I cannot wait!  we’ll be going on a road trip to Disney next month.  It’s gonna be so much fun, right?!

yeah, we’re gonna show our tots the country, or at least the view from the highway.  We’re going to stop and see grandma in North Carolina along the way and then it’s 7 nights at the Pop Resort.  I’m really hoping it’s gonna be fun to see the kids’ faces light up when we go to the Magic Kingdom.

We went with the dining plan, I hope that was the right decision, now I just have to see about how to get reservations for all the breakfasts.  I found some really good sites so far.

Mouse Savers

Dis Boards

Mom Panel

Once upon a time, a man and a lady spent lots of time away from home.  Beach trips, site seeing and club hopping topped the list.  Every few months they went on a new adventure to a distant land.  After 6 years of marriage boy2001 joined the family and the vacations turned into memories.  There were diapers to buy and a college fund to build.

They made little side trips to Montreal & Quebec and visited family in Florida and New York but the all American family vacation didn’t happen. 

Ok, enough with the fairytale, you get the point, we led a charmed life, travel, disposable income, etc…  then we became a one income military household with child.  We’ve taken two full-blown vacations since that special delivery in 2001.  The first was a Carnival Cruise in 2003.  Boy2001 had a BLAST, we loved the childcare, it was my first time EVER being away from him and they did a great job.  Totally amazing experience, it was all inclusive which was wonderful, once you pay you’re done.

The second vacation was in May 2007 we packed all three kids up to go to France.  That’s right, we added not one but two girls since our last vacay! It was wonderful for us to see the sites and introduce the kids to the history of France.  The kids were most impressed with the Eiffel Tower and castles, they still talk about it all the time.   It was of course a very expensive trip, even with family in the area to feed us a few meals and give us great advice.  Well worth it of course but getting further out of reach for most people with the dollar being so weak.

It makes sense to look for all-inclusive deals that will feed, lodge, entertain and make you and your kids feel well rested and relaxed. Beaches Resorts is offering just that!  There are swim-up bars, tennis, fitness centers, not to mention anytime snacks, gourmet and specialty cuisine restaurants for you to choose from.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner without shopping, chopping or dishes.

Roundtrip airport transfers, hotel taxes and ALL gratuities are included in the price.  All of this is great but what will the kids think?  I know mine would go crazy for the muppet activities aka Caribbean Adventures with Sesame Street®.  Some of the adventures are story time with Elmo, baking cookies with Cookie Monster?!! Dance moves with Zoe, exploring with Grover.  Girl2004 and Girl2006 would lose it, they’re completely into the characters but I think even boy2001 would allow himself to get involved with these activitites if he was with his sisters. 

I know all the kids would fully enjoy trips to the XBOX 360® Game Garage, we broke out the old Nintendo 64 and I was shocked at how quickly boy2001 and girl2004 picked up on it.  By now you may be thinking, my family could use a Beaches vacation.

  where do I sign up?

Just visit the Beaches Resort WonderFall website to request a quote on your favorite resort.  The WonderFALL celebration will take place between September 1 and November 4, 2008, save up to 45% and get two nights free (when you stay 7). Check out all the contests, goodie bags a new stage show and more on Beaches’ WonderFALL website and please keep me posted if you do go!  You must book by July 17th to get the special pricing.  Choose from family Beaches Boscobel, Sandy Bay, Negril, Turks & Caicos.

This is written in connection with Mom Central, a great organization for women who want to be heard.

Boy2001 was beyond thrilled when I told him he’d be reviewing GoPets Vacation Island! on his Nintendo DS!  I guess most kids would be, right? on top of a new game he got extra time to play, usually he doesn’t get to play during the week unless there’s a day off from school.  It was a real treat. 

 At first he was totally lost with the game.  It took him about an hour to figure out what he needed to do and the concept of taking care of the pet.  He likened Vacation Island! to his Tamagochi (which he still loves off and on).  He understood the concept of collecting shells and being able to buy stuff for his pets.  He also understood the social aspect of adding friends a la Facebook, Mashable, Gather which really surprised me, guess he’s been observing more than I thought!  There is a wireless feature to the game which we didn’t have time to get into, can you believe he’s still got a week of school because of all the snow days?!

From a mom’s perspective, I like the fact that there are some little games that keep him busy for just a few minutes at a time.  I also like the idea of taking care of something and even considering the financial aspects of keeping a pet (spending shells).  Boy2001′s favorite part is cooking the food at the amusement area.  Kids choose a recipe, then they are given a virtual stovetop and wok, they have to follow the recipe as it appears on the screen.  Controlling the flame, slicing and dicing the food images and adding them to the wok with condiments but the most important part — the stirring, he really enjoyed doing that so the food wouldn’t burn (a common complaint when mommy cooks!)

He really enjoyed reviewing GoPets Vacation Island! it was a very positive experience.  The only bad thing he did mention was that he didn’t like the bow on his pets tail because it looked too girly.  I didn’t investigate how to get it off but I’m sure it can so I’m thinking it’s just slightly over his head age wise… Something tells me he’s going to get lots of summer vacay time with the GoPets and be a pro by the time school’s back in session!

*I will provide an update in a few days about the wireless feature* with a link here.