Autumn is here and I love the changes it brings with it. The air is crisper; the leaves are changing and all things apple and pumpkin are in full swing. But I have to say this summer was one for the record books. I cannot believe how much we did and saw this summer, especially with a new baby. I was anticipating it to be a low-key summer with me still trying to ‘navigate the water’ with 3 little ones but baby made it so easy to just have a summer of pure chaos and fun with his laid-back personality.

I know sometimes it can be tough to find things to do to appease the whole family but I have to say I am pretty impressed with what my husband and I were able to swing.

We kicked off the summer with a weekend in Toronto. While Toronto can be overwhelming it is a great place to be for families, there is something for everyone. We like to stay at the Sheraton Centre Hotel when we go to Toronto it is close to everything, the rooms are spacious, clean and you can always find a decent deal online (bear in mind this is Toronto we are talking about). The selling point for our family is this hotel has a pool our kids love. The pool is fully equipped with puddle jumpers for the kids, pool toys, and a full-service cabana for mommy and daddy. You literally can spend the whole afternoon poolside without having to leave your lounge chairs. You would never know laying by this pool that you were in the heart of a bustling city.

Another bonus is the Sheraton is close to a lot of great restaurants. Our favorite being Drake One Fifty. This place has a cool vibe; the food is all sourced locally and is delicious. It is nice without being pretentious and I have not run into a bad meal here. My kids are obsessed with their meatballs and from the pasta, to burgers it all gets a 10/10 from us.

A new place we discovered this round was Kiva’s. If your kids are like my kids they love bagels. If we are having a day where I just can’t get them to eat anything I can almost bet my entire life savings that they will indeed eat a bagel. Bagels are life with kids, a home without bagels is not a home. So, when we vacation we scope out where the bagels are – no bagels; equals anarchy. Kiva’s is a win for our family.

Our oldest right now is on a big kick about being a scientist when she grows up and our middle is a dinosaur lover so it was a no brainer that we would be visiting the Royal Ontario Museum, this is not your ordinary museum there is so much for your little one to touch and explore and it has one of the largest dinosaur exhibits in North America. We spent hours going through the dinosaur floor and CIBC Bank has sponsored a huge hands-on children’s area where the kids can dig for dinosaur bones, try on chainmail, play in a teepee and just let their imaginations run wild. The ROM comes highly recommended by our kids and me.

My husband works crazy hours so summers can get a little long for mama – thank God my mother is a school teacher because boy do I lean on her for a break during those long summer days where you have heard, “I’m bored,” for the bazillionth time. Mom and I got brave this summer and decided to take the kids on a Nana/Mama road trip and I have to say we did it and boy did we do it well!

My mom had been reminiscing about her childhood summers in Ocean City, Maryland, so we thought what the heck let’s do it. What kid doesn’t like summer days spent ocean side?

My mom is a Pittsburgh native so we planned to spend a few days with family in Pittsburgh to break up the trip. I have seen and done a lot in Pittsburgh but this trip I experienced one of my very firsts with the kids. Sarris Chocolate in Cannonsburg, PA. My kids are candy freaks, I am not going to deny it, it comes to them honestly my husband and I have a weak spot for candy. My uncle knowing the kids’ love for candy loaded us up into the car one night for a ride to Cannonsburg and honestly probably the best chocolate I have ever had.

Sarris is like walking into a small scale version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The ice cream parlor offers that old-world charm and seriously amazingly creamy delicious ice cream that my kids devoured. I literally some days just crave a Sarris chocolate bar and have to resign to the fact that I won’t have one again until I visit Pittsburgh at Thanksgiving time (phew that isn’t too far away). So, after visiting the family we packed ourselves up again and hit the road for Ocean City.

We booked our stay at the Hilton Oceanfront Suites and boy does this place deliver. The access to the beach cannot be beat. If you have little ones this hotel’s location makes going to the beach so easy. You are steps from the beach so when one of the kids got crabby, a bed for a quick nap was a few steps away and this made life so much easier. The pools at this hotel are glorious. There is an indoor pool for rainy afternoons but the kid’s pool is where we were posted up most days. This pool has a view of the ocean so you still feel like your beachside all day. My kids floated in the lazy river for hours and slid down the slide probably a thousand times by the end of the week. The hotel does a great job of having crafts and events poolside for the kids. My daughters are still rocking their hair wraps they got by the pool. They met poolside ‘mermaids’ who did face paint and ate poolside nachos for lunch. The baby slept on a lounger every day next to Nana while listening to the waves of the ocean crash.

