Blog — A Mom Explores | Family Travel Tips, Destination Guides with Kids, Family Vacation Ideas, and more!

no I'm not pregnant...I just had a baby.

I had been feeling empowered. Proud of my effort and discipline to get back in shape after having the baby. It’s my third baby, third C-section, I’m 29, and I have diastasis recti (separated abdominal muscles), so I had no delusions about sliding into my skinny jeans or having a flat belly mere weeks after giving birth. I knew it would take lots of time, hard work, and good nutrition to help me stomach get back to “normal,” but I felt I had made incredible progress in the past few weeks. I had just started the MuTu System (affiliate link) to begin healing my core, and I had also been taking my nutrition very seriously, going so far as to cut out the creamer in my morning coffee - the ultimate sacrifice. I was feeling strong and confident, content with how far I had come.

Emily KrauseAugust 14, 2017motherhood, fitness Comments

friday favorites #24

Happy first Friday in August! I can't believe school already starts next week for us! I'm kind of in disbelief, but also ready to get back to routine I guess? I'm already brainstorming ways to get out of the house with my kids during the week, since I'll be home with them a lot more. We used to have one of us (usually me) go grocery shopping on Saturdays while the other stayed home with the kids. However, I'm considering switching grocery shopping to Mondays and dragging all 3 kids with me, so that we can enjoy some family time on Saturdays. How does everyone else do it?

Emily KrauseAugust 4, 2017friday favorites Comments

wisconsin vacation, part 2 (and a video!)

Each year Justin’s family rents a cabin in the middle of nowhere, and it’s just the perfect week of relaxation and family bonding. There are now 10 grandkids, so everything is a giant production. We move slow, and we tend to split off a bit during the day, and come back together in the evening.

Emily KrauseAugust 3, 2017travel, family vacationComment

wisconsin vacation, part 1

We've been back from our family vacation in Wisconsin for 2 weeks now, and I've finally gotten around to sorting through the myriad photos and videos taken on the trip. I realized how much there was to share, so I decided to break our vacation recap up into two separate posts, one for each week of the trip!

Emily KrauseAugust 1, 2017travel, family vacation Comments

packing for a road trip with young kids

Just over two years ago, my husband, my daughter, and I packed up everything we owned and moved from Minnesota to Florida. Since that move, we have added two more little boys to the family, and have made the drive back to the midwest 3 times. We opt to drive straight through, because we usually have our dog with us, and because unpacking multiple children, suitcases, and bags for a few hours of sleep in an unfamiliar hotel seems like a waste of time and money. The drive would be around 18 hours with no stops, but often ends up being closer to 20 or 21. Yes, you read that right. Almost a full day in the car with an infant, a toddler, and a preschooler. Yikes.

TravelEmily KrauseJuly 31, 2017travel, travel tips, road tripComment