8 Tips When You're Going to Disney

Yep.  That's what I said! The six letter word: DISNEY!

We went against everything normal and ordinary and hit Disney not too long ago.  Those that know me know that this was hard for me to do.  Not because I didn't want to go, but because once I hit schedules and structured days, I typically like to stay in them.   My lovely and wonderful husband talked me OUT of this.  Lord knows how he did that; I'm still trying to figure that whole thing out.  I'm proud, and slightly enamored by him for that reason.  Seriously!  I'm in awe that he somehow got me to agree to this whole idea.

So, fast forward to the 'after-post' of the Disney trip.  Did we have a blast? OH. MY. GOSH. We LOVED IT!  I cannot imagine NOT taking my kids and not going.  You know all those people that say, "You HAVE to take your kids to Disney!".  I was one of those people-parents that said, "No I don't.  Stop telling me what to do.  I don't HAVE to take my kids anywhere, thank you very much."  I'm here to say, really, you HAVE to take your kids to Disney!  My mindset has totally changed.  It was amazingly exhausting, but amazingly magical.

Because of this, I have a few tips to give you, my busy momma friend!

1.  Get a Disney planner.  As a working mom, there is no possible way I could have planned a Disney trip.  Not a stitch of it, my friend.  We had a phenomenal planner; Heather with Off to Neverland Travel.  She was amazing and even saved us a couple hundred in the whole planning process! Everything was perfectly planned; even the location of things as we traveled from one show to the next, and to one dinner to the next event.  I couldn't have done it; not even close.  And, to top it off, she supplied us with Disney ears BEFORE our trip!  It made it even more exciting!

2.  Get iron on transferable images for shirts.  Boy, I wanted those family matching shirts.  The sweet "everyone has the same shirt" get-up. However, I didn't want to pay $25 a pop for them.  So, instead, I searched on Etsy for iron on downloads.  This saved me you guys.  I could go anywhere for a plain white or gray shirt.  I ended up snatching some from Target and other places on the cheap and just ironed on those downloadable transfers.  I probably saved us about $100+, and they looked just as cute as anyone else's.

3. Take your camera.  Do I even have to say this?  But when I say take your camera, I mean TAKE YOUR CAMERA.  It's a pain to wag the thing around, but my goodness, those pictures.  I am already having extreme nostalgia when looking back on them.  Bite the bullet and take your real live big camera every stinkin' place you go.  I still took pictures with my phone, but the pictures from my camera just don't do the phone pics justice.  Even with today's amazing camera-phone technology.

4. Surprise your kids.  If you can. If this is the first trip for you, I say go all out and surprise them.  Now, this is the one time I actually splurged on shirts.  I wanted them to have great shirts the day we took off.  But, I still took to Etsy for these.  We woke our kids up one morning and said, "hey…do you want to board a plane and go to Disney!?!"  Listen, I have a son that is very much like me.  He loves to know what's about to happen (he's a scheduler like "yours truly").  However, he LOVED this surprise! My kids are 5 and 11.  I don't want to say there is a perfect age to take your kids to Disney, because, heck, I'm 36 and I loved it!  I will say though, the 5+ age and the 11+ age seemed perfect for our family to take in the whole experience and not kill each other in the process.

5.  Do it all.  We packed a lot into 4 small and short days.  We were dead exhausted every single night.  But we didn't leave one minute unturned.  There were times where the Coach and I would look at each other and say, "should we"? And we did.  Was it worth it?  YES.  We were happy exhausted at the end of the day if that makes sense.  We did everything we could.  I waited with the little firecracker while the man and boy rode rides we couldn't, we tried many different snacks that we didn't and did like, we saw shows that we loved, we experienced things that we probably would divert next time.  With that being said, we came home loving the entire experience!  Every single moment.

6.  Pack light and be comfortable.  I would love to say that we actually did pack light.  I'm not sure my husband would agree, but I think I did pretty well!  Here's the thing, y'all.  We all want to believe we will look adorable in Disney.  And while you may, you still want to be comfy without packing 6 different pairs of shoes or 10 different shorts.   To add to that, who knows about that weather??  Florida weather can be unpredictable so I always packed a hat in my bag as well as a poncho. Every. Single.  Day.   When I packed, I literally got myself prepared to be comfortable and packed more caps than I did outfits.  And you know what?  That absolutely did the job, and with our somewhat matchy iron on shirts, we looked great enjoying Disney!  I hate to break it to ya', but no one cares what you wear or look like in Disney!

7. Take a stroller.  I say this to people that have kids up to at least 6.  Heck, if I could've gotten a stroller, I would've!  We made the mistake of leaving ours the first day and ended up renting one.  While the one we rented was great, I couldn't imagine renting one every single day!  While it's a pain to travel and fly with a stroller, it will save you some serious cash!

