Mommy Travels

Finding great deals in Vegas

2012-02-14T21:45:00.000-06:00

After living in Vegas for a year and a half I have a new appreciation for special promotions or discounts. Las Vegas knows that they are huge tourist destination and it reflects in their prices. There are many websites offering Las Vegas Deals, including www.travelvegas.com. What makes this website different than the rest is it's a one stop deal website. They seem to find every single deal available in Vegas. Instead of having to check multiple websites for a deal you can just check one. They offer hundreds of deals on shows, hotels, packages and entertainment.
After finding this website I was surprised and somewhat disappointed to see a much better deal on a hotel I had just booked. I consider myself pretty good at finding deals, especially in Vegas. I thought I had gotten a screaming deal on the hotel I chose for my sister's upcoming bachelorette party. This site had only two deals for that same hotel on the sames days and both were a better rate than the one I had booked. One of the deals was $59 a night cheaper than what I booked. I'm going to end up saving $120 by canceling my other booking and switching to the one I found on www.travelvegas.com.

Yo Mama's

2012-02-13T06:49:00.000-06:00

Yo Mama's Cafe is a fun little coffee and tea shop with a kids play room near Foster and 65th in Portland, Oregon. They serve coffee, tea, donuts, muffins, sandwiches and more.

If your like me and love coffee shops with kid's rooms be sure and check out these other two I found in Portland: Urband Grind Coffeehouse and Sip and Kranz.

Ham and Cheese Hawaiian roll sandwiches

2012-02-09T06:24:00.000-06:00

These toasted Ham and Cheese sandwiches are quick and delicious. I have these every year at my family reunion. I always forget about them, but I've made them twice recently after see BeyerBeware's post on Pinterest.

1 pkg Hawaiian rolls
Thinly sliced ham
Sliced Swiss cheese
Butter
Chopped onion
1 or 2 tsp Poppy seeds
1 or 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 or 3 tsp Dijon mustard

Saute the butter and onions until the onions are soft. Add dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and poppy seeds. You can choose how much to add based on your own personal tastes.
Sliced the entire package of Hawaiian rolls in half. I think this way is quicker and easier than separating each roll. Pour 3/4 of the butter and onion mixture over the bottom of the bread. Place shaved ham and swiss cheese slices and then the bread top back on. Pour the rest of the butter and onion mixture on top. Cover with foil and bake until the cheese is melted and the tops are toasty.

Panama City Beach Summer Camps

2012-02-07T06:00:00.000-06:00

Panama City Beach has much to offer families, including loads of kids camps.

Gallagher's gymnastics hosts all day camps during some weeks during the summer.
These camps cost $125 per week and are for ages 6 - 12.
Kids will do gymnastics and other activities. Campers must provide their own lunches.
For more info call 850-233-5501. My kids LOVE going to camp here!

Julie's School of Dance hosts two week long camps each summer for $150 each. I found that the demand is high for these camps, so don't delay.

Science and Discovery Museum of Northwest Florida has half day and full day programs for children PreK and up. The average price is 70 per week.

Volley For Christ camps - Volley for Christ is a camp where each participant will learn the skills necessary to compete in the game of volleyball and the game of life. The camp is designed to use volleyball skills to teach girls how to live a life that honors Christ.

Visual Arts Center of Northwest Florida offer camps each summer for ages 3-14.
Dates and times: 8:30 am - 12:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, Classes range from four days to nine days; deadline for registration is one week before start of each session.. Site: VAC, 19 E. Fourth St., Panama City. Costs range from $50-$150 per session for members, $95 to $195 per session for nonmembers. Activities: Clay, drawing, mixed media and sculpture for ages 7-14; themes for ages 3 to 6 include animals, cowboys and Indians, rainbows, everything that flies, under the sea and robots and aliens. 850-769.4451

Bay BASE sponsered by Bay District Schools for Kindergarten through fifth grade.
Dates and times: 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday,
Sites: Tommy Smith, Tyndall and Waller elementary schools still had openings as of May 11.
Costs: $45 to $65 a week for first child in a family; $45 to $57 for each additional child; $17 per child per day for preregistered drop-ins (registration limited); registration fee $20 (nonrefundable); first week’s fees due at registration.
Activities: Arts and crafts, music, games, field trips, home-work assistance, sports and story telling.
More information: Frances Carey at 872-4292 or Joan Edwards at 873-7149.

Boys and Girls Clubs of Bay County offers camps each summer for ages: 6-18.
Dates and times: 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Costs: $250 per child for entire program, includes breakfast and lunch. Families with more than three children pay only for the first three.
Activities include swimming, recreation, weekly field trips, skating, movies, educational programs by police and fire departments.

These camps are available at multiple locations:
C.C. Moore Unit (swimming pool location)
L. Charlie Hilton Activity Center, 3404 W. 19th Street, St. Andrews/Panama City (763-3546, Terry Sasser)
Chapman Unit, 3030 E. Third Street, Millville/Panama City (785-2747, Wanda Jones)
Frank Brown Park Unit, 1620 Back Beach Road, Panama City Beach (236-3030, J.C. Schwab).

Dogwood Acres sponsored Presbytery of Florida, Presbyterian Church (USA).
Ages: Completing grades 2-12.
Dates and times: June -Aug, day/night half- and full-week sessions Sunday-Tuesday, Wednesday-Friday or Sunday-Friday.
Site: 3320 Harmony Road, off County 279 between Vernon and Chipley.
Costs: $142.50 to $295.
Activities/themes: Arts and crafts, recreation, nature exploration, challenge course, drama and improv, Bible study, fellowship. (850) 535-2695;

Drama camp: Sponsored by Imagination Factory Children’s Theater.
Ages: Elementary through high school. Morning camp 9 a.m.-noon, afternoon 1-4 p.m usually in late May or early June at Arnold High School Fine Arts Center. Average Cost: $375.
Activities: Acting, voice and dance; accelerated program in which students work toward a production.

Gulf World day camp
Well $65 for just one day is a lot. But if your kids really want to interact with dolphins then this is probably worth it. Your kids have to be at least 8 years old to participate and the camp is just one day from 8:30 - 3. The photos real sold me on this camp!

Panama City Cheer Camp: These cheer camps run all summer long and are for squads elementary age on up through high school.

Zoo World is the area's zoo. It is a very small zoo, but they have lots of animals. They have summer camps for children ages 6 and up. These camps run $185 a week and includes lunch.

Reading classes - offered by University of West Florida here in Panama City. Weekly June 12th - July 19th for kids 4 years old through adults. 800-979-9151

Woodlawn United Methodist church is hosting Quest Summer camp. There will be a different theme every week Mon - Fri from 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM for ages 5-12 June 11th - Aug 21st. The cost is $90 a week.

JJ Jump in Clackamas, OR

2012-02-03T14:00:00.000-06:00

There are several JJ Jumps around the Portland, OR area; one in Clackamas and one in Vancouver, WA. All of these pictures are from the one in Clackamas, OR. There are two large rooms full of fun things for the kids to play on. There is even a smaller room for toddlers! For $8 dollars a kids they can have a lot of fun! For the parents there is free wi-fi!

Here are a few of the big bouncy castles they have in the main JJ Jump room.

These two pictures are from the toddler room.

These pictures are a little darker because they are from the JJ Jump Extreme room. Here our kids are whacking each other inside a big blow up arena.

There is a rock climbing wall upstairs.

There is also a swing they kids can use. They get them all harnessed in and them let them decide how high up they want to go. The kids pull a cord and release themselves.

9057 SE Jannsen Rd
Clackamas, OR 97015
503-723-3600

Torani review

2012-01-31T13:00:00.000-06:00

My family has had so much fun participating in a SheSpeaks campaign for Torani. They sent us one bottle of Salted Caramel and one bottle of Peppermint. Both were yummy in my coffee, but they were even better in hot chocolate! I let the kids pick out which flavor they want in their hot chocolate. They all have a different favorite. One is raspberry, one is Irish Cream, and one is salted caramel. Here's my hot chocolate recipe.

Hot Chocolate
2 tsp. Cocoa
1 cup Milk
1/4 tsp. Vanilla (extract or Torani vanilla syrup)
2 tsp. Sugar
1 tbsp. Torani syrup flavor of your choice

Mansion House Hotel in Elgin, Scotland

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-06:00

Where to Stay in Elgin, Scotland

The Mansion House Hotel is located in Northeast Scotland in the small town of Elgin. It's a beautiful hotel inside and out. It's a 19th century Baronial mansion and also the town's country club. My husband got there before me and let me know I was going to flip when I saw the hotel! He was right. (Thank you Air Force! He was on a work trip that I crashed.)

Unfortunately these are all the pictures I have. My phone froze up and I lost most of the pictures I took during our Scotland and Ireland trip. This hotel has a pool, jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, billiard room, multiple dining areas, and more. They also have tv's in every room with cable. Breakfast was included with our stay and it was delicious. It is not a buffet, but there is plenty to choose from. I believe we paid $129 pounds a night. The Mansion House hotel can be contacted at 01343548811 or reception@mansionhousehotel.co.uk

Disneyland's Believe in Holiday Magic Fireworks show

2012-01-23T08:51:00.000-06:00

Our family was lucky enough to be invited to a special weekend at Disneyland with the Traveling Moms, where we got to check out all the holiday magic throughout the parks. One show we caught was the Believe in Holiday Magic Firework show. It was wonderful, just like every firework show Disney does. I was so glad the pictures turned out, especially the one of Mickey Mouse. How cool is that?

