5 Effective Tips to Enjoying a Safe and Healthy Summer Vacation

Well, it's coming. No, I don't mean the inevitable feud between Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift. I mean Memorial Day weekend. If you're traveling with kids this weekend, you may remember my post on how not to lose your mind. Well, Kendra Thornton is here with some tips as well. If there's anyone who would know how to travel, it's her. She was the former Director of Communications for Orbitz and has been to 28 countries, so, yeah. She's legit. Be sure to follow her on twitter (@KendraThornton) and check her out at http://www.thorntonpr.com/ Thanks, Kendra!

5 Effective Tips to Enjoying a Safe and Healthy Summer Vacation

Every time I have gone on summer vacation with my family, I have ended up returning from the vacation learning a new lesson.  With each new lesson I have learned, I have been able to incorporate this new knowledge into future trips to make them go much more smoothly!  

It can be a big deal to make sure all the T’s are crossed and all the I’s are dotted when a family vacation rolls around.  Following a few tips can help children transition into healthy behaviors to make the trip more pleasant.  

1. Tip: Do a thorough check of the hotel you will be staying in. If you are getting a really low rate, it is okay to be suspicious.  Many low-rate hotels cater to college crowds that stay up late at night and party.  This can make it difficult for your family to get a good night’s rest before going to a theme park.  Walt Disney World resorts and Orlando hotels are well-known for offering peaceful rooms with security that enforces reasonable curfews.

2. Tip: Because it is important for children to get a good night sleep, be sure to pack along a child’s favorite sleeping stuffed animal or blanket.  These familiar surroundings may be the very thing that lures a child into a peaceful sleep during vacation time.

3. Tip: If you will be driving extensively, packing healthy snacks can keep your family filled with good nutrition.  This can reduce hunger cravings and also reduce sugar rushes that encourage hyper behavior – which can be very difficult in a car!  An article on Reader’s Digest suggests dried fruit, oatmeal cookies and fruit as healthy travel snacks.

4. Tip: Keep a close eye on children when you go to a theme park or water park.  Children can easily get separated from their parents in large crowds.  Go over rules with your kids and make sure they stay within eyesight of you.

5. Tip: Encourage your children to draw on sketchpads while they are relaxing in a hotel or when they are at an airport.  This is a great way to keep them occupied and stimulated to give you some refreshing downtime! I love having my children pack their own little canvas of toys for the car or a backpack of a few items they personally wanted to pack to keep them happy on the road or in the air!

Try not to overthink planning your vacation to the point where you no longer are having fun!  Taking time to prepare for the vacation in advance will help to relieve stress and give you confidence.

For Mom

I am going to post on my night at the Ritz... amazing. In honor of Mother's Day tomorrow, I thought I'd share with you a snippet from my mom's gift from her three kids.

Tomorrow, my mom will celebrate her 32nd Mother's Day, so my brothers and I wrote 32 memories we have or lessons we learned from Mom. We divided it up, so Joe and I each wrote 11 and Jesse wrote 10, and put our memories/lessons in envelopes and tied them up with a ribbon. I can't wait to see her reaction at brunch tomorrow.

If I am on the ball, I'll update this post with a picture of it, but if I'm busy with The Children, you'll just have to settle for one of my memories:

One memory that stands out for me is from my junior year of high school. We had gone to Ohio after Paw-Paw had passed away and I’d found a tanning lamp in the basement… Oh my God. I just perched in front of it, waiting to feel tan like you do when you are on the beach. Imagine my surprise when I burnt the shit out of myself. My face was PURPLE for days. What was perhaps worse was when it came time to go back to school, my face was peeling. Peeling like a snake’s skin. Peeling like I had leprosy. Peeling like I had frosted flakes coming off my face. I went to school, not with a bad hair day, but with a bad face day. I snuck into chorus, my first class of the day, and I felt like everyone was looking at me. I felt sooo ugly and I didn’t want anyone to see me. I hid in the bathroom during break and called you from the pay phone at the front of the school to come and get me.

Some parents may have wanted to teach their kids a lesson about vanity. Some may have said they were too busy. You dropped what you were doing and came and got me.  I cried in the car all the way home. When we got back, I busied myself with exfoliating the shit out of my face. My skin was pink and raw and my eyes were puffy and burning from crying and you let me go take a nap.

What stood out to me was that A) facial tanning lamps are the devil B) you will always be there and scoop me up when I need you. Even though I was a brat in high school. And college. And off and on, well, all the time.

I Can't Stop Smiling

I know I've been MIA for a while, but for good reason. There comes a time in my house when the homeostasis has been so thrown off I must attend to matters at hand. Very serious business. Think BioDome. 

Homeostasis = Biodome, get it? Sigh.

Yes, there comes a time when I must attend to the laundry. And clear out the fridge. And bathe the children once a month. If not, Ryan begins to talk nonsense about firing me. Whatever that means. 

Anyways, I am taking time out from the very important task of sorting socks to tell you that I can't stop smiling. Let me rewind. Once upon a time, I said that all I wanted for my birthday was a full night of sleep. (For the record, it's been over a year and a half since I've had a night of sleep thanks to pregnancy and Palmer). Palmer is STILL waking up 4+ times a night, so I am borderline psychotic. My apologies to everyone who knows me. 

A few weeks ago I officially turned 30 something. When asked what I wanted for my birthday, I jokingly said a full night of sleep. Well, Ryan and my parents got together and decided to be awesome. I mean, CRAZY awesome. They booked me a night at the Ritz and a spa package. Ummm... not kidding. I just got off the phone booking my massage, facial, and manicure. AHHHH!!! Here are a few pics of what I'm going to experience this weekend:

Hey, Chair. Watch out.
You're about to get served.
I'm going to read on you so hard you won't know what hit you.

If it were my house, I'd think that were poop right there.
But since it's the Ritz, I know I'm going to have stones on me. Not poop.

And you know I'm drinking champagne during my bath.

Damn straight, I'm jumping on the bed in a Ritz-Carlton robe.

Because I am a planner, I have already mapped out some to-dos before I go. One important task is to go to Total Wine and find an awesome bottle of champagne. I will also pack some comfy socks, pajama pants, three half-read books I've been meaning to get finish, and Working Girl because it's my favorite movie.

I've even created a to-do list for when I get there:

It's a tough list. Not sure I'll be able to get it all done.

It's a good thing I booked a facial because these smile lines are deep.