Family Travel Dreams

I love to travel. My same travel bug has also hit my entire family but honestly, it's not very easy to travel often as a family of six. It's super expensive (never under $5000 a trip) but we try to get in at least one a year. As a family, we discuss our travel dreams often. This makes for good quality family time and helps me plan out finances for future travels. My kids have big travel dreams. It's not just Disney or the beach for them (spoiled Floridians!)

So....as you go through our list, please let me know if you have been to any of these destinations with your kids. All recommendations are welcome!

California

www.visitcalifornia.com

I have been out to various parts of California in the last couple of years (thanks to blogging!!) but I have never been out there with my family. My kids are dying to go out to Cali but I know we need to do it right. We need to go out there for a couple of weeks and just explore everything from Hollywood to the beaches to San Francisco to the mountains, all of it!

Hawaii



Hawaii is Gian's dream vacation spot. He wants to explore every island, go surfing, explore a volcano, all of it. We told him we would definitely do this for his 14th or 15th birthday. I am slowly saving up for this amazing vacation.

Paris

Visiting Paris is all Amberly ever talks about. This is the ultimate destination for her artist soul. She can't wait to walk around the streets, visit the Louvre and just sit and stare at the Eiffel Tower for hours. We do plan on traveling to Paris for her 15th birthday instead of having a quinceñera celebration. We have started looking into our options and honestly, I am so super excited for this trip! Oh, if you have ever traveled to Paris in the winter (late December/New Year's) please comment below or send me an email about your experience!!

South Africa

South Africa is Adrian's dream vacation. He wants to see the animals and go into a cage in shark-infested waters. Very brave boy.  I don't know much about South Africa, travel wise, but I do know this would be such an epic vacation spot for all of us.

Jamaica

Heaven in the Caribbean. I am dying to go to Jamaica. JC says it's my obsession with a certain movie but honestly, I just stare in awe at the images I see. It's perfection. I always said I would want to do a couple's vacation to Jamaica but in all reality, it will probably be a family vacation. I know I would enjoy it either way!

There are many other places we talk about visiting but really, these are the dream destinations. As a parent, I hope that I can work hard enough to get us to all of these before the kids go off to college. JC and I can travel the world together after they are gone!!

What do you think? Have your kids ever talked about their dream vacations? Are any of theirs on this list?

Travel Lodging Tips for Large Families

This post has been compensated by Mami Innovative Media, LLC., and its advertiser, Triptivity by Wyndham. All opinions stated here are mine.

The easiest way for our family to bond is through vacation. Vacations are fun and can be great memories for the whole family. I never thought we were a large family but once I started booking hotel stays for us, any composition over 4 people is considered a large family. In other words, it is difficult to find hotels that allow all of us to stay in one standard room. Yes a family of 6 is considered a large family!

My biggest complaint about planning is a family vacation is trying to find lodging that won't cost us a fortune. In most hotels, we would need to rent two rooms, hopefully adjoining, for us to be able to stay there. We take at least two weekly vacations a year. Can you imagine how expensive our hotel stays would be if we had to rent two rooms each time? Our best bet is usually to rent a condo or suite. The only issue we have had with this is that most condos require you to have vacation ownership. It's been difficult to find lodging until now. Introducing......Triptivity by Wyndham! 

Triptivity is a product of Wyndham Vacation Ownership that allows non-owners of CLUB WYNDHAM® to purchase one of the following certificates via eBay listings:

• 7 nights in a 1BR suite at 59 CLUB WYNDHAM resorts (may be broken into 4-night and 3-night stays at either the same or different resorts)
• 7 nights in a 2BR suite at 59 CLUB WYNDHAM resorts (may be broken into 4-night and 3-night stays at either the same or different resorts)
• 4 nights in a 1BR suite at 59 CLUB WYNDHAM resorts (all 4 nights must be consecutive)

Staying in a condo or suite is amazing because there is room for all members of the family. They can also be more affordable when they include a kitchen since you can prepare meals in your suite. Let's face it, eating out for all meals can get super expensive! Anything that helps us large families save money is amazing! 

Terms & Conditions for Triptivity by Wyndham products:

• The certificate is valid for 12 months from the purchase date
• Only one certificate per household is allowed
• Purchaser can not be a current CLUB WYNDHAM owner
• Purchaser may book a reservation as soon as the purchase is complete for a stay that starts 15 days after purchase (30 days for FL residents)
• Reservations can be booked as far in advance as 10 months
• There are no blackout dates, but reservations are accepted based on availability
• Currently offering a reservation guarantee if purchaser calls in within 30 days of purchase date. If purchaser calls in within 30 days of purchase and there is noavailability for the date and destination requested, Triptivity will refund thepurchase price and cancel the certificate.

Individual listing for pricing, purchase and use details, FAQs and hte resorts catalogue can be viewed here: http://media.wyndhamvo.com/ebay/triptivity/Triptivity-Vacation-Catalog.pdf

A Day of Fun At Magic Kingdom

I love Magic Kingdom. It is honestly my favorite place in the whole world so on Day 2 of our vacation we headed out to Magic Kingdom. Now, we are late risers so by the time we saw this amazing sign, it was already noon!!

It was HOT HOT HOT in Magic Kingdom!!!

