Travel/Vacation

  • Family,  Travel/Vacation

    Disney Souvenir Hunting is my Favorite Sport!

    We just got back from a trip to Disney World. My daughter and I had been researching what specific souvenirs we wanted and had a short list. They included: 50th anniversary Starbucks tumbler, Mickey Waffle Backpack, Mickey popcorn bucket, Figment popcorn bucket, RoseGold OR Mickey waffle printed ears, Mickey Kitchen sink and park map spirit jersey. Whew! TALL ORDER as most of these items cannot be found AT ALL anymore. OK, so to start off the souvenir hunt I should say, we hunted for the Mickey kitchen sink for all of about 20 minutes. Lol. It was very easy to find and probably the only souvenir that we were looking…

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  • Family,  Travel/Vacation

    Pandora World of Avatar: at WDW Animal Kingdom

    We LOVE Animal Kingdom! We always have. This park is so chill and laid-back. I didn’t think I could love Animal Kingdom any MORE, until I experienced the Avatar section of the park. Wow! I’m blown away. It is literally like you walked right into the movie. First off, if you haven’t been to Animal Kingdom in a while, when you first walk in the park you will walk up to where you can see the tree of life. Turn left and almost make a U-turn and follow it back to the Avatar section. See the map where I’ve crudely drawn a red line for where to walk. Haha The…

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  • Travel/Vacation

    Epcot: Eating my way around the World Showcase

    My visit was early Feb 2022, during Festival of the Arts. Some of this food and the vendors will be subject to change, but it was HERE in all it’s glory for my visit! 🎉 Okay, so we start things off in Canada pavilion 🇨🇦 🍁 Pop Eats! Has all the yummy stuff you’ll want. We had soup can bloody Marys, tomato soup, special grilled cheese and artsy cake. (All info will be in the photo descriptions) 😁 Also! Tomato Soup Can Bloody Mary in the background there. That was delicious but a little heavy on the celery taste toward the end. Moving on over to the United Kingdom pavilion…

  • Military,  Travel/Vacation

    Shades of Green Resort at WDW

    Military Families!!: If you’ve never stayed at Shades of Green at Walt Disney World, you’ve just GOT to do it! My favorite resort ever! It’s right behind the Polynesian right off the monorail loop, transportation to parks included. The facilities are gorgeous, like a nice mountain lodge vibe. There are 3 restaurants, as well as a quick serve near the buses and a coffee shop right there on site and they are all excellent! I can’t even choose a favorite. The poolside restaurant is called Evergreens and I love ordering delicious food and cocktails and sitting poolside to just watch the kids swim.🌊🏊‍♀️ My favorite breakfast EVER is downstairs. It’s…

  • Family,  Travel/Vacation

    Albanese Candy Factory

    We recently visited the Albanese Confectionery in Merrillville IN. 🍭🏭 Address: 1910 W 81st AveMerrillville, IN 46410United States It was my own fault for imagining it would be like taking a magical tour of Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory, but I was surprised by how chill and low key the place was. I should say, the ATMOSPHERE was chill and low key, NOT my experience… We made this one of our “stretch your legs” pitstops about 3 hours in to our 6 Hour Rd. trip that day. So the kids were feeling WILD and restless, and I handed them each $10 and let them buy whatever they wanted 😳 That was…

  • Family,  Travel/Vacation

    Self Confidence is Key

    I recently realized one of my “fatal character flaws” and it actually helps me understand myself better. This is a photo of me, hubby, my 2 oldest kids, aunt, uncle and a couple of cousins about 6 years ago while we were vacationing in the San Francisco area. Look at me, on the left, wearing the red “Indiana” hoodie. Do you see me? Look closely at my posture and body language. I ALWAYS do this in group photos. I recently started to wonder “why” and mentally walk through it. When a group photo begins to form, a few questions go through my mind: 1. Am I supposed to BE in…

  • Family,  Travel/Vacation

    Switchyard Park in Bloomington IN

    Coolest. Park. Ever 😎👍 We visited Switchyard Park in Bloomington today. It’s brand new which totally adds to the charm. It wasn’t “packed,” but it was definitely busy, and we went around 10am on a Thursday. They have a nice and cool covered picnic area, so definitely plan ahead for that. Thankfully I brought a gloriously cold and delicious iced tea from Starbucks or we all would’ve had a heat stroke 😅🥵 The playground area is pretty much all fenced in aside from a couple places where it opens up to walking/hiking paths. Definitely watch out for that if you have wildlings like I do. There was a moment when…

  • Travel/Vacation

    Campbell’s Highland Grille

    GUID EFTERNUIN! (or Good Afternoon, if you please) I have been watching Outlander lately. A LOT of Outlander. An obsessive-not-totally-healthy-need-a-support-group amount of Outlander. *That’s a real thing* Anywho, I found myself temporarily detained in Greenwood IN, while my eldest bairn (She’s 11) attends an all day music training. I meandered out to find a restaurant that “speaks to me” and when I saw the words “Campbell’s Highland Grille” I could NOT whip my car into a parking spot fast enough! The atmosphere feels like a hybrid between a charming Scottish pub and an American sports bar. The decor is very Scottish but with a buzz of sports on all the…

  • Family,  Parenting,  Travel/Vacation

    Flatwoods Park and Wetlands

    This Labor Day we took the chance to spend some family time together having a small picnic and nature walk at Flatwoods Park and Wetlands in Ellettsville IN. There is a nice playground, covered picnic shelters, restroom and guided/paved hiking trail. This was easy to take a stroller along with sleeping baby. The paths are dotted with informational signs explaining the wetlands. Not that my kids cared, they were more into the benches and resting spots. Haha. We found some nice leaves 🍁 Hard to believe they are already starting to turn colors and fall. It’s nice to take the kids away from the screens and noise to spend some…