Huttopia, Southern Maine

Growing up, my family and I spent every single summer camping in Maine. My family had a trailer and we had the best spot every year, at the end of the path, right on the water. I've always said I wanted to bring my kids there so I was thrilled when my mom messaged me that the campground we used to go to, was bought and was being remodeled into Huttopia.

Unlike other campgrounds, Huttopia does not allow you to bring in your own trailer, and instead you stay in their safari tents and cabins.

In addition to the gorgeous lake, they have a cafe, laundry, a pool, and a great swing set. Additionally, they had activities set up the whole weekend for the kids.  

Rates start around $260 and go up based on your weekend and on the lodgings you choose. 

I love that it was close to Kittery, York, Funtown Splashtown, and York's Wild Kingdom. It made a for a great family weekend! Keep Huttopia in mind as you book your family summer trips!

- Heather

 

Camping at Cranberry Acres - Jellystone Park

 Last weekend we had so much fun camping at Cranberry Acres in Carver, MA: Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park™.  It's located at 20 Shoestring Road, Carver, MA 02330. Super close to Plymouth and Wareham Crossing if you need groceries or decide to go on a shopping spree at Old Navy and Target while your kids are with their dad...

It was opening weekend for the resort and even though it was still under some construction we had an amazing weekend. We got a great deal on the weekend and they offer discounts throughout the season. We were excited to finally take the camper out of the driveway and this was a great trial run. Tyler and Nick set up trailer and Emma and I went exploring.

Although the water park and cabins are still under construction, the playground, jumping bag, diamond mining, basketball courts, laser tag, and mini golf were all up and running. The Ice Cream Stand and Canteen were set up but I didn't see them open at any point during the weekend. Laundry and one of the bathrooms were still closed as well. There was more than enough to keep us busy and of course, we ended the night with the best campfire.

We plan on booking another weekend later this summer so that we can see the water park once it is complete. You can book your own weekend right here.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Heather (@hgiff21)

One of the best parts of the weekend was watching Old Yogi Bear episodes with the kids in the camper so they knew all about the characters. Tyler saying "Hey Boo Boo" all weekend was adorable.

We have other camping weekends planned, but I can't wait to head back.

- Heather

High St Food Hall, Boston

Nick and I have been making time to really date again. I know that part of my marriage falling apart was that we didn't prioritize each other and I don't want that to be an issue again in my relationship. 

Nick and I loved going to the The Alice at the Merchant and found our way over to High Street Place after to check out what is being offered. In Iceland, I fell in love with food markets. The idea that I can eat 5 different types of food just makes me giddy. Nick and I usually share one plate from multiple places when we travel, so food courts work great for us to try a lot of food without over eating.

There are currently 19 different food shops, ranging from fried chicken to sushi to donuts to pizza to raw bar and craft cocktails. 

High Street Place hosts so many events including charcuterie board making, trivia and speed dating. It's a great low key meal out that feels more comfortable than stuffy.

I am a sucker for tacos, sushi, and oysters so visiting High Street Place was the absolute best way to spend my night. I'm hopeful I can plan a weekend with my kids this summer to visit the Children's Museum and Freedom Trail, which are right by, and then stop in for a snack or four!

- Heather

 

Blue Man Group - Boston

I have vivid memories of seeing Blue Man Group through out my life. The show is so memorable so when we were offered tickets to bring the kids, I was beyond excited.

Blue Man Group is an amazing, sensory show that combines drumming with big explosions of color and some really funny moments. The Blue Men don't speak, which I think adds even more to the show.

Located at the Charles Playhouse in Boston, it's a great theater where you feel completely immersed in the show. Emmalee's face when one of the Blue Men came close to her was priceless. Tyler's giggles were the best since he found them so enjoyable!

We had great seats just outside the poncho section. Yes, there is a poncho section - you may get splashed with materials if you sit there - but don't worry, they're washable! The show is recommended for ages 3 and up so it's great for the whole family. There are strobe lights and loud noises so keep that in mind if you have nervous kids. My son doesn't so well with loud noises - he literally blocks his ears during his birthday song - but he loved the show! They sometimes offer sensory friendly shows if that's important to you! For more FAQs about the show, you can check here.