As soon as the fireworks were finished it started snowing on Main Street USA.

Elgin Cathedral Ruins

2012-01-20T19:39:00.001-06:00

The Elgin Cathedral is located in the picture perfect town of Elgin, Scotland. The cathedral was originally founded in 1224 and these are the ruins that remain today. For only a few pounds you can tour the grounds. Some of the buildings are still at their original height! One of the buildings is still used today as a wedding venue.

Walking along the Seine river in Paris, France

2012-01-09T05:15:00.000-06:00

Paris, France is just as beautiful as everyone says it is. I only had an eight hour layover there and to maximize what I got to see I walk around the city. I mostly walked along the Seine river towards the Eiffel Tower from Notre Dame Cathedral. Here are photos I took along the way.

Lotus of Siam - Thai restaurant

2011-12-25T08:59:00.000-06:00

The best Thai food in Vegas can be found at Lotus of Siam off of Sahara. Every item on the menu is delicious. Don't let the out side of the building fool you, it's a beautiful restaurant.

Fried Rice

Chicken Pineapple Curry

Drunken Noodles

Playboy Club at the Palms

2011-12-22T08:51:00.000-06:00

The Playboy club at the Palms is great, just don't go in their bathrooms.

The club has a small dance floor.

There's a lot of tables to gamble.

The view is great from the club and they have an outdoor patio, just like Ghostbar.

Rain Night club at the Palms

2011-12-21T08:27:00.000-06:00

Palms has multiple night clubs and I've finally made it to all of them. Rain is a club I've stood in line for multiple times, but never gotten in, until a few weeks ago. At first I wasn't that impressed. I couldn't understand why there was always such a huge line.

Once the dj got busy with a wild screen behind him and the dancers came out, I started to change my mind. The dj was playing great music.

Then they started the fog machines up above the dance floor.

Then they dropped down this circular thing above our heads and it started shooting out flames!

So, yes it's an awesome club and worth the line!

Canaletto restaurant inside the Venetian

2011-12-20T08:21:00.000-06:00

Canaletto can be found in St. Mark's Square inside the Venetian. A few nights ago we had our squadron Christmas party here. We dined upstairs and had a great view over looking St. Marks Square. Here is what we dined on.

Insalata Canaletto mixed greens, shaved Grana Padano, house vinaigrette and garlic croutons.

New York strip steak

Colombina al Cioccolato dark chocolate mousse with white and milk chocolate shavings, with fresh raspberry and kiwi sauces.

Tiramisu al Cucchiaio treviso-style Tiramisu.

At the other end of the Grand Canal Shops is the Palazzo.

St. Mark's Square at the Venetian

2011-12-19T08:04:00.000-06:00

Inside the Venetian hotel's Grand Canal shops is a replica of St. Mark's square in Venice, Italy. They even had a mini orchestra out there!

Also attached to the Grand Canal shops is the Palazzo Hotel.

Oral-B Stages and Crest party

2011-12-18T21:29:00.000-06:00

I just hosted my first mommy party sponsored by Oral-B stages III and Crest Pro-Health for me. It went pretty well. They sent me a kit full of toothbrushes, flossers, mouthwash, and toothpaste.

Here's a couple of the kids enjoying their movie and treats.

Each kid got a goodie bag. Here's my enthusiastic boy showing what's in the bags. It was funny to see what his friends got excited about. I drew names for the mouthwash, I only had three to giveaway. One boy that won a mouthwash exclaimed, "I really needed this". Some of the kids were trading toothbrushes to get their favorite colors. My son was excited about his new toothpaste, Crest Pro Health for ME. Although it's for kids, it cleans the teeth to brighten. Apparently 10 year olds want whiter teeth too.

To learn more about these products follow them on twitter Oral-B and Crest

This post was written for Mom Select, Mommy Parties, Oral-B, & Crest who provided the complimentary products in exchange for my review. I was not paid for my opinions of the above products.

Disneyland's It's a Small World Holiday video

2011-12-14T06:00:00.000-06:00

Disneyland's iconic ride It's a Small World is transformed during the holidays with loads of Christmas decorations!

World of Color - Disneyland's newest show

2011-12-13T10:28:00.000-06:00

World of Color is the newest show at Disneyland and it is magical. Every night at California Adventure you can catch The World of Color show. This is video I took of the beginning of the show. It includes some of the added holiday segments. The show was a little over 30 minutes long and unfortunately my camera batteries died 7 minutes in. I was blown away by this show. Just when I think I've seen it all at Disney they take it to a whole new level.

Visit Southern California's "Universal Studios" and 4 other attractions for just $279.00 CityPass price - SAVE 25%

Toon Town at Disneyland

2011-12-09T06:03:00.000-06:00

Disneyland has an incredible Toon Town. This was the first time we've been here. I think Disneyland's Toon Town is much better then the one at Disney World. Maybe that's why Disney World is in the process of getting rid of their Toon Town.

Gadget's Go Coaster has no height limit. My four year old loved it!

Chip and Dale's tree house

Donald Ducks boat house

Goofy's House

Be sure to meet Mickey and Minnie while you are in Toon Town.

It's a Small World Holiday

2011-12-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

Disneyland goes all out during the holidays. One ride they deck out is It's a Small World. Here are some pictures I took while inside the ride. These will give you a glimpse of what to expect.

All Around Disneyland

2011-12-07T21:10:00.000-06:00

Disneyland is a huge place. Much larger then I thought it was going to be. Here are a few photos from our time in Disneyland.

Everyone is excited to get into the park and we are finally on the monorail. The monorail is right outside our hotel, Disneyland Hotel. The kids have been killing time inside the Lego store while I run around like a crazy person trying to figure out what to do with the military ticket I bought. Check out my article on how to redeem Disneyland military tickets and where to get them over at Travelingmom.com. It is not the same process they have at Disney World.

Here in this picture you can see the monorail tracks, the Matterhorn ride in the back ground, and a yellow submarine under the tracks in the water. That yellow submarine is part of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage ride and the first ride we went on. Once on the submarine went went under the water in search of Nemo. Here are a few photos I took on the ride.

No trip to Disney is complete until we have defeated the evil Emperor Zurg. Everyone was happy when we discovered that the Buzz Light Year Astro Blaster is at Disneyland too. (I thought it was better than they one at Disney World.)

Autopia was a major hit with my four year old. He not only was tall enough to ride, he was allowed to drive! He was an awful driver and I had to control the gas pedal, but he was ecstatic the whole time!

Here is my oldest on the Matterhorn Bobsleds. This hands down was our favorite ride. Grandma even loved it! Best of all was that my 4 year old could ride it.

Oh and here is a picture in front of a waterfall in California Adventure. What a great picture spot.

Santa's Magical Circus

2011-12-05T06:34:00.000-06:00

Santa's Magical Circus is a family friendly show at Planet Hollywood casino's V Theater in Las Vegas. The show is made up of multiple acts including magic tricks, singing, pet tricks, puppetry and more. The show was random, but it had our entire family laughing. The guy working the puppets was truly amazing.

After the show you can meet all the acts and Santa. Your kids can have their picture made with Santa at no extra charge.

The V Theater is home to many acts in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Guide

2011-11-29T06:37:00.000-06:00

Are you planning a trip to Vegas? Whether you are planning a girls trip, family vacation, or a quick weekend getaway Mommy Travels can help you out!

Girl's Trip to Las Vegas
Fall activities in Las Vegas
Family Activities in Las Vegas
Free Activities in Las Vegas
Holiday Events in Las Vegas
How to Save Money in Las Vegas
Staycation in Las Vegas
Where kids can eat free in Las Vegas

Black Friday - 5 Cruise Deals

2011-11-25T12:05:00.000-06:00

Black Friday Exclusive! Save up to $200 on select Caribbean cruises on Costa Cruises with Travelocity!

Costa Cruises: Black Friday Sale: Get $200 in free spending on select Mediterranean Cruises with Travelocity. Ends 11/28.

Black Friday sale: up to $250 Onboard Credit + Reduced Deposits on Norwegian Cruise Lines with Travelocity.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Special: $100 Onboard Credit on select Caribbean sailings on Celebrity Cruises. Ends 11/28.

Enjoy Great Savings with Princess Cruises' After Thanksgiving Alaska Sale with Travelocity! Ends 11/29.

Fremont Experience in downtown Las Vegas

2011-11-23T08:17:00.002-06:00

On Fremont street in down town Las Vegas you never know what your going to get. Each time we've been the light show is different and there are different acts performing. All the entertainment on Fremont street is free. You can decide if you want to tip an act you've stopped to watch. If you want to take a picture with a celebrity look a like you are expect to pay $1.

Last week we saw the Country Superstar Tribute at the Golden Nugget. Afterwards, we went outside to see what was going on. The first 3 pictures are of one of the light shows at Fremont Experience.

Here are two guys randomly performing strength tricks. This is the first time I have seen them out there and they were great. You'll notice in the pictures that they are performing without a mat underneath them, just a blanket. We made sure to tip, because I really want them to be able to buy a mat!

There were a lot of acts that night, but most were not appropriate for my Family Travel blog content, like an almost nude Native American! We also saw part of a wedding going on right outside the Golden Nugget. It was a biker wedding and different from anything I've seen. At one point my oldest asked me if it was a joke. Just another example of the Fremont Experience variety. You never know what you are going to see!

