Boat Kids

Uncovering The Secrets Of Cumberland Island: Georgia’s Hidden Treasure

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A Remote Wilderness

Cumberland Island is a hidden gem off the coast of Georgia. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we sail to this remote wilderness. The island can only be reached by boat, and with the ferries temporarily suspended, we are in for a unique experience. We find ourselves entirely alone, except for the incredible wildlife that greets us at every turn.

A rainbow off the bow, over Cumberland Island
A rainbow off the bow, over Cumberland Island

On our very first night, we find the perfect spot to anchor our boat to the southwest of the island. We hop onto our dinghy and make our way to a sandy beach. The untouched beauty of the beach is awe-inspiring, with towering erosion banks and enchanting driftwood trees. Our kids have a blast on this natural playground.

Exploring the beach after the rain.
Exploring the beach after the rain.

We later learn that the mud flats approaching that beach are an important part of the habitat and best left undisturbed, so we don’t land there again. Instead, we use a dock farther to the south for the rest of our explorations.

Ferry dock at the south end of the island.
Ferry dock at the south end of the island.
Wildlife Encounters

During our week on the island, we see many creatures including: sea stars, deer, armadillo, manatees, countless birds, and the island’s famous wild horses. The kids even try to adopt some hermit crabs from the beach!

Deirdre watching the wild horses.
Deirdre watching the wild horses.

The island is home to around 150 horses, making it one of the few places in the United States where wild horses can still be found. They are believed to have descended from horses brought by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. The horses have adapted to the island’s unique environment and climate over time, becoming feral and thriving in the wild. 

Wild horses wander the island.
Wild horses wander the island.
Exploring the Island’s History

We stroll among the crumbling ruins of the island’s former mansions.. Several wealthy families built grand mansions on the island in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The isolation and harsh environment eventually made it difficult to maintain these large estates, resulting in their abandonment.

A bird flies over some ruins.
A bird flies over some ruins.

Today, no one lives on the island. The National Park Service manages Cumberland Island, which is now a protected national seashore.

Walking to the beach
Walking to the beach
The Unique Shapes of Salt-Stunted Oaks

We love the salt-stunted oaks that decorate the island with their unique shapes. The salt makes it difficult for the trees to absorb water, causing them to grow more slowly and with a distorted shape. The major branches of the trees tend to grow along the ground, creating a characteristic “candelabra” shape that is both beautiful and eerie.

Salt-stunted oaks decorate the island
Salt-stunted oaks decorate the island
A Beachside Adventure

One of the highlights of our trip is walking across the island to visit a beach on the Atlantic coast. We traverse past the important mud flats, salt-stunted oak forests, and towering palm trees before reaching the sand dunes and the Atlantic coast. Each of these habitats is vital to the island’s ecosystem. It’s a rare opportunity to be able to experience such a variety of habitats in one walk.

Osiris on the beach
Osiris on the beach

Our time on Cumberland Island is incredibly grounding. The peacefulness of this place has a way of soothing our souls. And oh, the sunsets! They are absolutely breathtaking, painting the sky with vibrant hues of orange and pink. The isolation we experience here is a welcome break from the stress of the time. Cumberland Island truly is a hidden treasure, and we feel incredibly lucky to discover its magical allure.”

Rana in the anchorage.
Rana in the anchorage.

We’ve created a video capturing some of the calm beauty of this trip, which you can watch on our YouTube channel. Join us in uncovering the secrets of Cumberland Island and experiencing the beauty and tranquility of this hidden gem.

Jason on the beach
Jason on the beach

You can also read about how we got here in our older blog posts and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram for more updates and adventures. 

Walking under the oaks.
Walking under the oaks.

We’ll be back with more exciting adventures soon! Until then, keep embracing the salty spirit, my friends.

Deirdre in the dinghy in the fog.
Deirdre in the dinghy in the fog.

Sailing Journey From Jacksonville To Cumberland Island

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Ahoy, friends! Gather around and let us tell you about our sailing journey from Jacksonville to Cumberland Island, from a while back. We bid farewell to Sisters Creek Free Dock and set sail into the vast, open ocean on a calm overcast morning in June.

sailing journey, boat kid, ocean,
Deirdre drives us out into the ocean.

