Giveaway Winners!

The of the Manner Mats by Blunders are:
MoneySavinDiva
Ladybug
AnthonyandEmily

The winner of the Family Talk game by Around the Table Games is:
Ryan (you did not leave an email address, please contact me)

Congrats everyone.

Mandalay Bay lazy river

The Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas has an amazing pool. There is a lazy river, wave pool, multiple big pools, and a hot tub.   There is also sand for the kids to play in.
Keep in mind that your kids have to be 48 inches tall to go in the wave pool.

To see other Friday Photos check out Delicious Baby.

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Take a Branson Missiouri Family Vacation

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

     Branson, Missouri is a day's drive from where I grew up in West Texas.  Almost everyone I knew had taken a vacation there.  It is a great destination for family travel and an even better destination for a multigenerational family trip.  The best part is it's affordable. 

     When you go I suggest staying at the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing.  It's located in Branson, Missouri on Lake Taneycomo.  This Hilton is a great location to stay because it's part of Branson Landing and only two blocks from historic downtown Branson.  The hotel is new, has large beautiful rooms and allows pets.  It also has an indoor pool!

     At Branson Landing, you will find a boardwalk, playground, water show, shopping, dining, concerts, street entertainers and more.  I really have to emphasize the playground, Adventure Cove.  This shaded playground has a lighthouse, climbing, sliding, and a digging area.  Since I'm a Texan, I always have to mention a good steakhouse.  In this area you can find  Level 2 Steakhouse located at the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel

     It's not to late to book a trip for spring break.  Right now the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing and Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel offer tempting packages that include two adult tickets and two children’s tickets (ages 4 to 11) for two full days of fun at Silvery Dollar City.   It also includes a $25 food and beverage voucher for Level 2 Steakhouse located on the second floor of the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel. This two-night, three-day package starts at $455.00 plus tax.   Another offer they have is stay 2 nights get the 3rd night free.

     When in Branson, I suggest staying at least 3 days.  Plan an entire day for  Silver Dollar City to ride the rides and see the many demonstrations.  Do some shopping in Branson Landing, be sure to watch the water show while there and let the kids burn off some energy at the playground. Go to at least one show like Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede Dinner and show.. 

Free USO Concert at Nellis AFB - Las Vegas

Free USO concert Featuring Blake Shelton and Friends, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Montgomery Gentry and more!

This Saturday, April 2nd from 2PM - 4PM at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Sport Pavilion across the street from the main lodging building.    Featuring Blake Shelton and Friends, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Montgomery Gentry and more! RVSPs are not required!

Don't forget your lawn chairs and sunscreen!

Military Travel tip

Is your military spouse going tdy to somewhere cool?  AGAIN!  Don't get left behind this time, instead make it a family vacation.  Check out my article over at Travelingmom.com with 5 tips for turning your spouses tdy into a family vacation.

Nora's Wine Bar

My friend strongly recommended Nora's Wine bar to me a few weeks ago.  She had gone for dinner with her husband and could not get over how authentic the Italian food was.  I finally went for a leisurely lunch this past week.  I knew it was in the corner of a shopping center in Summerlin the west part of Las Vegas and from the outside it looked small.  When I walked in I was shocked how big the restaurant was and how nice it was.  You can only see half of the main dining room with their wine bar from this picture.  There was another large area off to the side that looked like a good place for private parties.



There was no kids menu, but they said they could do kid size portions of many items.  My son's cheese pizza was $6.50.  I consider this to be an expensive kids meal, but the portion was huge.  The table was covered with paper and they gave him some crayons to draw on it.



After looking over the menu I decided to go with the lunch special.  Everyday they offer a lunch pasta special for $15.00 which is less then their pizzas and many other items on the menu.  It came with a slice of organic fritata, a salad, ice tea or soda, and three pastas.  You can see the pasta here in the photo.



And of course since this is a wine bar I have to mention the wine.  Each day they have a selection of one white and one red that is on special for $5.00 for 3oz or $8.00 for 6oz.

How to Get Ads on your blog

Recently, I have had several people ask me how I got ads on my blog.  Since, I have used and tried several programs I thought I would just make a list for everyone.  This is five of the ways I have tried.

LinkShare - I have used this in the past, but currently I am not running any ads from them.  I have nothing negative to say about them and there is no particular reason I am no using them at the moment.  The one ad I did run in the past with them was a Lego ad.  Join LinkShare Today!  You can sign up for an account and browse through the companies available through them.


Savvy Source - Savvy Source is another website I have used.  They have many cities they offer daily deals in.  You can sign up for an account and get a ad widget for your blog.  If anyone purchases something
through it you get a small percentage.  I have run this ad in the past, but not currently.  I know of a few bloggers that have made some very good money off this particular ad.



JuiceBoxJungle has an ad network that you can participate in.  You place widgets like this one shown and you get a 50% ad split with them.



Commission Junction is another ad network that has lots of different companies you can choose from. I have been trying their ads for a while, but have yet to make any money off of them.  That is where I got the Travelocity and Priceline ads.

shareasale.com has a lot of merchants to choose from and they like working with bloggers.