The shows run all year, most days of the week. You can grab tickets here and be sure to check out their military discounts and student rush tickets (when available). The offers page always has great offers - 20% off sometimes, or family packs, or you can also upgrade to some VIP perks.

- Heather

Bowlaway Needham Ma

Staying socially distant is super important to us.  Yes, we stay busy but we are always masked and looking for companies and places that take it as seriously as we do. 

Emmalee has been itching to bowl and after a lengthy Google search, we found the Needham Bowlaway.

It's a smaller, candle pin bowling alley that has less than 10 lanes. It's pretty hidden, in an underground location but the kids just loved it. To help with social distancing, you have to reserve your lane in advance and prepay over the phone so when you come in all you need is to grab your shoes and get situated!

While there, only one other family was there and they were 4 rows away. 

Finding great socially distant outings is amazing, but supporting smaller business is just as great.  The kids had an amazing time and we'll be heading back for more bowling on the next rainy day!

The Needham Bowlaway can be found at 16 Chestnut St in Needham. It's $30 per lane per hour with a max of 4 players right now(for distancing) and shoe rentals are $3 a piece. 

xo, Heather

Seekonk Grand Prix

Thanks to a Seize the Deal... deal... I was able to grab a discounted gift card to Seekonk Grand Prix in Seekonk, MA.  My kids are obsessed with mini golf and anything that resembles racing like Vanellope from Wreck IT Ralph so a half priced gift card seemed like a good thing to have tucked in my back pocket.

We had some great weather and a full morning and afternoon with no commitments so we took the drive to Seekonk, intent on going mini golf and taking a lap around in the go-karts.

Seekonk Grand Prix is easily accessible and there's a ton of free parking around the building.
Upon entering, there is an area to purchase your play cards.  You can preplan what you're going to do and just purchase that amount on the card or you can throw on an arbitrary amount and reload as needed.  Since we already had $50, we were free to head out to whatever activities we wanted.

In addition to mini golf and go karts (so many different tracks!), they also have a suspended ropes course, bumper cars, bumper boats and an arcade. Since Emmalee is only 46" and Tyler even shorter, we didn't have to pay for either to race in the family go-karts-score!

We started with mini-golf.  My kids are obsessed with it, but oh, so terrible at it. The 18 hole course was great for them.  MOst holes were a Par 3 or 4 so not too difficult, but interesting enough with barriers, log "short cuts" and lots of water features that made you constantly fear that you'd lose your ball.  Emmalee especially loved the waterfall feature on the course!

After mini-golf we went to the family track and again, the kids got to ride free since they were too short to ride alone. The kids had so much fun and it was really enjoyable! It's a great track that loops around, going under a bridge and through a fake mountain! We were allowed to do a few laps around so it was a great value!

We decided to check out the kid track since Tyler really wanted to drive a go-kart and was surprised to find that he could drive (they just have to be 4 years old and under 48"!) so both kids went for a spin.  It's a smaller track but they had to have taken 15-20 laps on it so again, a great value and they loved it!

Since we still had money left on our card (seriously, $50 took us so far!), we went inside to play arcade games.  The kids found their favorites.  I was frustrated with the swipe card.  It didn't always register and we'd have to swipe it 10 times to get it to work.  The great thing was that they fixed it so quick when Dave brought it up to the counter and they replaced it. They even reset the air hockey for us when the game started but no puck came out.

Super exciting is that the ropes course is suspended above the arcade so the kids were enthralled watching people climb around. It's a very small course in comparison to the outdoor course I've done but still looked like it would be fun for an older kid. 

Additionally, there's a small snack bar that served ice cream and vending machines had sodas so we really had everything we'd need while there! If we had stayed longer we may have needed a more substantial lunch but with so many local restaurants, it really wasn't an issue. 

We loved our visit to Seekonk Grand Prix and will be going back again soon! What would you be most interested to do while there?

xo, Heather