If you ever wanted to park hop (an add-on option to your park ticket called Park Hopper) at Walt Disney World (WDW), you would have two options: drive in your car/rental to the next park or use Disney transportation.  With either versions of transportation you would spend time waiting for a tram to get to your car or waiting for the Disney transportation to arrive.  Disney has finally come up with a solution to help you save time park hopping with their new service, Express Transportation.

Beach vacations have always been our go to vacation when money is tight, but you just want to get away.  I for one am not a lover of the beach.  I just don't enjoy playing in the ocean or even in the sand.  If I'm going to get burned, I'd much rather be having fun riding rides or doing something fun rather than sitting on the beach.  With that being said, looks like I'm preparing for another beach vacation.  Here's some tips that we've been learning over the past several years of going to the beach.

Michael loves playing games; board, card, and video games and us parents don't mind it as well.  We actually were starting to have a Family Game Night at least once a week during the school year.  So since we love to play games, I'm always looking for new exciting games and tend to gravitate towards the Disney ones.  I decided that I would share the Disney games we have and those we think would be fun to have.

I had originally purchased all the supplies to make these for Michael's first year in preschool which was two years ago.  With all the things happening in my personal life, these amazing gifts fell by the way side.  Since last year was Michael's last year at his preschool, I knew I had to get the gifts done for both sets of teachers.  Here's how we made them.

I know that most of our kids are probably already out on Summer break, but here in Northern Virginia we have the rest of the week before break starts.  Yep, that means that I'm working on my end of the year "thank you" gifts.  Here's how I made these adorable pencil vases for Michael's teachers last year.  Perfect for those Handmade Sunflowers or even real flowers.

Review guidelines:

1 Fork = I would rather eat dog food.
2 Forks = I would eat there if I was starving.
3 Forks = Not bad; someplace I would occasionally consider eating.
4 Forks = A good place to eat; I will put it into my rotation of places I dine frequently.
5 Forks = One of my all time favorites!

One caveat to note – I am allergic to fish and seafood, so if you are looking for those recommendations, you will have to consult someone else.

Because I have a daughter-in-law with Celiac and a really good friend who is Vegetarian, I will try to point out whether those options are present when I review a restaurant.

Before Jon and I ventured out to Disneyland last Fall, I looked at what all attractions and events they had.  This being our first time there, I wanted to be sure we were in the know.  Since I'm a big Disney addict and own a good bit of Disney movies, we were pretty well set on understanding things in the park.  I have created a list of all the Disney movies you'll want to watch in preparation to your magical Disneyland vacation.

I'm always looking for fun ways to make gifts for teachers or family members.  Last year we made these handmade sunflowers for Michael's teachers during Teacher's Appreciation week.  You could make these for pretty much anything and is such a great keepsake.  Here's how I made the flowers (look for a post about how to make the vases soon).