Deirdre takes the helm as we head out of the inlet, but quickly having had enough of the sea spray and salty air, she promptly buries her face in a book.

boating, wayward learning, boat kid
Her Hermione is showing

Meanwhile, Osiris dutifully keeps watch on the waves, ever vigilant for any signs of sea creatures. Jason and I work together to hoist the sails and catch the wind, feeling the exhilaration build with each passing moment.

keeping watch, boat kid
His favorite part of boating

We continue on, enjoying another day of sailing, taking in the sights and sounds of the ocean. Even Puppins, our furry first mate, takes a nap while we sail – is there anything more adorable than a dog snoozing on a boat?

napping pup, sleeping dogs, sailing journey
Princess Puppins takes a nap

As we sail into St. Mary’s Inlet, we can’t resist a stop at Fernandina. Even from the boat, we are greeted by some impressive mega yachts and a cruise ship on the horizon. We scan the area and find a good spot where we can anchor when we return at the end of the week for provisioning.

cruise ship, sailing journey, Fernandina
This one is a baby cruise ship!

As we continue north towards our intended destination, we suddenly hear a splash! Our foghorn has fallen off the boat! It had been a foggy morning when we left, and we needed it for safety reasons. Thankfully, we quickly spin the boat around and use our trusty boathook to retrieve it from the water.

sails open, sailing journey, ocean
The sails billowing, and the open ocean

Soon enough, we anchor at Cumberland Island for a week of adventure. But we’ll save those stories for another post – trust us, it involves mud, manatees, and wild horses!

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Jason on the bow

Thanks for joining us on this trip down memory lane, friends. We hope you enjoyed reading about our adventure on the open ocean, and we can’t wait to share more stories with you soon. If you want to read more about our sailing trips, be sure to check out our previous posts here. And don’t forget to connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube to stay up to date on our latest adventures. Fair winds and following seas!

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Jason and I at the helm
Setting Sail on a New Adventure: Dolphins and Sunsets

Setting Sail on a New Adventure: Dolphins and Sunsets

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Setting off on a new adventure

We embark on a new adventure from St. Augustine on a cloudy June morning, feeling a mix of excitement and trepidation. The whole family is on deck as we set off through the Bridge of Lions. After months in lockdown we are headed north for hurricane season and the start of a new adventure. 

Our journey begins! Passing through the iconic Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, Florida as we set sail for new horizons.
Our journey begins! Passing through the iconic Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, Florida as we set sail for new horizons.
A refreshing change in weather and scenery

The day starts with a light drizzle, which keeps the heat down and makes for a refreshing change from the Florida sun. As we navigate out of the Ponce De Leon Inlet the water is a bit choppy, but soon calms down once we are in the open ocean.

Jason keeping a sharp lookout on the horizon with his trusty binoculars
Jason keeping a sharp lookout on the horizon with his trusty binoculars
Embracing the freedom of the ocean

We take advantage of the peaceful conditions and open up the sails. We relish the sound of the wind in the rigging and the feeling of being miles away from anyone else. The sense of freedom is exhilarating as we cut through the waves, making our way north.

The world is a beautiful place, especially from the bow of a boat.
The world is a beautiful place, especially from the bow of a boat.
An unforgettable encounter with playful dolphins

Later, as we enter the Jacksonville Inlet, we are struck by the vastness of the river, which seems to stretch out endlessly before us. A pod of playful dolphins joins us and seems to enjoy the company of our boat. Watching these beautiful creatures frolicking in the water is a magical moment for all of us. 

Making friends with the locals 🐬👋
Making friends with the locals 🐬👋
Just around the river bend

We make our way upriver to the Sister’s Creek free dock, where we decide to stop for the night. It is a peaceful journey, with the kids enjoying the ride and soaking up the views of the water.

Osiris watching the water
Osiris watching the water
Finding peace and tranquility at Sister’s Creek

The kids are thrilled to find a nearby park where they can play and burn off some energy. Meanwhile, we take a moment to relax and soak up the peaceful surroundings. Afterwards, we cook up a quick dinner on board and settle down to watch a truly breathtaking sunset.

Docked and ready for the next adventure - Rana and crew at Sister's Creek free dock
Docked and ready for the next adventure – Rana and crew at Sister’s Creek free dock
A breathtaking sunset to end the day.

