Phew! Talk about a cool vacation!

I'm back from Florida but forgive me if I get back to a slow start. I have a massive amount of emails to sort through, and wow am I totally behind! That's the only problem with being a full time bloggy mom... the digital world never stops even when you need a break! I have a ton of cool things to share with you guys though as well as some awesome giveaways I have up my sleeve. I took the whole summer off of school so I can enjoy Blogher in Chicago without any interruptions and spend the whole summer chatting with you guys!!

While we were in Orlando we spent three fabulous days at Disney World and Universal. I wish we had had more time to check out more attractions but sadly though I may have taken the summer off of school, Chris had to be back at the police department so our plans had to be cut short by a few days. Ahh well there is always next year eh? I do feel a little bit guilty still that Connor spent the week with his grandparents instead of in Orlando with us, but it was nice to have a little couple time and we got to ride all the big kid (ahem.. adult) rides. Not to mention it pretty much rained non stop while we were there which would not at all been toddler friendly. He did score big time on the gifts though as guilty parents tend to buy more gifts it seems. Thus far his favorite Disney World finds are his plush E-Wok (or so he calls it) and the accessories I got for him at the Mr Potato Head bar from the World of Disney. If I had any clue how much he would love those Mr Potato Head parts I would have bought him three boxes worth as the kid hasn't put them down since they got here.

Otherwise I think I'm getting a bit of a bug, probably from a whole week of being continuously damp and/or soaking wet, so my plans of coming back and hitting you guys strong with some reviews and giveaways may be a bit slowed but I'm back and ready to roll! Now lets just get my stomach on the game plan and we will be doing good. That and admittedly I've been spending a little extra time with a certain munchkin as it seems in the week I was gone hes grown two inches taller and way smarter. It's really quite unfair how fast these little people change.

:)

PS. I did find something that reminded me that we had a whole herd of dogs awaiting my arrival. The Legoland at Downtown Disney has their own collection of dogs, check out the picture!

I'm off to Disney for a adult friendly vacation.

I'm sure if Connor was older I'd never get away with this one, but I'm headed for a romantic week away in Orlando next week. I'm really excited to be a few days at my favorite place on earth. Walt Disney World. I've been to Disney more times than I can count on two hands as I lived outside of Orlando for years and I used to have a tradition of going to Disney after Christmas every year. Though as many times as I've gone I've never been with a preschooler or toddler and really I've never looked at the park from a preschool perspective.

So this little Orlando trip has three objectives. The first is to have a romantic couple only week away where it may just be possible for us to have a conversation without having to say "no.. no.. don't touch that.. sit down..." for a good amount of the time. As well this may just be the last adult vacation we take for awhile as between Connor and possibly more kids in the future I'm fairly positive that my roller coaster riding days may just be limited for awhile. I'm also planning to take Connor to Disney for his first time hopefully next fall or the spring of 2011 and I want to scope out what attractions would be best for my little munchkin and get some ideas for cool things you can do on a limited budget in Orlando as I'm fairly positive I will not be graduating from college by then.

I am also getting the opportunity to interview one of the Disney Mom Panel moms here shortly and I really want to come up with some good questions to ask especially about how to do a action packed Disney trip without breaking the bank. I'd love to hear your ideas as well. So my mission to you guys while I'm gone is to come up with some great questions to ask for my interview. I'll pick the best questions to include in the interview and depending on how many submissions I get you guys will win prizes as well. If I get under 50 submissions I'll give away a $25 gift certificate to Disney Store online, if I get 100+ submissions I'll give away a $25 gift certificate to my favorite question and a Disney plush of my choosing from the park to the runner up. If I get 150+ submissions I'll give away a $25 gift certificate to my favorite and two Disney plush to the runners up. I'll pick out something cool as if we don't get enough submissions Connor will be the winner of the plush. heh. (He has plenty of plush so lets make it happen ladies!)

I'd also love to hear about your favorite attractions, any attractions you especially want me to check out and feature in our upcoming posts, and your own Disney experiences. The last time I was at Disney they had just opened Animal Kingdom and not many of the rides/attractions were active so it will be fun to see whats changed as its been a few years.

In the meantime I'll be checking in sporadically from now till we get back next weekend and my good friend Stacy will be hosting you guys with dvd reviews and giveaways!

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Check out the Disney World website and let me know what you'd like to ask the Mom Panel. You can also make a suggestion or ask about a certain attraction!?
  
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
  • For an extra entry :
  • Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
  • Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
  • Let people know about the giveaway on Twitter with a link to the giveaway!
    
  • TWO extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
  • This contest will end June 15th at midnight!

I can only imagine snow at this point.

