Family

Taking Two Under 5 To Europe? Yes, You Can!

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We are a family that loves to travel. Do we travel 24/7 no, are we travel experts also no. We are a family that travels often and take our children with us when we do. We traveled a lot more before kids.. shocking I know. Why should you be reading this if I’m not a paid travel expert? We are normal people that aren’t travel experts that took two children under five to Europe for two weeks! If we can do it, you can do it.

 

We took a two week vacation to Europe visiting just two countries. We started in the United Kingdom, in London. After London we traveled to Dover to embark on the cruise of a lifetime, a Norwegian Fjords Disney Cruise. We sailed back into Dover and the last few days of our vacation we stayed out in the countryside in a small village on the county downs. This was an excellent setup. Something I planned and researched and planned some more. The hustle of London was the perfect first stop. The cruise was relaxing yet also busy and the perfect way to get a snippet of Norway. The small quiet village Alfriston in the countryside was the perfect end. We actually walked the downs to the ocean and it was incredible.

This is just a sample of our vacation. I will be posting more in depth about each city and what we did on our trip with tips. You can also go to our YouTube channel here and to watch our vlogs if that is more your thing. I edited most of those before delving into writing here.

This was a vacation of a lifetime. I know my youngest who is barely two years old won’t remember it. I know my oldest who has just turned five now and was four at time will most likely not remember much of it either. It was still worth it. There were lots of melt downs. There were arguments. Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned, some the hard way like when I accidentally took us on the wrong train in London it was a commuter rail stopping ever 5 minutes for an hour instead of an express that was about 20 minutes total… Big whoops, but totally fine in the end. Most everything I just said could and likely would happen if we traveled inside the US. All the small and big hiccups worth it.

I love exposing my children to different cultures, new ways of thinking, history, science, architecture, foods and languages. That is something I hope I always value and instill in them. Even though they are little and may not remember it and it might be harder at times because they are little, exposing them to the world outside our small corner is something I feel very fortunate to be able to share with them. If you are on the fence about taking your children on an international vacation Europe or somewhere else. Just do it.

Jump in and take the plunge. Do a lot more research than you think you should. Plan a lot because with kids you need extra planning, but take the vacation! I hope you will come back and check out for more about our incredible Europe vacation with our two littles.

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Walt Disney World in a Post Pandemic World

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Wow, a lot has changed at Walt Disney World. There was FastPass, there was no FastPass. Annual pass holders could not buy passes, annual pass holders could buy passes, now annual pass holders can only renew passes. There’s something called Genie+ and something called Lightening Lane. What’s the difference? (more…)

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Disney Cruise With A Toddler: Day 7 Castaway Cay

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Back in February 2020 right before the world turned upside down we took an amazing 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy for one last vacation as a party of 3! This was our way of doing a babymoon keeping our toddler involved. Yes I know this is not really a babymoon, but whatever. We did a European babymoon when we were pregnant with our first son and wanted to do something exciting, but not exclude him. A Disney Cruise with our toddler was the perfect option for rest, relaxation, and adventure for the entire family.

It has taken me a bit longer than expected to finish up this blog series, but new baby and 2020 then 2021 happened…. This post is about Day 7 on a PRE PANDEMIC CRUISE. Some things may be different now, but from what I’ve heard cruising in many ways has gone back to ‘normal’. This will give you a great idea about cruising with a little. I’ll let you know all the changes when we cruise again… anyways (more…)

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Disney Cruise Line With a Toddler: Day 5 St. Thomas

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Back in February 2020 right before the world turned upside down we took an amazing 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy for one last vacation as a party of 3! This was our way of doing a babymoon keeping our toddler involved. Yes I know this is not really a babymoon, but whatever. We did a European babymoon when we were pregnant with our first son and wanted to do something exciting, but not exclude him. A Disney Cruise with our toddler was the perfect option for rest, relaxation, and adventure for the entire family.

It has taken me a bit longer than expected to finish up this blog series, but new baby and 2020…. This post is about Day 5 on a PRE PANDEMIC CRUISE THINGS MAY BE TOTALLY DIFFERENT in the future, I’ll let you know once we (more…)

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Disney Cruise Line Eastern Caribbean Cruise with a Toddler: Day 1

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We just returned back home on dry land from an amazing 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy for one last vacation as a party of 3! This was our way of doing a babymoon, but keeping our toddler involved (yes I know this is not really a babymoon, but whatever). We did a European babymoon when we were pregnant with our first son and wanted to do something exciting, but not exclude him. A Disney Cruise was the perfect option for rest, relaxation, and adventure for the entire family. 

Day 1 of Our Cruise

Arriving at the Port

Since we live near Port Canaveral, my Dad actually dropped us off at the cruise terminal. We opted for the earliest port arrival time we could get, so we could enjoy almost a full day on the ship with fewer crowds. This worked well for our first Disney Cruise and would happily do it again. We arrived around 11:30am and boarded in group 12. The boarding groups go FAST, so by the time we checked in and meet Goofy we were getting on the ship.
We saw Goofy almost immediately after entering the cruise terminal. Killian ran straight to him and gave him the biggest hug, I wish I’d had my camera ready to get a video. It was the perfect way to start the vacation! 
 