We drift off to sleep feeling content and grateful for the experiences we have shared. We look forward to the journey ahead, little knowing of the adventures yet to come.

Sunset viewed from the cockpit
Sunset viewed from the cockpit

We invite you to continue following along as we navigate our way north for hurricane season. There are plenty more adventures and challenges along the way, and we can’t wait to share them with you. So stay tuned, and let’s keep sailing together! Check out our YouTube page with some clips from this trip. Or check out some of our older blog posts here.

Reigniting the Spark: Our Renewed Commitment to Water Adventures

Reigniting the Spark: Our Renewed Commitment to Water Adventures

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Hello friends, we’re back to our water adventures! After a hiatus from blogging, we’re thrilled to announce our return. Over the past months, we’ve embarked on unexpected journeys and we’re now ready to get back to what we love: sharing our exciting and unique water adventures with you. We can’t wait to reconnect with our readers and update you on what we’ve been up to. Stay tuned for more updates and new content!

Chasing the horizon, sailing towards new adventures.
Chasing the horizon, sailing towards new adventures.

We have a lot of catching up to do, and we’ll be sharing our past experiences as well as new ones with you. From our daily routines on the boat to our favorite destinations, we’ll be posting every week. Whether you’ve been following us for a while or are new to our blog, we’re excited to have you join us for the journey.

Nothing but calm waters and endless horizons ahead.
Nothing but calm waters and endless horizons ahead.

We are eager to get back to sharing our experiences with you and we hope that you will continue to follow along with us. Thank you for being a part of our journey and we can’t wait to reconnect with you through our stories.

Anchored in paradise, surrounded by the beauty of the sea and the warmth of the sunset.
Anchored in paradise, surrounded by the beauty of the sea and the warmth of the sunset.

We will be aiming to post every Wednesday. Can’t wait? Check out our other blog posts here while we work on more for you! Or check our our social media pages on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Fair winds and following seas,

Carolyn, Jason, Deirdre & Osiris

Making memories and living our best life on the water with our crew.
Making memories and living our best life on the water with our crew.
Our New Home has PIRATES and Chocolate!

Our New Home has PIRATES and Chocolate!

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Our New Home

St. Augustine is a beautiful city with a hopping local scene and a lot of history. There are even pirates on our dock! We read about the history of St. Augustine, then we went out to explore our new home! There is a lot of beautiful of architecture, a variety of museums and even chocolate! To see how we got here check out our last post!
 
neighbors, pirates, pirate ship
I think our neighbors might be pirates!

St. Augustine is Old!

It was founded in 1565 by Pedro Menéndez de Aviles and is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the United States. St. Augustine has been under Spanish, English and American control since it’s founding. We spent a great deal of time walking around town just reading about the history of the local buildings. 

statue, Florida, Ponce de Leon
Statue of Juan Ponce de Leon the Spanish discoverer of Florida.

Downtown

Downtown is a very quaint area rich with history and also modern charm. We enjoyed browsing the local art galleries and finding some beautiful churches and buildings many of which were funded by Henry Flagler.

Flagler, Church,
Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church built 1889

Henry Flagler’s Influence

St. Augustine in its modern form primarily exists because of Henry Flagler. Most of the beautiful churches and hotels in town were funded by him. He even had railways built to allow people to travel down to Florida and all the way to the Keys. He viewed Florida as an ideal destination so he made it one!

Flagler, Lightner Museum, Alcazar Hotel
The Lightner Museum formerly Flagler’s Alcazar Hotel

Impenetrable Fort 

The kids have become more interested in Spanish as we explore the strong Spanish influence here in town. They really enjoy visiting the Castillo De San Marcos, a fort built to protect the Spanish trade route to South America. The fort was made out of a locally occurring shell limestone called coquina. Coquina turned out to be impenetrable to cannon balls and thereby protected the fort from pirates and invaders!

Castillo de San Marcos, Pirates, Impenetrable, Coquina
Castillo de San Marcos

There be PIRATES in these here parts!

With all of that Spanish gold traveling past, the area was well known to Pirates! Just across from us on the dock are the Black Raven and the Queen Anne’s Revenge pirate ships. It has been fun to get to know the pirates and we have learned so much about pirates here they may need there own post!

pirate, Black Raven, Pirate ship
The Black Raven pirate ship

Fun for Kids too!

