NJAM Dream Travel Locations

Good morning everyone and happy Monday! Today the Not Just a Mom ladies are sharing our dream travel locations, and this is a post that brought me a LOT of joy to write. I LOVE daydreaming about future vacations, whether I think they'll really end up happening or not. 

This is no surprise of course, but I love to travel. I love experiencing new cultures, learning how people in another country do something different from us as Americans, tasting new foods, seeing the natural beauty, etc. Honestly the list of places I want to go could be a dozen or more, but I tried to narrow it down by combining multiple stops on one trip. 

Our Trip to Ireland Part 3: SO MANY CASTLES and the Cliffs of Moher :)

 Hello there friends and happy Friday! Today I am rounding out the remainder of our trip to Ireland. If you missed my previous posts about Ireland you can read them here:

Ireland Trip Part 1: The flight and Dublin

Ireland Trip Part 2: The Town of Killarney and Killarney National Park

For my third and final Ireland post I am calling it "SO MANY CASTLES and the Cliffs of Moher" because in one day we saw 3 different castles! Spoiler alert: they were all incredible. 

On Monday morning we woke up in Killarney and had some breakfast in our hotel. 

Our Trip to Ireland Part Two: The Town of Killarney and Killarney National Park

 Hello again friends and happy Friday! Today I am back to recap more of our trip to Ireland, starting with our days in County Kerry and the town of Killarney. In order to get from Dublin to Killarney, we rented a car. We had brought both of our car seats with us and had rented a car prior to leaving the US, only to find out there was a tiny little problem with our reservation. We had requested an automatic transmission, but the car rental place did not have any. They only had stick shift cars available. 😳 Cue Devin and I looking at each other like, "uhhh... do you know how to drive a stick shift??" Devin and I have both driven stick shift cars before, but not since high school--- and I don't need to tell you it has been a long time since high school! We decided Devin had enough experience and it was worth giving it a shot. It turns out it's like riding a bike, he got back into the groove very quickly and said it was actually fun. 

Our Trip to Ireland Part 1: The Flight and Dublin

 Hello hello friends!! We are back from our trip to Ireland and I am very happy to report back that our trip was WONDERFUL. Honestly, this trip could've gone either way. That's a LOT of travel time with two young kids, to a different time zone, to a place with different food/activities/accent. Thankfully our two little ones had a blast and loved soaking up all the differences we came across. Today I am going to start recapping our trip for you, starting with the flight over. The flight honestly could've been it's own post because let's be real, it was quite an ordeal and a LOT of planning was involved to make it happen! Luckily everything went smoothly enough, and I'll fill you in on the little hiccups we encountered. 

So just a reminder, Devin was already in Ireland for work (he is the international sales manager for a company that sells science lab equipment-- I get that question all the time 😊). So the kids and I were headed over there by ourselves. Our flight left at 1, but I knew everything takes longer with two young kids so my intention was to get to the airport no later than 10:30. 

What I'm Packing for Our Trip to Ireland :)

 Well hello there! Devin left for Ireland on Monday which means the kids and I will be joining him in just a few more days. When I was thinking about what I should write for this Friday's post, I kept thinking "what's going on with us this week?" and the answer was pretty obvious-- our whole life is pretty much just gearing up for this trip right now. While I was getting ready to start packing my clothes I thought "I could make a post out of that!" and voila-- here we are :) So come along with me as I try on all my outfits and make sure they still fit/look okay/will work with the 10 day forecast for our big trip to the Emerald Isle 😊💚.

Disney Trip Part 2

 Good morning and happy Monday! I hope you all had a nice last weekend before Christmas. We missed a week of all the Christmas season fun when we went to Disney so I feel like we have been trying to pack everything in since we've been back. We've baked cookies, made Christmas crafts, made homemade ornaments, went to a Christmas market, went on the Polar Express, and LG went to see the Nutcracker with her grandparents. We've been keeping busy, that's for sure. 😅

Disney Trip 2021: Part 1

 Hello friends! I am back today to share a little bit of our trip to Disney. We had SO much fun on this trip and I think the kids were at such great ages for it. LG is 4 and everything was still so magical and real to her. Liam was 2, and while technically this was his second trip, this is the first time he really knew what was going on. 😆 He was only 3 months old the last time we took him! It's funny to remember a time he was that little.  

Orlando is only an 8 hour drive from Charlotte, which we felt was reasonable for our family. We thought about flying, but honestly with the amount of stuff we wanted to bring it was just easier to drive (not to mention cheaper). We left Friday afternoon and began our drive to Jacksonville, FL (roughly 6 hours). 

Hilton Head Recap Part 2

 Hello again! Time to finish up the rest of our beach recap. If you missed it, I recapped the beginning of the trip on Monday. Right around where I left off, Devin had to leave us to head back to work and my older sister and her family had to head back before they left for a camping trip out West. So now it was just the kids & I, my parents and my younger sister holding down the fort. 

Hilton Head Recap Part 1

 Hello there! I took last week off while we were at the beach and it feels good to be back. We had the most wonderful time at the beach. While I can't exactly say taking two young kids to the beach was a relaxing trip, it was a lot of FUN! Before we left Devin asked me "what are you most looking forward to about the beach trip?" and I said "I can't wait to wear the kiddos out at the beach and pool all morning, and then for them to take killer naps in the afternoon". I am happy to report back that that was exactly what our trip looked like (most days). Most of our days started like this:

Siesta Key Part 2!

