What do you want from your vacation?

If you know me or have read my blog, you know that the only thing I love more than taking vacations is PLANNING vacations. Planning involves researching vacation destinations, reading reviews and figuring out how to get the cheapest price.

However, I've discovered throughout the past few years that there is an important question that should not be ignored when you plan your vacations:

What do you want from your vacation??? What is your goal?

Do you want to see as many tourist attractions in your destination as possible in your limited time? Do you want to experience how the locals live? Do you want to challenge yourself with a new activity, or maybe spend some time with your spouse away from your kids? Do you want to disconnect from technology and lounge at the beach all day?

The answers to these questions are unique to each family, and they can change depending on the destination, your kids' ages, your mood at the moment and many other factors.

We went on our first family vacation (as a family of 3) in 2008, when our oldest son was 4 1/2 years old. We had adopted him one year prior, and felt like he had assimilated to our family and the language enough that he was ready for a trip to Disney World. Prior to our trip, we didn't really talk about what we wanted out of the vacation. We had 4 full days in the parks, and we tried to see everything we could possibly squeeze in during our time there. We came back exhausted.

Disney World September 2008

So 18 months later, when we went to Disney World as a family of 4 (with another kid on the way and staying with our extended family of 11), we knew we wanted to do things differently. We wanted to slow down and relax a little more. So we built a "day off" into our vacation plans. We went to the parks for 3 days, and then we spent an entire day at our hotel. We enjoyed the swimming pools and the kids' activities the resort offered (a bounce house, face painting, etc.) In the late afternoon, we explored Downtown Disney and had dinner there. It was just what we needed to rejuvenate and help us power through the rest of our vacation. The next 3 days, we explored the parks more, but we shortened our days there and spent more time relaxing at our resort. Totally worth it!

Disney World April 2010

The following year, we went to San Diego (as a family of 5 + Nana). We knew in advance we wanted some downtime, so we narrowed our activities down to a smaller list so that we could spend more time relaxing at our resort.

San Diego January 2011

As our family grew, our vacation goals changed. My husband and I realized that it would be important to have some time to ourselves, without our kids for just a few hours, since we don't have a lot of opportunities for that throughout the year. So that lead us to our first Disney Cruise, which offered fun kids clubs and a nursery to entertain our kids while we dined by ourselves once a day. And we discovered that even having 2 hours alone to reconnect on our vacation was priceless!

Disney Dream Cruise June 2012

We were hooked, and we booked another cruise for the following year:

Disney Magic Cruise February 2013

So we figured out that for now, at this point in our lives, the type of vacation that works for us involves fun activities for and with our kids as well as downtime in the hotel combined with alone time for me and my husband. So our options are limited to places with kids' clubs or onsite babysitting. I've discovered that, in addition to cruise ships, there are a number of all-inclusive resorts and even domestic hotels that offer kids' clubs for people in our exact situation. Kids' clubs are even available at Disney World, they just require an advance reservation.

Our kids seem to be on board with our vacation strategy. Often, they tell us that they just want to go back to the resort and play with their new souvenir or swim in the pool.

Disney World Adoption Reunion July 2013

At some point, I'm sure our vacation goals will change. Once our kids get older, we might try to see more things during our vacation time and pack more activities into our limited time. Our kids might want to spend less time in the resorts and more time on the go.

We realize that we need to be flexible when we visit family, as we don't always have the same vacation goals. But we can still incorporate some of our goals into any trip, we may just have to compromise when other people are involved.

Do you know what you want from your next vacation? What can you do in advance to ensure your vacation accomplishes your goal?

Tips for Saving Money at Festivals

A few years ago, we went to the Texas State Fair. My family was visiting from out of town, and we thought it would be a fun activity for everyone.

And it was. But we were woefully unprepared with how much money we would spend on that one afternoon--around $150 - $200. Just for my immediate family, not all of our visitors. A single ride on the ferris wheel is $10 per person. Yup.

We haven't been back to the Texas State Fair since, but the next time we go, we will be a little more prepared. We got some practice in this past weekend when we went to the Celina Balloon Festival.

If you want to attend a local fair or festival but don't want to spend too much money, check out these tips:

*  Look for entrance deals and coupons

Groupon, Living Social and the actual event websites frequently offer discounts to local fairs and festivals. A simple Google search should notify you of where to buy discount tickets, so don't pay full-price admission. We scored tickets to the balloon festival for 50% off from Groupon.

*  Research the event before you go

Look on the event's website before you go so that you know what to expect in terms of possible costs. Many events have a fee for parking, and websites list which activities are included in your entrance and which require extra tickets. For the balloon festival, we figured out from the website that viewing the balloons were included, and there would be a free Home Depot workshop for kids, but the rest of the rides/bounce houses/petting zoos would cost extra. The Texas State Fair has many shows and exhibits that are free, but the food and rides can be pricey. If you are on a limited budget, head to the shows and events that are included as part of your admission.