Country Superstars Tribute

2011-11-21T08:13:00.005-06:00

Are you a country music fan? If your answer is yes, then this is the show for you. The Country Superstar Tribute is a show in Vegas at the Golden Nugget Casino. We saw four impersonators during the hour and fifteen minute show. Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, Tim McGraw, and Ronnie Dunn each sung numerous songs. The entire show is live and there is no lip singing.

You are not allowed to take photos during the show, but afterwards can get pictures with each impersonator. My kids got one with Willie Nelson. Not only does he look like him, he sings just like him.

After the show head out to Fremont Street and enjoy lots of free entertainment Vegas style!

Conservatory at Bellagio decorated for Christmas

2011-11-18T08:12:00.001-06:00

With each season the Bellagio hotel and casino changes the decorations in side their conservatory. Here are pictures of their Christmas decorations.

Nearby is the world's largest chocolate fountain.

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tokii review

2011-11-16T06:54:00.007-06:00

When my husband gets home next week from his latest military tdy, he will have been gone for seven and a half months this year. When someone is gone that often you have to find ways to connect. At times this can be extremely difficult. We have always used telephone calls, email, and skype to keep in touch, but recently I discovered Tokii , a new unique way we could "connect" even from across the world. Tokii is a free and secure website design to keep couples connected. It is especially great for military families, because it's quick, easy, and best of all you do not have to be at the same computer to play.

Tolkii has lots of topics including love and lifestyle. My favorite games have been in the more specific topics like military. I knew what my answers were going to be when I played the Military Bubble and Another Post Another Town, but I really did not know what my husband's were going to be. It's fun to answer the questions and then compare your answers to your spouses. It is very insightful for both partners. It has been nice to connect at a different level while he is away. Plus, I'm sure I am not the only spouse out there that likes to know what her husband thinks, and this is an easy way to find out!

Lego Master Builder Academy

2011-11-15T07:13:00.000-06:00

I just discovered a new program from Lego called Master Builders Academy. A program that teaches your kids to build and create just like the LEGO Master Builders do. In this dual in-home and online experience, real LEGO Master Builders teach the process of design and LEGO model creation through the advanced techniques of LEGO building. I am ordering MBA kit 1 for my son for Christmas. Each kit contains a 3-in-1 building set, an installment of the LEGO Master Builder Design Handbook full of lessons, enhanced building instructions and inspiration for new building ideas. Every kit also comes with alternating minifigure rewards: exclusive MBA minifigures with buildable minifigure accessories. This program is more affordable then the Robotics program, only 29.99.

Rockette's Tap Dancing

2011-11-14T05:31:00.003-06:00

Last year on my trip to New York City my mom treated me to the Radio City's Christmas Spectacular 2010 featuring the famous Rockettes. The Rockettes were fantastic. Here is some video I took of their opening number.

Visit 6 New York attractions for just $79.00 CityPass price - $164.00 value!

Notre Dame Cathedral - Paris, France

2011-11-11T12:44:00.002-06:00

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France was stunning. The stain glass windows were beautiful as were the many paintings. They have kept the cathedral in great condition.

This picture is a little blurry, but I wanted to show the date 1163!

It is free admission to get in. Although there was a huge line to get in when I went the lined moved quickly.

Pictures of the Eiffel Tower

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Heelys Review

2011-11-11T11:40:00.001-06:00

I was beyond excited when my daughter's Heelys came in the mail a few weeks ago. Until now none of my kids have ever had a pair. They have asked for them year after year, but I always said no. I wrongly assumed they were too expensive. Now I know they run a great special everyday on their website.
Needless to say when Heelys offered the chance to review a pair I took it! I knew she was going to be excited to get them (and she was!), but I didn't realize how excited all of the kids would get. Here's a video of their reaction.

Now that I've watched her learn to use them (it took a few days for her to get the hang of it, the how to videos on Heely's website was a huge help) and seen how much fun she is having with them I plan to get my boys a pair for Christmas. I will probably get some on Black Friday. Heelys is running a special from November 25th - 28th. When you buy any pair of Heelys you get the second pair for $25, plus free shipping.An added bonus is the complaining about going to the store has stopped! When we went to the furniture store and the grocery store yesterday she was actually excited, because she could heely all over the place!

The Mix at The Hotel in Vegas

2011-11-09T06:54:00.001-06:00

The Mix is at the top of The Hotel (Mandalay Bay) and as you can see it has a stunning view. We recently dined there using a Restaurant.com certificate.

The Mix restaurant is a beautiful place, but not as big as the pictures on it's website make it look.

You can pretty much see all of the kitchen.

This is the bar/lounge area.

The dance floor at The Mix.

You can see the sign for The Hotel in the background.

We ate quite a bit while we were at The Mix. I did not order pea soup, but the waiter brought some out compliments of the chef. I must say it was tasty and they serve it with flair.

My husband had the COD BRANDADE lemon, capers, brown butter, croutons and fried parsley for $32. He said it was good, but the portion was to a little on the small side.

I had their 10oz New York strip for $42. This Texan thought it was very good and I liked the fact that I got more than one sauce, Black pepper corn and Béarnaise. We also got two sides, creamy spinach $9 and sauteed asparagus $12.

For dessert we had the Mix candy bar. We had a similar dessert at the Red Square at Mandalay Bay that was excellent and the Mix version was almost as good!

Oh, and I thought the bathrooms were unusual.

Be sure to check out my Vegas daily deal site.

Military move #8 is on it's way

2011-11-05T14:41:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed that I have not been blogging as much as I usually do. Mainly because I have been sitting around in shock for several days now. We have been actively trying to get out of the military for some time now and we were finally told yes! My husband is going to switch over to air national guard and we are moving back to Oregon. All of these are good things. The only bad thing was we were given two months notice. Although we have two months notice we actually need to move a little sooner, because of schools and Christmas. So, instead of blogging I am pricing Uhauls/Pods (again), packing (again), giving our landlord notice, looking and looking for a place to live and finally giving our tenants notice (painful), and all the other fun stuff that comes with moving! Blah!

Win a $20,000 Trip to cruise Galapagos

2011-11-02T13:47:00.000-05:00

Right now Travelingmom.com, TakingtheKids.com and the Family Travel Forum are giving away a trip for four to the Galapagos Islands! Entering is easy and they have multiple ways to gain extra entries. You have until November 8th to enter so hurry over to Travelingmom.com today and enter!

One way to Save Money on Hotels

2011-10-17T15:16:00.001-05:00

     I just found out about a strange new way to potentially save on hotel travel. It's a newish (Feb. 2011) travel website that is set up kind of like a reverse penny auction. You can register for free on their website http://www.baiduhotel.com/, but to bid on hotel gift certificates costs .50 cents per bid.  Each hotel gift certificate auction starts at a high price; the "retail price" of a one night stay at the hotel. Each time someone places a .50 cent bid the price of the hotel gift certificate goes down by .10 cents. If other people are bidding then they can potentially push the price down. If this happens and the price drops the first bidder to hit the "Buy" button wins the hotel gift certificate. (Did you follow that, because I thought it was very confusing myself.) If during the auction the price has been pushed down with bidding, then the person who ultimately purchases/wins the certificate has saved some money. The winner could possibly save a lot of money on that hotel stay.
     Where I see the money savings is by being the winner, not the bidder. It's an interesting concept and if I was the person that had just won a night's stay in Time's Square for $38 I would be thrilled. If I was the person that spent $10 bucks trying to get a good deal and didn't, I would feel ripped off. If you helped bid down the price and didn't win you are still out your .50 cents per bid.
     I also see savings in expensive travel destinations like New York City and Washington D.C. You know you are going to spend a lot on a hotel stay in one of these cities. So, even bidding it down a little might save you money. Last time I went to NYC it was well over $200 a night, which is the starting price on the hotels I see for NYC on their website.
     Before you bid on any of the hotels make sure to read the description of what your bidding on. I looked at several and one said it expired in 3 years, one said 1 year and another stated that it never expired.   Take time to look at the hotel's website and make sure you know what a room sells for during the season you will be going. In the summer that hotel room could be $250 and you would automatically save, but in the winter it could be $150 and you could over pay. Also, make sure that the hotel has availability when you want to go.
     I would love to hear from any of you that have tried this. I think I will try this the next time I am going to NYC. Have you won a good hotel deal using this website?

Haunted Harvest at Springs Preserve

2011-10-17T06:31:00.001-05:00

Each year the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas hosts a family friendly event called Haunted Harvest. They have a haunted house, trick or treat stations, carnival games, live entertainment (you might catch a science show or Cookie Monster!), and for an additional fee you can go on a haunted hay ride along the trails.
Enjoy the Springs Preserve and celebrate from 5 to 9 p.m. following dates Oct. 14-16, 21-23 and 28-31.

Admission: $8 for adults, $5 for children 5 to 12 and free those 4 and under. Members receive half off the regular admission price.

Springs Preserve is located near Meadows Mall at
333 S. Valley View Blvd.

Las Vegas, Nevada

FunTown Frightfest - Vegas

2011-10-16T17:25:00.001-05:00

FunTown Frightfest is one of the biggest halloween events in Las Vegas, located at the Galleria Mall in Henderson. It runs from October 7th - 31st and the money raised will go to the Autism Foundation. The FunTown Frightfest will have:
haunted houses, a haunted hay ride, vendors, a runaway train, bungee jumping, pony rides, a not so scary kids park, midway games, carnival rides, inflatables, adult rides, and a pumpkin patch.

