New must have products for the Traveling Family and some other thoughts

One product I’m excited to try out is the super cool neck pillow my sister has. It’s a squishy bean bag material that is a neck pillow or you can unzip it and flip it into a little pillow. I mean let’s be honest I won’t be using it as a neck pillow for a nap when traveling with 3 kids but I am excited about the pillow version. Ever feed your baby to sleep on the plane and then try desperately not to move so he or she will sleep the rest of the flight. But then your arm falls asleep and you realize how uncomfortable you are. I’m hoping this pillow is the answer for that! 

It’s perfect to squish into small spaces to help those little ones you work so hard to get to sleep, stay asleep. It also has a little clip to attach to your bag so you don’t have to make space for it.



One item I’m not really in a hurry to try is a stroller that collapses and fits into the over head storage on a plane. In my opinion I think it’s easier to leave the stroller at the gate before boarding the plane. I’d rather not have it count as one of my carry-ons (not sure if they do because from my reading not many airlines want the stroller in the cabin taking up extra space). I usually have enough in my hands with all the kids and their bags. And if on an off chance I have a free hand I’d rather be carrying a coffee. I also like having the stroller ready for the kiddo once we get off the plane to toss all our stuff in and get off as quickly as possible. One down side I can see people complaining about is damage. At least you know if it’s in the over head it’s not getting broken. I guess it comes down to what works best for you. 

A friend recently messaged me about how I clean bottles, pump parts and sippy cups when I travel. I must admit these things get gross and it’s hard to use a hotel bathroom to keep them all clean. Then to have to lay it all out on a bath towel after rinsing with the bar hand soap, are they really clean? So it saddens me to say by the third child I think I have it down! I take a small bottle of Palmolive soap with me for the cleaning, this is within the liquid size requirements so you don’t have to worry if you don’t check a bag. And then I’m sooo excited I just ordered mine, but I found the coolest boon travel bottle brush and drying rack set on amazon for only 12.99! I have their large size rack on my counter for drying now and love it. I can’t wait to get this and try it out this year. It folds up and fits right in your diaper bag. Another trick I’m gonna utilize is my Medela breast part steam bags (or any other brand). This way if your gone for an extended time  you can toss your cups and parts in a steam bag and sterilize them in your room suite or at the hotel lobby microwave. Also a great way to clean the pacifiers that hit all kinds of gross surfaces while traveling. 

This is not product related but a few recent thoughts on our kids all inclusive to Mexico this may. Is it safe? Would I even send my kids to the kids clubs? Probably not! With all the drug wars and killing going on it makes me nervous. And what about the resort with the counterfeit/poisoned alcohol and one guest dying? Has this changed anyone’s minds about going to Mexico with or without kids? I’m sure this is me being totally out there but I’m afraid to be poisoned while I’m there and my kids be stolen and sold off into some trafficking ring! Am I just being crazy? The beaches and resorts there are just so beautiful we want to go! The prices are better than Dominican resorts we’ve been looking at and the flights are shorter, all perks to going to Mexico. 

Hope some of these thoughts help you plan and prepare for your upcoming trips.

I just received my Southwest Companion Pass today and you can still get one too!

Today was the lucky day.  I signed into my Southwest account and saw that my points balance went up 120k and the above picture appeared,  My plan to get the Southwest Companion Pass worked flawlessly.  I've been checking my Southwest account every morning to see if my 120k points have posted.  My Chase account already showed the points would be awarded but it took a few days to post to my Southwest account.

If you are thinking about getting the Companion Pass you are currently in luck.  Just this week Chase has increased their personal card offer to 50k points.  The business card offer is still 60k points so it is easy to get the 110k points required to get the pass.   If you aren't aware of Companion Pass click the link above to learn about it.

If you want free travel then you can use these links below to sign up for the cards (I may get a few points if you use the personal card link):

Personal - 50,000 bonus points with the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus 

Business - 60,000 bonus points with Southwest Rapids Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

Please remember that if you sign up for a lot Of credit cards you may be subject the the Chase 5 -24 rule.  If your not framiliar with the rule you can read about it here.

Don't delay, sign up now.  But please remember you should only sign up for credit cards if you can pay them off in full each month.

Here is a past post providing an update on my Companion Pass quest.

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2018 Travel Goals

This is our last year that Emmy will fly free so where shall we go?

So far we have a spring break trip planned for my birthday week back at the Marriott Harbour Lake. We are very excited about just enjoying the hotel and the sun. We are only planning one day in Disney. We have chosen Hollywood studios because of all the Star Wars stuff! We are going Thursday because that is a day that Disney properties don’t get in an hour early. We have been told that Jedi training books up fast so we wanted to make sure we were there as soon as we could without others getting a head start. We also have a character breakfast - the Bon Voyage breakfast at Disney's Boardwalk for my birthday. Other than that our main goal is to get a jump start on our tans and relax!

Next we are looking to hit up a Cancun kid friendly resort in May. Yup I said it we are taking the kids to Cancun! I know we should make this an adults only but hey we got the kiddos passports so let’s put them to use and get them some stamps.

In June or July we are hoping to try and visit some of those beautiful clear water lakes in Michigan. Maybe also head back to the fun sand dunes and see what else Michigan has to offer. No worries everyone we are just going for the sites ... OH!!

Fall of 2018 we’d love to rent a beach house with two of our family buddies. Possibly looking back towards the Marco Island area since we had such a blast there before. Last time we stayed at the Marriott Marco Island and loved it! The only down side to renting a house is we will lose all the kid friendly activities and bars that come with he hotel. But since our families are growing and suites are hard to come by we are thinking or renting a house. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions for this area? Houses vs Hotel Suites?

Keith is starting a new job this year which is very exciting! Hoping to make these plans happen and maybe add some more but we’ll see what time we have free.

Looking forward to new adventures at home and away in 2018!

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