*  Decide on a budget, and tell your kids the plan

If you attend an event that requires you to buy tickets or pay extra for certain things, decide on a budget before you go. Tell your kids about it before you go so that they can get on the same page. Hopefully, this results in less whining. For the balloon festival, we decided in advance we would buy $40 worth of ride tickets. We told our kids about the plan, and let them know that they would each be able to pick 3 or 4 activities, depending on the cost. When we arrived, our kids scoped out each attraction and chose carefully. As it turns out, they all picked different rides.

*  Bring your own food and drinks

Whenever possible, bring your own food and drinks to save money. Last weekend, we brought some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids, and told them we could buy them a treat for dessert at the festival. Due to allergies and food intolerances, many places now let you bring in your own food and drinks. Read the FAQ section of the event's website to understand the specific rules about bringing your own coolers and alcohol. (Or better yet, plan to go outside of a meal time if the event is short).


Our entertainment budget is really small, and we have it that way on purpose. There are so many free, fun things to do around this area, and we are making an effort to funnel our money into other priorities. But, every now and then it's nice to splurge on a fair or festival and experience unique entertainment and fun.

Do you have any favorite fairs or festivals? Do you have any tips for enjoying them or saving money?

Is everything geared for a family of 4?

I grew up in a family of 5. Two parents, 1 brother, 1 sister and me.

I remember going on family vacations when we would all pile in the station wagon. Of course, car seats and booster seats weren't around in those days, so I could sit in the very back of the station wagon. We drove from Colorado to New Jersey numerous times, and saw everything in between. When it came time to stop for the night, we'd pull over to a motel (usually a Best Western), and get one room with a rollaway bed. 5 people in one room? No problem.

Now that I'm all grown up and part of another family of 5, I've found that planning vacations and getting hotel rooms for 5 isn't quite as simple as it was back when I was a kid. The majority of hotel rooms now only allow 4 people, and no rollaway beds. They say it's due to fire code restrictions.

The hotels that have bigger rooms for families of 5 charge significantly more for adding a 5th person. I would think that adding a 5th person to a room should make our price increase by just 25%, right? But usually, it's a lot more than that.

Here are a few examples:

JW Marriott near San Antonio: Looks like a beautiful place, we've thought about going down there for just 1 night to enjoy the pools. Family of 4 price: $449. Add in 1 more person, and they have to bump you up to a suite for $1149. Over double the price. Or we could book 2 regular rooms for exactly double the price. The hotel requires wrist bands to use their pool, so it's not like we could sneak a 5th person into a regular room with a sleeping bag, because then one of us couldn't use the pool.

Omni Resort in Orlando: +59% to add a 5th person

I could keep listing examples of hotels that can't accommodate 5 in one standard room...

Then we have Disney, which does have hotel rooms that accommodate 5.  THANK YOU! But, the price increase is still not in line with the occupancy increase. For example, one week at the cheapest Disney resort that accommodates 5 is still +40% higher than the cheapest room for 4 people. Renting DVC points is not cheaper. And you can't really sneak a 5th person into a 4-person room at Disney since your park tickets and Magical Express bus tickets are tied to your room.

And on a Disney cruise, adding a 5th person adds at least 48% to the total vacation (whether it's adding a second room or booking in a higher category room that accommodates 4 people).

I've done the math, and it does not compute!

We just returned from a fabulous weekend at a small resort where we stayed in a cozy cabin. We have been looking for another cabin to stay in next summer, but we are frustrated that so many of the cabins max out at 4 people.

So what is a family of 5 or more to do? Just suck it up and pay more?

Well, that's one option. We have found a few other workarounds:

1. Timeshare rentals--most timeshare places allow you to rent from owners. A few years ago, we rented a 2-bedroom timeshare near San Diego for less than $100 a night. We also rented a timeshare near Disney for less than that. Most timeshares have full kitchens and a washer/dryer, which also saves you money.

2. House rentals--sites like vrbo.com and airbnb.com have houses to rent, many which accommodate 5 or more. We used vrbo.com to rent a house in Colorado. Depending on the house, this may not be cheaper than 2 standard hotel rooms, but at least most houses have a full kitchen and washer/dryer.

3. Suite hotels--some "suite" hotels fit 5-6 people in a standard room. My favorite so far is Springhill Suites by Marriott. We stayed in one last year near SeaWorld, and it slept 6 people. 2 queen beds and a sleeper sofa. Beware that many "suite" hotels do not accommodate more than 4 people, but just have a wall separating the bed from the living room or table area.

If you are a family of 5+, I'd love to hear how you keep vacation costs down and still find bargains on accommodations for your larger family.

