Time for Some Mid-Week Linky Love

This week I stumbled across a few really cool links that I want to share with you.

1. If you homeschool or have young children, this may be just the thing you’ve been looking for. Angie, at Many Little Blessings is offering FREE downloads to her ebook, Finding Educational Activities in the Most Unexpected Places: 200+ Activities and Ideas for Young Children. All you need to do is head over to the Many Little Blessings Facebook page and become a fan.    

2. You know I’m a big fan of traveling and learning on the road so I was VERY excited to run across these two posts, 30 Traveling Families Share Their Best Educational Experiences and Part 2, Education on the Road: 30 Traveling Families Share Their Most Educational Moments. I hope you find the stories as fascinating as I did! My bucket list just got a lot longer!

3. Barb at the Handbook of Nature Study has shared a post that has me itching to incorporate a bit of planned exploration of our surroundings on our next road trip,  Nature Study and Summer Travels- Four Steps to Prepare.

4. How would you like a chance to experience A Night at the Museum for yourself? The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago could by your home for a month. How cool would that be?

5. Finally, this is just too funny not to share! A dad headed outside each day for a year to wave to his teenage son as he passed by on the bus. The funny part? He was dressed in costume each time. No two days were ever the same. This article talks about his antics than points you to the blog that shows his outfit each morning.  My kids and I had a good laugh and then they commented how thankful they are that they don’t ride the bus!

What posts have you enjoyed from around the blogosphere this week? Go ahead and leave a link in the comments so I can check it out too.

Midweek Highlights or Time for More Linky Love

I’ve been blogging for nearly two years here at Live the Adventure. Normally, I love blogging. I love writing about the places we’ve been, sharing tips we’ve learned along the way, talking about our homeschooling experiences on occasion and interacting with each of you. Blogging has been a great hobby, but I’d like it to be more than that. I have goals that I’d like to reach. Products I’d like to develop and trips I’d love to take. But it takes a lot of time. And Energy. And Effort. Sometimes it’s even discouraging.

Last year at the Savvy Blogging Summit I was introduced to the idea of networking with other bloggers. I’ve wanted that so much. To have a group to bounce ideas off. To talk to people that are really serious about blogging; my husband hides it well, but he really gets tired of listening to my incessant blog chat. I guess you could even say that I’ve just wanted to hang with other bloggers. I’ve joined a few networks along the way, but they were so huge that it was really hard to meet anyone. It also seemed as though many of the bloggers were using the forum more as a self-promotion outlet than as a support network.

I desired something more personal. I was beginning to toss around the idea of contacting a few people I’ve met around the blogosphere and kind of getting something going where we could offer help and encouragement to one another but every time I prayed about it, I just felt that wasn’t the step I was supposed to take. So I hung back. And just when I was really discouraged and thought that I just couldn’t stand to type one more blog post, I was asked to join a network of other women bloggers. I was blown away. The Lords’ timing really is perfect.

Some of you may feel the same way that I do. You may also be seeking that help and encouragement. That’s why I’m so excited to share about a new blogging network that I read about this morning on Many Little Blessings; Connections Network, small group networking opportunities for bloggers.  I hope you’ll stop over and check it out.

I’ll have more links next week, but in the meantime have you shared a Free Orlando attraction tip to be entered to send a Flat Traveler along for the reopening of the Star Tours ride at Disney? Today’s the last day to enter. 

Stay tuned, I have a couple fun giveaways coming up that I think you’ll enjoy.  Now, for some questions…..

Do you ever feel like you could use the encouragement? Or do you have a small group of bloggers that you network with? How has that helped you?

Mid-Week Highlights: Time for Some Linky Love

Last week I shared my first “Mid-Week Highlights”- a few of the posts around the web that I appreciated. I received some positive feedback so I decided to make this a new feature and I hope that you enjoy these posts as much as I have.

My friend Shannon at Living Life at Home is highlighting a series of guest posts on her blog from Tina Franks detailing step-by-step instructions for creating your own unit studies.  If you’ve ever considered writing your own unit studies but didn’t know where to start, or are looking for a way to expand on your children’s interests while making sure you have all your “bases covered”, this series is a great place to start! 

