After 14 days of this fun mickey-ness, we are now coping with re-entry. And whew, it’s harder than I thought. So, here’s my to-do list…er, my stuff I have to tackle before I can think clearly…uhm…my excuse at a coherent blog post:

Sinkful of dirty dishes. (Not sure how this happened since I didn’t cook at Disney or since I got home…)

Laundry. (Actually, I’m down to about 1 more load.)

Inbox. (Tackled this first and got it down to about 64 messages. Not bad since it was over 400.)

Whining. (The kids. And me if they don’t stop.)

No food. (I seriously do not have time to go grocery shopping today. I should have done a once-a-month cooking day before I left.)

Clothes. (It turned autumn while I was gone. It’s 63 in the house today. Lydia has 1 pair of jeans that slightly fit her. Asa has one pair of too-big dress jeans. He’s wearing shorts and a Buzz Lightyear pajama shirt…he won’t take it off because he is officially in love with Woody and Buzz now.)

Sugar. (I’m craving it with every meal. Like I need some giant dessert after eating the scrambled eggs and banana I had for breakfast. That’s what that Disney Dining Plan will do to you.)

Whining. (OMGoodnes. Seriously. I can’t handle it.)

Birthday Party. (Why did I think it was a good idea to reschedule Asa’s birthday party for after Disney? Why didn’t I just cancel it?)

6:00am (I don’t think I even saw 6am this morning. I did get in the shower before Asa woke up but doing my 6am walk-n-listen when it’s 60 degrees outside? Ouch. It’s gonna take some getting used to.)

Flickr. (I HAVE SO MANY PICTURES TO SHOW YOU. I could start a Disney blog. Oh baby.)

So, what have you been doing while I was gone? Did you miss me? I have to admit, while we were driving home, I couldn’t keep my husband’s iPhone out of my grubby little hand because I was itching for some social media interaction!

See you tomorrow for Top Ten {Tuesday}! It’s gonna be yummy AND Disney! Woot!

Disney: the aftermath is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
:: :: ::

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

That’s right! We got up at the crack of dawn this morning and we’re off to the most Magical Place on Earth! (The Happiest Place on Earth is Disneyland, in case you were wondering.)

We are going to be at the parks for…are you ready for this?…14 days. I know. It’s ridiculous. But with my Moms Panel tickets and the Free Dining Plan, it’s just a great deal! We’ll be doing a park one day, then chilling at the pool or with friends the next day. It’s going to be amazing. (Do you know I think I say “amazing” more than any other word on this blog?!)

I was going to bring my computer and live blog the trip—or at least post twice a week. But I started thinking, “Do I want my kids to take their computers on vacation?” And the answer is NO. For me, vacations are about putting family first. About making the best and most magical memories. It’s about showing your kids how much fun you are as a family. So, my computer has got to stay off-line.

But don’t worry, I’ve been writing and posting away these last few weeks. And some of my sisterchicks have come to the rescue. They’ll be guest-posting for me and you won’t even miss me. Well, I hope you miss me a little…

Like Mickey says, “See ya’ real soon!”

ps–I had to take Asa to the doctor yesterday. The doctor thinks he MIGHT have croup. Can you believe that? I’d love some prayers for him (and us)! Thank you!

I’m Going To Disney World is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
:: :: ::

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I will be at Disney World in less than 3 days. This is actually our first big Disney World vacation. I know, that’s weird, right? Well, Lydia has been to Disney World when she was 9 months with my whole fam. Then she’s been on 3 Disney Cruises. Asa has been to Disney World with me (and a bunch of Mom Bloggers) and one Disney Cruise. We’ve all been to Disneyland. And now it’s time for the Big Family Vacation! I’m so excited!

Since vacationing is on the brain, I thought I’d share a few fun vacation tips for planning, excitement and overall how-cool-is-that-ness. So, here are my TOP TEN VACATION FUN AND PLANNING TIPS:

1. Countdown Calendar.

You already know my obsession with advent calendars. Well, you could use any of these ideas for a vacation countdown calendar. This year we made the old-cup-tissue-paper-pop version (here’s a tutorial and more explanation). I bought a Mickey and Minnie puzzle and put the pieces inside. So, it’s like 2 countdowns in one!

