5 Helpful Tips in Preparing for Family Travel

With 4th of July weekend coming up and Summer in full swing many families are preparing to leave on vacation. We all know how stressful family vacations can be from the planning,packing, and traveling. To help make the process go a little easier I have a travel expert taking over the blog today to share some tips with you.

A little bio about our guest poster!

Kendra Thornton:Travel advocate,TV spokesperson, PR businesswoman,proud wife and mama of 3. I am a long time travel expert who has been packing my bags and traveling the world since I was 3 months old! I've found my utmost desire in life is right here in my own home. I have taken my excitement for travel and brought it to you with some of my favorite travel tips and tricks. Enjoy!

Photo Credit: kennymatic via Compfight cc

                 

            

  Helpful Tips in Preparing for Family Travel

 
Spending time on a vacation with family is an excellent way to enjoy the summer. As a mom, I have found that being prepared plays a crucial role in preventing hiccups and ensuring an unforgettable trip. Here are some tips that have helped me as I prepare for summer travels.

1. Wonderful Baggage Options
When packing for your next trip, your first packing essential needs to be luggage. There is certainly no shortage of options, but choosing the right design can make or break your trip. Suitcases can be clunky and heavy duffle bags can really damage your shoulders. For carry-on’s try a backpack that will free up your hands. If you’re traveling to Europe or driving to the beach, avoid rolling bags, as wheels don’t fare well with cobblestone, stairs or sand.

2. A Fantastic Place to Visit
I’ve found that having a fantastic place to go when traveling is truly key. Take time and look at a travel guide for the summer to find terrific destinations to visit. These guides highlight wonderful restaurants, attractions in the area and amazing deals. From the 2016 Olympics in Rio to the best 4th of July fireworks displays, an unforgettable trip starts with an amazing destination. Try consulting Gogobot’s Top 25 Summer Destinations to see which locations sound appealing to your family. Then check to see what fellow parents say about the area. Want to combine culture and kid-friendly fun? Florida’s 500th Anniversary is a great time to visit the magical world of Disney! You can even celebrate by having breakfast with Mickey and Mini at one of Orlando’s top hotels.

3. Practice Firework Safety
Even when traveling, firework displays are usually a big attraction for families. With July 4th fast approaching you should make sure you know how to safely practice firework viewing with children. Unlike many shows, fireworks can be seen just as well at a distance. Watching fireworks from a balcony will still allow your child to see them while staying out of harm’s way. Sparklers are also a fun way to celebrate Independence Day. But most people don’t realize that sparklers can reach over 2,000 degrees. That’s hot enough to not only burn little fingers, but melt some metals as well. A great vacation begins with safety.

4. The Right Kind of Sticking
Another tip I’ve learned, quite possibly the hard way, is how important it is to stick to a routine. It can be quite easy to skip a nap or a meal, but children do not adjust to these changes well, particularly in a new environment. I try to do my best to keep things as normal as possible while on vacation in terms of naps, snacks and meals. Not sure how you’re going to fit in that nap? Let the experts help.

5. Searching for Hidden Airline Fees
Booking airplane tickets online is certainly a popular thing to do. There are great deals that may be found at terrific prices. However, keep in mind that there can be fees that are added to increase the final cost of flying. Hidden costs range from baggage charges to fees for seat selection, a real problem for families with small children looking to sit together. To combat this, take time and research various airlines and their potential fees. The cheapest ticket price may not have the best overall value if there are additional charges.

Sweet Florida Sunshine

So I have been a pretty bad blogger lately and pretty late on getting this post up. Actually, I've been bad at putting any post up. 

Besides our day at Disney our vacation was really laid back and relaxing. Just what I needed and I got some wonderful qualtiy time in with my Grandpa.

Don't he look great for being in his early 80's? I hope I have his genes!

Our first night there we just sat on his dock and played bored games with Jayla and just chatted. The sun setting was beautiful! I already miss this view.

  

Jayla wanted to try her hand at fishing so I enlisted Daddy and Grandpa for that job. This mama wants nothing to do with fishing. Her excitement over fishing lasted maybe a whole 10 minutes. lol 

We also took Jayla to a little beach that was near my Grandpa's house to let her play. This beach was so nice. It had a nature trail, playgrounds,and picnic shelters. We ended up spending most of the day there. The beach was covered in little crabs. You could see them scurring into their little holes as you walked by. 

 

  On Thursday, we didn't do anything other then hang out at the house. We just relaxed and tried to recover from Disney. Luckily it was raining that day which gave us the perfect excuse to stay inside.

A Magical Day

I've been dying to get this post up and share our day at Disney with you but since we got back things have been pretty crazy. Jayla came down with Bronchitis, hubbs was sick, trying to catch up on laundry, errands, and all the other normal day to day things. Jayla is quite clingy when she gets sick so it's hard to get much done.