This summer my son will turn 18. Per his request, he and I will travel to New York City. One of our planned stops is to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After reading Jimmie’s post about her recent visit,I’m anticipating our journey all the more! I loved her post and if you’ve ever been curious as if a Charlotte Mason approach to homeschooling works, you won’t want to miss How CM Artist Study Took Us to the Met.   

Circle of Moms is hosting the Top 25 Homeschool Blogs contest right now. If you’re looking for some new blogs to read, this is a great place to start. And this it the part where I insert a shameless plug. My blog has been nominated and last I looked, there are only about 10 votes separating Live the Adventure from the Top 25. I’d love to be included on that list. If you enjoy my blog will you please consider stopping by and giving Live the Adventure a thumbs up? You can vote once a day until the end of the contest on May 11th.  

Mother’s Day is approaching and I loved this post from Two Kids and a Map- a tribute to her mother and her love of travel that was inspired by her mom. Love it. Over the years my kids have gotten really tired of traveling. I only hope that when they get a bit older, they are able to look back on our adventures fondly and savor all those memories.

Finally, The Perrin Report: A-to-Z Guide to Traveling with Kids has some great advice for parents’! If you’re planning a road trip this summer you may want to read some of the suggestions the experts offer!  

Don’t forget that this Friday I’ll be hosting Field Trip Friday. If you’d like to participate by sharing some place that you’ve been, you can find the guidelines here.  

There you have it, another edition of Mid-Week Highlights. If you’ve read a post this week that you found particularly helpful, why not leave a link below in the comments? 

Mid-Week Highlights: a Few Interesting Links

I’ve wanted to share some of my favorite links as a regular feature but I’ve just never gotten around to it. Well, this week I’m going to change that. From now on I’m going to attempt to have a mid-week highlight post where I give some linky love to those in the blogosphere.

I like to take you on field trips across the US and throughout Alabama, but Honey at  Sunflower Schoolhouse has created a unit study to take her readers on A Trip Across Canada.    The study is laid out week by week and offers a wealth of information that includes recipes, printables, a game and more with adorable graphics that were created by Honey.   

If I’m going to mention Canada, I may as well mention the US too. Kris from Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers has written a great Squidoo lens , What are 50 State Fridays? where she shares how she incorporated an easy study of the 50 States with her children. This is a great post for those who think they just don’t have enough time to fit one more thing into their schedule and she shows you how to make it fun!

Heart of the Matter Online featured an excellent post that I wish I’d written called “Little Schoolhouse on the Highway”. Not only did the author write an article that I can really relate too, she also listed some great resources for planning road trips. If you’re planning a spring or summer getaway, you really should take the time to read this post!

Speaking of resources, I was thrilled to see that some of my favorite travel guides,the Kids Love Travel series, are now available as e-books! Woo HOO!

I can’t wait to get my hands on the Kids Love I-75- I’m sure it will come in handy when we travel to Georgia for football games later this year.  

Amy at Raising Arrows has recently written a couple posts about large family traveling that I thought were great. You can read Amy’s thoughts on Have Kids, Will Travel…Alone (I still remember how terrifying that was for me with only three children in tow!) and Have Kids, Will Travel…Overnight.     

 

And for those of you that have a large family, you know that sometimes it’s really hard to find a hotel room to accommodate your family in one room. You’ll appreciate SixSuitCase Travel for hotel and travel recommendations for larger families.  

Just for fun I’ve been reading a couple full-time RV family blogs because it’s been almost a year since we settled down and I’m getting a bit antsy. Year Long Adventure  and The Lundy 5 have helped fill that void a little bit.

Speaking of families no longer on the road, the Vogel Family just finished a three year bike ride from the Arctic to Patagonia. Talk about perseverance, determination and stamina! I think you’ll enjoy reading about their adventures at A Wayward Journey.

There you have it, the first ever Mid-Week Highlights, just a few of the blogs and websites that I’ve enjoyed.  

What do you think? Do you like this new feature? Would you like to see more of this type of post? Please share your thoughts and while you’re at it, why not leave a link to a post that you especially enjoyed this past week? Just remember this is a G-rated blog. Let’s keep the links family friendly. :)