Henry Goes to the Beach
July 23, 2014Every summer for over twenty years I have gone “Up North” to Harbor Springs, Michigan. Spending summers there is something I am very grateful for. I’ve made new friends over the years, catch up with old friends, experience new things, and, in most recent years, spend extended time with my family. This experience has become Read more (…)
What Happens in Atlantic City Stays in Atlantic City
June 30, 2014We couldn’t have picked a more beautiful pre-summer day for eight geese to follow the mother goose around the boardwalk of Atlantic City for a bachelorette party. We started at the beach for a few drinks in the sun, then to check in to our hotel as some of the group decorated the room in stellar bachelorette fashion. Read more (…)
A Weekend Away
May 7, 2014Before I was a mother, I couldn’t understand friends’ hesitation at leaving their kids for a weekend. I thought, “Can’t their other parent watch them?” “Won’t it be good to have a break?” “It’s just one weekend!” As with most parenting subjects, I was clueless. Now, I understand. I just made my first solo trip Read more (…)
You’ve Never Heard of a Cornbox?!
October 23, 2013Fall is a great time of year. The trees are beautiful, the temperature is just right, and there are a lot of great outdoor activities to do. Having a child who is old enough to participate in the activities, is awesome. There are so many things that the city and surrounding areas have to offer Read more (…)
Spotlight: Wedding Services
October 16, 2013It’s Fall wedding season and LLD is here to help. Lucky Lil’ Darlings offers many high-end childcare solutions for your every day needs and your special occasions. This week we’re spotlighting our services that can help out with weddings! Let LLD help make that special day even easier and allow you to focus on the Read more (…)
Mama Bell Is Back For Her Last!
October 14, 2013Recently while visiting my daughter in NYC, I had the opportunity to meet and have dinner with her boyfriend’s father, who was visiting his son from Texas. Visiting may be the wrong verb, as we were both in the city for the same reason: to help our children with their prospective business start-ups. We sat Read more (…)
Global Sitters come to NYC
October 7, 2013Two of LLD’s current sitters were Au Pairs in Germany for the same family of four kids, one year after the other. The best souvenir they brought home- was one of the lil’ blondies for a week! The girls each interviewed with LLD to be sitters soon after their German babies flew back home, and Read more (…)
Shopaholics continued
September 30, 2013After refueling (with chicken salads) off we went. It’s close enough to Halloween that we both had the urge to decorate inside and out. Toledo has no shortage of greenhouses or stores so we had a field day gathering pumpkins bales of straw, gourds, scarecrows and mums. On the front porch went the scarecrow, bale Read more (…)
Summer Vacation (Post-Baby)
July 31, 2013The two words teachers love the most are “Summer Vacation.” In fact, one of the reasons that I became a teacher was so I could enjoy two months of vacation from work. Every summer for the past 18 years I have gone to Harbor Springs, Michigan and had the best time. I could sleep in Read more (…)
Vacation Crashers
July 29, 2013My husband and I are referring to ourselves as “vacation crashers” as we just left one daughter’s family in Cape Cod and are about to join another in DC. We are accompanying her to the Chesapeake Bay Hilton resort for a business retreat. As teachers we surely never had such an opportunity before. The resort was Read more (…)
Cruisin’ to the Cape
July 22, 2013On the road again, but this time not to babysit, we were the grandparents along for the family vacation ride. Growing up, my grandparents always were with us for family events including vacations and I loved having them along. They were the patience that counteracted my high strung father. This 14 hour trip was dotted Read more (…)
A & A Take Ohio
May 22, 2013The “alarms” go off at 6am. Amelia wails out & then her sister follows. The girls just turned 3 months & it’s time for their first road trip to mommy’s home state…good ole Ohio. My sis & I tag team getting the twins ready for their long ride; feeding (with an extra ounce of milk for the Read more (…)
Vacationing with a Toddler
March 20, 2013After a long basketball season as a wife and daughter of a Coach, we decided to take a little vacation to Florida to reconnect as a family. Avery, who just turned 2, is now old enough where we can build excitement. We told her for weeks that we were going to Florida on an airplane Read more (…)
Leaving On a Jet Plane
February 7, 2013Dear Ask a Sitter, I am starting to worry because Spring Break is so soon and we are heading off to our family vacation. And I haven’t gotten my sitter prepared for our trip and my brain is fried after figuring everything out regarding the kids, my husband, and the dog! Do you have a Read more (…)
Spring Break is Just Around the Corner!
