Let’s Drive to Disney

Driving to Disney!

Because we wanted to bring Daisy we decided that making in the 21 hour trip was the only way.

Allowing ourselves a couple extra days this time to travel south.

Day1 - let the kids go to school like any other day.  We pick up the kids around 1:30pm 

Surprise!  We’re going to Disney. 

Off we went - New Thule roof cargo box packed to the brim.

a fairly uneventful 5 hours or so to Scranton PA where we spent the night at a Marriott.  Easy access to the highway.  Free breakfast and most of all , pet friendly. 

Kids swam while I caught up on some work.

All three curled up on a the pull out sofa and sound asleep by 10pm.  An early morning start as we drove through the mountains of Pensilvania and into Maryland. 

A few quick pit stops for snacks and mindful stretching.  Packing in all the fruits and extra healthy snacks to help keep everyone feeling great and In better moods. 

Virginia as always , was so long and seemed never ending.  Into the Carolinas.  Awaiting the temperature to rise but sadly a cold front had come though leaving cold and damp temperatures.  Even snow!  Gross.

Getting late we pushed through to Savanna Georgia for a night at a StayBridge.

We could hardly keep our eyes open. 

7am we are off - quick stop for THE BEST breakfast the Waffle House next to the I95S at Savannah. 

The temperature quickly starting to climb with every passing mile marker headed south. 

Florida!  14 degrees -and plenty of Palm

trees, Christopers favourite site to see in the south.

With a cup of my favourite southern drink, sweet tea we rolled into the VineLand area Orlando for a night at the Holiday In Resort. 

So far a great hotel. It’s considered a Disney Neighbourhood hotel so the standards are high!  

Even an XBOX in the room which made Chris light right up. We opted for the deluxe room with bunk beds and a King.  Plenty of room to stretch out and relax before we hit Disney full force tomorrow.

The kids and I took off for a little Magic Kingdom action while Jason and Daisy entertained themselves.

Tomorrow’s agenda.  Galaxy’s Edge.  mission Rise of the Resistance Boarding passes.

What’s in the Kerr’s Disney park bag?

Taking three young children and a husband to Disney World isn’t something that we plan overnight.

Planning is key to having an amazing vacation. Limits stress and worry about missing something. Plus we spend a lot of money travelling and I want to optimize my time doing what’s most important. Spending time with my family.
Our trips come together smoothly because of my need to have lists. And from those lists I have sublists. This post is about one of my many sublists.
Being organized in the beginning makes our vacations run like well oiled machines.
So what is in the Kerr’s park bag?
First we start out with our backpack. We really like our Dakine extra padded pack. It has lots of extra little pockets to store items. I especially like the front pouch that I can easily take my phone in and out of without the hassle of opening and closing a zipper.
Inside I keep the same daily park essentials. Each night I make sure to remove extras from the back pack such as snack garbage, receipts, papers or maybe items we bought and left in the bag.
Staying organized throughout the trip helps our vacations stay on track.
Here’s my list of items. I keep everything together in my Minnie toiletry bag a sweet friend sewed up for me.

Babywipes
Tylenol
Gum (you can’t buy this anywhere on Disney property)
Hand sanitizer
Lip balm
Go pro
Portable chargers
Hand cream
Ziploc bags to keep our phones in during the wet rides
Extra hair elastics
Bandaids
Sunscreen and stick

Last Day as a 39 year old!

Last day as a 39 year old over here!
What’s the big deal with turning 40? 
If it’s anything like most of my 30’s, then bring it on!
This post really ties in with my one little word project for this year. ‘Reflection’

In my 30’s I continued this awesome journey with my very best friend by my side Jason Kerr as we settled more and more into our home in Stirling.
Never a time where he didn’t support me and any of my crazy ideas. 
Like that night I went to Home Depot for clear garbage bags and came home with the van weighing heavily on the suspension and the tail gate wide open because I had it packed to the brims with a new kitchen. Or the time he drove me to Watertown to buy Dunkin Donut k-cups because they were new and I HAD to have them that moment. 
When my mental health wasn’t so great he stepped in and carried the weight of my world until I came back to the surface.

For all the Disney trips we went on, he just worked a little harder because he knew it made me happy.

My 30’s brought me three of the best gifts who today are 9,7, and 5 years old. 
My 30’s brought me a million new friendships and a shift in careers. 
In my 30’s my Grandpa reminded me of these words that I carry with me everyday "You’re a mom first"
In my 30’s I became more creative finding my love for sewing.
In my 30’s I discovered my love for living the best life.

And finally, in my 30’s I found my love for the mouse. 🙂

Welcome 40. Our next adventure.

Fall Family Photos

It’s been 4 years since we had our family professionally photographed . Fall is my favourite season so it just seemed like the best time. We adore Amanda Lazarski from Inspired By the Tree.

It was pretty chilly out so between shots the kids would themselves up in there winter coats.  30 minutes later Amanda captured these beautiful moments.

Checking into Wilderness Lodge

We started our morning waking up at the Holiday Inn Waterpark in Orlando. It’s only about 10 minutes from the Walt Disney World resort. We flew in so late that night and didn’t want to spend a lot on a full night room at a Disney resort when we just needed a few hours of shut eye!