With all of the historical charm and modern boutique vibe, St. Augustine was surprisingly interesting to both kids. We arrived in town just in time for O’s 4th birthday and we had a great time celebrating at Adventure Landing a local fun park. 

go carts, racing
Osiris and Deirdre racing go carts

Tourist for the Day

We decided to play tourist for the day and took a Red Train tour around town. The tour was full of interesting facts and let us hop on an off visiting different local sites. This is a fun way to see around town especially if you are visiting by boat and don’t have a vehicle. We particularly liked the Whetstone Chocolate factory tour and tasting!

Red Train Tour, tourism, St. Augustine
Osiris was very excited for the Red Train Tour!

Sharks!

The kids found sharks teeth on a local beach and learned some fascinating things about them. For instance you are much more likely to find black sharks teeth than white. The black teeth are fossilized and there are many more of them in the sea than freshly lost white teeth.

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Shark teeth from the beach

With so much to see and do, St. Augustine is worth a longer visit. We look forward to spending much more time here!

St Augustine or bust…Part 1

St Augustine or bust…Part 1

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The Adventure Starts (Slowly)
We set off from our home for the last year and half in the Ortega River. Having no idea what to expect, we planned out the trip as well as we knew how. After watching the weather for a few weeks we picked a weather window that we felt comfortable with. Under motor power our boat can only travel at around 8mph. This means that the 45-minute car ride to St Augustine was going to take us more like 20 hours in our slow boat. Since we picked a low wind weather window it meant motoring the entire time.
Skipper Carolyn!
Skipper Carolyn!
The Ditch (ICW)
In the interest of being safe, we decided to avoid making the whole trip straight through. We didn’t feel comfortable with traveling at night just yet. Our route did not have us going out into the ocean this time. Instead, we would be following the St Johns river and the ICW (Intercoastal Water Way). This is a winding path that is often narrow and shallow. Making it in the dark seemed like a bad idea for us just starting out.
Ortega River to St Augustine
Ortega River to St Augustine
First Stop
Since we were not going to make the whole trip in one-shot, we found a small marina called Palm Cove just off the ICW in Jacksonville. This place is about halfway between the Ortega River and St Augustine so it seemed like the perfect place to go. It also happened to be the marina we took possession of Rána at so we had an idea of what to expect. We also knew that we could only get in through their channel at high tide or we would run aground.
Palm Cove Marina (Jacksonville FL)
Palm Cove Marina (Jacksonville FL)
Seeing the Sights
The first half of our trip involved motoring through downtown Jacksonville. It was amazing seeing the high-rise buildings and massive bridges as we crawled past. Going only 8mph really gives you a lot of time to look around and enjoy the view! It sure beats driving at 70mph and missing everything.
Main Street Bridge (Jacksonville FL)
Main Street Bridge (Jacksonville FL)
Look, the Ocean!
Eventually, we made it to the Jacksonville ocean inlet. Although we did not need to go out into the ocean, this was where the ICW met up with the St Johns river so we had to get pretty close. All of the inlets where the ocean comes into a river are notorious for being unstable. The water coming and going often has fast currents and causes the silt on the bottom to shift around a lot making shoaling. This meant that even though our charts said we should have plenty of depth under us, we might still run aground on one of these unexpected shoals.
Mayport Inlet (Jacksonville FL)
Mayport Inlet (Jacksonville FL)
Running Aground
Just as we started making the turn south toward the ICW we saw a sailboat. I noticed that it had its sails open and also had smoke coming from the back, most likely from their engine. I didn’t think much of it at first but as we got closer, I started to realize that it wasn’t moving. This could only mean that she was grounded.
We were on a course that would put us right through where this sailboat was stopped so we quickly slowed down and turned to get further away. Just as we did, we felt it. Bump! Ever so slightly, we touched the bottom of the river with the bottom of our boat. We quickly reversed and moved away from the shoal. Seeing the stuck sailboat and reacting quickly saved us some possible boat damage and getting stuck. It didn’t help much with the pucker factor though.
Jason Driving
Jason Driving
Doing Circles
Despite our nerves being completely wrecked, we made our way down the ICW with very little stress from that point on. We actually went faster than we had expected so we ended up in front of the Palm Cove channel about 3 hours before we could go into it. Since we had not successfully anchored at that point, we decided to just spin circles outside their channel. When the tide got high enough, we made our way into their channel and successfully docked.
Circling Palm Cove Marina
Circling Palm Cove Marina
Palm Cove Marina
It was our first real planned trip as sailors and we felt great. We might not have known everything we could have and we made some mistakes but we did it and it was awesome! We would stay for just one night then be on our way to St Augustine in the morning.
Boatschool with a 4th grader and a preschooler