You have to do the castle in the background pic. Here is JC with the kids. I always get so teary-eyed when I see the castle. 

Since our kids are older (11,9,8 and 7) we have moved on the bigger kid rides at the park so our first stop was Splash Mountain. We had Fastpass for this ride so we skipped the 90 minute wait. 

I was the only person from our group who had ever been on Splash Mountain before so there was lots of excitement. Ivanna and Adrian sat in the front row, JC and Gian in the next one and then Amberly and I in the third.

Someone was terrified but ended up loving it! We all did!!

Onto the Big Thunder Mountain where the kids were tickled by the sign that read "Baths weekly!" 

We didn't have Fastpass for this ride but the wait wasn't too bad, about 25 minutes. There are lots of signs to read, memorabilia to look at and blasters to play with while you wait!

Then it was time for lunch and the Festival of Fantasy Parade which is at 3pm every day!!

I took this picture so JC could see what I was looking at all day. I kept asking him if he was having a good time and he kept saying "yes...why do you keep asking me?" Hmmm.....with a face like this, I wonder why. It's perfect for a meme like "A vikings excited face at Disney!" We made sure to get him an It's My Birthday pin so there was lots of birthday wishes headed his way!!

My girl Belle was up first in the parade!! This parade has ornate floats and incredible costumes. So colorful and fun!!

All the fun ends with probably the world's most famous couple: Mickey and Minnie!!!

Minnie's bows always rock!!!

After the parade, we made a beeline to Fantasyland, rode the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and then onto It's a Small World. There is no way you can go to Magic Kingdom and not ride It's a Small World. 

Belle's castle. I was so giddy with excitement!!

Every afternoon in Tomorrowland, there's a dance party with the cast from the Incredibles. Here are my kids doing the Macarena which was quickly followed by Watch Me Whip!! It was really col ot have Mr. and Mrs. Incredible and FroZone walking around dancing with the kids. 

Time for another mountain and the epic 2 hour wait that you can always expect at Space Mountain!!! It's so worth every minute of waiting!

Followed by everyone's favorite:Buzz Lightyear Space Rangers. Of course, JC ended up with the highest score!!

Can you tell they were over waiting in lines? It was just so HOT!!!

Silly faces always helps time go by faster!

So does pulling out a loose tooth apparently. Amberly is a barbarian I tell you!

I have always taken a picture with Zurg after the Buzz Lightyear ride and the kids were really into it!

By 8pm we were exhausted and so, so hot that we decided to skip the fireworks show and go back to the hotel. Thankfully, I packed our ponchos because it started raining as we were waiting for the ferry boat!!

Magic Kingdom was truly magical. I love all the new improvements they've made and we can't wait to go back!!

Orlando Vacation Recap: Day 1

JC turned 30 on July 16th and I wanted to make his birthday extra special. I've mentioned before that he has never been to Disney World and I thought a surprise trip up to Orlando would be a great gift. Keeping a surprise trip from him wasn't easy but the kids were amazing. They tried their hardest not to spill the beans and they didn't. I took the week off work, spent time with the kids and then on Thursday (JC's birthday) after I dropped him off at work, I raced home to start packing. Our plans were to show up at his office around 2pm with a birthday cake and then his bosses (who were in on the surprise) would send him home early. Then we would pile in the already packed van and take off to Orlando. Well at 2pm, the kids and I were at McDonald's getting lunch because it took me all day to pick up the house and pack!

We picked up a cake and headed to JC's office. He was so happy to see us and have all his co-workers sing Happy Birthday. Then Gian and Adrian told him "We are going to Disney!" I expected a big smile and happiness, we got shock, confusion and brooding! He was upset because he had alot of work to do. One of his bosses realized this and told him to just leave and enjoy his vacation. It took some negotiating but about 1/2 an hour later we were in the car and on our way (with major traffic!)

The kids had packed a bag each with their tablets, toys and a pillow. They did so well on the drive up. It took about 4.5 hours to get there and they rocked the entire way. JC was still upset! By the way, I have to share this picture of Adrian. This child can make himself comfortable anywhere. He loves road trips, stays awake the entire time and in a good mood!

We stayed at the new Cabana Bay Beach Resort at Universal. I wanted to stay on Disney property but this hotel got so many good reviews, we had to check it out. We were not disappointed. It was so great!! Well, when we got to our room, we finally got a smile from JC!!

The kids were in awe! This hotel is massive! We arrived late at night and by the time we got to our room it was almost 10pm!

Ivanna joined us on our trip. These two are like brother and sister!

These two were doing some sort of "bro" handshake they came up with so the picture is blurry at their hands but I love the way Adrian is looking at Gian!

A pool with two pools, a waterslide and a lazy river can only mean one thing: nighttime swimming!

Lucky for us, the hotel is themed as a 1960's roadside hotel so there was lots of amazing architectural features to keep JC entertained!!

The kids swam for about an hour and after showers for everyone, we were finally in bed by midnight. The rooms at the Cabana Bay Beach Resort are family suites so we had 2 beds and a sofa bed. The 6 of us were perfectly comfortable in our room!

It was a little hard to get everyone to actually fall asleep because the next day we were heading out to Magic Kingdom!!!

Stay tuned!!