Abuelo's Papas con Chile

2011-10-13T18:50:00.000-05:00

I love the papas con chile at Abuelo's and was very excited when I found this recipe last week on the Abuelo's facebook page! I cut this recipe in half and it made a ton. Papas are Tex-Mex mash potatoes.

Abuelo’s Papas con Chile™

3 lbs. red potatoes
3 oz cream cheese – cut into 2" squares
½ cup heavy cream
10 oz Velveeta – cut into 2 " squares
½ TBS salt
¾ tsp granulated garlic
¼ cup sour cream
½ cup diced red bell peppers
½ cup diced green bell peppers
2 cans chopped green chiles
½ cup chopped green onion tops
2 TBS of finely chopped jalapeño – seeds removed

1.Wash and scrub potatoes until clean
2.Place potatoes in a pot covered with water and boil until soft.
3.Drain potatoes
4.Add the rest of ingredients and mash. Be sure all ingredients are incorporated

Bushue's Family Farm: Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-04T16:42:00.001-05:00

Another fun pumpkin patch near Portland, OR is the Bushue's Family Farm. We were so lucky to get to go here several years in a row for a private boyscout event, because it is tremendously fun to make a dirt baby. I don't understand why, but kids love to make dirt babies. In addition to making dirt babies you can go on hay rides, cow train rides, hay maze, and see the farm animals.

How to Make a Dirt Baby

panty hose (You will only need the feet and enough to tie off. The part you tie off needs to be able to reach down into the cup and absorb water.)
dirt
grass seed
plastic cup
glue gun
decorative items to make the face

Put a small amount of grass seed into the hose first and then add dirt. Tie off the hose and then decorate the face. Put water in a cup. Set dirt baby onto the cup (not down in the cup) so that the tied off hose is dipping into the water. In a short time your baby's hair will grow!

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Win a Trip to Legoland in Florida!

2011-10-04T16:01:00.001-05:00

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

Atlantic Luggage, part of Travelpro brand is one of the market leaders in affordable, lightweight luggage since 1919. With the airlines constantly making the weight limits more strict, it's important to have luggage that weights as little possible. So, not only do they make lightweight, affordable bags, now they are giving away a trip to the Grand Opening of Legoland in Florida! You can enter the Atlantic luggage and Legoland sweepstakes from now until October 30th. If you win you will receive four 2 day passes to Legoland Florida, 4 days and 3 nights of accommodations at a hotel in Winter Haven, a 4 day rental car, an exclusive behind the scenes tour with a Master Builder, 4 admissions to Fantasy of Flight Biplane, 4 admissions to Bok Tower Gardens, 4 Air Boat admissions, and 1 LEGOLAND Florida gift bag.

Legoland Florida is a 150 acre family theme park, located in Winter Haven. There's 15 rides including driving, boating, and flying school for kids. There's a factory tour where kids can see how Lego bricks are made. There are varies shows including a water stunt show. Other attractions for families include multiple 4D movies, Miniland USA featuring cities like Vegas and Washington D.C. and of course tons of building areas.

Your kids are sure to have a great time. I know my kids would. They love Legos and every time we go to the Lego store we practically have to drag them out of there. I've already enter and I hope we win! My kids would flip if they got to go to a Lego theme park! Go to Atlantic luggage and Legoland sweepstakes to enter your family today and be sure to tell your friends!

How to find a babysitter on Vacation

2011-10-03T05:44:00.003-05:00

Find Your Ideal Sitter. Fast and Easy.

I know first hand how frustrating it can be to find a sitter when you are on a family vacation. We are stationed far away from family, so when we vacation the kids go with us. Rarely will a hotel recommend a sitter, because of liability issues, and it can be very time consuming to find one yourself. Luckily there are a few businesses that help with this.

Care.com has Local Nanny Listings in every city imaginable. We used a nanny listed on this site while we were in Panama City Beach and were very happy with her.
Sittercity helps parents find babysitters to contact in the United States.
Nannies4hire.com lets you search free for a nanny in the United States or Canada.

Where to get a free beer in Vegas

2011-10-01T18:21:00.002-05:00

     Unless you are gambling drinks are never free in Vegas. Recently, I spent $12 on a beer at the Ghostbar over at the Palms. So, I was surprised when my husband and his brother found a place giving out free beer.
     My brother in law had read about a bar called Double Down that he wanted to go to. While him and my husband were in Double Down their car got towed.  Always make sure you are parking somewhere you will not get towed. They parked in a 7-11 parking lot. Not knowing what to do while they wait to hear back about the car, they look around and see the Freezone. They don't want to go back to Double Down and Freezone is advertising free beer, so problem solved.
     They go in and there's no catch; you can even get more then one free drink and there is no cover! They both got 3 free pints of beer while they were there. Freezone turns out to be a very popular gay bar in Vegas.  Everyday Freezone offers free beer from 8 PM until 1 AM and free pool. This is a great way to save money while your in Vegas. To find out more about the Freezone or gay friendly hotels, restaurants, activities, or bars in the Las Vegas area visit Gay Travel Buddy.

Daphne and Apollo

2011-09-30T06:00:00.002-05:00

One of the marble sculptures we saw in Rome, Italy was breathe taking. Its the Apollo and Daphne sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini located at the Borghese Gallery. I had no idea a sculpture could have such exquisite details. These pictures do not do it justice.

Depicted is Daphne is being turned into a laurel tree while Apollo chases her in vain.
Italy Rail Passes
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Baby's 1st Hair Cut at Magic Kingdom - Disney World

2011-09-29T13:38:00.000-05:00

Getting our son's first hair cut at the barber shop in Main Street USA at the Magic Kingdom was awesome. Even though we had to stand in line for a long time it was worth it. (Tips for the line)
To keep the kids from moving all over the place they stick stickers all over the smock and their clothes. The kids focus on moving around or taking off the stickers.

She spent a fair amount of time with us and did not rush us at all.

When they were done they gave him little Mickey ears to wear. On the back of the Mickey ears it says 1st Haircut. They also gave him a keepsake certificate and wrapped his hair up for me to keep. All of this for only $14!

Disney World - Discount Tickets, Free Shipping!

Horseback Riding in Copan

2011-09-23T06:09:00.026-05:00

While traveling with kids in Copan, Honduras we went horseback riding. It cost $20 per person, but they didn’t charge us for our 4 year old. Check out the condition of the horse before you select one. Some are in much better shape than others. You will be riding up a mountain and back down, so it’s important to be on a healthy horse. The mountain is quite steep at times. Our children had someone walk with them the entire way controlling the horse.

Here we are up at the top!

There is a village at the top of the mountain and there will be kids trying to sell you things and beg for money. I would recommend taking a pair of shoes up there to give to one of the kids.

The views from the top of the mountain our beautiful.

Mr. Banana arranged this for us, but you can have it arranged yourself. Just ask your hotel where the guys are hanging out with the horses and go speak with them. It is near the community center.

Check out the other Friday photos over at Delicious Baby

Liepold Farms Pumpkin Patch

2011-09-21T06:24:00.005-05:00

Liepold Farm is located in Boring, OR about 20 minutes SE of Portland, OR. It is one of my favorite pumpkin patches. They have tons of family activities.

They always have an area set up where you can snap some family pictures. There is a hay ride, corn maze, petting zoo, and pumpkin catapult.

Instead of a sand box they have a box full of kernel corn for the kids to dig in. They have a hay maze that the kids can go through. They have to use a flashlight to see through it.

There is a fun area that is perfect for younger kids.

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Upromise is giving away $20,000!

2011-09-19T09:01:00.018-05:00

This post brought to you by socialspark.com and http://www.upromisetodream.com/. All opinions are 100% mine.
As most my readers already know I am a huge fan of Upromise.com. I've been participating in the program for almost ten years. (Almost the entire time it's been around.) So far, I have accumulated over $300 dollars into my kids account. I did this by registering my grocery cards, pharmacy cards, and using their restaurant program. Those pennies can really add up over time!
Right now Upromise is celebrating it's 10 year anniversary. To celebrate they are giving away $20,000 to users who share their story of supporting their child's dreams. To participate in this contest is very easy. All you have to do is go to www.upromisetodream.com and submit a story of your dream for your children on the Upromise dream wall. Once you have shared your story you can read other people's dreams and vote for them by "liking" their story. You can also encourage your family and friends to "like" your story as well! Ten winners will be chosen and each be given $1,000 and one grand prize winner will get $10,000.
Here is my dream:May they have Happiness, Joy and SuccessI have many dreams for my children. I dream that my husband and I will get all of them through highschool with no major bumps in the the road and that all three will go to college and graduate. I want them to go to college and have tons of fun, but I also want them to figure out what it is they want out of life while they are there too. I want them to have happy lives full of joy and success. I want them to experience everything that life has to offer.
Here are the dream wall official rules.

Sauvie Island Pumpkin Patch

2011-09-19T06:41:00.004-05:00

One of the things I enjoyed the most about living in Portland, Oregon was going to the pumpkin patches each fall. There are tons to choose from including the Sauvie Island Pumpkin Patch. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what to expect
.
After the kids get done picking out their pumpkin they can climb all over the hay stack.
There is always a hay ride and a corn maze.

Something unique about this one is the cow train the kids get to ride.

Aguas Termales near Copan, Honduras

2011-09-16T06:17:00.031-05:00

While in Copan, Honduras with kids we went to the Agua Termalas. Otherwise known as hot springs. I was not looking forward to going, because it was more expensive than some of the other activities and I know what I think of when I hear hot springs. It was $100 for our family of five. This included transportation, entry fees, a private cabana, and a bbq dinner. It was by far worth every dime to go. This entire excursion was awesome.