2. Organization.

When we went on our Disney Cruise with both kids I knew that keeping our tiny little cabin clean was going to be an issue. I read on one of the Disney forums (Disboards?) about bringing an over the door shoe organizer helps keep things together. I thought this was a great idea so I bought one at TJMaxx for like $8. I hung it up on the door of our bathroom and it was like having an extra 4 feet in the room! I put all our sunblock, lotions, toothbrushes, Asa’s diapers, cream, Lydia’s clips and bows, our sunglasses and any other little thing that usually floats around your room and drives you crazy. Genius.

This vacation I’m going to bring a few other pop up organizers like this cool hamper-bag-tote I bought at Target five years ago and this fun thing from Ikea.

3. Souvenirs.

I love creative souvenirs. It’s because I don’t scrapbook. On my first big Disney vacation as a kid, my mom did the old-school scrapbooking of just putting every napkin and matchbook in a big photo album. I love looking through that thing. I always save everything hoping I’ll put one together but, I never do. Anyway, I wrote a whole post at Blissfully Domestic about souvenirs. And I still love our Disney Cruise postcard-on-a-keychain souvenir .

This year, I think we’ll let the kids get one or two Disney trading pins. And I might buy chocolate. Chocolate is a souvenir, right?

4. Map It Out

Once I saw this magnetic map on the side of an RV. It was the United States and it was filled with brightly colored magnets of the states–presumably of the states that particular RV-ing family had visited. I thought it was so cool—a little tacky, but cool! When Les and I were on the road when we first got married, we used a highlighter on our map to chart all the places we’d been (35 states!).

I looked around online to find a more creative way to display your vacation travels. There’s not too much out there (someone get their crafty vacation hat on! You could make millions!) But I did find some cute stuff Family Vacation Crafts at Martha Stewart and one of them was a map with all your destinations marked. (There was tons of cute stuff on that post, too!)

5. Road Trip Book

Staci is my inspiration for this item. She made us the most fun Sisterchick Road Trip book ever for our 30th birthday cruise. There were 8 games and every hour we chose a new game to play. We did the old license plate game, travel bingo and of course, tinfoil pictionary. You have never had so much fun. I’m making something similar for our trip!

6. Eat

(Yes, this is a blurry phone picture that I found on flickr. It’s of my favorite local restaurant in Nashville, the Pancake Pantry. Just scroll over to see the title of this shot.)

Finding fun places to eat is my favorite thing about vacation. I never ever ever want to go to a chain while I’m on vacation. I want to go where the locals go. I want a hole in the wall. I want Grandma and Grandpa to be in the kitchen. When Les and I were on the road, pastors would ask us, “Where would you like to eat? We have Applebee’s, Chili’s, Olive Garden…” We’d say, “Where do the locals go?” And we always got the best food!

My friend and mentor Jim Wideman says he always looks for the fattest oldest guy in town and says, “You just got back from the war and your mama is dead. Where are you gonna go eat?” And that’s where he goes.

In lieu of having to find an old fat man, you could always go to one of those CitySearch type places to see who made the “Best of” list in your vacation city. Or go to Food Network and type in your city’s name. You’ll find good cute restaurants that have been featured on some of their tv shows!

7. Ziploc Bags

This may be my most favorite thing ever. I discovered it when Lydia went to her first Camp Primo. Her clothes were so tiny and I packed so much (first time mom, what can I say?) and I just *knew* my parents wouldn’t be able to recognize her onesies from her capris, so I put outfits into quart sized ziploc bags. Everything fit in nicely. And her suitcase didn’t look like a hurricane went through it afterward. I still have those ziploc bags and whenever I pack their suitcase for more than an overnight, I put stuff in ziploc bags.

If you’re doing it for big kids or adults, you can’t get a whole outfit in even a gallon sized bag, but you can definitely do a bag of socks and a bag of undies. It makes you suitcase a whole lot neater.

8. Luggage

I always feel like I want new luggage when I go on a trip. We’ve got some lame little mini rolling suitcases we bought at WalMart like 8 years ago. They just last forever and are perfect for 2-3 day trips. Whenever I go to TJMaxx or Marshalls I always look at the luggage and admire the brightly colored luggage and know my husband would never let me get it.

Wonder if he’d like this upcylcled vintage piece from Judy the Jazz Cat’s etsy shop? It makes me happy just looking at it.

9. Travel Kits

When I was little (even all the way up until I was a teenager) Daddy would fill a little lunch sized brown paper bag full of candy and other stuff for us to eat and play with on our vacation. I always try to do something similar for the kids. I’ve already snagged a new book for both kids and I’m going to pack some fun food. I looked around on etsy to see if there were any other good ideas. And. There were!

