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Our Costa Rican Adventure – Exploring wild with the Toddler – Part 1

Costa Rica - Our first International Getaway with Little R - A tropical paradise where lush rainforests meet pristine beaches, offering a vibrant tapestry of biodiversity and the warm embrace of Pura Vida. Hey everyone! 🌴 If you’re looking for a family-friendly destination with lush landscapes, incredible wildlife, and stunning beaches, Costa Rica might just be your dream spot! I recently embarked on a wonderful adventure with my husband, Sandy, and our curious 3-year-old, whom I lovingly call "Little R." Here's a sneak peek into our amazing vacation. Why Costa Rica? When we decided on an international getaway, the Caribbean countries topped our list. We eventually chose Costa Rica, a paradise filled with tropical rainforests, volcanoes, and waterfalls, offering rich biodiversity. As Indian passport holders with valid H1B stamping, traveling to Costa Rica was hassle-free. For Indians with a valid US visa (like the H1B), there's no need to apply for a separate Costa Rican visa for stays up to 90 days. This made planning our trip so much easier! Please find the visa requirements for Indian Passports here Our Arrival in San Jose: We flew from Orlando to San Jose, Costa Rica, on a short three-hour flight. The best decision ...

The perfect travel guide to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Are you planning to travel to Black Canyon Of the Gunnison? Then, you are in the right place. Check out the post for the perfect travel guide below Black Canyon of the Gunnison is the second National Park we visited in our Colorado trip. We visited Rocky Mountain National Park as our first stop in our Colorado trip and if you would like to know what we did in RMNP, then check out my post here. We stayed in an AirBnb in Montrose, 20 minutes away from the National Park. Our drive from RMNP to the Black Canyon through the city of Gunnison is a beautiful, picturesque drive in Western Colorado with Gunnison River flowing with us. Gunnison River is one of the largest tributaries of the Colorado River. Black Canyon National Park is one of the overwhelming and the deadliest National Park we have ever visited so far. Yes, if you fear heights and have severe vertigo, then I would suggest exercising caution while visiting the park. But, if you visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park despite it, then you would be surprised to see steepest cliffs, oldest rocks, and narrowest canyons. Gunnison River along with the natural forces have sculpted this vertical wilderness of rocks, water, and sky for over two million years. Black ...

Rocky Mountain National Park With Toddlers – Perfect Itinerary

Are you planning to travel to Rocky Mountain National Park with a Toddler? Then, you are in the right place. Check out the post for the fun we had with our 2 year old in the park We visited Colorado last month with Rishi and I couldn’t accept myself as how did I miss such a beautiful state from my radar in the past. I am glad that we did road trip visiting 4 national parks in Colorado with Rishi. It was our first road trip with Rishi and the longest one too. So, we decided to have brief breaks between national parks for Rishi to acclimate with the weather, travel, and elevations. To our surprise, he adapted very well and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. To know about our entire road trip and our itinerary, watch out for the round up post. Being National Park enthusiast, we visited all the 4 national parks in Colorado, and I admit shamelessly that I loved Rocky Mountain National Park, even more than Arches! Arches in Moab had been my favorite national park till then. No wonder, RMNP is the fourth most visited National Park in 2022 with 60 mountain peaks over 12,000 feet high resulting in world-renowned beauty. Visit to the Rocky Mountain National Park requires proper planning to beat crowds and enjoy all of what this ...

Chocolate Orange Sables

Soft Chewy sables bursting with different flavors – Almond with Orange and Chocolate with pistachios; be it for breakfast or for your afternoon tea, these sables will taste delish Life as a mom comes with loaded responsibilities and eventually, every woman will learn to be a multitasker. I am no different. Ever since the arrival of Little R into our life, our priorities have changed and given the COVID situation, our primary focus is to bring up Little R in a healthy and safe environment. Travel and blogging took a backseat. It’s been 2 years and I wouldn’t change anything that happened in these years. We both grew together and now, he looks like a grown up, managing himself at day care and expressing his needs and wants. I have also learnt to manage time effectively and be available for him whenever he needs me. Motherhood makes you a better person. Isn’t it? Little R loves to explore food, like us. He drives me to find new recipes and he loves baked goods. Hence, we have been baking every single day these days, from Banana bread to tarts. Rishi loves chocolate and orange. He needs freshly squeezed orange juice for his breakfast, every single day. Orfeld Slow juicer has become my best friend. When I come across Chocolate ...