Good morning and happy Monday! What did you do this weekend? We were super busy on Saturday but it was a great day. We went to our local farmer's market which just opened back up again for the season and picked up a bunch of fresh local produce. Strawberries, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, all kinds of goodies! Then we had a baby shower and a birthday party. All in the same day 😅 Needless to say we all slept like babies on Saturday night. 

Last week I posted the first half of our trip to Siesta Key, FL and today I am here to share the rest! 

We woke up on Easter morning and headed to St. Michael the Archangel church on the island. This is the church my family usually attends when we go to SK and we were so happy to see on their website that they were having an outdoor service. 

Our Trip to Siesta Key, FL Part 1

 Good morning friends! Today is all about our trip to Siesta Key for Spring Break! We had a wonderful time playing with the kiddos on the beach and also a good amount of one-on-one time for just Dev and I. It was honestly the perfect trip and I am so excited to share it with you! I had originally planned to turn this into one post but realized I had wayyyyy too many pictures for that. Two posts it is!

Before we begin, let me tell you that back in 1985 my parents bought a timeshare on the beach in Siesta Key for a steal. Their thought was "well we hope this works out, but if it doesn't at least we didn't put too much money into it". I think they would be the first to tell you that it was one of the best decisions they ever made. My family has visited this beach for our two timeshare weeks every year since 1985 and it has become our home away from home. I have some of the best memories from here growing up and it makes my heart melt to think that my own kids can have those same experiences. Here's a look at our trip:

 

Family Beach Trip Video Recap

Good morning everyone and happy Monday!! I am actually super pumped about it being a Monday and about starting a fresh week ahead. We've just had so much going on lately that a little taste of boring old "normal" life sounds like exactly what we need!

Our Trip to Blowing Rock, NC-- Summer 2020

Good morning friends! As I write this it is a scorching 95 degrees in Charlotte and we are doing the tango of in the pool, in the AC, back in the pool, back in the AC. Anybody else doing the same thing?? 

Just this past weekend Devin had a camping trip with some friends so the kiddos and I headed to the mountains to cool off and spend time with my parents. 

Hilton Head Island Beach Trip

Good morning everyone and happy Friday! We are back from our annual trip to Hilton Head and I have to say, I think I was more grateful than ever before to have a chance to get away. The COVID numbers were rising on the island of Hilton Head (at home as well) so we pretty much stuck to the beach, the grocery store, and grabbed takeout from a few restaurants. Exactly what we do here, except with a beach to play at! Here's a look at our trip:

We drove down on Friday afternoon and arrived just before dinner. My parents and younger sister were already there so they had dinner waiting for us and we ate out by the beach. After dinner Lily Grace and my dad, "Pop Pop", went to go jump some waves.

Blast From the Past... Our Honeymoon

Good morning friends and happy Monday! Recently my hairdresser, who is a big world traveler, has been posting pictures from her many travels and saying "today in my mind I'm in ________" and it has been such a fun breath of fresh air to see her pictures from her travels and also have a little daydream vacation. 

Our Trip to Disney

Good morning! We are back from Disney World and all feeling a little sad that we aren't still waking up in the happiest place on Earth. 

Weekend Highlights-- Blowing Rock at the End of the Summer

Good morning and happy Monday! I hope you all had a nice weekend spent with family and friends. This past weekend Devin was out of town so Lily Grace and I drove up to Blowing Rock, NC to spend the weekend with my parents. We loved having the opportunity to spend time with family. Here are a few pictures from our trip:

The beautiful view from our drive up. This view never gets old.

Weekend Highlights

Good morning friends and happy Monday! This past weekend we were fortunate enough to get to visit Devin's parents in Wilmington and spend some wonderful quality family time together. We visited the beach, went for a boat ride, relaxed, and ate some delicious food. Does it get much better than that?? Here are a few pictures from our weekend:

We left Charlotte on Friday afternoon and began what is typically a 3.5 hour drive door to door. I say "typically" though because when making a car ride with a potty training 2 year old, a 3.5 hour trip easily became closer to 4.5 hours. That being said, it was 4.5 hours without a potty accident, so I will count that as a win! 

Hilton Head Family Reunion 2019

Good morning and happy Monday! We just got back from our annual family reunion in Hilton Head Island, SC and we had a BLAST! I love all the quality family time we are able to get in and how much fun we all have together. Unfortunately I don't have nearly enough pictures, but the reason for that is because we were having too much fun to remember to stop and take pictures! Here are the few pictures I do have:

Our Trip to Steamboat Springs Part 2

Good morning and Happy Friday! Today I am wrapping up our trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. If you missed the first part of our trip, click here to read all about it. 

As I had said in the last post, we didn't do something major every single day, so I want to share with you some of the other fun things we did do while we were out there. I also want to share with you some of the places we ate at because they were delicious and I know I love a good restaurant recommendation when I visit new places.

As far as activities go:

One morning Devin and I decided to hike the ski mountain. We were huffing and puffing and climbed what felt like to the top, only to realize we were nowhere even close to the top.