After driving about an hour from Copan we arrived at the hot springs and were guided to a private area. To get there we had to cross a hanging wooden bridge. It was raining and the wood was slick, plus it looks to be 100 years old! This picture does not do justice to how scary it was. Once we crossed the bridge we went through a cave.
And because that is not a dramatic enough entry we then had to cross over water on these stones.
You could walk through the forest to one hot spring after another. This is the hot spring next to our cabana.
Here you can see where one hot springs has a water fall that flows into another pool and then another. Our private cabana.
Here is our bbq chef preparing our feast on this random outdoor grill at a public park. Now, does this look like something we should eat. The food was delicious until the next day! We should have stuck to restaurants! Remember that bus ride from hell I mentioned we took to get to Copan. Well, there were no miracles happening on the way back. Our oldest threw up on the bus. Oh well!

What Happens When your property gets stolen in Vegas

2011-09-14T06:19:00.001-05:00

Recently, my wedding ring was stolen from my purse, in my parent's hotel room at Caesar's Palace. Here's what happened. I decided to take the kids swimming that day, so we headed down to Caesar's Palace where my parents were staying. When I got there the room had already been made up. Seeing this gave me the false belief that no one else would come into the room. I hung all my jewelry on a bracelet and placed it in my purse. We then headed to the pool. 3 hours later I came back to the room to change and go eat. I immediately noticed my jewelry was no longer on my bracelet and my wedding ring was gone. I called security.

Here are some of the things I've learned (these are also helpful other cities):

Hotel Security
1. They will not call the police! You must do this yourself.
2. They will not investigate.
3. You need to insist they run a check of who keyed into your room that day.
4. You have to fill out the report yourself.
5. Once they have left your room with the report they will refuse to speak to you again and give you
    no further information.
6. They then turn the incident over to a 3rd party - Their insurance company.
7. They do not have the property covered in cameras.

3rd Party Insurance Company
1. They send out a standard form that says the hotel has determined it has done nothing wrong.
2. You only have a certain amount of days to call and protest.
3. They do not investigate until you call and protest.
4. They are not investigating who did what. They are investigating if the hotel should compensate you for your lose.

Police
1. You must call the police yourself. The hotel will not do it.
2. They will fill out some sort of report after asking you questions. You will not be given a copy.
3. They will give you a generic form with an event number on it.
4. The police officer files this and puts in a description with pawn detail.
5. A week later they will assign a detective to your case.

Pawn Detail
1. Pawn detail is some sort of part of the Vegas police system.
2. When your item is stolen and reported it is put on to the pawn detail list.
3. You need to call and confirm the description the police officer gives to pawn detail. (in my case
     the description was generic, despite showing the officer a picture)
4. Give them the most specific description possible, they will refuse to look at a picture.
5. Each time a pawn shop takes in an item they must hold it for a certain amount of days and list it in
     the pawn detail registry.
6. The workers in pawn detail search through these items looking for items that have matching
     descriptions.

Detective
1. About a week after filing a report you can expect your case to be assigned to a detective.
2. You must follow up and find out who this person is. If you don't, they are not legally obligated to
     follow up.
3. The detective knows what he/she is doing and a much better source than the previously mentioned
     groups.
     (The detective blew me away by locating my ring and arresting the person who took it with in two
     days of being assigned my case.)

Fall Book List 2011

2011-09-12T06:48:00.003-05:00

Now that my four year old is going to preschool I have a little more time to do the things I enjoy. I love to read and picked up quite a few books to read this fall. Here is a list of what I am planning to read.

I've already read the first to books in the Confessions of a Shopaholic series and I am planning to read the next two.
I've been reading this book off and on for the last several months and I hope to get through another 100 pages this fall. This is a long book and tough to read at times, but the material is absolutely fascinating!

I loved the Secret Life of Bees, so I decided to read another one of her books. This is one that she wrote with her daughter. I'm two chapters in and it is already good.

What are you planning to read this fall?

Simple Fundraising for your group or school in Las Vegas

2011-09-10T06:56:00.004-05:00

On October 1, 2011 North Las Vegas Deal Moms (http://northlasvegas.dealmoms.com/) will be launching a daily deals website dedicated to bringing local moms and families great deals on the best stuff to eat, do and buy in North Las Vegas. We believe that daily deal marketing is most effective if done at very local levels, and we’re reaching out to see if you would like to get involved.

The key to daily deal marketing is having an email alert list that reaches a targeted group of local people who like saving money. Our invitation to you is simple. Help us grow our email distribution list, and when the families that you add make purchases on the site, your school will receive a check for a third of any profits made on the deal.

How it works
We'll give your group their own sign up page, where you can direct families to go and get North Las Vegas Moms deal alerts. This page is unique to you, and anyone that joins the email list will be “tagged” as coming from your page. When those people make a purchase, you make money! (Your subscriber list is never sold or shared.)

Financials
Deals on North Las Vegas Moms are typically offered at 50% off or more. A common deal is a $50 restaurant voucher on sale for $25. In this case, we typically return $15 back to the restaurant for each deal sold. The remainder (less credit card fees) is deemed “profits”. Your school or organization will get a third of any profits resulting from one of your families purchasing on our site. In this example, your school receives over three dollars per voucher purchased through your referral, and good restaurant deals often sell hundreds of vouchers.

Getting Involved is Easy
All you need to do to start making money for your school as a North Las Vegas Moms affiliate is tell people to sign up for deal alerts. Whether you tell people via email, social media, or even through print advertisements, you’ll make money each time those people buy on our site.

Next Steps
If you are interested in becoming a North Las Vegas Moms Distribution Affiliate, please feel free to contact me VegasDealMoms@aol.com. I will get you set up in the system, give you all the tools to tell people about our amazing deals, and show you how to start making money with daily deal marketing.

I can’t not believe I got my Wedding Ring BACK!!!

2011-09-09T06:47:00.001-05:00

It has been over a week since my wedding was recovered after being stolen from Caesar’s Palace. I still can’t believe it!

Last week the detective assigned to my case called and ask me to come to his office I agreed. I thought I was going down to get a copy of the police report. I literally gasped out load when he said he needed to give me my ring back! I was circling around the airport when he called to pick up my parents. They also gasped out loud when I told them the good news.

I went to pick my ring up and sure enough it was mine! The detective told me that after I sent him a picture he knew what to look for in the pawn registry. He came across one that match and went to see if it was mine. It was. The pawn gave the gal $1,100 for it. He already had an idea of who stole it. A woman’s name he recognized as a problem, was one of the names that registered as keying into the room that day. The name of the gal who pawned it was not hers, but her daughters. Obviously she took it. Now that he had the ring in his possession he went to Caesar’s Palace to question her. She denied at first, but then confessed. The detective also recovered the money the pawn shop gave her and gave me some great truths on hotel security.

4 Delicious Restaurants in Copan, Honduras

2011-09-08T06:00:00.002-05:00

Honduras food is unique and always good. Here are 4 restaurants in Copan, Honduras that I recommend. All four are kid friendly.

B’alam Café – Located at the Yat Balam Hotel. (which looked very nice) We had the best breakfast during our trip here.

Carnitas Nia Lola – I don’t remember what I had here, but it was good. Check out the waitress above carry our appetizer to us on her head!

Asados Copan – One of the best meals I have ever had anywhere. Click to see pictures of the delicious food we ate. Their specialty is grilled meats.

Elisa’s Cafeteria – This restaurant is located in the hotel we stayed in and was the first place we ate at in Copan. It was very good. We were with a lot of people and everyone ordered something different and everyone loved their food. We had the best Copan grown coffee from here every morning while we sat in the hotel courtyard.

Copan Ruins–Honduras

2011-09-06T06:00:00.001-05:00

Copan is a small town located in western Honduras, only 12 km from Guatemala and home to the Copan Mayan ruins.

The ruins were a short walk from Hotel Camino Maya, in the center of town. It was less than a mile and our four year old was able to walk it with out a problem. The Copan Ruins are kid friendly and a great activity for families traveling in Honduras.

At a small visitor's center you pay and get your tickets. Tickets for children are $7 and include the museum. Tickets for adults to go into the ruins and the museum are $22.Then there is a short walk towards a gated entry. It's here that you will meet up with your guide. The guides are inexpensive and worth it. You pay the guide directly. Once you get past the gated you come across a handful of macaw birds. They are beautiful.
There are many Mayan statues still intact.
You are allowed to walk on many of the structures. This makes it especially fun for the kids.

The hole you see in this picture is just one of many. They had underground tunnels and a water system. There are over 4 km of tunnels and for $10 you can go into two of the tunnels.

The hieroglyphic stairway holds the longest known text left by the Mayans.

Caesars Palace pool

2011-09-02T07:33:00.003-05:00

The pool area at Caesar's Palace is very nice. There are multiple pools, but some are private and others we never saw open. This is the pool I was at when my wedding ring was stolen out of my purse by the mini bar attendant.

View from upper pool at Caesar's Palace

Best Back pack for Traveling around Europe

2011-09-01T14:00:00.000-05:00

The High Sierra 23" Transport Travel Pack (Navy/Graphite) is the one my husband and I both have. I like these travel backpacks for multiple reasons.

It has different sections and can actually make into two backpacks. I find this feature convenient. When we get to a destination we can leave our stuff in the room and use our little pack backs during the day.

