Frankenmuth

Have you ever been to Frankenmuth?  Well believe it or not, I haven't.  I've been to Birch Run to outlet mall but never to Frankenmuth.  Yes, Fall is approaching us fast, which means harvest is going to be here as well.  We've spent most of our summer to the lake.  We figured we take a mini vacation {without our camper} to Frankenmuth before the hubby is MIA for a couple months. 

Reasons why?

Of course, the Birch Run Outlet Mall:  Our whole family needs new clothes.  I haven't bought Maddie any clothes or shoes for this winter or fall {I think all I have is what Heidi gave Maddie....thanks girly}  I have all my coupons printed for all the stores too.  Plus we are going to get those super great deals still from summer clothes so we can take with us on our Grand Cayman trip in November. 

Bronner's Christmas Store:  Yes, I have NEVER been to this store, and I'm way excited!  I thought I would go earlier in the year to beat the crowd this fall.  I hope they also have some great Halloween/Fall decor too! 

Wildreness Trails Zoo, Birch Run:  Obviously never been here either but we figured we take Maddie to check it out!

Zehnder's Splish Splash:  An indoor water park we think Maddie will enjoy for a half day.  Can't wait to check out the new one this January at the Soaring Eagle Casino!

Zehnder's Famous Chicken Dinner:  I can't wait to eat here!  I've heard so many people talk good things about this place.  I also heard they have a awesome bakery and candy store!

Frankenmuth Old Time Photo:  The 3 times we've been to Gatlinburg, TN we never got this done, but with Maddie here now and a place like this around here, we are going to have some fun! 

Of course, I can't wait to walk downtown the old historic Frankenmuth and go into all the cute stores too.

So friends, I'm asking all of you who have been, what are we missing??????  Would love to know.

 
 

Maui Here we Come..well maybe ?

You haven't seen a blog from me on vacations lately so I thought I better bring you up to speed.  So I booked a secret trip to Maui for next March for our family and have been holding it in for several months (I try not to overwhelm Paul about vacation until it gets somewhat close..he always tells me to just book it and he will come)  When I booked the trip for some reason I didn't book a plane ticked for my husband Paul..I really don't remember why..well now  I am very thankful that I didn't book that ticket for him.  Paul has been attending Progressive Orthodontics for the last year and I found out on Saturday that his last class and graduation is actually a day after we leave for Maui.  I had to break the news to him and I don't know what I am going to do as the trip is already booked.  He was actually very calm, which is his usual self and just said "I will be in Detroit for my class so when I'm done I will just fly out".  This sounds great except that I am now flying to Maui by myself with 2 small children- 14 hours + - wow I think I'm going to have an ulcer.  I can handle a lot of things, but I'm not sure about getting to Detroit for an early morning flight and surviving through the day.  Once we make it to Maui I will be fine with the kids for a few days before Paul arrives, but the trip there is going to be an adventure.  I for sure am going to make sure that Paul's ticket home is on the same flight as the rest of us no matter the cost! 

With that said..anyone want to join me in Maui??  Jen? Jenn??
 
I'll keep you all posted with my plan!
 

I Love T.C.

You have to admit we do live beautiful Pure Michigan.  Most people forget that the U.P. is a great place to take your family and make the best of memories!  I can say that from experience :-).  Traverse City is probably my favorite place in Michigan.  Its a beautiful city and I love the wineries (especially in the fall).  My mother-in-law will be camping at Silver Lake next week, so we will be joining her for part of it.  We plan to take Maddie to Lake Michigan, and give her some rides with the Razor.

My hubby and I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary the first part of August.  We are celebrating in the Grand Cayman Islands but not until November.  So while we are at Silver Lake, Dusty and I are sneaking away to Traverse City for the whole day Monday.  I can honestly say that since Maddie was born, we haven't done anything together, not even a dinner date.  We have planned them before but always cancel at the last minute.  Its not that we didn't  want to, we just felt guilty I guess.  Now that she is a year old I think we are finally ready but it's not for over night :-).

Check back to see if we won big as we plan to check out the Turtle Creek Casino up there.  The Roulette table is calling me name. (Thanks Heidi!!)

