Mind your P's and Q's

Wordless Wednesday: Feed the birds

By Nicole, on 03.03.10

Around the World

By Nicole, on 03.02.10

When I was in college, I always dreamed of taking a summer off to travel around Europe. School or work always seemed to get in the way, and I never got my summer backpacking around Europe. Now that I am older and have kids, I still want to pack up and travel. However, as an adult with a job, house, and a whole host of other responsibilities, it isn’t quite that easy. So here is the plan:

When the kids are older, we are going to take a year off and travel the world with them. We will likely wait until the kids are in the 9-13 years old range. I want them to be old enough to remember the trip, but not so old that they are too cool to hang with mom and dad for a year.

I don’t know exactly where we will go, I some definite ideas:
Barging down the Saone River in Burgundy
Driving a Campervan all around New Zealand
Sailing in the Whitsunday Islands
Exploring Angkor Wat
Walking on the Great Wall
Visiting cities like London, Paris, Rome, Athens, Bangkok, Vientiane, Beijing, Tokyo, Cairo, Ephesus, Nicosia, Sydney, Perth, Cairns, I could keep going for pages.
I’m sure as the kids get older an itinerary will come together a bit better, as I am sure they will have ideas about where they want to go as well. Who knows, a safari adventure might be in our future!

Right now our focus is on saving for our adventure(s). But I am reading up on other topics like how to pack for a year on the road, travel gadgets, road schooling (Like home schooling, but while traveling), and how to travel cheaply. As I read about cool things I will post them. Stay Tuned!

Snakes, Frogs, and Creepy-crawlies, Oh My!

By Nicole, on 03.01.10

Poison Dart Frog native to Costa Rica

Today is Monday. I’m back at work and dreaming about a vacation 180 degrees from sitting at my desk. Lately, Costa Rica has taken a prominent place in those dreams. I keep thinking of Trekking through a cloud forest looking for interesting animals, watching a light show from a volcano, seeing monkeys frolic on the beach, swimming in a thermal spring and basking in the warm tropical sun. It sounds pretty perfect to me right now.
There are other reasons that Costa Rica is high on my list. It is a short flight from Miami, about 3 hours. A 3 hour flight with 2 small boys should be fairly painless (I can hope right, don’t ruin it for me). It is the boys that inspire the Costa Rica dreaming, truth be told. I can’t even imagine how much my boys will love seeing all the creepy-crawlies, lizards, snakes, butterflies, frogs, etc. Plus, it is a vacation that consists of being outside pretty much all the time.
A dream trip to Costa Rica, would probably go something like this:
We would start with a visit to the Poas Volcano. It is a volcano that you don’t need to climb to see the crater, perfect for the boys! Then off to Arenal to visit an active volcano. I have a mental image of the family playing and relaxing in a hot spring while watching explosions and lava from Arenal volcano light up the sky. There is lots of adventure to be had in Arenal between rafting, hiking, zip lining, and animal watching. I think it would take a few days for us to get our fill. Then, a visit to the cloud forest of Monteverde. I think the boys would get a kick out of seeing clouds race past them just barely out of reach. Lastly, we would go to the beaches of Manual Antonio to play in the surf and see all the monkeys on the shoreline. This leaves out the rain forests with a large population of Scarlet MaCaws ( a must for Q) and a visit to Tortuguero to see the sea turtles.
Most of all, I like the idea of exploring nature with my boys in a relaxed pace and learning something new. I hope we get to go to Costa Rica soon. However, I would like to wait until I can be sure my boys won’t touch the poisonous frogs, eat mysterious plants, or play with the snakes.

Check out more Monday Dreaming at Mother of all Trips

Cheap things to do with kids in South Florida

By Nicole, on 02.26.10

Q at Gumbo Limbo looking at the Turtles

I love a dollar as much as the next person, if not more. And when you have kids each dollar spent adds up really quickly. An afternoon at the zoo or museum at $10-$15 a pop becomes a $40-$60 outing! And for my kids, who might get tired or cranky or want to go home mid-visit, this isn’t the best investment for us. These are some of my favorite free or almost free things to do with my kids.

Don't worry, it's not a real turtle

Gumbo Limbo Park in Boca Raton – Free, donation requested. They have fish tanks, snakes, outdoor open air tanks with Sharks, Turtle, and fish, a boardwalk with a observations tower, a butterfly garden, and it is right on the intracoastal. It is great way to spend an hour or two with the kids and they never get tired of going there.

Sugar Sand Park in Boca Raton – Free, donation requested at the museum. Sugar Sand Park is great! There is a huge playground that is built like a fort. You can let the kids run around and explore on their own, because there is only one way out of the playground area and there is plenty of seating for adults to watch for their kids. When it is warm, there are water squirters too that my boys love to play in. There is also a carousel that your kids can ride for a $1 a ride. Lastly, there is a small science museum that changes fairly frequently. My kids always want to go the playground and then inside to the air condonitoting to play in the museum.

Splash Adventure Water Park – $4.50/person. Splash adventure is a water park for little kids. The water isn’t deeper than 18 inches anywhere in the park. There are a bunch of slides and water spraying everywhere. It is perfect for small children, ones who know how to swim and ones who don’t. There are great lounge chairs under extra large umbrellas. They also have picnic tables under shade which is a great place to have lunch. This is great for a sunny south Florida day. It isn’t open year round, so check the schedule, but definitely worth a trip.