They do not weigh much. This lets us maximize what we can put in them without going over weight. This is important if you plan on traveling on a cheap European airline, because you can carry them on for free.

It does not have wheels. Having that feature would add weight. It is also difficult to roll anything around on cobblestone and up and down stairs.

The large pack has straps to cinch down your clothes and the small pack has multiple pockets making it easy to organize your pack.

At the very top of the large pack is a small area where you can put your cell phone, camera, sunglasses or what ever you want to keep handy.

The Truth behind Hotel Security

2011-08-31T12:28:00.001-05:00

Until recently I never thought much about hotel security. It was only once I needed them that I interacted with them. I found that many of the assumptions I had about hotel security were completely off based.

False Belief - No one comes in the room except the house keeper.
Truth - At any time, in a hotel were a card key system is used, there are many people that can gain access to your room. Housekeepers, mini bar attendants, room inspectors, managers, maintenance, and more.

False Belief - There are cameras all over the hotel.
Truth - They have cameras in the elevators, but beyond that not many.

False Belief - The room has already been clean, therefor, no one else will enter the room.
Truth - Workers come in your room for other reasons than for cleaning.

False Belief - When the privacy light is on no one can enter your room.
Truth - These lights mean nothing to the staff. One security officer at Caesar's Palace told me that meant: Knock instead of using the doorbell. A hotel manager at Caesar's told me that 85% of people leave them on "accidentally" and become upset if their room is not made up. The hotel policy is to disregard the privacy light all together and assume you left it on by accident.

False Belief - The room door shut all the way when I heard it slam shut.
Truth - Many of the doors are heavy and seem to slam shut. Due to fire codes, that prevent smoke from spreading into rooms, there is a barrier all around the doorway. The door slams into this and may or may not actually close. You should actually push it a little until you hear the door click.

False - Placing items in the safe will prevent them from being stolen.
Truth - Items are often stolen right out the safes and sometimes the entire safe is taken from the wall. (This is information I was told by a detective.)

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Maintaining Sanity on the Road Trip: Slow Down and Listen

2011-08-29T21:15:00.000-05:00

Ready to take that end-of-the-summer road trip but worried about how your kids will fare in the back seat? Translation: do you fear the bickering and yelling? Do your kids get car sick watching DVDs? Mine do. And they fight in the back seat. A LOT! This was a painful situation for me: I like road trips, but I don’t like my kids on road trips. How to fuse the two?

A little over a year ago, we were on a road trip and I wanted everybody to listen to audiobooks: they improve your vocabulary, they broaden your world! I downloaded an iPhone app that had the entire Librivox.org catalog in it for a mere 99 cents. That’s over 30,000 books! Problem was, many of the narrators were unbearable. I also found out: thirty thousand books is overkill. Too much choice creates paralysis.

And that’s when it hit me: I would create my own iPhone app with only the children’s catalog from Librivox. And only with the best narrators. No matter how good a book is, if the narrator is no good, it’s impossible to enjoy.

I engaged Mazal Simantov – a good friend and excellent designer, programmer and lifelong children’s advocate. Together we created Audiobooks For Your Kids. Thirty of the best narrated titles from the children’s catalog of Librivox.org. Now, you don’t have to spend the time figuring out which book to listen to: you can search by title, age, genre and author. Best of all, the app is only 99 cents. We also made sure that the design was beautiful, spare and easy to use -- and we’ve done the legwork for you by curating the app!

Here’s what you get when your kids read on the road: they don’t wander away, they don’t fight, they are safe. They are quiet.

There are no bells and whistles to this app: it’s old school, if apps can be called such things. You don’t read along, there are no graphics, no animations. You just listen. Slow down and listen. There’s a lot of noise out there, online, and most of it is no good for us. You can listen in the car, at home, in the doctor’s waiting room. We even explain how to do it on our website. Easy peasy.

Over the next few months, we’ll release three new apps with 30 titles in each of the following categories: Science Fiction, Fantasy and Fairy Tales/Folk Tales. Stay tuned.
Raise your kids as readers. Audiobooks is too reading! Enjoy the summer. Drive safely!

The first five people to retweet this blog post will be sent a free copy of the iPhone app, Audiobooks For Your Kids. Be sure to send your email to feedback AT audiobooksforyourkids DOT com so that we can send you the code.

Elizabeth Rodgers is an avid traveler, award-winning filmmaker and Los Angeles native who now lives in Boise, Idaho with her lovely family. She’s the co-creator of the Audiobooks for Kids iPhone app and contributes regularly to TravelingMom.com as the Idaho TravelingMom. Follow her on Twitter at erodg.

Book Review - Strike it Rich with Pocket Change

2011-08-29T13:43:00.000-05:00

What a great book this was. Although this is not something I would normally read it has been quite interesting. I had no idea until I read this that you could make money off off coins with errors in them.
My 10 year old devoured this book! My 7 year old has had a lot of fun with it as well. Apparently this topic is fascinating to children. Both kids have gone through every coin we have in the house and sure enough they found two of the ones mentioned in this book. It has fun to read something with the kids and talk with them about it

GPS - A Must have for Traveling

2011-08-21T19:12:00.000-05:00

There are many things you need when you are traveling, but GPS systems are a must have item. Nothing ruins a trip quicker than getting lost over and over. Getting lost cuts into valuable time that could have been spent doing something fun. When we got our GPS system they were still around five hundred dollars, now there are tons you can pick from for under $200. I have a Garmin and love it.

Please Vote for my blog!

2011-08-18T11:24:00.000-05:00

By Best Family Travel

I was very surprised and pleased to be nominated as a Best Family Travel blog at Parents. If you have a chance please vote for me.

My Wedding Ring got Stolen at Caesar's Palace yesterday

2011-08-17T22:34:00.001-05:00

The last two days have been difficult and frustrating. My ring was stolen from my purse inside our room at Caesar's Palace. I have never had anything of value stolen from me before and it feels terrible. I'm mad at myself for leaving it in the room, while I took the kids to the pool. Ironically, this is the first time I have ever left my ring anywhere other than my house. We got new rings for our 10th anniversary. My 11th anniversary is in two days, I didn't even have it a year.
The last two days I have found out many things from the security at Caesar's and from the Vegas police. I thought I would share them with you.

Even if your room has been clean someone referred to as an "inspectors" may come into your room to make sure it was cleaned properly. I was wrong to assume that no one would come in the room because it had already been serviced.
Leaving the privacy light on does not mean they can't come it. It means they shouldn't knock or ring the bell.
Most of the hotels in Vegas do not have cameras monitoring all areas of the hotel. Caesar's only has them in certain towers. I assumed the tower I was in had them and I was wrong.
Depending on the key system in the door they can track which keys opened the door and who the key is assigned to.
Pawn shops in Vegas are not allowed to resale the items they have purchased from individuals for 30 days.
Pawn shops are required to compared the items they buy to items listed as stolen with the Vegas police department.

For more hotel security info check out my article and The Truth Behind Hotel Security

St. Stephen's shopping district

2011-08-15T05:52:00.002-05:00

Located across from St. Stephen's park is an awesome are to walk around and shop and eat. There are lots a street performers.

St. Stephan's indoor mall

This guy was good. He was standing so still I almost didn't notice him.

A cathedral you could walk through. Most of the time in Europe the churches are open for you to look at and Free!

Dublin Castle

2011-08-12T06:50:00.000-05:00

Christ Church - Dublin

2011-08-12T06:13:00.001-05:00

The Christ Church in Dublin, Ireland is truly beautiful. It is one of the more stunning cathedrals I have seen.

Packing List for Camping

2011-08-11T21:41:00.001-05:00

I have to keep around a list of everything to take camping, because otherwise I'll forget the most important thing like the camping tents! Until last week I had my list on my phone. When the phone went dead I lost my list. I decided to make another here on my blog that way it is always handy and I can't lose it again!

Here is my list of essential Camping Gear!

Medicine

Tent
Air Mattress
Air pump
Blankets
Sleeping Bags (Winter weight)
pillows
Flashlights
lighter
wood
Roasting sticks
marshmallows
chocolate
gram crackers
baby wipes
hand sanitizer
books
hammock
rope
ax
lantern
chairs
citronella candle
mosquito spray
sunscreen
ice chest
Frisbee and other outdoor toys
scooters (if there is sidewalk)
Camping Stove preferably one with a coffee maker
charcoal
paper products
trash bags
jackets
hiking shoes
shower shoes (we use flip flops)

Paddle boarding in Roatan, Honduras

2011-08-10T14:04:00.003-05:00

Roatan Sights and Attractions invited us to come out and paddle board with Steve's Paddle Shack over in West End of Roatan., Honduras.

Paddle boarding is surprisingly easy. My four year old was too small, but the boards are so steady that he sat on the front while my husband paddled. Our ten and seven year old both learned and had fun. My balance is not great, but I was still able to do it. It's quite a work out. Once we were done we headed over to a nearby baleada restaurant that had been recommended to us Chapi Catrachas. They were wonderful, especially the avocado baleadas! Roatan Sights and Attractions is an awesome resource for everything you need to know about Roatan. They also offer giveaways and free activities and a regular basis.

Guiness Factory

2011-08-10T06:05:00.002-05:00

The Guiness Factory is huge. They have a complex spread out over 55 acres.

You can not make out from my picture what they are showing on this tv, but I had to post this picture. On this tv they are showing American's enjoying Guiness while watching a football game. The game they are watching is actually a movie Friday Night Lights. Which is a movie based on the highschool my husband and I both went too!