Boatschool with a 4th grader and a preschooler

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This year we are homeschooling or boatschooling Deirdre who is in 4th grade and Osiris who is preschool age. We have been homeschooling since Deirdre was preschool age and have tried various different styles over the years but have primarily been relaxed homeschoolers or unschoolers.
We provide an environment rich in books, games and toys that inspire our kids imagination. They learn from everyday experiences and interactions. We spend a lot of time reading together and visiting libraries. We haven’t had formal lessons though we do sit down together to explore topics that some or all of us find interesting.
This style has worked really well for our kids at their young ages. With no regular or formal lessons Deirdre has learned most if not all of the standards through 3rd grade. She learned to read and reads voraciously. She has learned basic math up to multiplication. She makes up stories, poems, and songs. She enjoys hearing stories from history. She creates art on an almost daily basis and enjoys programming with Scratch and Scratch Jr.
We will continue to learn in this very relaxed style with Osiris for the next few years. We believe free play and self directed learning are the best means for brain growth and developing a love of learning, especially at early elementary ages. So what has changed with Deirdre?
Nothing. I find it very easy to organically interact and incorporate early elementary learning into everyday life. Over the past year or so I have struggled to interact with Deirdre as much as either of us would like (can you say toddler?) I have also struggled to incorporate higher levels of learning into everyday living.
At the end of last year we did an annual evaluation of 3rd grade, as required by local homeschool law. In preparing for the evaluation I could see that our learning typically bounces all over the place but it tends to revolve around certain regular subjects.
I identified 7 subjects; History & Cultures, Writing, Math, Science, Spanish, Art, and Coding. We will continue with these subjects and I think we will introduce Music this year.
To build on the themes we already like in a deeper way we are trying to add a bit more structure and intention to our learning, while still maintaining a playful learning environment.
For this year Deirdre and I sat down and discussed what her goals are related to each subject. She decided she would like to learn about; Europe, writing a fiction story, more math, chemistry experiments, art on her own, and she wants to do more programming with Daddy. Deirdre has no goals for Spanish or Music and so we will mostly explore them at Osiris’ level because she enjoys them.
Based on her goals I have set up a more structured linear way for us to work through the year. We already sit down and have some ‘school time’ after breakfast until about lunch time where we work together. We added this in third grade to try to add more structure to our days.
Building on that existing structure we have decided that we will do Math on Mondays. For Math we will be using Beast Academy Level 3 as our framework and adding games and math picture books that are relevant to each Chapter. When we get through level 3 we will work on Level 4. The Beast Academy guide books are one of the only curriculum’s we purchase. The presentation is fun and engaging and the math is presented in intuitive ways rather than by rote memorization. Even outside of “school” Deirdre and Osiris enjoy reading them for fun.
On Tuesdays we will work on story writing. Since I have learned a lot about story writing myself I have created a year long program for us to work through the stages of creating, writing, and revising a story. To supplement this framework we will use story dice and some pages from the Brain Quest 4th Grade workbook.
On Wednesday we will explore cultures and stories from Europe. We are starting with the United Kingdom because we have some friends who just moved to England. We will use picture books, the Atlas, and an Orboot globe to explore the countries. We read Story of the World and other chapter books from around the world at bedtime. We will watch the Spanish immersion show Salsa by Georgia Public Broadcasting. It is available for free online and provides an early introduction to Spanish with fairy tale characters. We will add Spanish books as they are relevant.
Thursdays are when we will explore Chemistry. This is the subject that has been most difficult for me to get my head around. I considered buying a subscription to Mel Chemistry because it is a monthly box with real Chemistry experiments already to use. It is some pretty serious science which is awesome but it is also expensive and we aren’t sure if Deirdre is ready for that level of learning yet. Right now she says she just likes mixing things to see what happens. So I have done a lot of research online and came across the website thehomeschoolscientist.com she has a page with links to Chemistry experiments at progressing levels of difficulty and so I am using that as our framework for the year. We are going to try to do one of those experiments most weeks (assuming I remember to get the supplies). We also have games like Chemistry Fluxx and Valence Plus to explore some more ideas.
Deirdre has one more goal for the year; that we should go to more fun places this year. We regularly visit the library and the park in the afternoons but this year we are going to add Field Trip Friday. In the morning on Friday we will play games. In the afternoon we will visit local museums, children’s museums, trampoline parks, and indoor playgrounds, or parks.
Hopefully this added structure and planning will help us add more depth to our learning. Our goal is always to make learning fun and meaningful.
These are our goals for the year and we have started to implement them as best we can. Homeschool is awesome because of it’s flexibility. So far this school year we have had: a hurricane, a business trip (we went with Jason) and have been sick for almost 2 weeks twice already…
Luckily even when school gets away from our plan for the year the kids always have a fun and educational environment to play in. They learn so much from self directed play and the planned structure for the year lets us know exactly where to pick up from when we get back to school!
What Kind of Life is This for Kids?

