Live Out Loud - Adventures of a mom

I have had many friends ask me for advice on traveling with kids to Asia before so I thought maybe best to just share with you all in one single blog entry. This is just based on our experience 2 years ago when our son was 4 and daughter had just turned 2.  We travelled from Toronto to Hong Kong (15 hour flight). I hope you find something here to help you if you are looking for advice on planning a trip that requires long haul travel...or if you are simply reading...enjoy! :D Flight Seats: First of all, note that many long haul planes nowadays do not have the 4 or 5 seaters in the middle.  So the first thing you must prepare for is to decide how you will sit IF you have more than 1 kid. In our situation, we decided for both kids to sit with me (I am in the middle), with my husband sitting on the aisle seat of the middle row in case I needed him. We travelled after my daughter's second birthday which meant she had to pay full price for the seat.  However, we would

As the kids grow I am discovering that different holidays are opportunities for us to reflect on what they really mean for our family and to make decisions on what we feel are absolute things we wish to be passed onto the next generation. Such was a case with this year's Easter.  I've tried to hold Christmas or Thanksgiving parties before but there was just never time to do any planning and by the time I wanted to do something I was already so exhausted I felt I had to wait till the next holiday.  And I confess at times I had felt guilty for not doing 'more' to share my faith with those around me...but now I know.  God is never wrong with His timing.  He has been shaping me and moulding me to be ready to host one of these parties all along...not out of guilt, or obligation.  Not because I was called to be a great host. There was much I needed to learn .... before, during and now afterwards... I needed to deepen my understanding of Who God and Jesus was to ME fir