The view from the top floor.

Moving to the ATL

2011-08-05T21:24:00.000-05:00

The Author of this post is Solomon Dejesus

I had no reason to move to Atlanta other than my mother but when she got sick I didn’t really feel like I had a choice. She was my entire world and she needed me more than ever so I packed up everything I owned and rented a Uhaul to get down there. I moved in with mom and made a few upgrades to her place (got cable, went to AtlantaHomeSecurity.com/) and started my life as a fulltime home health worker for she and myself. It’s actually what I went to school for so I knew what I was doing and we were both lucky that mom had enough of a pension to support us both during this time. Mom passed away in March after a long cancer battle but it was so wonderful being able to spend her last few months by her side. I know it made her feel better and I sure got a lot of comfort out of being able to help her during her weakest moments.

St. Stephen's Green park

2011-08-05T04:38:00.002-05:00

This is a park with lots of stuff to do all around it. It's in a great location! The park is large and quite. A good spot to let the kids run or have a picnic.

10 tips for Road Trips with Kids

2011-08-03T04:29:00.000-05:00

1. Movie player! It will make the entire trip better if the kids can watch movies.

2. Get a new movie for the drive. Kids will watch a new movie over and over.

3. Plan road trip games,like the ABC game.

4. Make the most out of a stopping. Instead of stopping to eat and again for gas, stop somewhere you can do everything: gas, eat, and restroom.

5. Don't let the kids gorge themselves on drinks. I let my kids have drinks, but I make sure to spread it out. This keeps us from making extra stops.

6. Pack meals around your schedule. If I'm waking the kids up at 5am to hit the road I feed them breakfast in the car. I will also pack a lunch to keep us from getting stuck in the drive though line during the lunch rush.

7. Bring snacks. I take fruit, chips, crackers, and anything else that's simple.

8. Listen to an exercise cd when everyone's tired of being in the car. I have the Happy Butts cd. It's a little silly, but it's gets everyone moving and laughing. Best of all it keeps the driver active and awake.

9. Clean out the car at each gas stop. Don't wait until your at your destination, instead cleaning as you go will help maximize car space.

10. Take toys for the drive. I let each kid pack a bag of stuff they want for the journey.

Elgin, Scotland

2011-08-01T04:28:00.001-05:00

Elgin, Scotland is a small town up in the highlands of Morray. It's a beautiful area not far from the coast. It's full of history including some phenomenal Cathedral Ruins. If you are wondering where to stay in Elgin, I recommend the Mansion House Hotel.

Things to do in Elgin, Scotland

Check out main street. It's full of unique shops. There is also a lovely fountain and huge church. Try to find out ahead of time when you can get into the church. I never caught it open.

Check out the gardens. This was part of a garden I stumbled upon while driving around lost.

Enjoy the food. Eligin has great Indian food at Akash. This picture below was my favorite tea shop, Bijou. They had the best scone in Scotland!

My 7 Links

2011-07-31T11:05:00.003-05:00

I'm participating in the My 7 Links project. Here they are!

My most beautiful post is the one I wrote on Lake Shuswap in British Columbia, Canada. It's stunning there!

My most popular post is the one I wrote on Rome about the Roman Forum and Coliseum.

My most controversial post is the one I write on my experience at a beach in Barcelona. We purposely went to a non nude beach, but it didn't matter!

My most helpful post is 11 ways to save Money on Vacations.

The post whose success surprised me was Kids Eat free in Vegas. Apparently a lot of people are looking for kids eat free places in Vegas just like I me.

The posts I feel didn’t get the attention it deserved were on Disney World. I have been surprised how little response my posts on Disney World have gotten. We spent 50 days in Disney from 2008-2009. I can tell you almost anything about Disney World!

The post I'm most proud of is the one I wrote about the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Walt Disney World. At the time I wrote this I was still undetermined which direction this blog was going to take. This was an awesome experience for our family, especially our daughter and it was fun to write about and share. I realized how much I enjoyed sharing our travel experiences.

Thanks to Anne at 500 Places With Kids and Sonja at To Europe With Kids for selecting me to participate in 7 links.

Here are my nominations.
And We're Off Too
Travel Experta
Mo Travels
Travel Lust Blog
Wandering Off
Travel Crazy Mom

Brodie Castle in Northern Scotland

2011-07-29T05:51:00.001-05:00

Brodie Castle can be found off the highway between the town of Elgin and Inverness in northern Scotland. This is a stunning castle. They have a no photos policy, so I only got a few when no one was around. For 9 pounds I got a one hour tour. She showed us around the entire house, which was lived in until the 1970's. She gave us a detailed history of the Brodie family and educated us in Scotish art.

This is the front room you can look at until the tour begins.

That is a child's skeleton and a Japanese warrior mask.

This is the kitchen.

There is a pond way down this road.

Scott Monument

2011-07-28T04:11:00.001-05:00

The Sir Walter Scott monument in Edinburgh, Scotland on Princes street. It cost 3 pounds to go up inside.

Childrens Museum of the Desert - Palm Springs

2011-07-25T04:31:00.001-05:00

Children's museum of the Desert is near Palm Springs, California. There are tons of activities for kids here.

It's a fantastic museum. My 4 year old loved it! We spent 3 hours there and he still did not want to leave.

Yes, he's painting a real car!

There were many pretend play areas.

Eiffel Tower

2011-07-22T04:33:00.001-05:00

With an eight and a half hour layover in Paris, I did not waste it by sitting in the aiport! Instead, I took the train into the city and saw some sights. Here's pictures of the Eiffel Tower I took.

Turns out the day I was there was Bastille Day. Bastille day is the French National day, like the 4th of July in America. There were people everywhere! The lines for everything were so long! I walked all the way around, since it was roped off for the celebration that evening.

Golden Nugget the best deal in Vegas

2011-07-21T05:24:00.003-05:00

The Golden Nugget hotel and casino is in downtown Las Vegas on Fremont Street. It has under gone a huge renovation and is now what I think is the best deal in Vegas. This is a picture of our room in the Carson Tower. As you can see the room is good even though it's in the oldest tower. It was $47 including tax for the night. Sometimes it's only $39 after tax.

Be sure to check out their pool!!. It's awesome.

I hate road trips!

2011-07-20T07:39:00.000-05:00

Here we go again. Through a random series of events I find myself driving alone with all three kids across the country. AGAIN!!

I can't complain too much, because my husband is taking me to Scotland for my b-day By taking I mean he is there for work and I will be joining him. After I get the kids to Texas where my mom lives. 900+ miles from my house!

I know what your thinking. Why are you not flying? Great question! I sure wish I was, but this has all come about since Wednesday July 5th leaving me with no option. That's one of the many perks of the military life. Our closest family is a thousand miles away.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Monte Carlo pool - Las Vegas

2011-07-18T08:35:00.002-05:00

The pool at the Monte Carlo hotel and casino is one of my favorites in Vegas.

This is the wave pool. Unlike some of the wave pools in Vegas there are no height restrictions, so all of my kids were able to play.

There is a good size lazy river.

There is also another regular pool and a hot tub.

8 Ways to save money in Las Vegas

2011-07-14T06:02:00.002-05:00

Living in Vegas is expensive, especially for a family of five. We try to find free activities in Vegas and places kids eat free in Vegas, when we can Anytime we go out we pay tourist prices. I constantly look for ways to save money, especially on eating out. Here is what I have found so far in Vegas. Each of these are deal websites that I watch.

Las Vegas Deal Moms - focused on deals for moms and families.

Living Social - With a different deal everyday you can save money on lots of things. I got a 1 hour massage for $39. The also occassional have family trip deals.

Restaurant.com - Las Vegas has almost 200 restaurants that participate in these restaurant gift certicates. Some of my favorites are Memphis Championship BBQ, Pink Taco, Strip burger, House of Blues, and BB Kings. This can really help a you have an inexpensive family vacation.

3 O'clock Club - This website has good deals everyday. Some popular Vegas restaurants are on here such as Hash House a Go Go and Rosemary's.

Groupon - Everyday is a new deal. They offer deals on a little bit of everything.

EverSave - mostly savings on products which comes in handy if you plan to do some shopping!

CrowdSavings - mostly restaurant deals

Zozi - Deals on Vacations, weekend getaways, yoga, helicopter rides and more!

Hotel Camino Maya–Copan, Honduras

2011-07-12T02:55:00.002-05:00

We went to Copan, Honduras over Easter weekend and stayed at Hotel Camino Maya. It is on a busy corner across from the plaza and very easy to find. The street along one side of the hotel was filled with vendors selling all kids of goodies. The other street had food vendors. Overall the location was great.

Our room was good. These are pictures of a triple room, you can see some pictures of their regular rooms here. We had two double beds, a bathroom with a shower only, tv, bottled water, and most important air conditioning! The maid service was good, we never saw them make up the room. From what I could tell they cleaned and replaced everything daily, sheets, water, soap, and towels. The tv had cable with some channels in English. The lobby had 2 computers with free internet.

The hotel had a bar, Lost Monkey’s and a restaurant, Elisa’s. We of course had to try both. We ate at Elisa’s the first night we got there. I don’t remember much about it after the exhaustion of so much traveling. I can remember how good the Honduran tacos looked. The guy eating them said they were fantastic. We had the room closest to Lost Monkeys so we were able to actually go to the bar and watch the kids in the room at the same time. This was a first for us! Lost Monkeys seemed like a popular hangout and was fun.