We had a wonderful day at Disney. It wasn't too hot and it was an over cast day so we didn't have the sun beating down on us all day.

The first thing we did was meet the Princesses because it was only a 15 minute wait so we took advantage of that. Jayla was so excited to meet them. Normally she is shy and doesn't warm up to people quickly so I was nervous about how well she was going to interact with the Princesses. She went right up to them! You would have thought they were best friends with how she just walked up and started talking with them. She especially loved getting hugs by each one.

Rapunzel was my favorite. She was awesome and really into her character. Just bubbly and full of life. She even danced with Jayla.

   

After we met with the Princesses hubbs and Jayla headed over to get to in line to meet Merida while I went and grabbed fast passes for the Ariel ride. We had to get Merida done right way, Jayla was beyond herself to meet Merida. Merida is talked about quite frequently in our household. It's pretty easy to say that Merida is one of my Jayla's favorites.

We ended up having to wait almost an hour to meet Merida but once you get into the area to meet her they have crayons and coloring pages for the kids to keep them busy while they wait. 

Jayla's reactions to Merida were just priceless!

   

We really got a lot done for only having a day to spend at the Magic Kingdom. The whole month of planning and research really paid off. We got everything on my "to-do" list done except for meeting Belle and a few other characters.The line for Belle was just insane and Jayla was given the choice of meeting the other characters or riding some rides. She choose the rides, even over meeting Tinkerbell. I was shocked by that.

One of the things on my list was the Dumbo ride. Let me tell you, Dumbo pissed us off! There are two Dumbos now, one fast pass, one stand by. We went through the standy by line. We unintentionally  cut in line, it was pretty unorganized. We thought only two people could ride the ride at a time and Jayla wanted Daddy so I got out of line and waited for them.

Once you go through a line, you go into a circus building where you wait to get a pager before you get back into another line. It is air conditioned and a huge play area inside for the kids. 

Our cell phones had shotty reception there so I was having a hard time getting in touch with hubbs. After about 40 minutes I finally got a text from hubbs that he has about another 10 minutes before he gets a buzzer and then about another 40 minutes before he gets back in line. I watched a lot of people leave that ride before the rode it and no one looked happy. 

We didn't like being seperated from each other for so long. I mean we were there as a family to have fun and we weren't having fun at this point. I see a cast member who lets me into the circus tent and there are kids playing everywhere and you really can't keep an eye on your child. I didn't like that all! We wanted out of there so we asked Jayla if she would be upset if we didn't ride Dumbo but go get in line for the tea cups instead. Luckily she was game!!! 

Once we got over the Dumbo hump it was smooth sailing and we had a blast! Jayla did really good and really surprised me at how well she handled all the walking with very little complaining. If you are going to ride Dumbo, get a fast pass so Dumbo doesn't piss you off too.

I held her during the long lines to get her off her feet and before dinner I switched her shoes out which seemed to help because she didn't say her feet hurt anymore.

Leaving the parking lot that evening was quite confusing, we really didn't know where the exit was and no one around to direct you where to go. We finally found our way out and between the gps and the roads we got a little confused and missed our exit. The GPS rerouted us back to Disney and from there we were able to get to our exit and head back to my Grandpa's. Jayla was so wore out that she was passed out before we even got out of the parking lot. I think she passed out once she hit her car seat. Luckily we didn't catch any rain that day until we were leaving the park.

  

     

The Big Reveal

It was so hard for me not to tell Jayla about Disney World. There were so many times I just wanted to yell and dance that she is going. It was seriously eating away at me. The closer it got to us going the harder it was.

The orginal plan was to tell her the morning of that we were going. The plan didn't exactly go as planned. We caved the night before and told her. She was starting to ask a lot of questions as to why she was having to go to bed early and why we were having to get up so early. 

To save the peace from a million and one questions we went ahead and told her that she got her invite.

I was seriously crying when we told her. I mean tears were rolling down my face!

   

DIY Disney Autograph Book

Today is finally the day!! We are headed to Florida and in a few short days I get to surprise Nut-nut with a day at Magic Kingdom. 

This little DIY autograph book is the last of the Disney loot I have to surprise her with. 

I really didn't want to spend a fortune on a book at the park and knew I could make one for way less.

I found a little sketch pad and lightly painted the front and back cover black and then put a thin coat of mod podge over it. It was orginally a hunter green.

I found a cute Cinderella's castle with Tinkerbell on it that has glitter on the inside and glued it to the book and used some stickers I had on hand to put her name on it. I then tied a sharpie marker to the book with ribbon.

I had everything on hand except for the book so the total cost was about $5. 

I love how it turned it out and I think it's so much cuter then the cheesy ones you find at the resort that every other kid will have. 