After Boarding

Once we boarded the ship, we picked up daily navigator at guest services (or the daily itinerary) to see what was happening on our first day. They have an app we used also, but I really enjoy the paper navigators. Then we headed to add myself to a character meet and greet we weren’t able to get in advance and add the character breakfast. We waited just a few minutes before securing both slots I wanted.
I headed to the spa to get rainforest room week pass for Matt & I. The rainforest room is a relaxation part of the spa, which is an add on service that cost $229 plus tip for a couple for the week during our sailing. The rainforest room has different aromatherapy showers, steam rooms, sauna, hot tubs that overlook the ocean and hot stone loungers. It is incredibly relaxing! 

Lunch on Board

We skipped the buffet and had a delicious sit down meal in one of the three main dining rooms, Animators Palate. I like having our first meal in one of the sit down restaurants rather than the hustle and bustle of the buffet, plus I think the food quality is slightly better. Not that I don’t enjoy a buffet. 
 
After lunch, roughly 1:00pm we headed up to register and get Killian acclimated to the nursery and kids clubs before heading to our cabin on Deck 9 to unpack and take naps. The cabins are typically ready around 1:30pm and they open our section almost exactly at 1:30pm. Anything you bring on board you do need to carry with you until the room is ready. 

Late Afternoon

Around 4:00pm it was time for the Muster Drill (emergency drill), our station was in the theatre balcony. After the short boring drill, we headed up to Deck 11 for the Sail Away Party to wave goodbye to Port Canaveral for a week of sailing bliss! The Sail Away Party is an awesome send off with Mickey and friends and lots of fun dancing. 

First Dinner on Board

By the time we got out of the port, it was time to get ready for our early dinner 5:45pm. Royal Court was our first dining room and where we met our amazing servers. We had the BEST serving team and already miss them. For dinner the highlight was the french onion soup for me and the Grand Marnier soufflé for dessert. This was not our favorite dinner of the cruise, but still very good and the soup was absolutely my favorite. 
 
Halfway through dinner, I took Killian up to the nursery to play and Matt and I finished dinner with incredible desserts then we went to the Rainforest room in the spa to relax sans toddler. The hot stone chairs are my favorite part of the Rainforest room and I could send an entire day reading on one. 
 

End of a Great First Day

After dinner we caught about 15 minutes of the first nighttime show, “A Fantasy Come True: Welcome Show” before it was bedtime for a very tired and excited toddler and parents. This was basically our only early bedtime and much needed for the week ahead! 
 
Stay tuned for details from Day 2!
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Disney World Pregnancy Announcement

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We are so excited to announce we are expecting baby #2! Being a huge Disney fan, travel agent, and living just a short distance from Walt Disney World the only way I wanted to share our families exciting news was with an announcement taken at Disney. It just so happened that our timing also meant it was right around the holidays and the parks were all decked out perfect timing for a holiday announcement.

Our Ideas

I had about 100 different ideas on how to announce we were pregnant again, in front of the castle, with a baby onesie, or maybe with a sign. The little Mickey ear hats with our announcement embroidered on the back was on the top of my list. You can get the hats all over Disney property and have them embroidered on site with any message under a certain length. They make super cute announcement photos, but time constraints an a busy two year old that really wasn’t the best option for us.

Our Announcement Photo

Instead, I decided to pick up an I’m celebrating button and just write our surprise on it! You can pick up these buttons at almost any merchandise location or stand and the cast member working there will likely have a sharpie to write on it. I had our family coordinate colors for Christmas and posed in front of the Epcot Christmas tree. We originally planned to use photo pass photographers, which is the best option if you are alone. My parents were with us so instead I had my Dad snaps some photos of us while I held out the pin with our secret message. After about 30 different shots and a few funny ones of my toddler trying to pick his nose (keeping it real here), we had a perfect Disney announcement! It was easy, simple and quick for the toddler! Even better the celebration buttons are FREE!

Congratulations

If you are pregnant and thinking of doing a Disney announcement congratulations! This is such an exciting time of life and I am so excited for your family. Share in the comments how you did your announcement!

 

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Babymoon in London – Day 3

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We spent close to two weeks traveling around London, Dublin, and Paris while I was pregnant. With amazing public transport and great walkability, it was so easy to visit Europe while pregnant. Our second stop was London, England. In this post, I will go over what we did on Day 3 of our (more…)

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30 Day Detox to a Healthier Me

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I will be starting a 30-day detox and a more Keto minded food journey and I’m taking you on the journey with me! As I sit here and eat a bowl of pasta as a last goodbye to carbs, I am about to start a new food journey. I am calling it a journey instead of a diet, because this is not a diet this is about changing my health. In this post, you will find (more…)

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Thanksgiving at Disney World

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We spent Thanksgiving at Walt Disney World and I have to say it wasn’t nearly as crowded as I anticipated. Our extended family of 9 from ages 0-over 60 had a wonderful time and we are already planning on doing it again next year. Check out my video of our vacation below and some tips for planning a Thanksgiving trip to Disney World! (more…)

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