The hotel was built to where it has a big open courtyard. I especially enjoyed sitting out there in the morning having my coffee.
When we were there the hotel was bright red. If you look on their website it is yellow. The bar also has a different name on the website. Don’t worry though, you are looking at the right website!

Hotel Camino Maya info

(504)2651-4646 /4446/4518

info@caminomayahotel.com

http://www.caminomayahotel.com/

Real Estate seminar material giveaway

2011-07-11T06:00:00.049-05:00

It's been a while since I wrote about investing. Last week I attended a free real estate investing seminar put on by the people behind Armando Montelongo Flip that House. Although they spent a lot of time plugging their products and classes, there was still useful information I learned. (I do not recommend buying any of their products that they are selling. If you go to a seminar take what you can get out of it and leave. Oh, and pick up your free gifts at the end.)
At the end they gave out some CDs and DVDs. So, of course I picked up an extra set! You can not buy these any where and there is some very interesting stuff on the CD! (The prize is not the guide pictured above.)

I'm giving away the Flip For Success: Fast Cash In Foreclosure DVD and Real Estate 2011 cd.

How To Enter
One lucky reader can win. If you would like a chance to win, leave a comment telling me one good money related tip by 11:59PM PST on Sunday July 31, 2011.

How to Earn More Chances to Win

There are several ways you can get additional entries in this contest. Each takes only a few minutes!

1.For Five Additional Entries: Subscribe to my RSS feed (either by reader or email) using the buttons on the top left-hand side of the page. Leave another comment telling me you did.

2. "Like" Mommytravels on facebook, and come back here to tell me that you did. I use my Facebook page to share exclusive giveaways, discount codes and other opportunities.

3. "Follow" MommyTravels on Twitter, and come back here to tell me that you did.

4. For Five extra entries: Link to this giveaway on your blog, and come back here to tell me that you did.

5. "Follow" MommyTravels blog, and come back here to tell me you did.

Winner

I will choose a winner randomly and announce the results here on August 1, 2011.
Rules

Please, only one comment per person per giveaway post (except as outlined above where the comment is related to an extra entry). Duplicate comments and Anonymous comments will be discarded. Please make sure that the email address in your comment form is valid (email addresses are never public). Winners must claim their prize within three business days after the date of notification of such prize. A Sweepstakes winner's failure to respond to the prize notification within the specified three business days will be considered such Sweepstakes winner's forfeiture of the prize and an alternate winner may be selected from the pool of eligible entries. If an entrant is found to be ineligible, an alternate winner may also be selected from the pool of eligible entries. To enter, you must be a U.S. resident, age 18 or older. We will disqualify any entries that we believe are generated by scripts and other automated technology. When applicable, the winner may be required to execute and return within five business days an Affidavit of Eligibility and a Liability and Publicity Release to be eligible for the prize or an alternate winner will be selected. All prizes will be awarded. No substitutions including for cash are permitted.

Lake Las Vegas

2011-07-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Lake Las Vegas a Mediterranean style village not far from Las Vegas. This is our view of Lake Las Vegas from the hotel we were staying at, Ravella.

To see other Friday photos check out Delicious Baby.

Violin lessons in North Las Vegas

2011-07-07T17:46:00.000-05:00

My daughter began taking violin lessons last November and I have been blown away with how quickly she is learning and the extent of musical knowledge she is learning. She attends Suzuki Strings of North Las Vegas. Her teacher is amazing with children and obviously teaches the suzuki method.

Here is a picture of her with some of the other students at a recital.

I was so proud. She played her piece perfectly at her 1st recital!
The cost is the same as other violin lessons in the area, except that instead of just getting one lesson a week you also get one group lesson a week as well. When you factor in this group lesson you are getting way more for your money.

I highly recommend Suzuki Strings of North Las Vegas. If you end up taking lessons there please let her know I referred you!

Susan Rasmussen
Suzuki Strings of Las Vegas
561-374-4706
www.suzukistringsoflasvegas.com

Daddy even made it to the recital in between coming home from deployment and then leaving later that day for an Alaska tdy!

Tivoli Village playground - Las Vegas

2011-07-05T06:26:00.001-05:00

Tivoli Village is the newest shopping center in Las Vegas. Although the shops aren't full yet the playground is ready and open.

Not pictured is the sand box area, which was shaded and the water play area.

North Las Vegas Daily Deals!

2011-07-01T16:41:00.001-05:00

I just launched my very own daily deal website for the city of North Las Vegas at http://northlasvegas.dealmoms.com/

I am a North Las Vegas local and I am tired of driving all over town to get good deals. So, I decided to brings good deals to North Las Vegas. You can subscribe at http://northlasvegas.dealmoms.com/. Then you will notified when there is a good deal in North Las Vegas.

If you are interested in having your business participate in a daily deal contact me at mommytravels@aol.com

If you have an organization that is looking for an easy way to fundraise consider partnering with us.

Tivolli Village Farmers Market - Las Vegas

2011-07-01T06:18:00.002-05:00

Tivoli Village is the brand new shopping center that opened in Summerlin. (the west side of Vegas)

Every Saturday Fresh 52 hosts a farmers market.

There were lots of different booths including educational ones.

There was an awesome kids booth called Kids Art Park. The kids can do one of two crafts for free.

My son made a frame for fathers day.

Golden Nugget Pool - Las Vegas

2011-06-30T19:04:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures from the Golden Nugget pool. It is built around an aquarium filled with sharks, fish, and stingrays.

Tube slide goes through the shark tank!

Hot tub!

Copan, Honduras

2011-06-24T22:55:00.000-05:00

I wrote an article over at TravlingMom.com about how cheap our family vacation was over in Copan, Honduras. I broke down each activity and what it cost our family of five. Feel free to check it out http://www.travelingmom.com/destinations/international/3377.html

Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay

2011-06-22T08:15:00.001-05:00

Golden Crocodile at the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay was awesome. I couldn't believe how much they have packed into such a small area. I assumed their wouldn't be much to it, boy was I wrong! (I hope my friend Ashlee isn't reading this while having her coffee. I would hate for her to drop her cup or something. She hates this place!).

There is one touch pool filled with Sting Rays.

Jellyfish, always a hit with the kids.

At the end we went into a classroom and saw a bunch of educational things like dissected fish, coral, starfish, blowfish, snakes, and more!

Happy Father's day!

2011-06-19T22:21:00.001-05:00

Happy Father's day everyone, but especially to my husband. We miss you. I know your working hard up in Alaska, but were glad you got a day off and caught a huge fish!

Swimming with Sharks!

2011-06-17T16:39:00.002-05:00

The Golden Nugget pool in Las Vegas wraps around an aquarium full of sharks, sting rays, and fish. There is even a tube slide going through the middle of the aquarium. This is a picture of my son popping out of the tube slide after going through the shark tank!

To see other Friday Photos check out Delicious Baby!

Win an IPad or $100

2011-06-12T15:34:00.000-05:00

Travelingmom.com and APEX, the Airline Passenger Experience Association are giving away 2 IPad2! Plus, their giving away a $100 gift card, two $25 iTunes gift cards during the June 13 Twitter party. Then their going to give away two more $100 gift cards and a second iPad2 in the two weeks after the Twitter party.

All you have to do is share your air travel experiences and ideas for improvement atTravelingMom.com's June 13 Twitter Party and fill out the APEX Passenger Choice Awards survey to tell the air travel industry what you think and be eligible to win $100 gift cards and an iPad2.

To see all the ways you can enter and the rules check out Travelingmom.com

Currently there are 242 entries so you have a good chance at winning a prize!

Islands Fire: Fire show in Roatan, Honduras

2011-06-11T23:12:00.001-05:00

This was a fire show we got to see while we were on vacation in Roatan, Honduras. I was blown away by how good they were. Best of all it was a free show at the restaurant we were eating at, Thirsty Turtle.

Taking our kids to an Orphanage in Honduras

2011-06-06T15:58:00.001-05:00

The orphanage in Honduras Hogar de ninos Tierra Santa in La Paz, Honduras
my husband had been visiting while he was deployed down there let us bring our entire family. Before we went we did not know if they would let the kids come with us. Our kids, us, and other volunteers from the base served food, handed out clothes and toys and just hung out with them. I even got to paint a few little girls nails!

We served the kids chili and sandwiches.

Like everywhere in the country there were lots of dogs. Our little boy was smitten with a little puppy they had.

I had brought clothes our kids had out grown, toys, hygiene, and art supplies to pass out to the kids. I wish I had brought more. I felt bad that I didn't have bigger clothes for the older kids.

The almost two hours we spent there went by to fast. It was sad to leave knowing how much more they need.

Zip line attached to a tree! - Photo Friday

2011-06-03T11:42:00.001-05:00

We went zip lining with our kids while we were in Copan, Honduras. It was fantastic, but I must say when I saw how they attached the zip lines to trees I was less than thrilled. We had already gone down 3 or 4 lines before we saw this! More pictures and read about our zip lining adventure!

Check out the other Friday Photos from today over at Delicious Baby.

10 Things I will miss about Honduras

2011-06-01T08:00:00.003-05:00

10 Things I will miss about our Honduras family vacation

1. Snorkeling

2. The beach on west bay in Roatan

3. Delicious food

4. Fresh tropical fruit

5. How cheap everything is

6. The friendly people

7. $4 manicures, $12 pedicures and $32 1 hour massages

8. Sunsets on the beach

9. Zip lining in Copan

10. The beauty of the entire country.