Family Road Trip Destinations And Activities

I dream of traveling with my children to interesting places in the future. I read somewhere that travel is a good education, and I would love the little ones to experience different places. Here's a guest post by John Gower on great destinations where the family would enjoy. During the road trip, I am sure the kids would get bored, included are fun activities for them to while away the time on the road.

Top Road Trip Ideas 

Whether during summer break or winter holidays, traveling is one of the top activities that families do together year-round. Whether you’re going to a popular tourist place or an in-the-whole treasure trove, most likely, you’ll be driving from your home to your family vacation destination. If you have small and young children, it can be a bit challenging to entertain them for hours. In this list, you'll find example road trip places and travel destination suggestions plus activities kids will love while on the road.

1) Disney World Road Trip
Disney World is the number one place in the world for a family’s vacation. What better way to spend it than to revisit classic Disney movies on the way to the most magical place on Earth? Present your kids’ favorite Disney movies on portable DVD players or DVD players installed in your car. Here’s a compilation of great Disney classics in special edition 2-disc DVD sets at Amazon:

• The Jungle Book = $37.11
• Bambi = $20.17
• Pocahontas & Pocahontas II = $19.99
• Alice in Wonderland = $14.30

Another way to let your kids have fun on the way to Disney is by creating their own Disney Characters autograph books to get their favorite. Give them a blank, small, and hardcover journal, Disney stickers and embellishments, permanent markers, regular markers, crayons, and other crafting tools to create their own autograph book. They can make frames for the blank pages and personalize them for each Disney character they want an autograph from. Here are a few Disney stickers you can purchase for your children’s autograph books:

• Joann’s -- Disney Stickers/Borders = $2.14 (sale price) from $4.29
• Zazzle -- Disney Round Stickers = $5.25
• Walmart -- 4 Disney Sticker Sets = $12.00

discover more destinations and activities...

Souvenirs As Collection

When we travel, we would always love to have a souvenir to remind us of the great memories and experiences we acquired from our trip. For some, taking pictures in these places is good enough. Then there are those who buy something, anything to add to whatever collection they already have or are starting like paintings or home decor.
In my case, I collect keychains from various trips I had when I was younger, I even bought one when I visited Enchanted Kingdom for the first time.. I wish to organize that collection because it seems so messy at present. I also have keychains from trips that I myself did not go on. They were just gifts from my family. And I have keychains that were giveaways from companies or events. When I went on the Royal Caribbean cruise last March, I made sure I bought keychains from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and even from the cruise ship itself. I just need a good box to place all of them in.

Speaking of souvenirs, if you happen to go to Las Vegas, what better keepsakes to have than those that are casino-themed? The Victorian Casino Antiques would be wonderful for the really serious collectors of specialised or vintage items and for those that are well-traveled as well. 

Take for example this amazing painting of anything pertaining to Las Vegas. It even has real playing cards and chips on it!

image from icollector.com

Thinking of where to get awesome pieces such as this? Victorian Casino Auction offers a variety of collectors' items. One could also have the option of not being physically present during the auction since they have online auctions. Cool huh? 

I cannot seem to find any keychain on the site and since I love Disney, I would choose something small but memorable:

a vintage signed napier Mickey Mouse brooch

How about you? What kind of souvenir do you buy when you travel?

How To Be A Fairy

A fairy is a magical character that is close to my little girl's heart, alongside a princess and a mermaid. I thought she had a blast dressing up as one during an "enchanted" photo-shoot. She is one happy and beautiful fairy!

My charming fairy!

What characteristics describe a fairy? Based on the countless times we have watched Barbie in Fairytopia, Mariposa and A Fairy Secret and the Tinkerbell movies:

• A fairy loves and guards nature. In fact, her powers are derived from nature.
• A fairy is curious, especially about humans and their things. It's like how some people are curious about them.
• There is a little bit of mischief in a fairy. 
• A fairy likes to sing, dance and celebrate.
• A fairy has skills and talents that she needs to harness and make good use of.
• A fairy has to have faith, hope and pixie dust!

Moms with daughters who like fairies could dress up as one and have their delightful moment captured, too! Just shoot me a message at cymplified[at]gmail[dot]com.

A Few Birthday Party Details

Less than a month to go until my precious daughter turns 4 years old. A princess-themed birthday cake is in order. When she turned three, she had a cake with several Disney princesses as cake toppers. This year, I plan to order a Barbie princess cake for her from Red Ribbon.



http://www.mymomfriday.com/2010/10/foodie-friday-red-ribbons-barbie.html



My daughter Elle just loves princesses so I will let her dress up as a princess on her joint birthday celebration with her baby brother. She already has a cute and shiny crown courtesy of her godmother Meg. What she needs is a princess-like dress from the girls clothing section in the department store, so, one of these days, we have to go shopping with her. I wonder what she'll choose. Most probably it will be pink and long, and would look like a dress for a flower girl at a wedding entourage.



http://child-adult-dressup.com/item-pics/childrens-pink-princess-costume.jpg



How about a costume? It will be only Elle wearing a costume, if ever, unless I specify that other girls wear costumes also. But, the party would not be a kiddie party type nor would it be fully princess-themed since it's a joint party. Therefore, it is not a practical choice for us.

Also, we have to find a suitable pair of shoes to go with a pink dress. A pair of white closed shoes is on my mind. Sometimes, it's easier and more fun for a mommy to plan what her little girl would wear.

I must not forget to also scout clothes for my soon-to-be one year old boy, red ones, I suppose.

How to Be a Princess | eHow.com

In view of the recent Royal Wedding and the fairytale-like qualities the event possessed, memories of my childhood flooded me and I was inspired to compose a story for my little girl. She loves princesses and she wants to be one, at least for now. This is due to letting her watch Disney princess cartoons that I loved as a child. So, in coming up with a story, I researched a bit about princesses and stumbled upon this link:

How to Be a Princess eHow.com

It was amusing and I am not sure if that really is how to become a princess. But, I agree with the 5th step, which is to "feel the magic you are able to give everyone with your good mannerism. Talk to everyone and offer kind messages that inspire people and make them feel good." After all, it is said that "people remember not what you did but how you made them feel."



http://www.davidsdresses.net/tag/kate-middleton-wedding-dress-2



Mommy Is A Child

Beauty and the Beast

Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Than somebody bends
Unexpectedly

Just a little change
Small, to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the Beast

Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
Ever just as sure
As the sun will arise

Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bittersweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong

Certain as the sun
Rising in the east
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the beast 

I have always loved fairy tales! I love reading them from books and watching them on TV. I love how the heroines end up with the cute guys who absolutely adore them. I love how the characters could sing a song of just about anything. I love how the animals could talk and make the characters' lives more colorful. I love the happily ever afters.
There was a time I thought that I have outgrown these fairy tales. When I went to college, when I fell in love, when I started working, when I got married, I didn't really get the chance to rediscover my love of fairy tales, of children's stories, of reading, of singing the beloved songs.
Until now. One of the things I love about being a mommy is that I could watch kiddie shows and fairy movies and cartoons, and get away with it. My hubby gets bored with those kind of shows and he smirks when I sing along to some of the songs. With the help of Disney channel and the Internet, we were able to get hold of animated fairy tale movies that we let our daughter watch. Like me, she loves them too. She even finds Cinderella funny!
The most recent one that we watched was Beauty and the Beast. It still brought tears to my eyes. And I still love the songs! I think it's still my favorite Disney animated movie of all.