Travel Tips

Hello, I would like you to meet Kendra Thornton. She is going to share some fabulous ideas with you about traveling with children. This is a brief bio of Kendra: Travel advocate, TV spokesperson, PR businesswoman, proud wife and mama of 3. I am a long time travel expert who has been packing my bags and traveling the world since I was 3 months old! I've found my utmost desire in life is right here in my own home. I have mixed my excitement for travel by bringing the taste of authentic cuisine to my own home with some of my unique recipes and sharing some of my personal traveling tips. Enjoy!

Follow Kendra at:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KendraThornton

Website: http://www.thorntonpr.com/

Travel Smart with Your Kids this Summer

Even though is now in the swing of things, it’s never too late to plan a fun family vacation. I love to travel with my family, but it has taken quite a while to fine-tune our travel process. With a bit of preparation, you can have a hassle-free trip.

1. Be Prepared

It is always best to be prepared. Make a list of things to do and pack in the weeks leading up to your vacation. You would hate to miss something, like forgetting diapers or enough socks. You can even use an app on your smartphone like Packing Pro to help you keep a list.

2. Destination Fun

Anytime you choose a destination, look for nearby activities to keep the kids entertained. Family friendly resorts are great because they offer fun for everybody. Look for a hotel with an indoor water park or a ranch with riding lessons. You can score bonus points if you book a room with a kids club, allowing your spouse and you to have time alone. I used Gogobot to find a great Orlando hotel that was affordable and family friendly. Always look to find a hotel that has something to offer every member of the family.

3. Surprise Getaway

Try not telling the kids where you plan to go on your vacation. Just tell them to pack a suitcase and let them guess where you are going ahead of time. If you drop some clues ahead of time to entice your children, they will be excited and eager to reach the destination. The only catch is that the reveal must be surprising—there has to be a bit of a “wow” factor attached.

4. Structured Playtime

Having an all-day adventure can be tiring for the whole family. Integrate playtime into the plans, breaking up sightseeing or guided tours into chunks. Engaging the children is essential to keeping them happy. Find playgrounds and swimming pools they can enjoy. Just remember that it’s more difficult for the kids to keep up with your lengthier activities.

 

5. Document the Trip!

Documenting the trip can be a great way for the family to bond, and can ensure that you capture those memories made during the trip. Bring your camera (with an extra battery and/or a charger), but also provide the youngsters with their own disposable camera to take pictures on their own! They will love being able to snap their own memories along the way, and putting together a scrap book afterword can be tremendous bonding time for the whole family!

 

A little bit of preparation can go a long way. Remember to have fun and to plan accordingly!

 Thanks Kendra for being All Boxed Up's first guest blogger.

 

Labor Day Weekend

 The family at Lake Superior

 Charles and I

 About to put Charles' feet in the lake

 Photos with Daddy

He got distracted which is really easy for him to do.

We left Saturday morning heading for Mall of America and spent most of the day at the mall. The next morning we drove over to Lake Superior and went into Wisconsin since we were right there, and to be honest so that we could knock it off the list of states we have left to travel to. We had a lot of fun sight seeing and shopping.  We got home at 12:30 am on Labor Day. We slept in until 8:30 and were lazy for the most part on our Labor Day/Day off vacation from work. 

States Charles has been in the first year of his life:

1. Iowa

2.Georgia

3.South Carolina

4. North Carolina

5. Tennessee 

6.Kentucky

7. Missouri

8.Illinois

9. Indiana

10. Minnesota

11. Wisconsin

12. Nebraska

States I have left to see:

1. Washington

2. Oregon

3. Montana

4. Idaho

5. Wyoming

6. Utah

7. Arizona

8. New Mexico

9. North Dakota

10. South Dakota

11. Louisiana

12. Michigan

13. Delaware

14. Hawaii

15. Alaska

I don't know which states Patrick has left, but I know he has roughly 15 left also. Our lists are a little different though. So Charles will be going to a few more states as we try to reach our goal of visiting each state. 

I've Been Everywhere

We have been traveling the past couple of weeks visiting family and friends. We also had an early celebration for Charles' first birthday. Be prepared for a lot of pictures and a long post!

 Charles meeting two of his cousins for the first time. They had so much fun playing and feeding him.

 At the park in Blairsville, GA with Grandpa and Grandma.

 A beautiful bridge in the park.

 A photo opt: Mommy and Son at the park.

 Patrick playing golf. This course is beautiful.

 Charles with his Grandma Nita.

Charles' smash cake.

The front of Charles' birthday cake.

The top of the cake. Thanks Diane Klein the cake was wonderful. If you live in Danielsville, GA or close by and would love a great cake let me know and I will get you her contact information.

 My best friend Heather made this sign for Charles party. Thanks so much!!!

 For other decoration: Photo books I made on Shutterfly and Curious George books. The food in the background also had photo decoration stating what each item was with a Curious George character.

 The Curious George Happy Birthday book. We took a regular Curious George book and asked everyone to sign a message to Charles. I have already enjoyed reading what everyone wrote to him. I know when he gets older he will cherish this book.

 Charles with baby Norah. Sorry the photo is a little blurry it is hard to get a picture where one or the other of them was not moving. I thought this picture was so sweet because they are holding hands. We have been joking since we found out our friends were having a baby girl that we would arrange a marriage.

 Charles having fun playing with cousin Sarah Spratlin.

 All ready for church.

 Another photo with his cousin.

 Charles' first time going for a swim. Pop moving him around the pool. He loved the water.