February 1, 2013Dear Ask a Sitter: I am freaking out because Spring Break is around the corner and we have a family vacation booked. Do I really need a sitter? Won’t that detract from family time? If I do need one, when should I book one? Best, Dying for some fun in the sun Dear Read more (…)
Columbus Day Weekend Extravaganza!
October 5, 2012Everyone deserves a day off from work or school every now and then and NO ONE gets more excited about a day off than a kid in school. But is it really a day off for the parents? Nothing gets a kid more excited than a short school week and all that excitement usually translates Read more (…)
A Doggy Delight
September 27, 2012We all know that lil’ darlings come in all different shapes, sizes, personalities, and…breeds. Yup, that’s right, four-legged friends hold a special place in LLD’s heart and we are determined to find you the best resources for all the lil’ darlings in your life! We were so excited to be able to go to a Read more (…)
Snowcial: Snowy, Special & well…Social
September 17, 2012Snowcial, a children’s book written by Chelsea Prince, another former LLD sitter doing great things, who puts a whole new spin on “social network” in her newly-released book, Snowcial: An Antarctic Social Network Story. Based on the real life adventures of a family vacationing on a cruise in Antarctica, the book explores how Rory and Read more (…)
Family Travels gone wrong…it’s all part of the memory
August 16, 2012I spent the weekend with a family that I met nearly six years ago (one of our first LLD families), and we kept getting delayed, canceled, denied…you name it. But it was kinda fun. I have a long history of bad travels. My flights always get canceled or delayed. It’s routine so I’m rarely Read more (…)
Make Travel Easier for the Family with a Routine!
August 14, 2012This July I spent two full weeks in gorgeous Martha’s Vineyard babysitting for a family I’ve known for nearly six years. I cared for two young girls in the small village of Edgartown, MA. Each day was a new adventure, but each was carefully mapped out to make sure we got everything we wanted accomplished. Read more (…)
Garage Sale Entrepreneurs
August 13, 2012I’ve certainly had my share of garage sales. Every summer when the kids were younger I would have them clean out closets and toy boxes in preparation for our annual garage sale. The kids would fill with excitement that they would soon be loading their pockets with layers of garage sale cash. Ha! Best cleaning Read more (…)
Thinking about Taking the Family to the Bay?
August 2, 2012I had the good fortune of spending the weekend at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Resort, an AAA four diamond resort in Cambridge Maryland. It boasts of picturesque landscapes and waterways, sunset cruises, luxurious accommodations, plenty of family fun activities and an acclaimed golf course with walking trails. What more can you ask for? How Read more (…)
Mama Bell Goes to Washington
July 30, 2012Times have changed with my daughters. It used to be going down slides at Geauga Lake now it’s mingling with a former President of the United States. My daughter Jamie invited me for a visit to Washington DC for a congressional reception in which the guest speaker was President Bill Clinton. It was a Read more (…)
Sane in the City: Keep Your Sanity with Kids in Tow!
July 25, 2012As August is around the bend, many families flee the city for the fresh country air or sandy beaches. It can be tough to stay in routine nor keep your little ones from going insane. Here are three tips to stay sane while you travel. 1. Don’t bring the kitchen sink: I know it’s Read more (…)
Bell Family Vacations Take 4: Las Vegas
July 23, 2012One summer I decided to take my girls on vacation with a friend and her son (lucky boy was traveling with 5 girls his age). My friend and I had been working at Continental Airlines as summer ambassadors and had the good fortune of flying for $20 per ticket. It was the best deal ever! Read more (…)
Calling all lemonade lovers who want to give back!