It’s always a plus when a hotel is close by to some good eats and I have to say we lucked out again with this hotel’s location. We stumbled upon an amazing Mexican restaurant just two blocks away called Mother Cantina and baby and I could not get enough of the guacamole. The kids have never been one for tacos but they devoured the tacos here (so much for my cooking) and my mom who is a take it or leave it kind of gal when it comes to Mexican cuisine is still talking it about. On our last day in Ocean City we stumbled upon Barn 34 for dinner, but from what I hear its breakfast that they are known for. Dinner here, however, was a home run as well. Lots of great seafood options which my mom and I are huge fans of and a great variety of options for the kids. They fancied up the kid’s chocolate milk with whip cream and chocolate chips and now the kids ask me for chocolate milk like in Ocean City (sorry out of luck kiddos). If your kids are like mine they also love subs, subs are something that again if they are hunger-striking I can convince them to eat and in this case the Hilton is literally kiddie corner to a great sub shop named Anthony’s (also a liquor store – with a very wide variety I may add) and again I will add we were within walking distance of bagels with Shmagels Bagels being literally a 5- minute walk from the hotel.

Ocean City is an easy and fun family destination for kids of all ages. The boardwalk is loaded with activities; my kids are still at an age where the pool and beach are more than enough but literally, there is something for everyone.

Our last big trip of the season I give full credit to my hubby for suggesting. He threw out the idea of Tennessee and originally Nashville (I think he forgot we had kids – I will be going there without them thank you very much lol) but after some back and forth on Nashville he suggested the idea of Pigeon Forge.

If you live in a state or province where school starts after Labour Day let me tell you the last week in August is when you want to visit Pigeon Forge. We had the place to ourselves. It was amazing, no lines to do or see anything! From Wonderworks to Dollywood the kids could go on what they wanted over and over again without having to wait – it was the stuff dreams are made out of.

Dollywood is absolutely a wonderful location for families to visit – there are so many rides for little ones to go on. The park is extremely clean, there are areas to rest all over the place (and breastfeed) and it was a huge tick off of my bucket list. For those of you who don’t know, I played Dolly Parton in a 6th-grade play and I was totally in my glory at her park.

We stayed at The Inn at Christmas Place, this place is like being in a giant Hallmark Movie which for some like my husband was a tad bit overwhelming (he grew to love it) but for me was like a dream come true. When I booked the hotel, I worried a bit was this going to be a bit over the top, possibly too much? It was a fleeting thought because really TOO much Christmas – is it possible? No, it is not possible, this place is decorated beautifully it is decked out but not in a way that makes you nervous or want to gag. Its decorated in a way that is totally magical and makes your kids’ eyes bug out of their head in awe.

The hotel goes above and beyond in terms of service, offering milk and cookies every night before bed, free hot breakfast that is delicious, Santa and Mrs. Claus pop in periodically to visit the kids and they even offer nights where Santa puts on a Christmas concert around their breathtaking fireplace. Like, come on what is not more magical than all of this?! If I haven’t sold you yet, the hotel has two great pools that my kids played in until they were prunes and then they slept the entire night.

Pigeon Forge is located minutes from the Smokey Mountain National Park, and I need to return to this park during the Fall. I can only imagine how breathtaking the Fall foliage would be. I have visited a lot of National Parks and this one is at the top of my favorites list. With a little bit of research, I learned that there is a Great Smokey Mountain Railroad, my husband is 32 and can you believe he has never been on a train?! I did not hesitate to book this excursion to check that off of his bucket list and boy did the ride deliver. The kids had a blast and it was just the right amount of time for them on a train. The layover was in a beautiful spot close to Nantahala Gorge where you can have lunch by the water and the kids can climb a ropes course. I have to warn you though don’t be like me and my friends – leave with ample time, we got held up in traffic through the park because you have to go through Smokey Mountain National Park to get to the train depot. We literally made the train with seconds, and when I say seconds I mean seconds to spare.

Tennessee is a great family trip if you’re in the Ontario/Michigan area we broke the trip up in Lexington, KY which made the drive super easy and manageable.

We signed off with Summer this weekend on a girls’ camping trip. Anyone who knows me knows I am not the biggest camper but alas my husband’s family loves it and so do my girls. I suck it up and I actually do have a lot of fun once you drag me there. This trip was planned by my husband’s grandmother who is well into her 70s and has more energy than me and my sister-in-law combined. My girls, my niece, grama and my SIL spent the weekend at a small campground in Wheatley, Ontario called Campers Cove. It has great beach access and is the kind of place where you don’t have to worry about what your kids might get into.

We told the girls creepy stories as they eagerly listened by the fire, we ate a lot of hotdogs and marshmallows and got in our last swim of the season at the beach. There were a lot of firsts for my oldest, she lost her first tooth and learned to ride her bike with the help of her older cousin. The weekend was a hit, the first of many girls camping trips. The secret to camping I find is having great company and between my girls, my niece, SIL and my husband’s adorable grandma we’ve got this covered.

Camping, Pigeon Forge, Ocean City, and Toronto come Mom-Approved from this mama of a 5, 4 and 6-month-old.

Summer was a blast; I am sad to see it end. On to Fall adventures. Thanks for reading my friends.