Tips
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Our Ten Day Itinerary for Traveling Sicily with Kids (the Good and the Not as Good Choices)
We were prepared for this trip. Sort of. I had read and researched what to do in Sicily with kids. Again and again. I had bought books (which admittedly collected some dust on them until about a week or so before we left (I mean I am a mother of three little people; I gave up reading a long time ago (like almost seven years ago))). Still, we had a general idea of what we wanted to do, some suggestions if you will, culled from here and there, but nothing sealed in stone. Part of the reason we were trying to be fluid is we wanted our little people to…
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Five Things I Wish I had Realized Before Visiting Scotland with Kids
We had a whirlwind seven days spinning around Scotland with kids, which, I think, officially makes us experts. Not true. Not at all. The only thing that it taught us, like really really taught us, is that we need to dedicate a lot more time to this little nation that has so much to offer beyond kilts and bagpipes, haggis and Scotch. We cruised through farmlands, hills, mountains, and cities. Found islands and shorelines. We made our home in city apartments, mountain resorts, and small village inns. And in all of that movement and in each nook and cranny we crawled into, we met amazing people, ate food rich in…
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Our Top Ten Family Travel Moments of 2017
2017 has been good to us. We’ve managed to meet some of our favorite characters, see the places where fairies live, hunt for mysterious monsters, take a surprise balloon-filled bubble bath, eat ice cream in a cow field, make friends with pandas, and have sand whip our faces as we bump over giant dunes. But of all the things we’ve seen and done this year, what’ve been the top moments of family travel for us? Moments we just can’t forget? It was hard. And I think that if we revisited this question in a week, we may all come up with different answers. But here’s where it stands today, in…
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5 Fun Things to Do with Little People (6 and Under) on the Royal Mile
I know, I know. The Royal Mile is just so touristy. And it is. But that’s because it’s still an amazing part of Edinburgh to be in, especially if you’ve never been in it before and you only have a few days to spend there. It’s like NYC’s Times Square. You have to do it. Now that that’s out of the way though, let’s talk about how much this traveling tribe really did enjoy being there. And our tiny travelers? They’re already making plans to go back. Here’s why. Tea at the Queen Anne Tea Room at Edinburgh Castle When you’re six, your a princess. And when you’ve spent the afternoon…
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Thinking of Staying at an Airbnb? Here’s 5 Reasons We Loved It and 5 Reasons We Didn’t
The world is not made for odd numbers. Stop lights only really work well when the intersection can be cut evenly across, usually in fours but six will still work (at least it seems a tad bit less confusing than having no street directly across from you). Walk into any restaurant as a party of five and you’re either forced to squeeze into a table meant for four or spread out, awkwardly I might add, across a table meant for six. Conversations can be jumbled, lopsided and no longer linear. And managing to find acceptable hotel rooms without spending oodles of money? Forget about it. When we set out to…
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This Isn’t a List of the Top Things to Do in OBX
In the world of the Outer Banks (OBX), along the coast of North Carolina, I consider myself a newbie. My family and I have only been at it two glorious years. But I think it’ll be the first two years of many. But no matter how much I come, I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to give an accurate list of the Things to Do in OBX. Layout OBX is a small sliver of land, rarely more than a mile wide. The 130 mile stretch of barrier islands sprawls from the Virginia coast and continues south through four counties. The small towns and fishing villages spotting the islands…
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Guest Spot: Elyse from Kauffman Tànxiǎn 探险 Blog Offers Her Advice on Traveling with Kids
We got split reactions from everyone. It was either "you're crazy, I could never do that" or "that's amazing! I wish I could do something Ike that!" The truth is. You CAN do it. ANYONE can. I promise. Before you start rolling your eyes and stop reading, hear me out. Sure, it takes some serious planning and patience, but it's totally worth it. And, let's be clear. I don't mean "move to China." But if you have the opportunity to do that, please take it!
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5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Book Your Walt Disney World Vacation (and Why You Need to Answer Them)
It's these hiccups that really end up being the stories we carry forward as a family. And it's these hiccups that helps us plan our next trip. Through the past seven years of visiting Walt Disney World a number of times a year (for any number of days, any time of year (except summer...we just don't do Florida Disney sticky, sweat-inducing summer heat)), we've figured out some questions we ask ourselves each and every time we book a new trip. Only after we've figured the answers to these questions out, do we really get to the task of actually making the magic happen.
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Tried, True, and Cheap Ways to Make Road Trips with Young Children Entertaining (For Them) and Relaxing (For You)
Whether four hours or four days, road trips can be stressful, let alone road trips with kids. Throw a few squirmy toddlers, perhaps a slightly older little person, and a tiny person and those road trips get exponentially more stressful. Whenever those moments in the car seem to be on the verge of bursting open in frustrated wails, I close my eyes and imagine what it would be like to be strapped to the seat in a five-point harness with close to no room to shift my heft left or right, sweet toes dangling at least two feet from the ground, most likely having lost all feeling about forty five minutes into…
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6 Hacks for Making Road Trips with Young Children a Bit Easier for Their Grown Ups
I remember taking road trips with my mom and dad when I was little (don’t ask–there’s no way I’d mention how long ago that was). One year we drove the open road to Wyoming. Now, we didn’t have a station wagon, but for some reason a station wagon is in my memories. And this memory is so clear, that I’m sure it’s true. We must have borrowed it or rented it for the trip. I still have the images of my brother and I sitting in the back of the station wagon. And not the seat behind the driver’s bench seat either. I mean the most coveted seat of childhood: the…
