Posts

I am a Diet Coke addict. I am also the proud owner of a B.A. in Advertising. Let’s leave all health discussions to the side for a moment and just pause to appreciate the awesomeness that is the Coca-Cola brand. No matter what you may think of them, they have one of the strongest and most recognized products in the world. So when I heard they had an entire museum dedicated to their story right next to the Georgia Aquarium, I knew it was a must-see for our weekend trip....

I’m four weeks out from our Enchanted 10K during the Princess Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World in February and I have been in the thick of intense training for weeks. My runs are getting longer and I’ve learned one simple truth: Music can make or break your stride. My normal mix of typical gym pumping rhythm tunes were starting to get old so I decided to mix in a few Disney tunes to help me visualize where we’ll be doing this crazy run....

Order Sides In addition to ordering family-style, we frequently would allow our younger daughter to order the bread basket and a veggie from the side dish menu. Sometimes she’d pick two different sides that in total were significantly cheaper than an entree. Until you see the prices on food in London and have total sticker shock like I did. What started as a budget-friendly trip can easily spiral out of control if you don’t have a plan for your dining purchases on the trip....

My single greatest regret when I first downloaded the photos from our first trip to Disney with the kids was: “WHY didn’t I hand the camera over more often and get IN the photos??” I took 600+ images over the course of 6 days. I appear in approximately 7 of them. I’m so grateful for those 7 images: I did make sure to have my husband capture me with each girl individually at the park....

We love to plan themed movie nights in the weeks leading up to our adventure. I worked in as many movies set in London, England as I could before we went on our 6 days in London adventure over spring break. Whether you’re traveling with kids, want a romantic movie to watch on your own, enjoy historical dramas to get a feel for the area, or need a funny tv series or even a horror movie to watch with your partner, there’s a little something for everyone on this list....

If you’re looking for a lovely romantic getaway within driving distance of Charlotte, don’t miss Charleston, SC. Just a short 3-hour drive from the Queen City, Charleston has all the old world charm a romantic weekend deserves. Lush garden nooks, the famous pineapple fountain, horse & carriage rides, and an amazing restaurant scene all make for a couple’s weekend right out of a fairytale. My husband and I had the chance to do a quick weekend away without the kids near our anniversary and had so much fun exploring the “Holy City,” named for the number of churches that dot the old roads....

The key to successful travel with kids is organization. There are few things worse than mounting frustration as you hunt through piles of stuff to find the one thing your baby needs RIGHT NOW. If you’re traveling with your kids on a road trip this year or planning to fly with your baby for the first time, be sure to check out this packing list of things to put in a grab bag before you go....

You can keep things super flexible by just knowing the best foods to eat in London that you can find on most menus no matter where you eat. Are these the best restaurants in London? Well I believe that is the most suggestive question you could possibly ask. The best truly depends on what you’re looking for. In our case, we needed places to eat that fit this description: We enjoyed every single meal we had on our trip....

Attending Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party has been on my Disney Bucket List forEVER. Every fall I see those pictures of the Mickey pumpkins hit social media and I writhe with jealousy. When I decided last spring to attend the Type A Parent blogging conference in Orlando the days before Halloween, Tim and I decided to buy tickets to the special event at Magic Kingdom for Halloween night....

I grew up in the Dairy State where our official dessert was local frozen custard — the kind that streams out freshly made daily and comes in only chocolate, vanilla, and the one or two special flavors of the day. I am a passionate ice cream lover and moving to the south, away from my beloved frozen custard, was a bit of a heartbreaker. (Which is why we ate daily at Kopp’s Frozen Custard when we visited family!...

Planning our family vacation to London was so much work but it was worth every minute. England is an amazing destination for your first family trip taking the kids out of the country. Whether you’ve travelled internationally as a family before or this is your first time taking the kids to Europe, these are my top tips for a first visit to London. How I wish I had a list like this when I was planning our adventure....

Welcome to Charlotte, NC and the lovely metro Carolina area! Our family has made this our home for the last several years and we’ve enjoyed getting to know our new city. We seek out all the family friendly things to do in Charlotte and have pulled them together just for you. We know you have a lot of choices for things to do in Charlotte with kids, we want to help point you towards the best ones....

Flying with kids. That simple phrase struck fear into this momma’s heart for years after Little Pea’s first flight. Picture this: just shy of 2 years old, full of independence, no seat to call her own because her frugal parents thought she could fly for free. 3 hours of MISERY for everyone on that plane. We’ve avoided a repeat occurrence like the plague but our recent trip to Disneyland in California absolutely required a flight with the girls to get there....

When I told friends that I was planning on traveling alone with my kids for 2 weeks as part of an epic road trip one summer, I was really surprised that the first response was always: “ALONE?! You are so brave, I couldn’t do that.” After hearing that comment more than a few times, nervousness and fear started to creep in. Was I crazy to consider traveling across 6 states alone with the kids?...

Spend an evening giving them a quick overview of who’s who in the British Royal Family through a series of fun videos that give quick peeks to bits of London while you’re at it. While there are other more informational documentaries and programs you could watch, I personally think showing them news footage of real moments from the Royal Family’s lives is a great way for kids to connect with these famous figures....

I believe that at least half the fun of a family vacation is prepping for the trip before we go. We love to plan themed movie nights in the weeks leading up to our adventure. I worked in as many movies set in Paris as I could before we went on our day trip from London to Paris over spring break. Whether you’re traveling with kids, want a romantic movie to watch on your own, enjoy historical dramas to get a feel for the area, or need an action adventure to watch with your partner, there’s a little something for everyone on this list....

With a few family trips to Disney under our belt and the accompanying family photos we take there, I’ve been seeing a bit of a trend: I’m not super pleased with our group shots of all 4 of us. I can’t really put my finger on what it is that I don’t like, but I know the photos could be better. I reached out to some photographers I highly respect and asked for help!...

We have a relatively small family–just the 4 of us. Even when just 2 of our 4 were tiny and wore tiny clothes, all chaos would break out in our hotel room when we stayed for a week. Clothes — Everywhere. Shoes — Everywhere. Personal accessories — No Where To Be Found. Life with grown up teens isn’t much different! The solution? Everything in it’s place. I strongly encourage you to pack these for your next family trip!...

To help you narrow down your options, I have pulled together 10 sample itineraries for a visit to London based on interest and who you’re bringing as your travel companions. On the surface level, that sounds like a fantastic idea. But all you need to do is search “Things to Do in London” and you will be overwhelmed within minutes by the incredible amount of options available in this giant metropolitan city....

Why do we put so much effort into capturing the best family vacation photos? So we can come home and share them! I’m not necessarily talking about bragging on social media (though, I’m pretty sure your friends will love your new family beach pictures), I’m talking about printing them out, putting them on display in your home, sending a few to Grandma, and using those gorgeous beach photos for remembering your priceless family adventure....