I can't wait for her to see!! She is going to LOVE it!!

 

Go enter the giveaway for Clean Cut Studio on Etsy. Only a few more days left!



   

DIY Disney Shirts With Clean Cut Studio{Giveaway}

With our upcoming adventure to Magic Kingdom I wanted some cute Disney shirts for us to wear.

I was on a budget and a time crunch to get us some shirts. I scoured all over etsy trying to find us some shirts. They were either out of my price range or the turn around time was too long. That is when I came across Courtney's shop, Clean Cut Studio. She sells the cutest vinyl iron decals and had exactly what I was looking for!

From the first message. Courtney was such a doll to work with. She is seriously the sweetest! I had wanted a mom and dad decal for my hubbs and I, but I didn't want them too big. I was already pushing my luck with getting the hubbs to wear a matching Disney shirt. She was happy to customize the decals to my preference. 

I think Courtney may have a little postal fairy hanging out in her back pocket because the decals arrived quickly. I ordered on Saturday morning and they were in my mailbox on Monday morning. They traveled from California to South Carolina in record timing!! 

I was a bit nervous when it came time to put the decals on because the iron and I aren't exactly friends. I seriously don't iron anything.

My mom may or may not still do my ironing for me. 

The decals ironed on like a dream and if I can iron these on and not mess them up then anyone can do this with ease.

I am seriously in love with our shirts and can't wait to rock them out at Magic Kindgom.

 

  Courtney has been so gracious and is going to give one lucky reader a $15 credit to her Etsy shop, Clean Cut Stuido, which will include free shipping! Head over to check out her seriously adorable decals and enter the giveaway! You won't want to miss this giveaway and a chance at working with Courtney! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

** I was in no way compensated for the review. I purchased the decals with my own money. The opinions in this post are just that, mine, based on my experience** 

Invitation To Disney

Some you may know about our upcoming trip to Florida to visit with my Grandpa and that we are surprising Jayla with a day at Magic Kingdom. 

She knows we are going to Florida to visit Grandpa Bill and that is it. There has not been a whisper about Disney with her around.

The other week I was on Pinterest and she saw a picture of Cinderella's castle on the news feed and got upset because she has never been invited and that she really wants to go. Where she came up with the idea that you have to be "invited" to go is beyond me. She quickly got over it and went about her business.

A few days pass and we are watching America's Funniest Videos.(It's a Sunday family tradition) AFV always has something about Disney on the show and once again she gets upset that she hasn't been invited. I'm talking full on tears and meltdown mode this time. I felt so bad and just wanted to tell her we ARE going! I can't take the crying. 

To calm her down we told her that we will write Disney a letter telling them why she deserves to be invited and that we will mail it and then wait for Disney to send you an invitation. We told her that it could take a really long to get invited because they will get a lot of letters from other kids. It worked like a charm and the tears stopped.

We helped her write a letter and hubbs "mailed" it the next day on his way to school.

With her writing a letter to Disney and thinking that she needs to be invited to go I thought that I should come up with some sort of invitation. I enlisted my friend Sarah to use her awesome Photoshop skills and help me come up with an invitation. She came with up with the cutest design and emailed it to me for me to print off.

I can't wait for Jayla to see her invitation!!! Now I just need to keep my mouth shut for two more weeks!

Seriously, how cute is that invitation? 

 On Friday I will be showing you our shirts for Disney and a giveaway!!!  

Happies & Crappies [6]

Happy Friday!!! I don't know about you but I'm glad the weekend is finally here! It's been a long week. Not much has really gone but I have been busy. This week was busier then it should have been.

I haven't linked up for Happies & Crappies in a while and figured it was about time I did another installment.



I think this week has kind of sucked so I'm going to get the crappies out the way

Crappies
1. My husband's car messed up and we had to fix it. It seems like everytime I turn around something is going wrong with one of the cars. They need to stop breaking.
2. Nut nut got a little tummy virus and wasn't feeling good.
3. I got the tummy virus from nut-nut
4. My dog somehow spilled chocolate milk all over my bed and the waterproof protector didn't protect the bed. There goes that warranty.
5. I'm so stressed out over everything. Life really needs to cut this girl some slack.

Happies
1. My brother came down and spent last weekend with us for his birthday. I enjoy having my brother down and Jayla adores him. She was over the moon to spend time with him.
2. My husband finally got to go golfing. He works hard and I love it when he has a chance to go play. He deserves it.
3. My husband got all 100's on his midterms. So proud of him.
4. 17 days until we leave to spend time with my Grandpa in Florida. I so need a vacation and we will be surprising Jayla with a day at Magic Kingdom. She has no clue!!!!
5. Luckily, the virus left as quick as it came. This mama doesn't have time to be down.