 He loved this toy car and this is one funny face he is making.

 Auntie M loving on Charles before bed.

 Time with cousins: Abigail, Charles, Addison, Sarah Spratlin, and Truman.

 The 4th of July Parade in Colbert, GA. I love this picture of Patrick and Charles.

 Charles and I waiting on the parade to start. The 4th is one of my favorite holidays since I was a kid. I have great memories of going to the parade in Colbert, eating a quick lunch at home and taking a nap, and then going to Uncle Jack's and Aunt Inez's to going swimming and for supper. Also, another reason I enjoy it so much is the multitude of different homemade ice creams. Thanks Uncle Jack and Aunt Inez for allowing us to invade your home year after year. I have so many great memories of the 4th at your home. I am so happy that I get to now give some of these great times to Charles. 

 Believe it or not I used to keep this young lady when she was a baby.  Seeing her this age makes me feel really old.

Charles with another Nora. She is the daughter of his college roommate.

 All the little kids gathering around Charles to play. A few kids moved away before I could snap their picture. It was so sweet watching them play together.

The lovely ladies. I miss these girls so much. It was so much fun visiting with them even though we didn't get to see them very long. (L-R): Me, Lottie, Amanda, Jessica, Jamie, and Nora. Thanks so much for having us Chris and Lottie we had a great time.

The guys! I just took a random photo instead of having them pose for the camera. (L-R): Colt, Patrick, Brandon, Chris, and Michael.


On a side note: The trip home was a hot one. Around Asheville, NC our air stopped working(this was on Saturday around 3pm). We were able to find a company to work on our car on Sunday morning. We found out on Sunday at a Tires Plus that it was the compressor and that they couldn't get the part until Tuesday. They checked us out and let us know what was wrong within 45 minutes. Tires Plus is a stand up operation and if you ever need work on your vehicle give them a call. They are great! I am not getting anything for promoting them either, but if they would like to give us a compressor I wouldn't complain! It looks like we maybe in the market for a new vehicle sooner than we planned. Since it would cost two thousand to fix our Civic. I guess that is everything for now.

Traveling Man

This little guy has traveled more in the first six months of his life than most adults. He has been in the following states: Georgia, South Carolina, Iowa, and Nebraska. Even more if you count riding through states. We decided last minute to have a fun weekend in Omaha. We apparently wore the little one out.

Fall Fun

Friday after work Patrick and I decided to take a trip to Minnesota. It was a nice little trip and we both came back refreshed and recharged. The first few pictures are of our room it was beautiful and Patrick found a great deal on it.

We went to the Mall of America. This mall is so big it has a park and aquarium in it too. We spent all day enjoying downtown and the mall. There is so much to do and we talked of a return trip as we left late Saturday.

This next picture is for my niece she loves Dora the Explorer.

Today I decided to do some fall decorating.

Thanksgiving Week Entry 1

Patrick's parents arrived safely yesterday around 2:30pm. So far we have enjoyed looking around town, hanging out, and hunting. Well the men went hunting for pheasant while the women did some hunting in Wal-Mart and K-Mart. They came back with 2, and we had them for supper. I was weary about eating pheasant, but it tasted pretty good. I was surprised! It reminded me of pork chops because of the texture (which could be because it was the first time Patrick has ever cooked pheasant or that just may be their usual texture when cooked) and tasted a lot like you guessed it chicken.
Now the parents are off to pick up Stephen from the airport his plane is supposed to arrive around midnight. We will see they are a little behind schedule with the flight. We are praying for travel mercies with the plane and the trip to the airport and back. I'm looking forward to many great moments this week.
We were just informed that the plane will not be arriving until tomorrow. The plane to Des Monies was sitting at the terminal, but would not let them get on it because it was too late.

Sweet Summer Time

First, I would like to say sorry it has been awhile. We have been on the road a great deal lately visiting family and getting to see a few friends along the way when possible. We started our journey leaving our place on June 27th driving from 4am until about 10:40pm before we stopped in Ashville. The next morning we ate breakfast with our friend Jake at the Barrel in Gaffeney. Thank goodness we did not run into the serial killer! Then we went on to see the Box's. We had a great time relaxing, and I enjoyed knitting a little too much because my wrist hurt for 3 or so days! The night before we headed to see the Perry's we went out to have some really great dessert with our friend Jessica at Applebee's. Just say we decided that what we were eating was too good to be full of calories! Late on June 1st we arrived in Danielsville, GA. We were able to see a good bit of the extended family before leaving on July 3rd to go to Greenville, SC to visit with Mandy, Andrew, Truman, and Sarah Spratlin. On the 4th we had a great day of celebrating our Independence. We rested, ate way too much, went swimming, and watched some fireworks. We were really excited when Chris called and asked if we were still in town because we got to see them! Our friends Chris and Katy came over to my sister's house and ate with us and went to the fireworks. It was so nice to see them. My nephew was so cute seeing his first ever fireworks show. He loved the whole thing, but wonder why they had to boom. We left for Iowa on July 5th. At the time we thought hey we are going to go a different way home and see more of America while doing so. Patrick knocked off seeing 3 more states and I knocked off seeing 4 more states. I can't remember which ones were new for him, but Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas were the states I got to see for the first time. I can say that we will probably never do that again. Two days of driving/riding for more than 8 hours is for the birds.

This is a very big vehicle we saw while we were in Arkansas I believe. I didn't take a lot of pictures this time, and even though I do have some of my adorable nephew and niece I will not post pictures on here where anyone can look.