Boca Raton Library – Free. The Boca Raton library does Story time for children several times a week. They have different age levels that the sessions are geared towards. The sessions are usually an hour, they read a story or two, play a few games, and sing a few songs. It is a wonderful way to spend time with your kids. Then after the session, it is fun to look at books to borrow or just read a few more together.

The Friendcation

By Nicole, on 02.25.10

Our Siesta Key Vacation Group - 2009

Just about everyone has taken some type of family vacation. Whether it is immediate family only, with the grandparents, visiting family, just about everyone has had some type of experience with the family vacation. This year, I propose you try the friendcation.
What is a friendcation? It is basically, a vacation with your friends rather than family. We try and do one every year. For the past 4 years, we have gone to Siesta Key (Sarasota) in Florida. We rent a condo, and play on the beach for a week. It is fantastic! The kids have friends to play with and the adults have friends to hang out with. The first year we did this vacation, it was just 3 families (12 people), last year it was over 70 people and a blast!
We stay at a place called Sarasota Surf and Racquet Club. They mostly have 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom units. They are individually owned so all are decorated a bit differently. It is right on the beach, which makes trucking out beach toys and gear very easy. They have 2 pools as well. So the kids spend the day going from the sand to the ocean to the sand to the pool and repeat. They get nice and tired out and sleep great at night. Then the adults can play games, have adult beverages, snacks, and just have a great time. The only problem with this is that the adults don’t get much sleep. No worries! Snoozing on the beach in a lounger while another adult watches your kids for an hour or so is always an option.
Our idea of friendcation is the beach. The beach is great at just about any age, even a one or two year old can play in the sand or let the ocean lap at his feet. But other ideas for a great friendcation could be skiing, a cruise, or another adventure; it is always a great time!

Where to stay at Disney World

By Nicole, on 02.24.10

I’ll come right out and say it, I am cheap. I cannot justify spending $300+ dollars a night for a simple hotel room, just because it is a Disney hotel. I know there is a “magical” quality to staying on site and a convenience factor for some. For our family, I find a better alternative is staying as close to the parks as we can in a Suite-hotel. This works for a few reasons.
1. You have a kitchen. Not depending on Disney for each and every one of your meals is nice and saves you quite a bit of money. Also, you are able to keep a stock of kid’s snacks. For Babies, having a kitchen for milk, formula, etc is especially crucial. Lastly, for kids who have waited in lines all day, sitting down and waiting for dinner doesn’t seem to appealing.
2. Separate Living areas and Bedrooms! When the kids go the sleep at 8pm, who really wants to go to sleep with them. In a regular hotel room, you don’t have much of a choice. With a separate living area, you and your sweetie can do whatever you like while the little ones are sleeping in the next room. Also, if you have an early riser child, the next morning they can play in the living area while the other child(ren) and adult get some extra shuteye.
These are the two main reasons why we stay in a suite. And guess what, if you find the right places – it doesn’t cost anymore than a regular hotel room and it is a heck of a lot less money than staying in a Disney hotel! Shhh – don’t tell anyone!

Disney World Tips and Tricks

By Nicole, on 02.23.10

Q at Disney

We enjoy taking our kids to Disney. It is relatively close to us and can be a great weekend get-away. However, after going to Disney many times, we have a few tricks to make the visit extra special.

Tip #1: Schedule a breakfast at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom. It is a character dining experience that is located at the end of Main Street USA. You get to see Winner the Pooh, Tigger, Eyeore, and Piglet. While the kids enjoy the character experience, that isn’t the reason we go. You can make a reservation to eat here before the park opens. So you get to take these great pictures of your children on Main Street USA, in front of the castle, etc and no one else is in the pictures! You can get wonderful picture of your kids with wonder and excitement on their faces, rather than confusion and disorientation from all the people in the park!

Tip #2: Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom have kids play areas. In the Magic Kingdom it is Winnie the pooh themed and in Animal Kingdom it is dinosaur themed. Take advantage of these areas. It is hard for little kids to be patient and wait in line. They need to run around and burn off some excess energy from time to time. This is the perfect opportunity for them to do this. I know you didn’t go all the way to Disney for your kids to play on a playground like you might see at home. However, they will be more patient in lines and at other attractions if you let them take advantage of a little playtime between rides.

Tip #3: Leave the Park to take a nap. It is a long day with a lot of walking, especially for your kids. I know that it is a process to make you way out of the park, to your car and back to the hotel. Trust me, it is worth it. I enjoy seeing my kids fascinated by the nighttime parades and fireworks. Without that nap, there is no way they will be fascinated. In fact, they will probably just be down right cranky or asleep without it.

Tip #4: You want to go to Epcot, but aren’t so sure what the kids will find to do there. No worries! All the rides in epcot have great interactive adventures and displays once you get off the rides. My personal favorite is” Turtle Talk with Crush”. After the Living Seas ride, be sure to go visit Crush and your kids will get to ask him all kinds of questions. Educational and funny, how can your beat that!

Tip #5: Don’t try and see everything. It is ok to miss things. Take things at a reasonable pace for you and your kids. Remember, you are on vacation. If you race to see everything, you will feel like you have run a race at the end of your trip. Relax and have fun!