We checked out around 9 AM and headed to the Wilderness Lodge. We’re staying here for six nights. Located very close to the Magic Kingdom.Our room wasn’t ready so we made our way to the Roaring fork café where we all indulged in our favourite breakfasts full of Mickey waffles and breakfast sandwiches. I of course had my Joffrey‘s coffee which is my all-time favorite. I look forward to it every trip. We wandered around the resort a bit checking out the gift shop , pin trading, and copper creek. they have some amazing wooded path areas down along the water. We swam a bit in the new cove pool located in the Boulder Ridge.  We were surprised how quiet was and how they’re only a few families using the pool. We found lounge chairs and a table without any problems.

This resort is beautiful.

Heavily themed after the Pacific Southwest. There is a game room here that actually has some of Walt Disney‘s  own personal model trains. The kids really liked this history. Around 12 o’clock our room was ready so we unpacked. Charlotte was pretty tired so her and I stayed back well Jason and the older two took off to Epcot. We had dining reservation at 6 PM here at the lodge so we knew it would be a short visit to the park. After Charlotte had a brief nap her and I packed up the stroller and we wandered over to the Magic Kingdom where we made it on a couple of rides. It was so unbearably hot Thankfully most of the lines are air-conditioned or they have giant fans cooling the lines. This is the first time we have rented a stroller since the very first trip we made to Disney World in 2015. Knowing it was going to be this hot I thought it was best that we rent one for Charlotte so that we could avoid her becoming unreasonable in the heat.

We only stayed a couple hours. Enough to enjoy Splash Mountain and Pirates.  We browsed some shops and enjoyed some cotton candy. 

Extremes lightning was in the forecast and I forgot our ponchos so we headed back tl

the resort to meet up with the rest of the team.

Sophia and Chris were anxious to share their adventures with Dad at Epcot.  Sophia sporting her new Millennial pink Mini Ears and Chris his Mickey hat!  They had an enjoyable afternoon with Dad!

After a brief moment of sharing our adventures we headed to the main lobby for dinner at the Whispering Canyon.

Wow!  If you’re shy then I wouldn’t eat here . The servers are very whitty and over the top with smart assed comments. 

She brought us our drinks and Jason as always ordered a refil immediately.  Our server brought out this huge 1.5 litre mason jar.   He was beaming!!

Kids has bottomless milkshakes to start.  

Ask for Ketchup?  They bring you 16 bottles.  After of course you and your family have to yell “ketchup please”

Once the next family did the same our family had to parade through the restaurant delivering the 16 bottles.

Food was one of the best meals.  Sophia and Jason has the family meat skillet where the other two enjoyed chicken nugs. I had steak and asparagus which was cooked to perfection. 

We actually left quite a generous tip.

Back to the room we were all exhausted and in bed by 9pm.

We’re going to Disney - Day 1

The day we start our vacation is always my favourite day. 

Plenty of excitement with the thoughts of what’s to come over days ahead. 

With travelling so often to Disney we know we are going to have a great vacation.  The food will be awesome, the service has never failed us which is why we keep coming back for more. 

But we still look forward to the small details that we won’t know until we’ve lived in the moment.

That time it rained so hard Sophia, Christopher and I walked through the Magic Kingdom late that night in our bare feet because our shoes were so wet. (they still talk about that)

The time Sophia discovered they have gummy bears on the buffet table.

Swimming with the ducks in the Oasis pool. 

The time we rode Thunder Mountain while the fire works went off.

The moment Charlotte saw Tinkerbell flying from the castle spreading her glitter in the tree below. 

The time at check in they gave Sophia’s American Girl doll her own mini flower Hawaiian Lei.

Crush calling out to Sophia in a crowd full of children.

We can’t wait to add more to this list.

Picture throwback. 

Epcot planning - Pro tip.

We prefer to use our Table Service credits towards dinner as there is more value in dinner then in a table service lunch or breakfast.
However, there is one exception to this rule. When we are planning our WDW vacation we always book a early morning breakfast in Epcot at The Garden Grill. Ideally a 8:00 - 8:20am arrival time as it take my family about 40 minutes to eat breakfast.

Epcot’s most popular ride/attraction is Soarin' around the World. When the park opens there is a mad dash to The Land Pavilion to ride this experience.

Having breakfast this early also guarantees us early access to the park. We wade through our breakfast head downstairs and ride Epcot’s famous Soarin' before the mad rush. Because the majority of the crowd coming into Epcot is now headed to the Soarin' attraction we head over to the The Seas pavilion where it’s generally quite quiet early in the day. We take our time exploring the huge aquarium, talk with crush a little and also ride with Nemo and his friends.
People often complain about lines at WDW- this system has yet to fail us as our early morning Epcot routine. It’s all about being strategic and planning out your day starting the moment you arrive at the park.

Breakfast at the Garden Grill is a character dining opportunity and one of the very best in our opinion. The characters take time visiting with our team. Lots of photo opportunities. Mickey Mouse usually offers the girls a kiss on the head making them blush. There is Goofy and also Chip and Dale. The food is served family style and it’s all you can eat. Starts off with with this unreal juice concoction of mango, orange juice , pineapple mixed together plus coffee or whatever you want really. A large skillet of iced cinnamon buns shortly arrives thereafter and then the normal breakfast fixings like bacon sausage tater tot’s scrambled eggs etc. etc
One of my favourites actually has to be the Mickey waffles that they serve with hazelnut chocolate sauce that’s been warmed up. Something I look forward to each trip.