What Kind of Life is This for Kids?

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Boat work has felt all consuming lately. We have been working on the boat a lot. As I was looking at pictures for our last several blog posts it made me wonder, what kind of life is this for kids? Actually it is one that teaches competence and hard work… but that is another point. It is a different kind of life than we had in a house but it feels better.
The kids help with work on the boat sometimes but only because they want to help. We haven’t asked them to do any boat work, other than basic cleaning up after themselves, but we always try to make room for them to be involved when they want to be. They have seen how much we have been doing and sometimes it sparks their curiosity so they come over and want to help.
Though we have done a lot of it, boat work isn’t all we have been doing… In the same time period as all the work, the kids have learned a lot! Not just math and English but life skills.
Deirdre has learned how to swim, and swing across monkey bars. She has become more confident in who she is and what she can do. Osiris has learned how to swing. We have played in the ocean and cleaned up trash from the beaches. Osiris likes to save the world anytime she sees plastic on the ground or in the water now!
We’ve gone to parties. Met kittens. Made friends. Made friends with kittens 🙂 Both kids are a bit obsessed with cats. So we have been learning all about cats and kittens over the summer!
We have gone to children’s museums, parks and the zoo. We regularly visit libraries. The kids enjoy making friends with the librarians and participating in art programs and other activities like summer reading program. We have read LOTS of books! Though the kids do play on tablets and watch shows, we don’t make them readily available so when the kids are bored they either play or read books.
We have fed lettuce to the geese that live nearby and we have watched their goslings grow up. We have investigated ladybugs, snails, other water birds, frogs, lizards and so much more!
Virtually none of these learning moments came from a curriculum or even from stuff. Much of our learning grows organically from the things we do not the things we own. Don’t get me wrong the kids still have plenty of toys to play with but even the things we own are used differently on the boat.
We have had to narrow down the possessions in our lives by quite a lot to move onto the boat. The kids had to pick just their favorite toys to bring and they regularly go through what they have to decide what is worth taking up their limited space. This is teaching them to find what is most important to them and to weed out the clutter.
The kids have picked their favorite toys and now they often play with them for long periods of time. It helps that we mostly kept open ended toys like Lego, play food, dress up, and stuffed animals. These toys all allow the kids to imagine their own story. Imagination fuels play. Too many toys acts as a distraction and rather than engaging the imagination they shut it down.
While we have been busy getting the boat ready to sail the kids have learned to play happily with each other, sometimes for hours at a time. They have become much closer and really enjoy doing things together. They play with each other a lot more, even when we aren’t working on the boat. In fact as I was writing this post they were happily working together making fake poop out of mud…
I believe that having a small home is forcing us to do something that we never needed to in a house. We have to put thought and intention into everything we have and how we use it. If it doesn’t add value to our life or bring us joy we get rid of it. This is an ongoing process but it is one that the kids are learning to do also!
So what kind of life is this for kids? One that allows childhood to be simple and free from distractions. It is a life where we can engage in and enjoy life in more meaningful ways. You don’t have to live on a sailboat to live this kind of life but the smaller space has really helped us to see what really benefits our lives and what doesn’t. What activities or things in your life are causing unnecessary clutter and stress? Try getting rid of them!