Pause the blog.

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One of my favorite things that my kids say that I NEVER said as a kid is “Pause” the game.

They could be playing tag. “Pause! Pause the game.”  They could be playing checkers. Pause.

The TV can be paused. The game on the iPad can be paused. Anything can be paused, because they think everything can just be paused.

I love that they think this and I hope it something that they can take into their adult lives to just pause for a while. It’s very healthy and necessary every once in a while. Just pause.

I had grand plans on August 1st! I thought I would participate fully in NaBloPoMo and investigate monetizing my blog, and do the daily activities in Building a Better Blog. I even thought I would be able to keep up with something simple like a Photo a Day Challenge.

Nope.

I Paused the Blog.

I had some vacationing to do. We went to the beach, ate out, played games, had s’mores. Good stuff.

Here’s some of it:

Life is…

Story Land coupon goodness.

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We had SO MUCH FUN at Story Land last year. We planned our vacation this year as soon as school ended. We have decided to mark the END of summer with a trip up north to Story Land. A sort of last hurrah of summer. We can’t wait to go!

Story Land – where fantasy lives!  Story Land is a safe and natural setting where children and their imaginations can run free. We provide a great value to our guests every day, with all-inclusive rides, shows & attractions, reasonably-priced admission ticket, FREE parking, and FREE pet kennels. Featuring birthday parties and character dinners, Story Land is a celebration for the young at heart. This world of fantasy is punctuated by the kaleidoscope of flowers and emerald fields of New Hampshire’s beautiful White Mountains. Timeless characters like Humpty Dumpty, the Old Woman in the Shoe, the Three Little Pigs, and Peter Rabbit came to life here in 1954. ~StoryLand website

Have you been yet?

It’s perfect for little kids. My 2 year old went on every single ride except for the roller coaster last year. The park is a manageable walkable size for little legs. (And I mean mine :-) Tons of great hotel options in the area give you options for a great little getaway.

And of course, I have a coupon for you! Yep, I do. You can save up to $28 on regular admission.

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Coupon Brought to you by USFamilyGuide.com. For this post and my sharing on social media I have been given a free pass to Story Land. All opinions are, of course, my own. 

Thomas the Train is coming!

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When my first was a toddler he wasn’t much into trains. Then I had a girl, and well, no. But the third time’s a charm for many things I guess. I have a train lover on my hands!

We can’t wait to go see Thomas at Edaville! The GO GO Thomas Tour 2013 is visiting the Edaville USA Railroad in Carver MA on June 15-16, 2013 and June 21-22.. This fun-filled event offers little engineers and their families the opportunity to take a ride with Thomas the Tank Engine, star of the popular Thomas & Friends series.

Kids will take a ride along with their favorite engine friend on his latest adventure and participate in Thomas-themed activities including:

* A 25-minute (approximate) ride with Thomas the Tank Engine
* Meet Sir Topham Hatt, Controller of the Railway
* A Thomas & Friends Imagination Station; featuring stamps, temporary tattoos, hands-on arts & crafts, train tables, and coloring sheets
* Storytelling
* Video viewing and much more

Get Your Tickets Today!
June 15-16, 2013 and June 21-22

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This post (and my sharing on social media) was inspired by my participation in a program by USFamilyGuide.com. I have been given a free passes to Edaville for this post. Image used with permission.

What to do when your kid gets sick at Disney.

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First of all, if there is some kind of emergency call 911. Don’t hesitate. Just do it. Please.

Second, if your toddler falls down and hurts themselves, like scrapes their knee. Either deal with it yourself or find a nurse at the park. They have them, that’s what they do. Use them.

And third, if your child’s situation falls somewhere in between, well than you have some decisions to make. None of them are easy. Most will cost you money. It’s a shame that we have to think about money in these situations but we do, don’t we? Healthcare isn’t free, is it? Hrmpf.

In our situation we had a 2 year old with a ear infection and some asthma (undiagnosed) issues and a 6 year old that woke up with a 103 degree fever the first morning we were there.

You have some options about how to get your kid some help. You can:

• Go to Urgent Care
• Go to the Emergency Room
• Use Docs on Call – they come to your hotel
• Call your own Pediatrician – in almost every case your doc is going to tell you to use one of the above services. Most pediatricians will NOT prescribe anything for a patient they have not seen. Which is hugely frustrating, but also kind of important. If your kid is sick get them seen by a doctor.

