HAPPY 4TH!⁣ 💙🤍❤️⁣ I hope everyone had a fun-filled day and found a little bit of normalcy back this year. ⁣ ⁣ 🎇 After two years without, our little town hosted its yearly fireworks, and for a moment, life felt normal. ⁣ ⁣ ☀️ Onto our last month of summer break! School starts in just over a month and we’ll be enjoying the next few weeks as much as we can! ⁣ ⁣ 🎆 We’re celebrating Mark’s birthday in a fun place this week and we can’t wait to take you with us!!

MY AMERICAN DREAM⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 🇫🇷 Back in 2004, my mom drove me to a nearby American school for me to take the TOEFL English test – required to enter U.S. schools as a foreign student.⁣ ⁣⁣ 📚 I scored just enough to get into my dream U.S. university… and it was the first step in making my dream of studying and living in the U.S. true. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 🗣 My English was a work in progress and with my friends’, teammates’, and coach’s help, I made close friends who laughed at the things I mis-pronounced and were ever so patient in teaching me and helping me navigate the American culture. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 🏡 After a year and a half, I felt home. College was amazing, I made friends for life, won 2 NCAA national championships, went on to getting my MBA, met my future husband, and was blessed with my 3 favorite adventure buddies! ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 🇺🇸 Living in the U.S. has meant hosting Thanksgiving dinners and Super Bowl parties for international friends, attending football games and tailgating, saying “ya’ll” and jamming to country music, enjoying pulled pork more than coq au vin, and living free in a country I am blessed to call home. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ ✈️ And the #toefl test was that first step in this big adventure we call life! My first step in living in a culture I belong in. My first step in making easy friends and feeling accepted for who I am. This is what living in America feels like for me! This is my American dream.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ @toefl_official #ad⁣

JUMPING THROUGH SUMMER⁣ #𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥⁣⁣ ☀️⁣⁣ If having the kids back into sports and non-stop driving back and forth to fields and lessons means that we have settled back… then we must be settled!⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?! ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 🏀 The kids have loved getting back into sports and playing with their friends, but when we unboxed their pre-travel clothes, we needed a quick upgrade. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 🌱 Those kids grew so much and we love that @champssports carries well-priced private label EastBay gear, as well as brand names. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 🛍 Shop online this summer, at Champssports.com and in select Champs stores. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ #eastbayperformance #activekids #activekids #kidsootd #champssports #activegear

FISHING TIPS⁣ 🐟⁣ From a non-fishing mom! ⁣ ⁣ 💕 Focus on the quality time ⁣ ⁣ 🌈 Get colorful baits and rods. We went to Walmart and let the kids pick their favorites⁣ ⁣ 🎣 Find helpful fishing and boating resources and how to buy a fishing license on TakeMeFishing.org ahead of time to build up confidence and learn about the sport ⁣ ⁣ 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Have fun. Make memories!!⁣ ⁣ @take_me_fishing #ad #womenmakingwaves #thewaterisopen #fishingwithkids #girlswhofish

GAME. TRAIN. LIVE. ⁣ #sponsored ⁣ ⚽️⁣ Now that we’re back home, we’re getting back into sports and all the extra-curricular fun 😬⁣ ⁣ ⛳️ National park hiking turned soccer and golf practice! ⁣ ⁣ 🏈 The kids have grown and we recently discovered @champssports . We love the option to find brand name products, as well as great quality private label EastBay gear!⁣ ⁣ 🛍 Shop now online at Champssports.com and in select Champs stores! ⁣ ⁣ Happy active summer!⁣ ⁣ #EastbayPerformance #champssports #champs #activekids #playhard

⛳️ Did you know Walt Disney World has several mini-golf courses? 🎄 Disney’s Winter Summerland mini-golf is located right by Blizzard Beach. We played the Winter course today, and they is a Summer Course. As well as another location by the Swan & Dolphin! 🎅🏼 The Winter course is beautiful and takes a little while to complete! If you’re needing some Christmas vibes or Christmas music, make sure to include this fun stop to your itinerary! 🎟 And if you have the water park / sports annual pass, remember that you get one free round per day, between 4PM!