It's scheduled to be in the 70s this week in Alabama.. 70s in January?! Ahh oh now I love it but I do have to admit we miss the snow back home a little this time of year. I don't miss scraping my car every morning or my doors being frozen shut but making snow angels and snowmen.. sure we miss that! Actually what I miss most is how quiet and pretty it is when you wake up early in the morning and its snowing. It's like the whole world is standing still. I'm also a little sad by the fact that by this time in Illinois Connor would have gone sledding for the first time and he would have his own little puffy snowsuit. Ahh well.. at least I'm not scraping my windshield?

Next year I may just have to make a visit to snow and where better to go but skiing! Park City Mountain Resort is a family friendly ski resort located about 35 minutes from the Salt Lake City airport. With lodging and lift packages like the Extraordinary Family Adventure at $192 per person or the buy four nights get one free package deals its a very affordable ski trip for the whole family! Kids six and under ski free but I think it will be a few years before Connor wears his first ski boots but the Alpine Coaster may just be calling our name. The Alpine Coaster is just what it sounds like.. a roller coaster built into the side of the mountain, how cool is that?

Plan your own Park City Mountain Resort on the Park City Mountain Resort Website! Don't forget to check out all the package deals and season passes! Thanks Mom Central for letting us know!

Need some summer vacation ideas?

I have to admit.. I am not the best one to ask for vacation advice when it comes to kids. Ive been all over the US and I can tell you some great adult places to go.. but when it comes to kid friendly adventures I am at a loss.

Its quite alright though, TripFlix is a new DVD that actually helps you plan your family friendly vacation. You get 25 destinations to choose from.. most of which are a bit off the beaten path.

Ever visited Rock City? I think I made a mention of it earlier on my blog. Well at one point all over the south there were these great barns painted with "Visit Rock City" all over them. Its nearly impossible to find one these days.. but Rock City is still there. TripFlix will tell you a bit more about Rock City and whats fun about it as well!

If your visiting Alabama please stop by one of my favorite places. Space Camp is a must see, and if your lucky enough its the best summer camp there is. I always wanted to go but its not cheap and it just never happened when I was a kid. You better bet Connor will be going if he wants even if I have to start saving now. Even for the non campers you can do a tour of the facility and if your lucky you can see some of the astronauts training!

How about Metropolis? Yes.. seriously.. there is a Metropolis!! How cool is that? Honestly I have no idea how I missed it as I just recently moved down here from Illinois and I am quite positive we have driven past it several times. I guess there is a Superman museum and the paper is even named the Daily Globe!! I am so stopping next time we are on the way to Connor's grandparents house. That is too stinkin cool.

There are lots of great destinations to choose from, most of which I'd venture to guess may just be under your nose and you may have not even heard of them! Thanks to Team Mom for letting us know about it!

TripFlix is available on their website and Amazon!

I have a copy of TripFlix to give away to one lucky reader!

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Head on over to TripFlix and tell us what destination you would like to visit other than the ones I've already mentioned.
  
• No "i want to win" stuff without a little effort (and I do mean little!)
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
• For an extra entry :
• Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
• Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
• One extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
• This contest will end July 12th at midnight!

Are you guys in the mood for a vacation!?

I keep dreaming on going on this amazing tropical vacation. I've been to Hawaii several times, but at the time my parents lived there and its not really the same visiting family as it would be doing the tourist thing. The most tropical thing I did in Hawaii on my visits was peer out the window while they were filming Baywatch across the street from my Mom's condo.

The Beaches resorts are all inclusive. If your not sure what that means, basically it means once you arrive at Beaches everything is included : meals, drinks, mixed drinks, scuba diving, kids activities, nanny's, basically anything ON the resort itself. There are some extra packages you can do including tours, horseback riding, ect that are an additional cost but they are fairly reasonable. I did a couple of searches to get an idea of the cost of a vacation to beaches. All of my searches with airfare were around $2000 - 3000 (depending on if you book your room during the Wonderfall event or not) for the room and $1,000-1,500 for airfare. Mind you I did a search for 2 adults, one child, four nights with round trip airfare. That seems expensive, but if you factor in a vacation out of the country, food, activities, drinks, a scuba trip, ect. You would easily pay that or more if you had to pay for your hotel room and extras.

During September 1st - November 4th, Beaches is hosting its Wonderfall event! You will save up to 45% on your room costs if you book during this time as well as there is a new Sesame St live on stage show for kids during this time! As well if you stay more than five days at any of the resorts you will get one night free and more than seven nights you will get two nights free! Thats a HUGE savings.

If I wanted an adult vacation I'd go and stay at at the Turks, but if your looking for a family vacation Negril would be absolutely my first choice. The on site water park alone is the coolest of the resorts! That is until the Turks finishes their water park in 2009!

If I ever actually graduate college you better bet that first year after I start work I am going to be booking myself a week long vacation somewhere fabulous. I may just have to get myself signed up for a vacation to Turks & Caicos as by then they will have their new water park up and running too!

Go check out the Wonderfall event right now, you can save yourself a ton on a vacation and its fun to learn about all the diffrent resort options!

Thanks Mom Central for giving us the heads up on the Wonderfall event!