Oregano Garlic Bread #ToddlerApproved

Oregano Garlic Bread - Rustic bread with beautiful golden-brown crust loaded with herbs and bursting with flavors. Slice it, toast it with butter and enjoy as your breakfast with your morning coffee. We, as a family, loves bread and experiment with different flavors. San loves baguette and he always picks up freshly baked baguette whenever we go for grocery shopping. I am still hunting a good bread shop in Jax. If you are aware of one such one stop shop for breads, then please do let me know. I love baking breads as Little R loves freshly baked one and also, baking bread is very therapeutic. I have been baking a lot before Little R. Now, with a toddler, life took a completely different turn and priorities changed. Now, Rishi loves to explore food. What else do you need to cook and bake? He has been sick for last couple of days and has been suffering from Hand, Foot and mouth disease. Thanks to daycare. He picks all forms of germs from his daycare and passes to the entire family. Last year has been horrible as it was his first year in day care. Hopefully, 2023 will be much better than 2022. (Fingers crossed). He is at home and has been spending most of his time with me in kitchen watching me cook our food. Of course, he helps ...

Berry Berry Muffins #ToddlerFriendly

Toddler Friendly Berry muffins prepared with pantry essentials. All you need is a bowl and 30 minutes at hand. Happy New Year 2023. May this year bring more happiness and peace to you and your family. I couldn’t spend much time blogging last year. Excuses apart, I was struggling to bring up a toddler, close our first home, Chicken pox and allergies. I could have considered allergies in the South when we decided to shift from the North East. Hope it gets better this year. Though I couldn’t blog often, not even a day passed by without the thought of this space. I wish and hope I blog more in 2023. Coming to the recipe, we bought our first home and moved to our new space. This is the first baking I did in my home and it’s Little R’s favorite – Berry Berry Muffins. It has all of his favorites – strawberry, blueberry and raspberry. For those enquiring about Little R, he is a toddler now who enjoys his day care and new home. I already feel as he has grown up so much. He never ceases to amaze me with his activities every single day. Proud mom here! And he munched on these beauties as soon as they are out from the oven. What else do you need? Now to the recipe, these muffins are prepared using the pantry essentials and has moist ...

Travel Guide To Everglades National Park

National Parks are the hidden treasures and we, as a family, plan our vacations visiting the parks, monuments and cities close by. Our little Hurricane, Rishi, is also a nature enthusiast and loves to spend time with nature. That’s perfect for our family. We visited Everglades National Park in the month of May,2022 and it’s the first National Park visit for Rishi. And it holds a special place in our list, as one can witness 6 different habitats in a single visit. Everglades National Park: Everglades National Park is the third largest park in the contiguous United States, Death Valley and Yellowstone. Unlike those parks, Everglades is comprised of water and waterways. This landscape is unlike any other – beautiful, mysterious, and wild. Tropical and Temperate species flourish side-by-side in this environment, partly Caribbean and partly North American. The essence of the everglades is found in the sharp, ragged edges of sawgrass blades, an alligator’s deep bellow, the high-stepping dance of wading birds, the waterway labyrinth of the Ten Thousand Islands, and the sparkling, aquamarine waters of Florida Bay. Everglades is majorly influenced by water, elevation, fire and hurricanes. Unlike Everglades, Everglades National Park is ...

Your Ultimate Guide To Visit Savannah

SAVANNAH - Undoubtedly, the most beautiful city in Georgia and which makes you think that Georgia is much more than Atlanta! Hope everyone is doing great. I am glad that I could allocate some time to pen down this long pending post – Our visit to Savannah. Let me try to describe Savannah without any superlative adjectives. But then, it’s impossible. Savannah is one of the most beautiful cities I have visited, brimming with interesting history. We had 3 days to spend in Savannah and extended it for another 2 days, as 3 days were not enough to soak up the city’s charm, delve into its history and enjoy everything it has to offer. Though Savannah has been consistently ranked as the top tourist destination by the Travel magazines, the city doesn’t feel so touristy. The city has trolley tours and other attractions like every other travel destination but that doesn’t stop one from enjoying its innate beauty. History of Savannah Savannah's recorded history begins in 1733. That's the year General James Oglethorpe and the 120 passengers of the good ship "Anne" landed on a bluff high along the Savannah River in February. Oglethorpe named the 13th and final American colony "Georgia" after England's King George II. Savannah ...

Our Costa Rican adventure – Exploring Arenal volcano and La Fortuna – Part 3