July 20, 2012The Toy Industry Foundation (TIF) recently announced the launch of a new program that provides a fun and engaging way for kids, communities and companies to make a stand – a lemonade stand, that will help give the gift of play to disadvantaged children around the country. Now how can parents & kids get Read more (…)
Family Vacation: Atlantic City, NJ Take 3
July 16, 2012Let me share a very special anniversary family vacation we took to Atlantic City. We stayed at a Ramada on the boardwalk so we would be close to all the action. I got a decent price on a “luxury suite” that all of us could share (remember I have 7 people in tow). The first Read more (…)
Mama Bell Monday: Chapter 2 The Car
July 10, 2012Another memorable travel experience was our trip to Cape Cod, Massachusetts again back in the ole 90’s. We had just bought a new car, a red Dodge Caravan , a definite upgrade from the wood paneled station wagons of the past. Each child had their own suitcase to pack and I took care of Read more (…)
Mama Bell & troupe: Off to DC!
July 2, 2012Happy Monday mamas & beyond! July’s theme will be family vacations. Each Monday will be a new chapter of my family travel experiences that I am happy to share with my readers. Hope you all enjoy them! Every summer I would plan a trip to get my troupe of seven from small town Read more (…)
Hello again. It’s me, Mama Bell
June 25, 2012Where was I? Oh yes, onto kids. Our first daughter was born when I was 27. We were excited and ready to start a family. So ready were we that our second daughter came 12 months later, which was soon followed by my three other daughters. This instant family came within eight years all the Read more (…)
5 Must Have Travel Tips
June 19, 2012I attended a travel centric event hosted by MomTrends last week & gathered some great packing tips for the ‘over packer’ & ‘under packer’ to become the ‘just-the-right packer’! Here are a few of my favorite tips from A-Dress the Issue owner Katrina: -make sure that everything you pack works well together and has multiple Read more (…)
Introducing Mama Bell Mondays!
June 18, 2012Anyone that knows my daughter knows she loves her family. And for being 483 miles away from home, I can honestly say I see her more than most of my mom friend’s daughters in the same state. I’ve been around LLD since the beginning & always told my daughter to let me know how I Read more (…)
Who you gonna call? HFC!
June 12, 2012We have exciting news for families traveling to the Hamptons this Summer! There is a new, elite, full service concierge service focused exclusively on families and children – Hamptons Family Concierge (HFC). They want to save you time and guesswork – by coordinating and scheduling all of your children’s activities and services. They guarantee the Read more (…)
Confessions of a Scary Mommy
June 7, 2012Looking for an honest & irreverent look at motherhood? My friend (who is not yet a mom) recommended that I read Confessions of a Scary Mommy. She said you will just smile & then laugh out loud when you read this stuff… And I did. I chatted it up with the author Jill Smokler and Read more (…)
NEW travel companion to entertain & engage your lil’ one
June 5, 2012Check out LaZoo’s new app Let’s Color, a magical (and educational) new twist on children’s coloring books! It’s great for your car ride out east or for the plane ride cross country. Simply click here & download! Simply color a page, press the GO button, and watch your drawings come to life. A few dots Read more (…)
Check out BarkBox this weekend!
May 18, 2012“Earlier this week my furry, four-legged friend, Stella, was ‘lucky’ enough to receive a package in the mail from the good people at BarkBox. If you are looking for a great way to indulge your pet, or are looking for the perfect gift for a pet owner, BarkBox offers a monthly delivery of Read more (…)
Traveling to LA with baby? Call LA Bound Babies
May 17, 2012Working out your summer travel plans? On your way to LA? In need of a crib, stroller or car seat for your lil’ one? Don’t bother with the hassle of packing your equipment & those hefty shipping costs. LA Bound Babies is to the rescue. Our new friends & co-founders Francesca Pappagallo and Nicolle Endoso Read more (…)
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