My Favorite San Diego Resort

April 7, 2013 by Mom on the Make 1 Comment

Last week was Spring Break for our three little ones. We decided to spend a few nights in San Diego to visit Legoland.

When deciding on a place to stay, I remembered staying at “Vacation Village” on Mission Bay back in the early to mid ’80s. I always loved our visits there and wanted to share this special place with the kidlets.

Vacation Village still looks pretty much the same, but they have taken on a new name, “Paradise Point Resort and Spa”. With the exception of the rooms all receiving major overhauls with beautiful tile flooring and luxury bedding, the beautiful pools and landscape of this very special resort have remained the same.

The whole family relished the experience of staying here for four nights.

The resort is actually on an island, so you have a tropical feeling as you’re roaming around the beautifully landscaped grounds. There are at least five pools at the resort, fun bridges to cross over lily pad lined lakes, and a really cool tower to climb. The resort has a beautiful miniature golf course, tennis courts, bike rentals, bocce ball, croquet, and a spa.

Paradise Point Resort and Spa in San Diego, CA. View from walkway by main lobby.

View from the tower at Paradise Point. The main pool is pictured here.

Paradise Point Tower. The kids love climbing the tower. The view is amazing! This tower was here in the ’80s when my family stayed here. I loved it as much as my kids do now.

The walkway to the beach by our bungalow.

Broadway and I saw this beautiful heron hanging out by the lily pads and just had to snap a photo.

Love the walkways throughout the resort.

View from a waterfront bungalow at Paradise Point.

Dusk at Paradise Point.

Views from our walk around the beach at Paradise Point.

We all loved our stay here at Paradise Point and hope to visit again soon. We all highly recommend this resort as a top notch place to bring your family when visiting San Diego.

Happy One Year Blog Anniversary to MOTM

March 31, 2013 by Mom on the Make 3 Comments

Well, its been a whole year since I started Mom on the Make. Looking back at my first post, Seatbelt Bags, brings back fond memories of the beginnings.

I had purchased my domain name the prior week and was determined to write several times per week.

I have accomplished that feat during most of these past 12 months, and much more in some months.

My topic focus was uncertain in the beginning. I thought I would need to narrow down my thoughts and focus on a theme. What I found is that a focus is not really necessary. I decided to just write about whatever was on my mind that day.

For the seatbelt bag post, I remember being in love with my Harvey’s seatbelt bag in the champagne color, large satchel style. I just had to write about handbags that day.

When my family would watch a movie together, I wanted to share how we liked it. When we went on a fun outing, I wanted to share. When I loved a book, I wanted to write a review as soon as possible. When I made a recipe that we all loved, I couldn’t wait to snap photos and share with my readers. It became such a fun outlet for me and, of course, still is today.

A few months into blogging, I found a kids literature blog hop hosted by Mother Daughter Book Reviews. Both of my daughters love talking about their recent reads, so I decided to interview them about their books, then post it onto MOTM. Earlier this year, Bam Bam, my five year old, decided to jump into the book reviewing game by discussing Pie Rits.

Back at the beginning, I remember obsessing about what the first post would be, then finally telling myself to “JUST WRITE”. And, I did. I’ve tried to keep this attitude going every week.

I know people say this a lot, but blogging really is one of the best forms of therapy out there. Writing and interacting with others from around the world is a great adventure.

In the beginning, I was so excited to check out my Alexa ranking that I would click on my Alexa icon every day to see how I was doing. What I realized after a few months though, is that it really doesn’t matter. If writing and connecting with other bloggers is fun, then its productive and successful.

Spring Break is about to start, and it reminds me of our trip to Disneyland last year. I couldn’t wait to get back and write about our day at the big park. I would take notes on my evernote app while waiting in lines. 🙂

In this second year, there will be more posts about photography as I learn more about my DSLR. There will be more book reviews and delicious recipes posted consistently, and, of course, more random stories about my day to day life as a Mother of 3 (under the age of 12).

Blogging gives us all the opportunity to journal, divulge, connect with other, and record our memories. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Thank you to all of my readers for making this a great first year for my little corner in the blogosphere.

Happy One Year to MOTM.

Epiphanie Camera Bags

March 26, 2013 by Mom on the Make Leave a Comment

When I received my Canon 4ti DSLR camera for Christmas this past year, it came in a package that included a standard Canon camera bag.

The Canon camera bag is fine with plenty of pockets and sections for my camera equipment. However, it looks so boring. A bag to store your camera body, lenses, battery charger, usb charger etc… offers such a perfect opportunity for creating a super cute and functional handbag. So, I figured, surely, there must be more exciting choices out there….

When I first started my search, I kept finding boring bags that did not have colorful choices, cute details, or interesting materials.

Then, I stumbled upon Epiphanie Camera Bags.

The colors, styles, and details of Epiphanie Camera Bags are extraordinary. Perusing through their selection was a bit confusing because I kept narrowing it down to about five bags. I could not decide! There were so many incredible choices. This was completely opposite to my previous experience of not finding anything that was inspiring.

I finally decided on the Lyric Bag in the Olive color.

Isn’t she beautiful?

You can see below the contrast between my Lyric bag and the standard Canon bag.

Don’t you love the camera charm??? 🙂

The back of the purse offers a very wide zippered pocket that you can put an ipad in quite easily.

There is a zippered pocket inside as well, and, of course all of the padded sections for your camera equipment.

Another view of the inside…..

The front two zippered pockets are perfect for lens cap covers, chapstick, uv and polarized lens covers, etc…

I LOVE the braided strap. It also comes with an adjustable longer strap with padding.

I took this bag on my trip to NYC and absolutely relished it. The compartments inside kept me organized throughout the trip, the camera and its different accessories were easily accessible, and the color and style made me happy every day. 🙂

Thanks Epiphanie!

Double Fudge, By Judy Blume

March 20, 2013 by Mom on the Make Leave a Comment

Imagineer loves Judy Blume’s Fudge books.

So, its no surprise that Double Fudge ranks at the top of her favorite stories.

She has read this one a handful of times in the past few months. Its on her kindle and serves as her “go to” book, when she is in between books.

She thought it was silly that we had not posted a review yet on one of her favorite stories. And, I agreed, so we sat down today for a short interview.

Q. Describe this book in a few sentences

A. This book is about a boy named Fudge, and his older brother Peter. Fudge gets interested in money and money becomes his whole life. Fudge and Peter’s parents get worried and then his Grandma says that they should go to Washington D.C. and show Fudge where money comes from and Peter’s Dad agrees and says it might even help Fudge understand about money.

Q. Describe the main character

A. The main character is probably Peter who is in seventh grade and his brother, Fudge, who is in mixed group, which is an accelerated program, that let kids who have either done kindergarten or are smart enough for 1st grade, but not old enough.

Q. What is your most favorite scene in the book?

A. My favorite scene in the book would be when Peter’s friend’s Dad, Mr. Fargo, who is an artist, has an art show and puts Peter’s little sister, Tootsie, on his shoulders and says, “Here is the star of my show, the one, the only Tootsie Pie!” I like this scene because I like imagining Mr. Fargo with Tootsie on his shoulders and saying “the one, the only, Tootsie Pie.”

Q. Would you recommend this book to your friends?

A. Yes. I would recommend this book because it is funny and it is a book you can read over and over, again.

For another review from Imagineer check out Bandit.