In the first three cases your hotel will have the information that you need. You’ll have to decide what you think your insurance will cover and what you think you’ll have to pay out of pocket and make your choice. If you don’t have a car, the urgent care we used had a free shuttle which was very convenient. A taxi would be necessary for the ER trip, the front desk can get you one.

If you bought trip insurance you may just want to bail. We didn’t, so we couldn’t. It would have cost us a ton of money to change the flights meanwhile losing the money we already spent. Although for a few minutes the thought crossed my mind.

Now that you’ve taken care of the physical part here’s the other part – the mental part. The thing about having sick kids at Disney or on any vacation is that you’re going to need to get over yourself and right quick. It is not your kid’s fault they got sick, they have not ruined anything. If you breathe a moment of that to them you are an awful person. That said, I know you’re upset. You spent a lot of money, you had expectations. I get it. Have a hissy fit in the bathroom. Give yourself a good cry in the shower. Then tend to your sickies and make sure that those that are well are still having fun.

We had to slow down. We spent lazy mornings in the hotel while assessing everyones wellness, or illness as the case was. We lingered longer over lunches. Said yes more often. Ice cream in the morning? Yes. Funny Mickey wizrd hat that costs waaay too much? Yes.We went to the pool and to the arcade instead of going to the parks on a couple of days. We spent more time just being with them and watching them.

Because they were sick I had my eyes trained on them to be sure that they were feeling ok. In that observation, I know I was able to see things I would have missed otherwise. I would have been so focused on getting us from place to place and thinking “what’s next?”.

My favorite picture from our trip is this one:

I love it because we had just spent a nice leisurely time at breakfast. My guy is feeling better, but still not at his best. But he’s so excited. He is pouring over the map rapidly talking about where we should go. I think had he been well I may have shushed him and told him I had it all worked out and to hurry up that the bus was coming. Instead, I listened to him and discussed his ideas. I saw the light and the colors and my beautiful boy so happy and snapped a photo.

I know there is a place for planning out your disney trip, and I’m happy to talk about that with anyone who will listen. I have advice and ideas and real life knowledge about how to have a great Disney World trip. The fact that I can actually say our trip to Disney was great even with all the evidence that it really was not, says something. Sometimes the best laid plans… :-)

I am grateful that our first real family vacation unfolded the way it did. I am not grateful for sick kids, but everyone was, and is, OK. There was some Disney Magic around. It turned out fine. It taught us how we travelled as a family, how we face adversity, how we cope. We will never vacation the way I thought we would again. And for my family, that’s ok.

If you presently have a sick kid on vacation, listen to me, it’s gonna be ok. Make the memories as they come to you. Don’t force it. Take it easy.
You’ll laugh about it someday. Promise.

Day 6 – Magic Kingdom Redux

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The FIRST thing we did when we got to The Magic Kingdom on our last day was get to the Town Square Theater to meet The Boss. We hadn’t done that yet because Nate wasn’t with us for the beginning of our first day at MK.

Thankfully it was a pretty short wait and it was so worth NOT going without the big boy a previous day. He gave him such a big hug.

Just when you think your kids are growing up they remind you that they are in fact still kids, and aren’t too big to hug the stuffing out of Mickey Mouse.

Then we stood in line to meet the princesses (Pro Tip – you can get fastpasses for Character meet and greets at the Theater. I recommend this!)

And then some Fairies in Adventureland.

I was a bit frantic in the morning trying to figure out what we needed to do because it was our last day. So after all the meet and greets and after a couple of hours Theo fell asleep (again) and the other two were getting slower and slower.

Today was supposed to be our rest at the pool day remember? I figured they would they would have been pooped by now, but they were extra pooped because of all the sickness. So I put it in a slow gear and we just wandered around the Magic Kingdom. We decided as we went what we would do.

It was actually quite a nice way to end our crazy week. They choose their favorite ride Buzz Lightyear and called it a day. Back to the hotel for some swimming and ice cream, and packing :-(

And some much needed sleep.

Art of Animation Cars Suite Video Tour

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When we were at Walt Disney World we stayed at the brand new Art of Animation Resort.

As soon as I saw pictures of the Cars Suite I KNEW that’s where I wanted to stay. My 2 yo has seen the movies at least 100 times. They all love it. I investigated a lot of other options and kept coming back to the Cozy Cone ;-)

Besides the Magic of Disney and the wonderfulness of Nana, the other factor in our trip not becoming a gigantic disaster was our room. Our glorious Cars Suite.

Here’s a tour…

There is supposed to be a video here. If there isn’t please refresh – it’s like magic :-)
 

Full review of the Art of Animation Resort soon!