Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Happy New Year!

2011 was such a wonderful year around here.

But I'm already looking forward to making many new memories as a family of four in 2012.




Thanks for being a part of our lives for another year. From our family to yours, we wish you lots of happy travels and adventures in the new year! We hope you'll continue to come along on our's.

Photos courtesy of Photography by Leslie Ann.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Chihuly in St. Petersburg

The skies have been pretty gray and dreary around Indiana this week. Which is just fine since I'm mostly snuggled up at home with my two little boys (still getting used to saying two...) But as I stare out the window, I can't help but daydream of our trip to St. Petersburg, Florida last February when we woke up to beautiful sunny skies everyday.

I especially loved the way that sunlight reflected on the beautiful sculpture by Dale Chihuly during our walk around downtown St. Petersburg.


I'm a big fan of Dale Chihuly and would love to go on a world tour of his works of art. Unfortunately Big Arrow wasn't too cooperative when we walked by the exhibit in St. Petersburg so we didn't duck inside to see it all, but at least they had this work outside on display for all to see.


This post is a part of Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

I know it's been quiet around here lately... I hope to post more in 2012, so be sure to check back! I have several fun adventures to share, like our trip to the Indiana State Museum and our return to Robert's Tree Farm. And I'm happy to report that Little Arrow is a pro at daytrips already! Can't wait to take him on his first vacation. Which just might be a return to sunny Florida this winter.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Native American Baby Wearing

I spent a lot of time researching baby carriers before Little Arrow was born. It was the one thing I wanted to splurge on (turns out some sneaky family members knew all about this and surprised me with my favorite choice, the Ergo Baby Carrier*). Expect to see lots of pictures of Little Arrow tucked inside in the months to come. I already put it to great use on our trip to the Christmas tree farm last week.

While I was in the midst of my research, I happened upon this carrier during my trip to the Eiteljorg Museum. Apparently even Native American parents consider a good carrier essential baby travel equipment!


You can read about my trip to the Eiteljorg Museum here, or see my guest post about the Eiteljorg at Midwest Guest here.

This post is a part of Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

Disclosure: I was invited to tour the Eiteljorg Museum as part of a White River State Park press trip, which included my admission. I was under no obligation to write about my time at the museum, and all opinions expressed are my own.

*Links to my Amazon Affiliate account. A small portion of any sales made through this link will come back to support this blog, but this does not in any way increase the cost of purchase for you.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Support Passports with Purpose

A while back, when I was a full-time working gal at a startup nonprofit, my boss encouraged me to read a book that he loved: Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood.* It is the true story of a former Microsoft executive who left the corporate world behind to change the world, one library and donated book at a time. Inspired by his travels to third world countries and burnt out from the 9 to 5 grind, he started a nonprofit called Room to Read that does just that: builds libraries from the ground up in some of the world's poorest communities. The experience, cooperation, and resulting educational resource changes these villages forever.

So what does this have to do with Arrows Sent Forth? I'm one of the many travel blogs supporting a program called Passports with Purpose, where we encourage donations with the ultimate goal of building two Room to Read libraries in Zambia. I participated in Passports with Purpose in 2010 also, and well over $50,000 was raised to build a village in India.

What's really fun about this fundraiser is that with each $10 donation, you can choose a particular prize to be entered to win. There are more than 88 prizes to choose from, ranging in worth from $100 to $4,200. Here are a few of my favorites:
  • A $1,000 voucher to HomeAway: I'm a lover of rental properties when traveling, and I've used HomeAway many times. I also won a trip to Boston through a blogging contest they sponsored. It's a very reputable company with properties in just about every vacation spot you can imagine.
  • Buckeye Lodging Package for Two: a 2-night stay at any Ohio State Park Lodge, including breakfast, dinner and gift shop credit. I've stayed at several Indiana State Park Inns and have always enjoyed that experience. I'd love to explore my neighbor to the east just a bit more with this prize.
  • 2-Night Stay at the Affinia Hotel Manhattan: I really want to take my kids to New York, it's my favorite American city. But the cost of overnight lodging has kept us from booking a trip. Problem solved if we were to win this!
  • 3-Night Stay for a Family of 4 at Beaches in Jamaica: I went to Jamaica on my honeymoon and would love to return with the whole family.
Click here to see the full list of Passports with Purpose prizes.

A much younger Big Arrow plays at our local library.

I'm a lover of libraries. Big Arrow and I visit our local library just about every week. He loves story hour and devours the books we bring home with us. I can't wait to introduce Little Arrow to such an amazing place. I can't imagine a world without libraries and books, but for so many people around the world, something as simple as a shelf of books is an inaccessible luxury. By supporting Passports with Purpose, you can do your part to change that for two communities in Zambia.

You must donate by December 16 in order to be entered into the prize drawings!

 

*Links to my Amazon Affiliate account. A small portion of any sales made through this link will come back to support this blog, but this does not in any way increase the cost of purchase for you.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Hood Milk Bottle at the Boston Children's Museum

Can you imagine leaving this enormous bottle of milk out for Santa in a few weeks?


Since it could hold more than 60,000 gallons of milk, you'd have to make quite a few batches of cookies to go with it!


The Hood Milk Bottle serves lunch and ice cream outside of the Boston Children's Museum during warm months only. Read more about our visit to the Boston Children's Museum and our five days in Boston.

This post is a part of Wanderfood Wednesday at Wanderlust and Lipstick.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Introducing Little Arrow

Little Arrow joined the world on December 1. Weighing in at 8 pounds 3 ounces, he's been a quiet force of nature in our family ever since. He's very content, has a healthy appetite, and is a great sleeper (so far!) Plus, we think he's pretty cute.

Take a look.

Big Arrow is pretty fond of him, too.


He's even been on a few road trips. Like home from the hospital. And to the pediatrician.



We're happy to be home and healthy as a family of four. I have a few more posts to share later this month, and I hope to be back to regular blogging in January (or whatever amount of posts our new schedule will allow!)