Tips for Road Trips with Kids

By sunshineandholly on April 5, 2017

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I’m not a fan of road trips.

I really hate riding in the car for a long time. We took a ton of road trips when I was a kid since my mom hates to fly. And while I’m grateful that I got to travel and see so many parts of the country, I think I learned to hate road trips at a young age. And I still dread being in the car for over an hour. I get bored, cramped, and carsick.

tips for road trips with kids | sunshineandholly.com

But flights are expensive. So if we want to travel these days, we have to load up the minivan and hit the road.

My kids are pretty good travelers in the car. Lucky for them (and for me as a mom) we live in an age of portable DVD players and iPads. So we just plug them into the matrix…er…give them the iPad, and let them zone out to a movie or two while we’re driving.

Here are a few more tips for road trips with kids.

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Disney with a Toddler – 5 Things You May Not Have Thought to Pack

By sunshineandholly on March 31, 2017

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Disney with a Toddler | sunshineandholly.com

Planning a trip to Disney World with your toddlers?

We’ve been twice with our little ones and both times were great! I did SO MUCH research before we left to find out what we really needed to bring with us into the parks. There are so many lists out there on the internet and on Pinterest, but there were a few things I found helpful that I didn’t see on other lists. Here are 5 things you may not have thought of packing when doing Disney with a toddler.

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5 Ideas for Indoor Toddler Fun in Atlanta

By sunshineandholly on March 14, 2017

So all of a sudden it’s winter again! What the heck, man? It’s cold today!

I almost put away all of my family’s winter coats for the season. Luckily I’m a lazy mom and haven’t gotten around to it yet…

Since it’s freezing today, I thought I’d post about my top five places to take my little monsters…er…sweet angel children when it’s cold outside. Because sitting around our house all day drives this mama insane.

5 Ideas for Indoor Toddler Fun in Atlanta | sunshineandholly.com

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Beach Baby!

By sunshineandholly on August 3, 2013

We just got back from an awesome family vacation at the beach.

It was Graham’s first time in the ocean!

We had so much fun – many wonderful memories were made.

Pigeon Forge – A Family Friendly Destination

By sunshineandholly on May 20, 2013

A couple of weekends ago we went up to Pigeon Forge for a little family getaway. We’ve been up there a few times, but this was the first time with Graham. He was awesome the entire trip!

Pigeon Forge – A Family Friendly Destination

We headed up Thursday evening after Josh got off work. Our first stop – Cracker Barrel! I had the grilled chicken tenderloins with mac and cheese and carrots. Graham had some applesauce.

Graham had to try on these cowboy boots we found in the store. He’s a country boy!

We usually stay at the Hampton Inn in Pigeon Forge. We checked in super late. Graham had fallen asleep in the car but luckily went back to bed pretty easily.

Ripley’s Believe It or Not

Friday we woke up to rain. After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we headed into Gatlinburg to see what we could find to do that was inside since it was still pouring rain. We decided to check out the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum. It was actually really interesting!

Graham got his picture with the creepy two-headed cow.

Then we took a pic with Robert Wadlow – the tallest recorded man that ever lived. (Crazy coincidence – I checked out “The Girl Who Chased the Moon” from the library the week before we went to Pigeon Forge. It had a character that was based on Robert Wadlow. The author even dedicated the book to him! It was a pretty good book and it was so weird that I’d never heard of Robert Wadlow before this.)

Fun Around Gatlinburg

We ducked into a Dunkin’ Donuts to feed Graham, and when I finished the rain had slowed down. By this time we were starving so we grabbed some lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Tasty! After that, the rain had stopped completely! We walked around Gatlinburg for a while and ended up at the Ole Smoky Moonshine brewery.

Huge barrel of moonshine a’ brewin’.

There was a bar area where you could try all of the different flavors. (There were 12 in all!) I felt a little wrong having my baby in a bar. I felt even MORE wrong having my baby in a bar while my husband and I did shots of moonshine! Lol! Graham was actually taking a nap in the stroller while we were doing the tasting. A few random guys saw him passed out and started chuckling. Josh said to them, “Yeah, he already did the tasting – he couldn’t handle it.” Ha!

All of the flavors were super yummy! Blackberry, grape, lemon drop, blueberry, pink lemonade, strawberry. Mmmm! We ended up buying a jar of peach and apple pie. Those were the best! I skipped out on tasting the “original” and the “white lightin” flavors – those were the two most…potent. I figure one of us needed to be able to drive!

Dixie Stampede

After that, we went back to the hotel and rested for a bit. Then it was off to the Dixie Stampede! I’ve been before and I LOVE it. Since I know I can’t do it justice by explaining what it is, click here to Wikipedia it. (Scroll down to the “show” section.) I know it sounds a little cheesy, but it’s so much fun!

Dollywood

The next morning was the highlight of the trip and the main reason we go to Pigeon Forge – Dollywood!!! Dollywood really is one of the most fun theme parks. They’ve got award-winning roller coasters and shows, delicious food, and tons of stuff for families to enjoy. Still skeptical? Dollywood won the Applause Award in 2010 – the most prestigious award in the theme park industry. You should go!

Graham loved it!

Looking so cool in his shades!

Family pic time!

I’m such a sucker for these photo ops.

Indiana Graham. 🙂

Playing on the playground!

Riding the carousel.

Right before we rode the train. Such cute boys!

Goats on the Roof

On Sunday, we headed home. On the way, to top off our country-fied vacation, we decided to stop at a little place called “Goats on the Roof.” Which is a store and restaurant with…you guessed it! Goats on the roof!

“Ok mom, I’m over these goats on the roof.”

Our trip was so much fun! I can’t wait for Graham to get a little older so we can take him again. Our next trip is coming up in July – Tybee Island with both sets of Graham’s grandparents. (So they can babysit while Josh and I have some fun in Savannah.) Can’t wait!

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Pigeon Forge – A Family Friendly Destination

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