8.  Pack the dress.  Do you have a girl? If so, pack the dress.  Yep, I said it.  Pack those princess dresses up!  I don't have an extremely girly girl, but she does like her share of princess movies.  Right before our princess dinner, we put on her Elsa dress.  At first, she didn't want to, so I had to make the executive move of putting the dress on her.  This was one of those parent moments where 'mommy knows best'.  She was so glad she wore it to our dinner and didn't want to take it off afterward!

So there you have it my dear lovely friends! That's our Disney Wrap-Up!  If you haven't yet gone, even if time restricts, try to find a long weekend to take off and go.  Take your kiddos and enjoy every moment.  No matter how short, no matter the circumstance, stop the hamster wheel and go.  Personally, I'm great at spinning that hamster wheel and had to stop, leave it behind, and take off.  It truly was memories made for a lifetime.

How to Throw a Doggone Good Birthday Party

Doggone it! I have failed so many times at parties.  I have had major dreams and big visions on what I want to do for my kids' birthdays.  Sometimes they turn out, sometimes they don't.  But, I can't cry over spilt milk, right?  I move on and continue the big hopes for the next year.

Birthday parties have always been a big deal in the family I grew up in.  It wasn't your BIRTH DAY, it was your BIRTH MONTH! We celebrated all month long.  I didn't get what I wanted every live long day of course, but I do remember being celebrated and appreciated.  I think my parents did a good job with the balance of keeping me humbled, but also letting me know that the day I was born was important to them; and not only that, should be important to me in order to seek out the Lord's will in my life!

So, naturally, I want my kids to feel the same!  I want them to know that the day they were born was a game changer!  A new life.  A new plan from God.  What is it that they will do with their one and only beautiful life?

I'm not sure of that answer, but the answer I do know is that I want to celebrate the day that they came into this world.

Enter: the request for a birthday party from Little Firework.

Don't worry, I don't near give my kids what they want at the drop of a dime.  No way!  Trust me, I want nothing more than to master the response of "NO" with my children.  I take my kids' ideas and balance it to see if it will work with our finances and schedules.  If it does?  Bonus.  The Little Firework threw the dog party idea out there, and I estimated if it was cost efficient and… SIMPLE. Simple it was and simple it will be!

I made my list, did my shopping (thanks to Mr. Coach), and got it all done in one fell swoop. How's that for easy?!

Let's start with the obvious. You need an invitation! Here is the super simple, super DIGITAL invite! While I love to send out invites in the mail, digital invites are all the rage and are much cheaper!  You can find this invitation HERE.

I have had this chalkboard for I don't know how long.  It used to hang in my kitchen and now has found it's way into the garage! It is perfect for a party.  

 Sidewalk chalk for the entry!  Sidewalk chalk is cheap and easy.  And dog prints are even easier! 

When the girls arrived, they got a set of dog ears to set the theme!  While I think I could have probably made these myself, I did not have the time, nor the patience.  I got them for a GREAT and fair price HERE. 

Hobby Lobby is a great friend of mine!  I bought these little leathery yarn strips along with some cheap-o dog tags (for what I think is for gifts, etc.).  The girls were SO excited to make a collar! 

I also got some dog themed beads and others for the collars.  I mean, a collar has to be embellished a tad, right? 

I got this basket from Walmart as well as the puppies!  Thanks, Wally World!  Not expensive and serves the purpose wonderfully! 

Once the girls chose their puppy, that is when they made a collar for the puppy.  Before they left the party, they got to name their puppy and officially adopt it.  They got a seal (a paw stamp) of approval that he/she is their puppy to keep forever! 

The paw stamp is from Hobby Lobby and the certificate is from a precious website. You can find the puppy party certificate and other documents FUH-REE (I love that word!!!) HERE.

And then of course, pin the tail on the puppy!  I found an image off of the internet, sent it off to FedEx printing down the road, and enlarged it quite a bit. Cheap and easy.  

Eating time, y'all! I downloaded some free borders and fonts from Pinterest and began to make our dog party menu.  

How cute are these??  These little hot dog holders are AWESOME, y'all.  Not only great, but INEXPENSIVE.  Another favorite word of mine.  You can find them HERE.

Of course, a dog party menu is not complete without toilet water! How about Hawaiian punch equally mixed with Sprite? Sounds good to me. 

We also don't need to be messy…so, wipe your paws, y'all.  

Who doesn't like a good puppy chow recipe?  I know I do! You can find the one I used HERE.

 Along with the puppy chow, we also had chips and dip, fruit, etc.  Rightly named Paw-tato chips and Ruff-age! 

Here is the table setting.  For the cake, I told our bakery to just add hints of pink, green, and lavender along with a dog bone on top with paw prints surrounding in some form or fashion.  They absolutely knocked it straight out of the park.  Thanks to the historic Bluebonnet Bakery!

And to top it all off, I have a dear and sweet friend who runs a yard card business, and it was truly the icing on the cake!  Who doesn't love a special message in their front yard?!?  

Find and use their service HERE.

So, next time you are in the party throwing business for your own little ones or for someone else, think about this dog party! We had a small crowd, food was a hit, and the dog activities were so fun and age appropriate.  It was definitely a doggone good time!

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