Visiting the Louvre

We’re spending three months in Barcelona with a few mini trips squeezed in! You can see our Barcelona posts here, and more Paris posts here.

While in Paris, one of our bucket list items for the boys was to visit the Louvre. They are museum-lovers through and through, and they 100% know DaVinci and the Mona Lisa, so it made sense to give them this memory as part of the trip.

What I wasn’t prepared for was how their current reading binge would impact our visit!

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Rocky Pop Hotel

We’re spending three months in Barcelona with a few mini trips squeezed in! You can see our Barcelona posts here, Paris posts here, and soon we’ll have a few more Chamonix posts.

We don’t stay at hotels often, but let me tell you about this one that has now ruined us on all others.

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Visiting the Eiffel Tower

We’re spending three months in Barcelona with a few mini trips squeezed in! You can see our Barcelona posts here, and more Paris posts here.

When we told the boys that we were going to Paris for a few days, one of the things they were most excited about was seeing the Eiffel Tower. Luckily it’s a fairly request to fulfill!

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A Visit to the Paris Catacombs

We’re spending 3 months in Barcelona, but come along as we take a little trip to Paris! You can find the rest of our Paris posts here and our Barcelona posts here.

GUYS! Never in all my life did I see this adventure coming. Until I had kids… kids that love bones!

It wasn’t until last year that I learned that you could visit the catacombs. You know, without sneaking in some spooky locked gate and getting lost down there forever.

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Three Days in Barcelona: Museums, Food, and Fun!

Since this post was written, we’ve now returned to Barcelona and will be sharing more details about the city in other posts. You’ll be able to find them all here (as they’re published!).

In my first post about Barcelona, I shared some of the logistics: where we stayed, travel guides, and the bus. This post covers some of the finer details that made our time in the city so enjoyable.

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Gaudi’s Casa Batllo

We’re spending three months in Barcelona! It’s a dream come true. If you’re interested in our trip, you can find our archive of Barcelona posts here.

Casa Batllo

Casa Botlla is one of Gaudi’s most famous creations in Barcelona. It’s a beautiful house full of colorful mosaics, swooping curves, and fine details. Come along as we take a walk through the house.

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Three Days in Barcelona: Hotel, Travel Guides, the Bus!

This post is about our first visit to Barcelona in 2022. Since that visit, we’ve now returned to Barcelona for three weeks. You can find all of our Barcelona posts here.

Last August I spent three days in Barcelona and loved every minute of it! Come along for a virtual get-away as I relive our adventure.

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Magic Hand and Foot Care

Within the past couple of months I stumbled upon products that have been downright magical for my hands and feet. Two different items providing two fantastic solutions, and this is me shouting it from the rooftops… I feel extra excited to share the moisturizing lotion because it helped me in a completely unexpected way.

Foot Mask

I don’t have a regular foot care routine, but when I feel like my feet need some exfoliation, I’ll reach for one of our DIY foot scrubs:

This spring I felt like my feet were more callused than usual, so before reaching for a scrub, I thought that I’d try one of these exfoliating foot peels. It worked like magic!

As suggested in the instructions, I soaked my feet for about an hour before putting on the booties (which contain the mask). I kept the booties on for another, and then washed off the mask. Like clockwork, about a week later, the skin on my feet started peeling!

The peeling doesn’t hurt, and it basically looks like peeling skin after a sunburn. My feet have been peeling for close to a week now, but this is the last of the dead skin, and feet are looking and feeling so soft.

I like to walk around barefoot, and I was curious if the newly uncovered skin would be more sensitive, but fortunately it’s not. It’s just baby soft and not looking so “rugged”.

Moisturizing Lotion

This magical (not-nail-or-hand-specific) lotion has nipped my nail-biting habit in the bud! How could that be? Let me explain.

Over the years I’ve come to realize that my nail-biting doesn’t have to do with fidgeting, wanting to put things in my mouth, wanting my nails to be short, etc…

It has to do with one thing: when my nails are chipped, splitting, or peeling, it drives me crazy and I want to “smooth” them out. So I do that by biting them, which makes the problem worse, then I bit them some more. And this sadly this applied to the skin around my nails too. It would be dry and peeling, I’d pick at it, the cycle would repeat itself.

Over the years I’ve tried a number of solutions. I used to paint them religiously (see photo above!) because this would make them less prone to drying out and damage, but as the polish peeled off, I would then start to bite them.

I’d use gloves when washing dishes to minimize drying, but it still didn’t solve the problem. I’d put all sorts of salves on my fingers (plenty of them were homemade!). But alas, nothing stopped the nail biting. UNTIL NOW!

Long story a little bit longer: we got this lotion because hyaluronic acid has great reviews for moisturizing skin, plumping it up, reducing wrinkles, etc. After we got the lotion, I was putting a little bit on my face each night before bed. After a few weeks I realized that my hands, specifically my nails, were looking fantastic!

It took me a day or two to realize that the only change in my routine was the lotion. It’s now been close to two months, my nails are so strong, there’s no dryness, and I’m completely hooked. I still just put the lotion on my face and rub it into my hands before bed. I can’t tell if it’s made much of a difference to my face, but given how well it’s worked on my hands, I’m not going to stop any time soon.

There are many hyaluronic acid lotions and supplements out there. I linked to the exact lotion that we’re using, and because it’s working so well, we haven’t tried anything else.

So, if your nail biting habit is anything like mine, give this lotion a try. I’d love to hear if it works for more people!