Harbor is also the home to Latitude 43, a more upscale restaurant serving seafood and steak in a seaside setting with a beautiful view of Lake Michigan.

If you are hungry or in need of a drink while playing at Breaker Bay, you can grab something from the Rocky Bottom Snack Bar or if you are enjoying the outdoor pool, be sure to check out the Poolside Snack Bar for a selection of beers and frozen cocktails!

Shopping

If you are looking to do a little shopping, be sure to check out The Boutique, located in the lobby, offers a wonderful selection of interesting gifts and home decor items including Vera Bradley handbags and accessories, Broken Earth Wines and so much more!

Connected to Breaker Bay, you will find Washed Ashore Swim Shop filled with gifts & sundries including swimwear, towels and more.

If you want to step outside and go for a stroll, be sure to stop by the Harbor Centre, a quaint village within easy walking distance of Blue Harbor’s front door filled with a variety of one-of-a-kind shops.

Relax

One thing I was hoping to do on this trip but just didn’t have the time for was pay a visit to Reflections Spa for some serious pampering (hopefully I can enjoy some me time on another trip!).

Reflections Spa offers a full menu of spa services and packages that are sure to make your stay very relaxing.

There’s EVEN MORE!

Although we didn’t get a chance to experience it all, Blue Harbor has even more to offer its guests including mini glow golf, a fitness center, lakeside activities, golf, kids club, activities for teens and so much more. At Blue Harbor, there really is something for everyone!

Our Experience

Overall, our trip to Blue Harbor Resort & Spa was great. We all had an awesome time, spent as much time as we could in the water, enjoyed the dining, the views and enjoying our time together as a family.

Thanks to our friends at Blue Harbor Resort & Spa for this amazing opportunity for our family to celebrate the end of the school year and kick off our summer vacation!

Connect

You can find out more about Blue Harbor and everything they have to offer for vacations, weddings, events and more by visiting their website or by checking them out on Facebook or Twitter.

Family Fun

Planning a Successful Family Reunion

Anne Younger Leave a comment

Ah family reunions, whether you love them or you hate them, chances are you’re going to have to attend them at some point. And if luck may have it, you might be the one who has to plan it. But worry not, planning a successful family reunion is easier than you might think. All it takes is a little scheduling, a few hours of researching the best spot to book lodging, and maybe a few extras here and there, but you’ll be done in no time, and then you can kick back and simply enjoy your family’s company. Look no further than this guide to planning a successful family reunion!

Gather Interest & Choose a Location

First things first, the most important thing you need to take care of when planning your family reunion is making sure there will actually be some family reuniting. Gathering interest in the matter is as simple as sending out a few emails, making a few calls and generally getting your family members excited about the prospect of getting together. Once you start the ball rolling, your other family members can start helping out.

Choosing the location is also at the foremost of important considerations, but a fun destination is the best way to entice distant family members into joining. Travel + Leisure has some fun ideas for places to choose for your family reunion destination.

Find Dates that Work for Everyone

For most families, finding the dates that work for everyone is going to be the most complicated part of planning the reunion. Unless you all have a large amount of vacation time, your chances are best around the holidays, with Christmas and Labor Day weekend tending to be the best options with the largest chance of getting people together.

Finding Lodging for Everyone

Once you’ve nailed down some dates, you’ll need to think about finding lodging for everyone. Depending on the size of your family, you can probably find a group deal on hotels when you book in bulk. If you’re working across a variety of price ranges, it might be better to let everyone choose their own lodging options. If it’s a smaller affair, renting a house through AirBnb is always a fun option to get everyone together in a shared space. The company has great options all over the world, so you don’t need to worry about not being able to find a suitable spot.

Plan Some Activities

You’ll need to think about something for everyone to do when you reach your family reunion destination. If you’re heading to the beach or a lake house, that should be easy. Everyone can do their own thing and enjoy the water. If you’re staying somewhere with fewer natural attractions, you might have to get a little creative with your planning and think about something that everyone can enjoy. When in doubt, just plan a lot of meals to keep everyone happy. A barbeque here and there, and lots of wine is the key to hosting a successful family reunion most of the time.

Order Some Custom Memorabilia

If you want to commemorate your family reunion, ordering custom sweatshirts from a site like RushOrderTees is a great way to give everyone something to take home with them. All you need to do is plan out the design and style that you like best, and collect a few sizes from your family members, and your sweatshirts will be ready to go in no time. It’s fun, it’s easy, and it’s not very expensive.

Best of luck with your reunion planning! Follow these five steps and it should

Family Fun, Our Family, Shop Wisconsin, Travel, Travel Wisconsin, Wisconsin

Our 2014 Door County Daycation

Anne Younger Leave a comment

Now that the school year has ended and the warm weather has arrived, we are doing our best to soak it all in. This past Friday, we celebrated the start of summer break by taking a much needed daycation to Door County.

Door County is my favorite place in Wisconsin, aside from Green Bay/Ashwaubenon. It’s a great place to escape to when you need to get away and it is absolutely beautiful and filled with lots of fun things to do!

We started our trip with a quick stop for some drinks and breakfast. While we waited in the van, Ellie asked me to take a picture.

While we were on our journey, we thought the kids should learn something so I oulled over at a historical landmark and had Zack read it to all of us.

That was our educational moment on the trip.

We decided we would drive straight through Door County and go right to Gills Rock (the tip of the thumb) and work our way back down.