 

 

What a Magical Place

  I know I told you I would post pictures of the Disney trip with my girls last week, but it has been so crazy I just got them uploaded.  Disney was soo much fun, BUT it was a lot of work.  The girls really are too young and it was hot and VERY crowded.  The girls had the most fun during the parades at Magic Kingdom, riding the bus, and swimming in the pools.  The characters they only liked from a distance..we waited in line several times over 30 minutes and when it was our turn the girls wanted nothing to do with them. I learned our lesson very quick on that one.  I have told my family and friends to not let me go again for another couple years when it will be much easier :)



                                                               Kylie loved the Bus!

 

                               
                           As you can see they were not fans of Pluto!
                                                 

Also not a fan of Mickey!

But Kylie loves them if they aren't "real"- Kermie!

                                Again..they love them if they are made from flowers!

Sleeping Beauties

My favorite time of day is morning when my girls are sleeping.  I love to just watch them sleep as they are absolutely beautiful.  The other day I went to check on Alivia and she is laying face first in the bed with her butt in the air and her diaper was off- it was soo cute and luckily she did not pee in the bed!  Alivia also does this thing when she starts to wake up where she whispers "roar"..like a lion and it is soo cute..ahh I love mornings with the girls.  I look forward to every weekend when I can actually enjoy the morning rather than try to rush out of the house for work.  I am thankful today that we are in Disney and I get to spend a lot of precious time with my girls as I know they will grow up fast and before I know it they will be graduating High School.

Well I better get back to the girls and enjoy our time here in Disney.

Have a great day! 

 

The Most Magical Place on Earth

So have I mentioned lately that I love vacations? Ha I know you are thinking I just got back from Vegas right?  Well..next Friday I am taking my girls to Disney for 5 nights with my mom.  I am so excited as Kylie is at the age where she wakes up everyday telling me how many more days till Mickey Mouse and The Muppets (her new favorite).  She keeps saying to Alivia "Be good or you can't go see Mickey"..too bad Alivia doesn't really know what that means so it doesn't help.  Today I told Kylie that Mickey was going to be at our hotel and she laughed and said "Mickey is too big mom to come to our hotel"..it was so cute. 

I wish I could say that we were going to go stay at our new DVC, but I still have not talked Paul into that yet.  We are using my Hilton Honor Points to stay for free at Hilton Bonnet Creek, which is a brand new hotel a mile from Disney.  One of the joys of traveling so much for my job is that I accumulate a lot of hotel points that we can use on vacations.  Maybe someday I will just win a DVC- very unlikely I know, but I can always dream.

I can't wait to visit the Most Magical Place on Earth with my girls- while I know it will be crazy, the look on their faces when they see the characters will be worth it all (given Kylie doesn't get scared like last year).  I will make sure to post pictures when we return with a full report on how it went.




Until next time..

Live from Vegas!

It's Heidi and Jen checking in to say we are having a great time in Vegas!  We have shopped, ate lots of food, probably had too much to drink,  did lots of people watching, and most of all are having fun catching up.  Tonight we are doing a VIP party bus, which should be interesting as all of us are moms and haven't been up at 2 a.m. except to attend to crying babies :)  I'm sure tomorrow we will be sleeping in and taking care of all the blisters on our feet from dancing.  We are missing our families, but know that they are having lots of fun without us.  We will fill you in on all the details when we get back :)

 
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Away We Go...

Well tomorrow finally is the day we are leaving for Vegas.  Last week I talked about going to Vegas in my post and now it is almost here.  I am soo excited I can hardly stand it: I'm going to miss my family like crazy, but I am ready for a girls only vacation! This past weekend I got my hair and nails done and worked on packing.  Packing is not an easy task for me because I want to take everything with, but finally after 3 hours this is what my suitcase looks like!

Tomorrow before we leave I'm going to get spray tanned, get my car cleaned, and go to the bank so by 3 p.m. we are ready to take off.   Look forward to future posts live from Vegas from both Jen and myself! I'll talk to you all soon..wish me luck!