(And don't get me started on restaurants, cars, theme park tickets and Groupons that are all geared for families of 4 :) )

The Closest We've Come to Camping--Coyote Ranch

This weekend, my husband rode his bike in the Hotter 'n Hell Hundred bike rally in Wichita Falls, Texas. This was his 3rd year riding this race with over 13,000 cyclists, but our first year going there with our entire family. We found this placed called Coyote Ranch that had cabins to rent, so we snagged a reservation exactly 1 year in advance for this popular race weekend (hotels are really hard to come by during the race weekend).

We rented one of the loft cabins. It had a front porch and a back porch that wrapped around the side, with four rocking chairs and a dining table on the porches.

The living room with a sofa bed:

The kitchen with a small refrigerator/freezer, 2-burner stove and microwave. We brought our own food with us for the weekend. This is probably the closest we've come to camping, ever.

The loft where the kids slept:

The loft had a futon bed and space for another 3 kids in sleeping bags on the floor. In total, you could sleep 8-9 people in the cabin. Although the loft is very short! Only 2 of my 3 kids could stand up in it.

There was storage under the stairs--or as my kids called it, the Harry Potter room.

The master bedroom with a king-size bed:

The entire cabin was decked out in country western decor. Like this pistol lamp in the bedroom.

There are 24 cabins at the resort and many RV hook-ups. The resort also has a wedding chapel and a few conference centers for receptions and family reunions.

Out the back door, we could walk to some of the park's amenities.

What is that yellow thing in the ground? A jumping pillow!

On the way there, we stopped to play tetherball.

The jumping pillow was a huge hit with my kids! I guess it's like a huge in-ground trampoline.

I got on for a while--it was even fun for teenagers and adults.

As you can see, we stayed on the jumping pillow into the evening both nights.

Near the jumping pillow, there were some wagons to explore:

And a playground:

With a treehouse:

The resort had 2 pools. Neither were huge, but we played at the smaller one with a water slide.

It had a small splash pad, also.

The resort had a stocked fishing pond (which we didn't explore) and some miniature horses.


The office sold ice cream bars and popsicles, which we had a few times.

The resort had a fish fry on Friday night and a grill-out on Saturday night with a band. And it offered breakfast to the cyclists at 4:30 a.m. on the morning of the race.

Overall, we had a great time here while Brian was riding his bike in the race. The kids thought we were on vacation and have asked when we can come back here again. We loved that our kids found such joy in the activities here. We plan on coming here every other year this same weekend for the race. But in the meantime, we've been inspired to check out other cabin rentals within the state of Texas. I think Glen Rose is on our list for next summer.

Russian Adoption Reunion at Disney World--Part 3

In case you missed parts 1 and 2:

Part 1

Part 2

Saturday, July 20, 2013.

The boys slept in until after 8:00. I had to wake them up so we could catch the boat and monorail to our character breakfast at Ohana.

This is my favorite character breakfast at Walt Disney World. Ohana is located in the Polynesian Resort, so you don't have to buy a park ticket to get into this restaurant. Breakfast is served family style at your table, which is convenient for those of us with kids. The best thing about breakafast at Ohana is the "POG" juice, or the pineapple/orange/guava juice. We each had 3-4 glasses of it, it's fantastic!

The kids had a great time meeting Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto. You can read a more detailed review of this character breakfast on this blog post.

After we finished at Ohana, I promised the boys a trip to Downtown Disney for a souvenir from the great big Disney store there. We took a bus from the Polynesian Resort to Downtown Disney. We already had our reunion t-shirts on, and another reunion family recognized us with our shirts. They were kind enough to send me these pictures they took of us at Downtown Disney.

After Downtown Disney, we took a bus back to Wilderness Lodge to rest and swim again. Soon, it was time to hop on the bus to our big reunion dinner at Mickey's Backyard BBQ! We met up with a few more families in the lobby. The Russians took over the bus.

Mickey's Backyard BBQ is an outdoor venue at Fort Wilderness Campground (which is next door to Wilderness Lodge). It is covered and has a buffet for dinner (with unlimited beer and ice cream bars!) It was the perfect place for the reunion dinner. It was kinda crazy--a sea of white reunion shirts, high energy dancing with the characters, lots of picture-taking! (I can't take credit for any of the following reunion pictures--they were all graciously loaned to me by my fellow travelers--thanks!!!)

My boys met up with several other kids from the same city in Russia--and a few of their roommates from the same orphanage! Priceless.

The night was over before we knew it. At that point, I regretted not booking the cruise, because most of the families had the next 4 days at sea together.

Our group really was a sight to see! After the BBQ, Mickey and Minnie came out for a private photo session with our kids. I don't think I can put into words how truly special it was to be a part of this reunion.

After the BBQ, we went for one last swim at Wilderness Lodge. It was late, it was dark, but it was fun.

And I paid for it the next day, because we had to wake up at 4:00 a.m. to catch our flight. Yes, I booked the cheap tickets with the absurdly early departure. But we made it.

The group is going to have another reunion in 2015. While we don't know the details of where, when and how much yet...we plan to make it a priority for all 5 of us to attend the next one together.