I love this Are We There Yet kit from Sleepy Sillys–it’s just a little plastic case with toys and games inside. But so cute!

Then look at this adorable kids activity boxes from Quick Kits! It’s just a tiny little gift–some goldfish crackers, bubbles, etc. But I love the idea–especially for only $9. And this site has Quick Kits for all occasions. (I’m totally going to steal that idea!)

Oh, and my other favorite thing are these adorable little I Spy pillows. Have you seen these?!

10. What’s your favorite fun travel idea?

:: :: ::

If you’re going to play along this week all you have to do is WRITE a Top Ten list on your blog, LINK to me in it, PASTE your post’s url into the linky below and then VISIT or tweet or stumble or generally love the rest of the Top Ten {Tuesday} participants! (<—click there for ‘rules’ and a cute button!)

Top Ten Tuesday: Vacation Tips/Ideas/Fun is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
:: :: ::

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

While the kids were at Camp Primo, my husband and I took a little mini-vacation to the thriving metropolis of Greenville SC! I know, it doesn’t sound like a tourist attraction, but it is the most adorable little town! In fact, Main Street in downtown Greenville was awarded one of the Top Ten Streets in the Country!

Downtown Greenville is full of quaint southern shops, beautiful old buildings and yummy restaurants. So, here are my TOP TEN PLACES TO EAT, SLEEP AND PLAY IN DOWNTOWN GREENVILLE, SC!

1. The Poinsett Hotel

I love buildings with history and this one has it. It was build in 1925 and when we drove into town we saw it immediately because of it’s lovely old neon sign. {The hallways down to the parking garage were lined with wedding photos of sweet new couples posing on the roof in front of that sign. Gorgeous!} When we walked in I turned to Les and said, “I feel like we’re in the Tower of Terror!”

A view of the hotel from the ground.

Les and me in the elevator. We’re so cool.

2. Mary Beth’s at McBee

This was our first actual meal in Greenville. We slept so late that first day we skipped breakfast. Which is a travesty, in my opinion. But the time does not stop my need for breakfast. Mary Beth’s serves breakfast all day long. And I walked away with my tummy full of LEMON RICOTTA PANCAKES. Oh my good heavens.

4. The Mice on Main

This is the cutest thing ever. There are a bunch of little mice statues hidden all over downtown. Some are a part of other statues, some are doing their own thing but they are all waiting to be found. It’s a big scavenger hunt that a High School Senior designed as a gift to Greenville (or maybe it was his Senior Project, regardless, it was a super cool idea!). This would be so fun for kids to do—ok,  I had fun looking for them, too!

5. Falls Park

Just two blocks from our hotel is this amazing park complete with waterfall, swimming hole, crazy amazing bridge and breathtaking flowers. If it hadn’t been for the 9million degree weather, I would have stayed there all day. It was like a movie! There was even a couple getting married in the middle of the park!

6. Smoke On The Water

Their byline is “a saucy Southern tavern”. I like that, don’t you? Our waitress wasn’t all that great and when I asked her what was good she said, “Uhm. The special is good. Wait, what’s the special again? Oh yeah. It’s good.” So, I listened to one of the actual good waiters and he said they were featured in Southern Living for their pimento cheese. Yeah. So, I had to get it.

And it was good. For an entree, I got some kind of fish. It was ok. But the sugar snap peas with red peppers? Oh my. They were divine.

7. Mill Town Emporium
Right next door to the saucy southern tavern was the Milltown Emporium. And it was full of such adorable treasures and southern-belle-ish employees, that I could have stayed all day.

Plus, I bought these super cute bunny bookends and a big red bird. Yeah, it sounds really lame. But I promise, you’ll want some of your own. {And if I get up early enough, I’ll take a pic of them for you!}

8. Go Fish

I’ll admit, we stopped in here because of the fish. I was hoping it was a C28 kinda store. It wasn’t but I was impressed with the kind of store it was—everything was fair trade. The owners travel to different countries and find local artisans. They pay whatever the artisans ask, then bring their wares back to sell in the United States. The employees we talked to were passionate about the store. It was full of beautiful accessories and home decor.

9. Cazbah
Our final meal in Greenville may have been our best. We had eaten a big lunch but I still wanted a good dinner (oh, we had popcorn at the movie theatre, too!) so we found a tapas restaurant called Cazbah. Our first mini-meal was called the Southern Sushi Roll. It was a “crab stick, sashimi tuna, avocado, cream cheese, asparagus, and spicy asian mayo, fried like only a Southerner could!”