 

Down To The Final Decision

So last week I asked all of you if Disney Vacation Club is worth the investment.  I have spent the last week really digging into the club along with the resale market on DVC.  I have had several conversations with real estate agents, financial investors, and friends who own or know someone that owns.  After much investigation I have come to the conclusion that for my family DVC would be a good investment especially if we buy resale.  I talked with a resale company this week and was really impressed with their service and advice; the trick to making this a good investment is the following:

-Don't get caught up in which DVC resort you buy in, rather buy in at the lowest point and the resort with the lowest annual dues.  Currently Saratoga Springs in Disney World is the best deal.  The only difference in your "home resort" versus any other DVC Resort is you can make reservations at 11 months prior to your trip at your "home resort" and 7 at any other resort.  The people I talked to indicated that this has never been a problem and even at 7 months out you can usually get what you want.

-Really dig into the point values of the resorts and plan accordingly as to how many points you plan to use in a year.  I'm looking at 250 points as this would allow us in many cases to actually get 2 weeks rather than 1 based on our current travel situation (kids are small so we don't need a 2 bedroom in many instances a studio would work, and we can travel during non peak times).

- Calculate how much you spend on hotels currently during the year and make sure that you plan to use DVC yearly to get more out of your investment.  Given that I love to travel and DVC are great resorts I know that my family would use yearly.  An example is I'm looking to spend $10,000 on 250 DVC points that expire in 42 years: this is $238 per year.  In addition there are annual dues that can adjust yearly; however they have stayed pretty consistent over the years: current annual dues at Saratoga Springs for 250 points is $1107.  $1107 per year x 42 years= $46,515 in annual dues.  $46,515 + $10,000 initial investment = $56,515. The total cost per year is approximately $1,345.  If you use all your points on 7 nights that = $192.22 per night at a $400+ resort.  If you are able to stretch your points to 2 weeks you are only spending $96 per night at a $400+ resort.  As you can see by the math if you use your points you are going to save a lot of money and get away from a standard hotel room and actually get a spacious condo unit that includes a kitchen (another way to save by not eating out every meal).

-If you want to go to a nicer resort or want to have a 2 or 3 bedroom know that you can bank your points into the next year and also borrow from the next year.  So in reality I could have 750 points to use in one year if I wanted, which is a great feature.  The key is to plan ahead. 

It's pretty clear to me that DVC is a great decision for my family..now my next step is I need to convince my husband Paul.  I am confident I can convince him now that I have done the research and have done the math on the investment.  Wish me luck!




 

Is it Worth The $$$??

You all should know by now that I love vacations and yes I've been thinking of where to go next.  I have seriously been thinking of trying to convince my husband of becoming a Disney Vacation Club Member as from everything I understand it would pay for itself in about 7 vacations.  I do know that my husband is going to say no, so I must have a compelling case as to why this is a good financial decision for us.  For those of you that don't know how it works,in a nutshell you buy points into a certain Disney Resort that are yearly points.  These points can be used for anytime of year and at any resort based on the number of points you have.  If you want a nicer resort and a bigger room it will  use more points.  Now there is an upfront investment which can range from $10,000+ depending on the number of points, etc and there are yearly dues for upkeep that is a fee per point.  You also can go many places in the world even non Disney Resorts, which is what I think is the best part as you are not tied down to just Disney Resorts. 

Now the question I have for all of you is do you have experience with a timeshare or know someone that does and if so has it been worth the money?  I would really like to have some input from our readers as to what they know to also help build my case with my husband.

I look forward to being able to blog in the near future about becoming a member of Disney Vacation Club. 

 

NYC..so Much to Do

 

Today I am in NYC with my husband Paul.  I had to go to Hartford for work on Thursday and Friday so I had Paul meet me in NYC for the weekend.  If you are looking for a place to visit for a weekend NYC is the place to go as there are so many options.  Now of coarse I really want to go shopping; however I have a feeling that is not on the top of Paul's list, but I'm sure I will manage to hit a few stores: Century 21..yes please!!

We have already done the touristy things several times so we are planning on going to see our first Broadway Show..Jersey Boys. 


