Are you planning on traveling this holiday season?

Over on MomsTravelTales, my family travel site, I’m sharing all sorts of travel tips for families as a part of the 12 Days of Christmas.

Here’s a list of what I’ve already covered, as well as what is to to come:

• Day 1: One pep talk about family travel
• Day 2: The two best ways to manage a time zone change
• Day 3: Three reasons to consider a hotel staycation in December
• Day 4: Four ways to minimize stress on travel days
• Day 5: Five ways to be a gracious overnight houseguest
• Day 6: Six ideas for pampering overnight guests
• Day 7: Seven people to tip when traveling (and how much)
• Day 8: Eight tips for international travel
• Day 9: Nine secrets for a great hotel stay with kids
• Day 10: Ten things to keep in mind when flying with children
• Day 11: Eleven tried and true ways to beat boredom while waiting
• Day 12: Twelve things I’ve learned about travel with kids

Plus, as you might be able to tell from the groovy graphic, the 12 Days of Christmas features 7 other bloggers, all sharing their own tips and tricks. Our gang is writing about homemade Christmas gifts, family fun, drool-worthy recipes, homeschool tips (I’ve been sharing many with my kids’ teachers), saving money, living healthy, decorating and, of course, travel.

Click on over to MomsTravelTales to see what our 12 Days of Christmas is all about… and to see how I can help you travel better.

Do you have a summer trip still in store?

My “Don’t forget to pack” bag is  one way I make sure not to leave anything behind. Click over to my travel site, MomsTravelTales, and see if it might help you, too.

Do you have a Super Quick Mom Tip for me to share? If so, I’d love to link to you!

Please email me using the icon on the top right of MomsToolbox.com. Put Super Quick Mom Tip in the subject line. Include a link to your tip and a short description of the post in the message field. I’ll schedule it if it fits!

If you don’t have a blog, but have a great tip, send me your tip using the same email format, explaining the tip in the email, and I’ll still try to schedule it and credit you.

All tips that are super quick to read (in 30 seconds or less) and super easy to implement are welcome!

I might be cheating a bit this week, but I have to share a fantastic resource on my other blog, MomsTravelTales, as well as 85 other blogs across America this week…

If you are looking to have fun this summer without spending  much money, you are in good company! 86 bloggers have declared this the Year of the Staycation and we are sharing our favorite inexpensive or FREE things to do in our own hometowns. Click on over to the staycation list post MomsTravelTales to see a listing of 86 cities and fun, cheap things to do in each… Then plan the staycation of your dreams!

What about you? What posts have you found in the blogosphere that have helped you or touched you this week?

To participate, all you need to do is give us a one-sentence description of why you are recommending a specific post and then leave a direct link to that post in the comments.

A few guidelines:

• Readers Recommend posts may not be written by the one who recommends them.
• The purpose of the post may not be a sales pitch.
• Any affiliate links in the post may not benefit the one who recommended the page.
• And the posts must be rated G.

Other than that, anything good (and not spammy) goes.

So… what favorite post do you have to recommend this week? Please share!

A few weekends ago I had the incredible, almost-unbelievable, opportunity to spend the night in Cinderella’s castle and be treated to some serious VIP and behind-the-scenes tours at Walt Disney World. At one point I decided that even if I did wake up and it had all been a dream, it still was amazing.

Curious?

Swing by MomsTravelTales.com, my travel site, to read all about it.

I got to spend the night in Cinderella’s Castle in the Magic Kingdom along with Andrea of Saving Lifestyle, and Toni of The Happy Housewife, Crystal of The Thrifty Mama, Amanda of Oh Amanda and Briana of Bargain Briana. We squealed, giggled and soaked in every second this super-exclusive experience which no amount of money can buy. It can only be won.

This is a night I’ll be telling my grandchildren about (once my own kids grow up!) but, until then, you’ll get to hear all about it very soon.

But let me step back a bit before that.

The fairytale all happened as part of the Disney Social Media Moms event where bloggers were able to experience the magic of Disney all while learning more skills to better our blogging.

Disney invited an amazing lineup of social media giants and inspiring speakers to share their insight and stories with us. Their presentations were amazing. And connecting with so many fantastic bloggers face-to-face was unforgettable and thrilling.

Plus we got to ride those Disney rides and giggle with girlfriends, stay at the gorgeous Grand Floridian when we weren’t at the castle and learn about some new Disney magic coming soon.

Oh, and did I mention that we also had breakfast with the princess after our stay at Cinderella’s castle suite?

Magical. That’s all I can say… for now.

The airport awaits.

Today I’m sharing about sightseeing on our first full day in Dubai.

For the last ten days I have been on vacation way far away and very much offline.

Please accept my apologies if you tried to reach me and I was unresponsive. And a huge thank you goes from me to Toni of The Happy Housewife and Joy of Five Js for stepping in and saving the day when MomsToolbox got a little buggy last Monday.  From where I was, there was nothing I could do, as I could not get to MomsToolbox, because it was blocked in the country I was visiting.

I must admit, that felt a little strange.

So where were we?

Here are a few hints:

We’ve been in snow, on sand and in rushing waters. I am typing this as we are flying back and we have been in the air for 12 and a half hours, with just just four more to go. My body has no idea what time it is. Sunday will definitely be a day of rest for us a we try to get our bodies back on the proper clock, not that they knew what clock to be on all week anyhow!

Before the trip I was very apprehensive about our destination. It took a few years for my husband to get me to say yes and we even rescheduled one time that I let fear get a hold of me. Now I am so glad we went. And the anxiety was all for nothing. I felt completely safe the whole time we were there and was amazed at how accommodating  every step of the trip has been for families with small children.  I did feel like we were in a bit of a fantasyland, though. There is no doubt we were.

So where did we go?

To find out, swing on over to MomsTravelTales this week where I will be sharing my day-by-day travel journal. I think you’ll agree that we packed in just about all we could in seven days. (The other days were accounted for by travel.)

See ya there!

And, yes, although it was an amazing trip, I am glad to be back. I missed y’all!

Growing up in Florida, I was fortunate to spend a lot of time at the DisneyWorld theme parks. I was even in a  few Disney commercials twirling a flag with my high school band!

I may not live near Disney anymore, but my parents do, which means that their grandchildren (and their mom) get to experience the parks at a higher than average rate.

We were back at the parks last November and today I’m sharing a few tips on my travel site, MomsTravelTales.com to help you experience the best of any Disney theme park. Swing over to see how we fit in all of our favorites and outsmart the crowds.

My husband and I got home last night after a quick kid-free trip to St. Louis to celebrate his cousin’s wedding.

We had a wonderful time relaxing, visiting and even getting in a bit of quick sightseeing. And now we still get to enjoy the day off school and work with our kids. Perfect!

If you’d like to read more, pop on over to my other blog, Mom’s Travel Tales, for a quick overview of our St. Louis trip and a photo of a gorgeous, frosting-free wedding cake.

The Bible in 90 Days program has taken up most of my blogging time lately, but I also have a travel site for families to share ideas and build better vacations.

Today my friend FishMama (who also happens to be one of our Bible in 90 Days readers :) ) is featuring a guest post of mine on her blog, Life as Mom.

I’m sharing a few tips on Keeping the Joy in Family Travel there. Swing by and take a look if you get the chance (after you are caught up with your B90 reading, of course) and let us know what you think and how YOU keep that joy going when you travel.