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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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Hotel Review: Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
The options of Disney resorts can be mind boggling, and Bay Lake Towers is one option that presents itself as a perfect base for those who plan on placing their Walt Disney world energies into Magic Kingdom.
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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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Three Kids and a…High Tide
This was supposed to start as a cliched story of a fabulous vacation photo with two of my little people. In fact I had spent countless hours in the shower working out the story in my head (or minutes really, just minutes, because I'm a mom and they're always lurking, even when I'm in the shower while on vacation). And then it happened; high tide happened. And the story seemed like it was gone for good.
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The Dos and Don’ts of Dining at Disney World
Food. It seems like it should be a pretty simple topic, but when traveling with kids, it’s anything but (because, you know, kids). It seems my little people are often hungry on “off times,” sleeping during “dining hours,” hating whatever it is I ordered for them (usually the only thing that would eat the day before), and wiggling about as they struggle with sitting quietly in their chairs while everyone at the table finishes. It just isn’t easy. Think it’ll be easier at dining at Disney World? Well, actually, maybe it will. Maybe it won’t. (But hopefully it will.) Because, again, you know, kids. But there are a few things…
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The Reserve at Paradisus Palma Real Family Concierge Reviewed: A Family-Friendly Resort
I wanted to melt into a chaise by the ocean, float in a pool, swim up to a bar, and stretch along the balcony as I watched the sun set. And, as any parent with preschool-age little people knows, to find this elusive vacation one must find a place to stay that would make one's children feel like the little royals they often believe themselves to be (insert eye roll). Que The Reserve at Paradisus Palma Real.
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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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Edaville Family Theme Park is Worth Your Weekend (Let’s Be Honest, It’s Thomas Land)
For a family that typically does Disney World at least three times a year and a momma who grew up working at a family-owned theme park in Pennsylvania (which we visit annually), we really didn't know what to expect before showing up. But it was perfect. It was small and sweet. It was managable. It was suited for everyone. And, most importantly, it had Thomas.
