Traveling with children

There are many, many things that I’d like to get done today. I have some things I want to try with my writing. So let me do this so that I can get to other things.

Summer will officially be here next week. But hopefully by now most everyone’s school has let out. I know when school lets out depend on a wide variety of factors. And then there are our homeschooling who might have gotten out months or might not really take a summer break. Whatever you do, I hope you take one summer vacation as a family. Today let’s take a look at some more tips for traveling with children.

• You will want to make up a little bag for each child. Put in their favorite small toys, maybe a game or two, snacks that they will enjoy. For the littler people in your family, you may even want to include a change of clothes.
• Hopefully the bags I’ve described are going to keep them busy for a good while. Consider rewarding good behavior with time on your phone or IPad.
• But keep in mind that driving time is also a good time to talk and enjoy being together. Tell stories about what things were like as you were growing up. Play games the whole family can enjoy on the road.
• While you are on vacation, you shouldn’t always be rushing from one activity to the next. Take some time each day where everyone simply reads a book or maybe watches a movie together. Probably the best time to do this is right before dinner so that everyone will enjoy the evening’s fun.
• You are going to want to pick the best accommodations for you and your family and the trip that you want to take. Some resorts cater to children, others cat to adults. You want to go some place that is going to be welcoming to your idea of fun.

Helping you plan your vacation just the way you want it is what I’m here for. Please let me know if you would like my help.

Things to do on a cruise

Some people go on a cruise because they want to experience different destinations. And a cruise is wonderful way to explore several destinations at once, maybe getting a feel for where you would like to take a longer trip. But some people have no idea what they should do while they are on board the ship. Let me give you some ideas.

• The first thing that comes to mind is to enjoy the water. Cruise ships always have pools. And now they don’t just have pools, they’ll have water parks and things like.
• Most ships are going to have shows for their guests to enjoy. They will have Broadway type shows, movies both in theaters and in your room. They’ll have comedy acts.
• Have a night where the ship doesn’t have a show you want to go to? Try God’s show of stars. You’ll be amazed at how many stars you can see aboard a ship. This makes a nice backdrop for an evening of romance.
• Yes, there is a lot o indulge in if you want to on a cruise. They have a lot of nice buffets, as well as nicer restaurants, bars, and clubs.
• But cruises also know that some people are trying to stay healthy, ever when they do go on a cruise. Most ships are going to have fitness centers, as well as healthy choices on their cruises. Theme cruises are growing in popularity these days, and there are whole cruises planned around getting fit.
• Want to learn something while you’re on your vacation? They have cruises where you can learn all about food and wine. They’ll also have cruises where you will be learning about art, or history. Name what you want study and I should able to find you a cruise.
• Most cruises are going to have plenty of things you can do as a family. But they will also have a lot of ways to keep your children entertained while you and your husband enjoy alone time.

I would love to hear what your favorite part about being on board a cruise ship is.

Tips for the beach

When a lot of people think of vacations in the summer, they think about going to the beach. I know the beach is beautiful and a lot of fun. But it can also be messy and a pain if you don’t do things right. Today we are going to look at some things that may help your whole experience go better.

• The problem with taking coolers to the beach is that they’re heavy and often awkward to carry. Take juice boxes and freeze them at night. And then when you go to the beach, they can help keep other things cold. And the bonus is, the juice boxes will make excellent slushies.
• Have littles that might not be ready for the ocean, but still want to play in the water? Bring a baby pool for them to play in. It will be much easier for you to keep an eye on them, and it will also probably be more relaxing for everyone.
• Love the beach, but hate the sand? Bring your baby powder. Rubbing powder wherever you wetter get sand is a great way to get all the nasty stuff to come off.
• Have you wanted a tattoo but have been afraid to get one? Do a sunscreen design on yourself. It won’t be permanent, but much maybe that is a good thing.
• Bored at the beach? Give yourself a spa day. Paint your nails. Do a facial. Give yourself a hot oil treatment. This works even better if you have friends who want to work on each other.
• But you will want to be careful about how much sun you actually get. use sunscreen and take your beach umbrella. And a beach vacation is the perfect time to catch up on your favorite shows or movies.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this.

More about Buddymoons

I have to be honest, what I wrote yesterday got me curious about the whole concept about this. So that’s why we are going to look at this more today.. Sadly for many couples, getting married is not some huge change in their lives. They have been living together before marriage, and so going on a vacation together may not seem all that special, even if they do go to some exotic place. Friends, and even family, can make the trip even special.. Okay, let’s look at some etiquette for these things.

• Unless bride and groom are rich or extremely popular, they are not going to invite everyone they know. It is best not to talk to anyone about it until you know they have been invited.
• Remember that this is the couple’s honeymoon and let them have their privacy. They are going to need their own suite, and you probably should keep out of there.
• The couple wants to spend time with you, they wouldn’t have invited you if they didn’t. But they are going to want privacy as well. Be respectful of that. Hopefully you are going to know and enjoy the other people in the group.
• With that said, it really does help everyone when the couple makes a schedule. This will help clear up any miscommunications.
• The group also want to be considerate of other couples. Who knows? This trip might produce another engagement which might lead to another buddymoon.

Let me know your thoughts on this.

Staycation part 2

Yesterday I opened up by telling you why I don’t especially like staycations. Today let’s talk about the reason I do like them.. When I think of staycations, I think of families taking time away from all of their activities of life to have some focused time together. And honestly, you might be better to do that at home than you would be in a place you were unfamiliar with. And my hope as a travel agent, and in my writing, is to help families reconnect.. So let’s look at some more tips for staycations.

