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Of all the beach condos we’ve rented over the years, my favorite vacation rentals always have a kitchen stocked with a Crockpot for an easy summer meal. Pop these easy recipes into the slowcooker, go about your business of having the best beach trip ever, and come home exhausted from all the sunshine and ocean waves to find a hot meal ready and waiting for you. While the kids shower off, pop one of the easy grocery store side dishes into the oven and dinner is ready!...

A trip to Walt Disney World is about so much more than just riding as many rides as you can squeeze in to your visit. While I love to take advantage of their system to experience as many of the best rides at Magic Kingdom, I love that it opens up time in my schedule to make sure we’re having fun with the other things the park has to offer, too!...

When you’re planning a big trip that is months away, it is fun to take advantage of the waiting time to get excited about the adventure and learn more about your destination. These romantic movies set in Ireland have been on my watch list as we plan our big trip to Dublin, Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day in March. Some of the classic movies like The Quiet Man have long been some of my favorites, but there have been so many new movies to come out that were filmed in Ireland that I’ve added to the list....

You can either plan ahead and be prepared with all the things to pack in your car for a happy trip or you can try to wing it and spend the first hour of your drive worrying about what you forgot. I’ve broken down all the road trip essentials you need to make the drive more comfortable and keep everyone in the car happy and well fed! Plan ahead with this ultimate list of all the road trip essentials you’ll ever need for your family road trips....

The first time we did a big Disney Vacation Reveal for our daughter was an embarrassing FLOP. We expected way too much from a 5-year-old at the time. We learned from our mistakes and have found better, more exciting ways to reveal a Disney trip to the kids that actually gets the reaction you would imagine. Whichever way you choose to tell your kids they’re going to Disney, I hope your magical vacation starts off on the happiest of notes....

We’ve all been there . . . your kid has an eye on yet another Disney toy or souvenir. Vacation mode makes it hard to resist. But how do you stop those shopping conflicts before they start?? Real all the guide books and blog posts you want, the best way to get Disney advice is from a family who has recently experienced the Disney magic themselves. I love interviewing people after they travel to Disney to hear the kind of real world, hands-on advice you can only get from a parent who has just been to Disney!...

I still remember being a little confused when my parents signed me up for my first golfing lessons at age 12. Golfing seemed like such an Old Folks Sport. It was something my parents did on the weekends as a chance to escape us for a few hours and hang out with their friends. My golfing skills never really took off, but I remember my mom encouraging me that it was a sport I could play for a lifetime....

For 3 whole weeks this summer, the girls and I embarked on an epic family road trip throughout the midwest. I mentioned it before we left while packing was on my mind. I had great intentions for sharing our adventures from the road with you as we went along. Somewhere during Week 2 the plan fell apart as I discovered the challenges of blogging on the road. I will never rely on hotel wi-fi again!...

I have a deep fondness for zoos, my kids have always enjoyed our visits when stop at major zoos when we travel. While my husband and I were on a romantic anniversary getaway to Greenville, SC, we decided to stop in at the Greenville Zoo even though we didn’t have the kids. If you’re interested in adding a fun highlight to your next Greenville trip, this is a great thing to add to your itinerary....

If you’re planning to move to Charlotte, one of the best ways to get excited about your new home is to watch one of the amazing movies filmed in North Carolina. When we moved to the South from the Midwest, we were so excited to see the mountains and beautiful waterways of our new state in major movie features. I’ve made a list below of our favorite movies with local scenery and listed where each one was filmed....

I learn much more by traveling by myself. {Roberto Cavalli} 10 Tips for Traveling Solo: 1. Find a travel mentor. Do you have a sister-in-law who travels regularly? Ask questions. Does your co-worker fly home for the holidays? Ask for tips about your local airport. For example, Tiffany has a secret parking spot at General Mitchell Airport that is always available. Read how having her as a travel mentor helped me hold it together during my recent trip to Sevierville Tennessee....

The Georgia Aquarium was the biggest hotspot on my Must See list with our girls. After my solo trip to Atlanta in January, I could not wait to bring the rest of the family back for a weekend. The close proximity of so many attractions in one small spot was very appealing but I have to admit that secretly I was worried our old beloved Shedd Aquarium in Chicago might have set my girls’ expectations too high for this aquarium....

As soon as we arrived for our first day of family vacation in Myrtle Beach, we were starving and needed to refuel for lunch. It was too early to check into our condo rental and we didn’t have enough energy for outlet shopping until we all had a bite to eat. I don’t know about you, but when I’m on a beach trip, I want seafood! In order to get into the vacation mindset, a little shrimp and maybe a margarita is just what I need....

Mary Kay Andrews is the author of 30 fantastic beach reads she has published at the pace of one a year for 30 years. I always look forward to her new release around May but this year’s book “The Homewreckers” was of great interest since it is set on Tybee Island and in Savannah, GA–right where we were planning our annual family beach trip this summer! My mom flew through the book in 48 hours but I saved it to read while we were in our beach house rental on Tybee Island....

Our family has always owned a dog and we love them like they are our children. When we rented a beach house for a family beach trip, we thought it would be fun to take our dog on vacation with us for the week. Despite our nearly constant supervision, in a very brief moment of distraction, our sweet doggy wandered off from the beach house and got lost. After two hours of intense searching and action, a heaven sent miracle connected us to the stranger who found our dog....

Living in Charlotte, we are just a 9-hour drive away from getting a dose of Disney magic, a short 4-hour drive to the beach when we need some sand between our toes, and only a 2-hour drive away from the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains. One of the biggest perks of living in the southeast is the sheer number of awesome places for a family to visit just a road trip away....

Planning your dining strategy for a trip to Disney World can feel so overwhelming and complicated. But honestly? All you need is the list of the best Magic Kingdom restaurants and understand how they can fit into a fun schedule for a day in the park. If you need the best places to eat at Magic Kingdom with kids, I’m sharing our family’s go-to restaurants for every visit we’ve made for the last 10 years....

We scheduled the visit midweek and I didn’t realize just how much we had already adjusted to our home away from home in London. Paris ended up being a bit of a shock to our systems, it is a far different city than London on many levels. I wish I would have had this list of tips to prepare both myself and my kids before we went. Paris is a great idea to include in your itinerary, especially if you’re more prepared before you go than we were....

When we take our family on an adventure, the fun begins with our preparations at home. We explore the area we’ll be visiting through books, movies, and documentaries. When we planned our day trip from London to Paris by train, we took the time to add these fantastic movies and a documentary to our watch list in the weeks ahead of the adventure. While most of the passengers on our train seemed completely unimpressed during the ride, our family sat in awe as the train dove down into the tunnel knowing we were riding underneath the ocean up above....

When you take your kids, it’s a trip. When you go on your own, it’s a vacation. We all laugh about that cliche, but what would you say if I told you there was a way you could take your kids AND have real vacation time all to yourself to do whatever YOU want to do?? Last summer, I spent an entire week in Wilmington, NC doing whatever I wanted all day long every single day....