4tunate

Traveling with Toddlers is no cake walk. 

The Packing. The Planning. The Airport.

Or Arguably Worse, Hours Trapped in CAR SEATS.

Then when you arrive at your destination you are home free, right?  Well not exactly.

If you’ve experienced life with a toddler, you know full well that there’s never truly a “break” from motherhood, even while on vacation.  There are kid friendly meals to fix, baths to give, and a nap schedule that’s not worth sacrificing.  Your little one needs time to move, play, and safely explore. 

I’m hoping through this post we can all brainstorm and exchange our tried and true “Tricks and Tips for Travelling with Toddlers”.  Hopefully we can learn from one another’s mistakes and successes in order to ensure “smooth sailing” for our future travels.

Here’s a short video of ways we’ve learned to survive a hotel stay with toddlers…

In our experience in traveling with toddlers some hotels have been more “kid friendly” than others.  Thankfully, there’s a great hotel chain we LOVE who “gets it”. Marriott’s Tots Travel Too has got you covered for travelling with little ones with free travel cribs with Coverplay covers, bath toys, nightlights, outlet covers, disposable bibs, and more!

And here’s the BEST part: They are offering one reader of this blog a

$250 Gift Card to Marriott Hotels

and a Tots Travel Too Welcome Basket. All you have to enter is leave a comment with your own “Tricks and Tips for Travelling with Toddlers”!

Can’t wait to hear your suggestions!

I am working in partnership with Marriott and TheMotherhood.com to cover the Marriott Tots Travel Too program and have received a stipend for my efforts, but naturally my opinions are all my own.

It’s been such a privilege to have a part in the “Child Hunger Ends Here” campaign with ConAgra and Feeding America.  It’s encouraging to know that even my small role in this combined rally can change the hunger statics right where I live. That’s the thing I love about this effort – even a small contribution can make an impact! Did you know that $1 provides 7 Meals to your local community when you donate online? 

Yep, you read that correctly.  SEVEN.

Think about how even a $1 per neighbor/church member/classmate/PTA member donation could significantly impact your community.  Now think even bigger.. For instance if each person in my own town of around 20,000 made a $1 donation we could provide 140,000 meals! 

There’s no better time than the present.  With summer quickly approaching more kids in your very own community will struggle with hunger. The 19.5 million children receiving the free or reduced-price lunches significantly will drop to only 2.2 million receiving meals through the Summer Food Service Program. Remember, every dollar raised and donated online stays in your community to help those children in need.

(Keep reading how YOU can make an IMPACT today just by simply leaving a COMMENT.)

There have been many inspiring bloggers demonstrating examples of how you can get involved.  Hopefully their initiatives, ideas, creativity, and energy will inspire you to make a difference in your own community as well:

~ Judy from Dirt Road Musings held a “Taste of Italy” Pasta Dinner in her home town of Omaha, Nebraska,and a portion of the proceeds were donated to Feeding America.

~ Courtney from Detroit Mommies teamed up with a local restaurant that donated 5% of the invite’s tab from the food and drinks to the cause.

~ Laura from My DFW Mommy opened her own home and collected canned goods and donations from her neighbors.

~ Andrea from Savvy Sassy Moms hosted a neighborhood ice cream social in Los Angeles, California.

See? It doesn’t have to be elaborate or complicated to make a difference. You can find more ideas, resources and sign up for a FREE toolkit at the Child Hunger Ends Here site.

Now that you’re creative juices are bubbling and overflowing with ideas I want to hear them! 

And here’s the impact you can make with a simple comment:

For every comment, a donation of $1 will be made on behalf of our blog to Child Hunger Ends Here, up to $100. That means that 100 comments on this post could provide 700 MEALS for my local community! 

I’m not too proud to beg…

Will you leave me a comment telling me your ideas for how you could make an impact in your own community?

It’s that simple.

Pretty Please.

With Sugar On Top?

AND a Cherry?

How easy it is to overlook the details of a beautiful flowering tree.  I passed my own ornamental pear dozens of times, before stopping to take this photograph. We may admire the entire tree budding and blooming, but there’s so much more if you look closely. Within each branch are hundreds of blooms each so intricately designed and adorned with stunning beauty,

This Mother’s Day I didn’t want to overlook those who may blend in to the tree, so to speak. There are so many who are struggling with the unknowns of infertility, the loss of miscarriage, the pain of losing a child or your own mother.  The unspokens…

I hope that you find courage, strength, hope, and faith to face your journey today and in the days ahead. 

Psalm 62:1-2
Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

Please use the comment section if you feel led to share your own story, journey, or struggle. Help us to honor you…