Destinations Archives - Page 8 of 10

Our Beaches Turks & Caicos Babymoon

I can’t even count how many people asked if our recent trip to Beaches Turks & Caicos was a “Babymoon”. Although I had heard of the idea of a Babymoon before, I honestly had no idea that they were such a well-known thing. As it turns out, Babymoons are a very big thing for the travel industry and many parents are using the opportunity score special packages and discounts to take one last big trip before baby.

In our case, our Babymoon happened by accident as our Turks & Caicos trip was planned mere days before we saw the positive pregnancy test. But while the pregnancy didn’t play much into the planning of the trip other than getting the okay from the doctor that travel during the 3rd trimester was fine, I’m still calling this a Babymoon.

And, why not? Babymoons are a relaxing time to reconnect as a family before sleeping in and diaper-free travel are a thing of the past. Of course, there were a few things I couldn't do while pregnant, like indulge in their adult beverages or go scuba diving, but I honestly didn't miss them with all the other amenities I could enjoy. For us, Beaches Resorts was a great way to celebrate as well as holding numerous luxuries I couldn’t have even dreamt up on my own. Amenities at Beaches resorts that pregnant moms will love:

Seattle getaway: La Conner, Washington in the fall

I was talking to a Seattle resident a few weeks ago and I mentioned that I was taking a roadtrip to La Conner, WA to sightsee. She admitted that she had never been further north than Lynnwood, and I don’t think I hid my shock very well. How could you possibly limit yourself to just … Read more

Indulge your inner gourmet with the new Samsung Chef Collection

When we bought all of our home appliances back in 2006, we thought we knew what we were looking for. We had researched options, talked to people about their major appliances and what they liked and didn’t, and we agreed on the basics of what we didn’t want. But, we hadn’t moved into our home yet and we didn’t know some very important things about the house that would have been great to know when shopping for those big appliances.

I wish we had considered how hard it would be to get by the fridge if the doors were open, ovens that were better suited to baking, and how loud the dishwasher would be in our open concept and wood floor living space.

Seattle getaway: Lake Chelan, Washington in spring

Lake Chelan is one of my absolute favorite places. You know when someone says to close your eyes and go to your happy place? For me, that’s Chelan. It’s got an average of 300 days of sunshine {!!}, a gorgeous lake, water sports galore, a fun downtown, and it’s one of the best sandy beaches in Washington. My family has been going to Lake Chelan since I was little, so I’ve been to the lake over 25 times in my lifetime, which includes 15 times with my husband. We’re now continuing the tradition with our own children by making Chelan our extended family vacation with cousins and grandparents. At this point it holds so many memories and good times that it truly feels like my home away from home.

Every year we go see the tulips with the kids, and every year I am suprised by how much they still love it. We’ve gotten our route down perfectly to avoid traffic {and no, sorry, I’m not telling you our secret}, we pack just enough snacks and hand sanitizer, we wear big rubber boots for the inevitable mud, and we plan for fun stops on the way home.

Here’s a few pictures of our trip up to Tulip Town this past weekend:

Where we were: Tips for Disneyland with young kids

This past week I got to do something I’ve been dreaming about since I was a little girl. I got to go to Disneyland. Having never been to Disneyland before*, I knew I didn’t want to wait for the perfect Disneyland age with my own children and possibly miss the window of opportunity. I wanted to take my kids early and then try and get them back again once they were older and, presumably, more fun.

So, I began to save money. I socked away my year-end bonus, I hoarded birthday and Christmas money, and I started, literally, saving my pennies. The plan was that we could go as a family in July this year after BlogHer, and although it was going to be tricky timing-wise, crazy hot, and super crowded, we were going to get to Disneyland. Somehow, some way.

Seattle getaway: Tacoma, WA with kids

Any guesses where these Volkswagen-loving kids were?

I'll give you another hint:

Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season tires make any road trip epic

While we have a lot of fun trying out new cars whenever the opportunity arises, the truth of the matter is that we really love our car. It may not have all the fancy features available on newer models, but my wife and I both agree that our car still just feels right, for both of us.

Having an older car that we both love is great in so many ways, but most important is that its paid for. Of course, the other side of that coin is that we are long out of warranty, so maintaining the car is fully our responsibility.

We recently had to replace the tires for the second time since we've owned it, and boy was it an eye opening experience. The first time we chose some tires that were a little sportier than stock and we loved the results, so this time around I asked our neighborhood tire guys for something similar, but they really missed the mark.

The tires we left with were a much softer tire that allowed waaaay more roll and weight shifting side to side. Thinking maybe we could enjoy a softer ride we tried them for a while, but couldn’t believe how much tires affected that perfect "feel" that our car had before.

Lucky for us, Goodyear came to our rescue in the form of their new Eagle Sport All-Season tires. I couldn't wait for them to arrive so we could upgrade to high-performance, sporty tires just in time for an epic road trip down to Portland.

KIA Optima Hybrid {love at second sight}

by Tyler, editor and reviewer

When I get in the KIA Optima Hybrid, I get the sudden urge to just drive. Cross state lines and head out and see the world. There is something about having run your errands all week without filling up and still seeing 450 miles until empty that makes it feel like a challenge.

Go on, open up the sunroof and crank some tunes, because we have some driving to do.

Chicago event introduces new expanded Bitty Baby line from American Girl

At American Girl, the message is about celebrating oneself and all the things that make us unique and special. In fact, they have a whole line of customizable 18” My American Girl dolls that are a perfect example of this. For the past few years they have been offering the award-winning My American Girl customizable doll experience where you can choose from different skin, eye, and hair colors and styles to best match your child’s unique features.

But, until this August, the Bitty Baby line was far less customizable. With only 7 options available to choose from up until now, the line was not all-encompassing by any means. There were many children, my daughter included, that didn’t have a Bitty Baby option for them.

My daughter has light hair, light skin and brown eyes, which I have realized doesn’t really exist in the doll world. Dolls with brown eyes have dark hair and oftentimes darker skin as well, and blonde haired dolls almost always have blue eyes.

Or, at least they did. On August 27th, the new Bitty Baby dolls will come in 11 options with all sorts of combinations of light and dark skin and eyes, which makes it far more likely that you will find that perfect doll as unique as your child. Like their My American Girl line, now you can pick skin tone, eye color, and hair color to customize your child’s Bitty Baby experience.