When we got to Gills Rock it was crazy windy and a bit chilly. We got out of the van, walked around for a few minutes and checked out the gift shops and picked up a few things. Once we were freezing our buns off, we decided it was time to begin our journey down the peninsula but first, Zack and I had to snap a quick pic together.

Once we left Gills Rock, we made the decision to head down to Sister Bay and grab lunch at the infamous Al Johnson’s.

When we were walking up to the entrance of Al Johnson’s they had this cute bench and I wanted to get a picture of all 5 kids together. This is the closest I got…..4 out of 5 kids looking at the camera.

We were really surprised to see just how BIG the menus were.

Not only was the food delicious but the kids got to see the goats on the roof too. Yes, goats on the roof!

After lunch we made a few stops at some local shops before heading to Ephraim to get some ice cream from Wilson’s Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor. *Alex and I went to Wilson’s on our first date for dessert almost 8 years ago.

Once we had devoured our ice cream and cleaned everyone up, including Ellie who managed to get an upset tummy without eating anything, I decided to head over to the local beach and let everyone dip their toes in the water.

We got lucky when we got over to the beach that it was finally warm enough for the little kids to go play in the sand and even go swimming and we spent the next 2 hours at the beach having fun.

The kids all had soooo much fun. This was Joey’s first experience with sand and he absolutely LOVED it.

Love might not even be the right word to describe just how much he enjoyed it.

One of my favorite moments of Joey’s first trip to the beach was seeing his face beam with happiness when he was hanging out with Alex.

If there is one thing that I know for sure it is that Joey LOVES his daddy!

I really enjoyed just sitting on the beach with this as my view.

After all the fun of playing at the beach we hit a few more stores in Fish Creek and Egg Harbor, picked up a 6 pack of Shipwrecked Door County Cherry Wheat beer and made our way home.

I’m so fun that everyone had such a great time and I can’t wait to do it again. We are already planning on going back up in July.

Entertainment, Events, Family Fun, Local Events, Shows/Performances

Monster Jam Returns to Green Bay #MonsterJamGreenBay

Anne Younger Leave a comment

*This post is made possible by Monster Jam. I received a promotional item in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.*

It’s that time of year once again when monster trucks invade Green Bay and take over the Resch Center. That’s right, Monster Jam is returning to the Resch Center on Saturday, April 5 at 2pm & 7:30pm and on Sunday, April 6 at 2pm. Tickets on sale now at all Ticket Star locations, including the Resch Center box office, by phone at 800.895.0071 and online at www.ReschCenter.com.

Tickets for Monster Jam^®, the world’s premier Monster Jam truck series, are now on sale.Monster Jam events are affordably priced for the whole family with seats starting at $10 for children (2-12) and $20 for adults.

The Party in the Pits on Saturday, April 5 from 11:30am – 1pm gives fans the opportunity to get a view of the trucks up close and meet the drivers of the massive Monster Jam trucks.

The event will feature such Monster Jam trucks as four-time world champion Grave Digger, Iron Man, Team Hot Wheels Firestorm, Cleatus and Hometown Hero Just Get-R-Done, and Robo Machine.

Approximately 12 feet tall and about 12 feet wide, Monster Jam trucks are custom-designed machines that sit atop 66-inch-tall tires and weigh a minimum of 10,000 pounds. Built for short, high-powered bursts of speed, Monster Jam trucks generate 1,500 to 2,000 horsepower and are capable of speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. Monster Jam trucks can fly up to125 to 130 feet (a distance greater than 14 cars side by side) and up to 35 feet in the air.

My boys had so much fun at the show last year. Alexander could not believe how big the trucks were!

He is looking forward to going back again this year and can’t wait to see his favorite truck, Grave Digger!

Order your tickets today and use code GBMOM and save $4.00.

Events, Family Fun, Howard, Indoor Play

February Kidz Town Events – Howard

Anne Younger Leave a comment

Story Time With Deb @ 10 am

Thursday, February 9th

Free with a paid admission

Deb Johnson of Budding Chefs will lead us in a Valentine’s Day story time and making a yummy Valentine’s Day treat!

Budding Chefs, LLC provides cooking classes for children ages 3 and up including in-home, community-based, and educational enrichment classes and scout troop cooking activities/Legacy cooking badge workshops.

Kids Night Out!! Valentine’s Day Party Friday, February 10th

5:00pm – 7:30pm

Cost Per Child: $12 (members),

$15 (non-members)

Love is in the air this month and our theme this time is a “Valentine’s Day Party”. Drop those little ones off and go have some time for yourself for a few hours. The kids will get to play in the town, make Valentine’s Day crafts, play fun games, eat pizza and make their very own dessert.

Pre-registration is required. Space is limited and will fill up FAST!

Call 434-1234 to sign your child up.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Tuesday, February 14th

$2.00 off admission price if you wear red or pink to show your Valentine’s Day spirit!

Girls Night Out! Scrapbooking Fun! Friday, February 17th

6:30pm to midnight

Cost: $10 – includes snacks and drinks

Join us for a night of scrapbooking fun! Do you have pictures you took from this past summer or fall? Maybe you have pictures from last year. This is a great time to get together with friends and get those pictures in albums so your family can start enjoying them. You will have tools such as punches, cutting systems and a Cricut machine for you to use. Call 434-1234 to sign up and reserve your spot TODAY!!

Crafty Kids @ 10 am

Wednesday, February 22nd

Join us for some fun, while you guide your child through creating their very own master piece to take home. “Crafty Kids” will be held monthly to let your child release their creativity! Class size is limited. Free with admission.