Tips for Finding the Best Vacation Home Rentals

  My husband will be the first to tell you that I'm the brains & braun behind our family vacations. My family grew up taking trips every summer and I knew I wanted the same for my kids -- getting out to explore the worl...

The Best National Park Adventures for Kids

Learn about the Junior Ranger Program for kids -- the best kept secret at the National Parks!If you visit our blog frequently, you'll know that we are BIG fans of getting kids outside :)Our first post featuring Kids to Parks Day focused on ...

Aulani: 9 Must-Do Activities at Disney's Hawaii Resort on Oahu

Awesome tips & secrets for staying at Aulani, Disney's Hawaii resort on Oahu!After a few years of planning and saving, we were able to take a trip to Hawaii this year -- yes, it was amazing! We had accumulated enough Disney Reward ...

Travel Planning & Packing List for Family Trips {free printable}

  We're just back from our annual family vacation -- and honestly, this one almost did me in! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to travel!  Exploring new places, seeing some AMAZING sights and being with my family -- just us without a...

Why Kids Need to Travel & What They Can Learn on the Trip

  Travel is such a great educational opportunity for kids!  A chance to explore new places, try something new and reconnect with the family. Honestly, my kids learn more on our vacations than they do any other time of the year.&...

Kansas City Day Trips & Weekend Travels

I grew up back east where you could drive for an hour and reach the next big city.  That's not the case in the Midwest; the cities are farther apart and a day trip definately takes a whole day.  But boy are there some wonderful M...

12 Ways Kids can Help with Travel Planning and Trip Prep

  In our house, planning for a family vacation is a full-family affair!  It is called a 'family vacation' so we have always involved the kids in trip planning and prep.  It's a great life skill for them to learn especially ...

The Amazing Museums of St. Joseph, Missouri

  My daughter and I took a day trip this past fall and headed to St. Joseph in Missouri.  Not far from Kansas City (about an hour's drive), St. Joseph has quite a few wonderful attractions that families will really enjoy!  ...

Tips for Planning the Perfect Family Vacation

Don't you just love family vacations?! The opportunity to get away and explore someplace new! The time away from the daily schedule and all the things that need to be done at home :) The packing, unpacking and repacking (ha!)...

The Ultimate Road Trip Guide for Families -- Great Travel Items & Car Activities for Kids

Welcome to the Ultimate Road Trip Guide for Families - Part 2!  We know that many families head out on the open road during the summer for some much deserved rest and relaxation.  And we'd like to help make 'getting there' a fun a...

The Ultimate Road Trip Guide for Families -- Packing Tips & Why Getting There is Half the Fun

Great ideas for packing the car, side trips and road trip activities with kids!When we got married, my husband and I moved half-way across the country and away from every relative we had.  It was hard the first few years to not have al...

Vacation Craft for Kids: Travel Buckets & Bags

It's summertime, which for many families also means traveling so it's time for some awesome road trip activities that will keep the kids busy on those long trips! We are a big traveling family -- for as long as I can remember, we've taken a...

Family Friendly Zoo Visits

One of the most popular attractions for families is the zoo.  I'm not sure if it's all the curiosity that we have about animal behavior or the fact that most of our kids act like animals so we think they'll feel at home during their vi...

Love Where You Live - Get Out and Explore your City

We are officially on summer vacation (yea!) and making some fun plans for what we'd like to do this year.  Once of the top things on our list each summer is to explore someplace new in our city.  I'm sure you know, just like me, ...

8 Great Ways to Enjoy the National Parks

I'm a huge fan of the National Parks!  They are one of our country's most beautiful assets and I really feel that every family should take the opportunity to visit at least one of the parks with their kids.  There are more than ...