• Is anyone in your family creative? Is anyone artistic? You might want to take a day to paint, and I’m not talking about painting the house. If
• you have older kids, you might want to consider putting a mmural mural together. If you have younger kids, you might want to try painting with chocolate pudding. it is fun and delicious.
• Is there a river or other body of water in your area, but somehow you never find time to enjoy it? a staycation. spend the day by the water.
• When is the last time your family enjoyed cooking a meal together. It can start at the grocery store where you can pick out your favorite foods. Try some new recipes or make up your own.
• Some restaurants will allow you to take a tour of their operations. I know that my family visited a doughnut shop and a pizza shop. it has been years since we’ve done that. But when we did that, they cooked something, and then we got to eat.
•  And finally, you might want to do a park hop. What’s that, you might ask? A park hop is when you visit several parks in one day. There are toys that even grown ups can play on.

Those are some of the ideas I’ve had. I would love to hear your ideas.

Ideas for your staycation

Okay, I admit it, I’m kind of having a crazy day all around.. I had friends here most of the morning. And then I’ve had internet problems, and on and on it goes.. And today I’ve decided to look at something that personally I’m not thrilled about. And why would I not be thrill about staycations? We travel agents make money when you book hotels, cruises, car rentals through us. And on staycations, you don’t have to have to do any of that. Part of the point of this type of vacation is to save money… I’m doing this because I want to get something written today.

Vacations can be elaborate, expensive affairs, or they can be quite simple .. All having a nice family takes is having a nice time together.

• A few weeks before your staycation is to start, get the family together and get some ideas together. Would you like to do a night where everyone stays up all night to watch movies together? Sometimes my family will decide to do dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner. And maybe one time your meal can be banana splits. The point here is to do some special things hat you don’t normally get to do.
• Staycations are also great times to visit your local museums, especially when you don’t have to be in a rush about anything. Take your time exploring all of the exhibits. Go to the IMAX theater you always skip. Make time to do the family picture thing. Take a cooler full of fun food for everyone and enjoy a picnic lunch.
• Remember those things that they call bikes? This is another great way to take a family adventure together. You might want to ride a trail you’ve never ridden before. Again, the point is to get out and enjoy each other.
• You can camp in your own backyard or living room. Have hotdogs and s’mores. Tell your children what life was like when you were growing up. Enjoy being silly together.

Have you ever taken a staycation? I would love to know your thoughts.

First guest blog post

My first guest blog post came out today. I’m hoping to have many more of these to follow.. Hopefully I am going to work more on that starting this coming week.. Anyway, here is my first baby. https://radicalchristianwoman.com/christian-family-vacation/

Go play in your favorite video game

[Disclaimer : I have never been into video games. I have never enjoyed playing those type games. I hardly know anything about any of those games. I’m just going to tell you what this article says.]

I may not know much about these games, but I know they are pretty popular. I know some children, and adults, absolutely love these games. If they aren’t playing them, they’re thinking about playing these things. So let’s look at some places you can play these games in RL [for those that don’t know, RL is real life].

• The first one is, of course, Mario Brothers. I do remember sitting and watching people playing these games. Who doesn’t dream of getting into these games? The closest thing you can get to this is in Tokyo.
• There is always Pokemon Go. And I know that you can play that anywhere. The cool thing about this game is that you have to play it outside.
• In l Las Vegas you can play Any Resident Evil. There you can play zombies to your heart’s content
• .And now I have good news and bad news good news is that  Nintendo is building its own amusement park. The bad news is that it will not be ready until 2020.

Going to a new country? Visit their grocery store

When Mom and I went on our trip, the first full day we were there we had no real plans, so one of the things we did was go to the grocery store. It was a small store, bigger than a convenience store but much smaller than the stores we have here.. And when we went to Jerusalem, we made a couple of trips to their market. Now that place was huge. And they had a bunch of stalls with all kinds of things. Today let’s look at some reasons you might want to visit a grocery store when visiting a foreign country.

• Going to the grocery store gives you an understanding of the food in the place you’re visiting. You will get a feel for what’s fresh and whats ‘not.Their pricing will also tell you about which foods are easily had there.
• Visiting a grocery store also allow you to watch how the locals shop and live. Few people are thinking about putting on an act here. The agenda is always to get the food you need, maybe catch up with the neighbors.
• This will also help you get to know their language. You can see a lot of the food inside these packages and can read their names.
• Buying food there is going to save you a god bit of money rather than eating in restaurants the whole time. You might want to get stuff for breakfast and lunch and then eat dinners out.
• This is also a great way to get souvenir. We I know we got several gifts for my family from the market.

Taking children on a an international vacation might not be the best

Parents only get eighteen years to spend with their kids. Sometimes young adults love going on vacations with their families, others couldn’t be paid to travel with their families. So parents usually want to give their kids the best vacation experience possible. And of course, that means taking them on these exotic vacations, doesn’t it?

The answer to that is , no, not necessarily, especially when you have young children. Young children love tradition when it comes to their vacations. Do you love going to the beach? Pick one beach, maybe even just one hotel, and return there each summer for a week or so. And then decide on one or two places you will go each holiday season.Children just want consistency.

 

And a big part of that is.. Little kids don’t really like trying new things. They tend to get overwhelmed with all the different things. They do not like trying new things, especially when it comes to new foods. Special times to them are all about getting ice cream, having hours on end of pool or beach time with their parents, and ordering whatever they want to eat.

You’ll know your own children better than anyone, but ten is a good age to usually start looking at taking your kids to other countries. They’re usually old enough to understand cultural differences. They’re curious about the world and how everything works.

Have you taken your kids on an international trip? How did that go?