GOLFING WITH KIDS⁣ ⛳️⁣ The kids started playing golf as young children and it wasn’t good timing back then 😅 they didn’t seem to be making much progress, and it was a lot of time and money investment for little return. ⁣ ⁣ So we stopped playing for 4 years, put the clubs away and never talked about it again. ⁣ ⁣ 🏌️‍♂️ During our travels, Mark would often find a stick and practice his swing. ⁣ ⁣ I was a golfer myself (a couple of lifetimes ago 😬) and my entire family plays. So we decided to give golf a second try now that we are back and the kids are older. ⁣ ⁣ 👣 We jumped in with both feet as @firstteecfl started their summer session 3 days after we returned home! ⁣ ⁣ 🏌🏻‍♀️ And the kids are doing fabulous! We’re loving the time spent together on the course as a family. ⁣ ⁣ It is about finding new ways to spend time together making family memories and this is pretty good way so far. Just a hot hot way! 🥵 #disneycreators #wdwgolf #disneygolf #disneyparks #firsttee

COROZAL, BELIZE⁣ 🌮⁣ Some locals gave us weird looks when we mentioned visiting Corozal…⁣ ⁣ Truth be told 😅 getting to Corozal was quite the adventure! But if you don’t mind potholes and slow driving, you may come across some Amish kids by horse carriage and fields of sugar cane. ⁣ ⁣ 🚗 We stayed what looked to be right outside of Corozal. Turns out, the 10 miles took 2 hours to drive and I think Corozal city might be connected to Belize City by mostly paved road!⁣ ⁣ ⚠️ In Corozal, the main streets are paved, and everything else is sandy roads. The town itself isn’t gorgeous, but it is water front and it is the closest town to Caye Caulker and Caye Ambergris!⁣ ⁣ 🫔 Now, if you’re there for the food, it’s where it’s at!! The square is lined with local food trucks and serves Mexican fares, since Corozal is right on the Mexican border! And all of it is delicious! ⁣ ⁣ 🧀 Just be warned, that those Marquesitas use yummy strong cheese (close to parmesan), which would be delicious on its own, but can be surprising when you order the Nutella version. 🤣⁣ ⁣ 🌆 While Corozal may be way off-the-beaten-path, I think it’s worth driving to, to get a real taste of Belize!

ORCHID BAY, BELIZE⁣ 🧡⁣ My heart hasn’t been with posting and sharing. We’ve had the hardest, and most shocking, return to sedentary life… much worse than we could have ever imagined. ⁣ ⁣ 🧽 It’s now been days of cleaning, feeling sick, finding ourselves scrubbing and fixing with no end, discovering more damage daily…⁣ ⁣ 🇧🇿 But it wouldn’t be fair not to share the last 2 days of our Belize trip on here, just in case some of you are planning a trip and want inspiration! ⁣ ⁣ 📸 So this is Orchid Bay, up in northern Belize, and seeing those pictures as I am posting them tonight, brought me a new perspective! ⁣ ⁣ 💨 As we stepped into our damaged home, the last 2.5 years of travel flew into thin air. Today, it feels as if they never existed… ⁣ ⁣ 🌎 I’m putting every effort in feeling the joy our trip brought us, and it requires incredible focus and strength…⁣ ⁣ ☀️ Looking at those pictures brought me some peace and carried the memories of the days we spent there. A completely foreign world, so hard to explain. Light years from our civilization and ways of living!⁣ ⁣ 🦟 This is Orchid Bay Resort, a collection of casitas bordering the sea. A sea we weren’t sure was meant for swimming… mosquito and sand flies paradise - be prepared to run to your car if you’re not covered in bug spray 😬 ⁣ ⁣ ❤️ But tonight, looking at those pictures bring me joy and emotions! @orchidbayresort