We are also planning on eating lots of NYC pizza as both Paul and I are pizza fanatics and NYC has the BEST pizza! 


We have heard great things about SoHo and neither of us have been there so we will probably go check that out too for great eats, shopping, and people watching.  Most importantly Paul and I get to spend time together.  With our crazy schedules we never have time alone and this trip is much needed; while we will miss our girls like crazy we need to catch up and have fun together. 




Jay-Z says it best "In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made , oh There's nothing you can't do, now you're in New York These streets will make you feel brand new Big Lights will inspire you, let's hear it for New York"

 

Do You Need A Little Weekend Getaway?

Everyone needs a weekend getaway every now and then, and that's just what we did this weekend. Every year my mother-in-law takes us kids and grandkids on a weekend trip (of her choice) for our Christmas and birthday presents. Last year we spent a fabulous weekend at the Great Wolf Lodge, and so my MIL must have loved seeing her grandkids play in the water because we spent another fabulous family weekend at another waterpark! This was much smaller and closer to home. It was almost more enjoyable since it wasn't so crowded!! Plus this was my daughter's first encounter (besides her tubbies) in a lot of water. As expected, she had so much fun. I almost think her favorite part was people watching - we don't get out much..... ha ha :-). It was nice to set the phone & computer aside and enjoy a couple days with some much needed family time!

This is my daughter, Maddie & grandma

Moments like this makes me very grateful for my family. Both my husband and I have huge families; very family oriented! In the winters, we spend it either going to some place warm and exciting or up north snowmobiling. In the summers, we spend days & weeks in our 5th wheel camper at our "mini" campground on the family private lake. And of course in the spring and fall we spend endless amounts of time being team players on the family farm! Together as a family, us women who do the cooking and baking for our men who work around the clock planting and harvesting crops in the ground to provide food to the world!


We may all have a very busy lifestyle, but when it comes down to it - we all make time for each other no matter what! That's why I LOVE weekends like this :-)

With daddy

 

 

My nephew, Brody

My niece, Brookie

Turks and Caicos was AMAZING!!

I just got back from Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos and it was Amazing! From the moment I got off the plane I knew it was going to be a wonderful trip. Everyone on the island was so nice and wanted to make sure everything was perfect. There was something for the whole family at the resort: the girls loved the sesame street characters and activities, the beach, and Bobby Dees- where they filled up on hotdogs, french fries, and ice cream; yes that's right i think between the two girls they ate over 20 hot dogs during the trip: my husband Paul loved the wood fire pizzas- those that know him know he loves his pizza so as soon as 11 am hit I knew where to find him: and I loved the beauty of the island and seeing the excitement in my girls, nothing is better than having 2 toddlers laughing and playing together! The resort had free childcare, but i was having so much fun with the girls I did not want to leave them so we were together nonstop for 7 days and it was wonderful! With my career I am often gone 2 nights a week traveling along with a hectic schedule, this trip allowed me to spend quality time with the family. Believe it or not this vacation was very relaxing and both Paul and I feel refreshed and are ready to get back to our crazy life...thanks to Beaches Turks and Caicos- I know if we would have went anywhere else with the kids with as many activities available as Beaches we would be exhausted! If you are looking for a great family vacation I highly recommend Beaches Turks and Caicos!

Vacations...Everyone Loves Them Right?

Have i told you that i love vacations?? I love everything about vacations: planning, packing, traveling, food, beach; however my husband thinks i am crazy. We are leaving tonight for Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos..yes we are spending a week with Sesame Street. Who doesn't want to spend a week with Elmo? Paul does not see the fun in packing for a family of 4 including diapers and wipes, flying 5 hours with 2 girls under 3, and being surrounded by screaming kids going crazy over Elmo for a week....I know I will prove him wrong. Every time we get back from vacation he tells me how much fun he had and that i did a great job planning..i think deep down he loves to go on vacations, but just won't tell me. I know we are going to have a great time as a family and I will have many great stories to share when we return.  Someday I will share with you all the tricks to planning a successful vacation, as  I mentioned before I love vacations and I am always planning for the next one!