And can I just say yee-haw?! It was stinkin’ good.

10. Luna Rosa Gelato Cafe

Now, let’s fisnish it off with some dessert. As we enjoyed an evening of jazz on Main Street (actually we missed it because we stood in line so long to get this dessert) we ate some GELATO. If you have not had gelato, then why are you still sitting down?! Holy cow, run, jump or drive to the nearest gelato shoppe and indulge. I was so overwhelmed by the flavor choices I asked the man in front of me (a funny old man) who said, “Every single flavor is amazing. If they had popcorn flavor you couldn’t go wrong.” I chose Cinnamon Stick. Which was kind of a cross between Panera’s Cinnamon Crunch Bagel and a Cinnabon. Only ice cream.

So next time you need a cute little downtown to stay in consider Greenville, SC. And for bloggers everywhere the entire downtown has FREE WI-FI!!

:: :: ::

Wanna join the Top Ten fun? It’s easy! Just WRITE a Top Ten post on your blog–any topic is fine! LINK back to me in the post (pretty, please!). PASTE the url to your post below. Then start LOVIN’ on the rest of the Top Ten {Tuesday} participants below. My stumblin’, tweetin’, facebook likin’ finger is always hot on Tuesdays. I love the posts you guys bring! Thanks for making Tuesdays so fun!

see the official Top Ten {Tuesday} page for more details & a cute button!

Greenville, SC: Top Ten {Tuesday} is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
:: :: ::

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I think the absolute worst part about coming back from vacation is the ride home. Your bags aren’t packed neatly. Your car is dirty. You’re tired. Your kids are grumpy. There is no excitement carrying you through the long car ride. If I got depressed, it would be depressing.

Well, now I’ve discovered something new to hate about post-vacationing: it’s called re-entry. I know, I was only gone for five days, but I think I’ve established some new habits that I’m going to have to break. So, in no particular order here are my Top Ten Habits I Now Have to Break Because of the Cruise:

1. Eating Too Much. When was the last time you had a four course meal? Every lunch and dinner I had an appetizer, soup or salad, entree and a dessert. There was one meal that I ate…ahem…two entrees.

2. Expecting Desert. Like the aforementioned entrees, I may have had two three desserts. (Twice.)

3. Looking For Pixie Dust. When you are given priority seating just because, when you walk behind Goofy down the hall, when Aladdin winks at you, when Mickey Mouse lets your son squeeze his nose, when Snow White compliments your daughter, the crew members stop everything they are doing to find a baby pirate pin you want and then give it to you for free, you start seeing Pixie Dust everywhere you go!

4. Being Lazy. OK, so I might struggle with this one all the time. But seriously, every time I would return to my stateroom, the bed would be made, the bathroom clean and even the dirty clothes picked up. *sigh*

5. Getting Dressed Up for Dinner. OK, maybe this one won’t be too hard—considering I wore my pj’s all day Monday. But it is kinda fun to get dolled up once a day!

6. Taking Pictures of My Food. Just wait till I find the cord to my camera. Yum.

7.  Getting Up at 7am to do Pilates on the Deck with a Hot Muscle-y Guy with a British Accent. No. This one I do not need to break.

8. Handing Off My Kids. Lydia went to the Oceaneer’s Club about 2 hours a day. Asa went to Flounder’s Reef Nursery every night while I went to dinner and the show. Not to mention the waiting arms of Grandmama and Papa. All that kid-free livin’ made Monday seem like 14 days AT LEAST.

9. Walking Like a Pirate. I seriously think I got my sea legs quickly. Last night when I picked up Asa for his 2am feeding (*sigh*), I felt like I was still on the boat. Then, when I laid back down I could have sworn I was rocking again.

10. Sleeping Late. Nope. This isn’t going to be on the list until the kids are at least in 7th grade. *sigh*

:: :: :: ::

If you have a Top Ten list to share? I’d love to hear it. I’m totally enjoying everyone who links up each week. Hopefully you’re experiencing a little traffic from it—and meeting some new friends!

Anyway, you know what to do: Write a Top Ten post, link up on the Mr. Linky below. Then start visiting the rest of the participants and commenting your little heart out!

Top Ten Tuesday: Habits I Now Have to Break Because of the Cruise is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
:: :: ::

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

For my faithful oh vacation commenter (and very good friend), Erin…

I’ve finally updated Day 5 of my Disney Cruise on my oh vacation blog!

Only Six Months Late is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
:: :: ::

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.