Tag: traveling

Traveling for a death in the family

by Ariana Peters, posted in homeschooling, kids, life, travel

Boy oh boy has it been a crazy few weeks.

Currently I am sitting in a rental car outside my aunt’s house while the kids catch a quick nap in between the funeral of my grandmother and the open house after. But let’s start back at the beginning.

A few weeks ago my little man stayed the night at his Grammy and Papa’s house for some one on one time, before going to pick him up I got the call that my stepdad died suddenly. Then comes the flurry of activities to try and figure out a last minute trip for the funeral.

At the last minute my son got an ear infection so we didn’t go……days later, very few days later my grandma went on hospice and went downhill FAST!

This was just 6 months ago

Enter another flurry of plans to try to get down and see her before she passes…….I booked plane tickets for a 2.5 week trip to hopefully spend time with her and also make the funeral that was probably soon to happen. I booked the tickets and 20 minutes later got the phone call that she died.

We are 2 weeks into the trip, just finished the funeral and fly home midweek……I cannot wait to go home. 2 weeks is a long trip with kids when we don’t have a schedule and have moved houses twice.

We have spent a lot of time outside looking at nature, have done a little bit of workbook stuff and spent lots of time with family

Did I also mention I am solo parenting this trip? Lol. This mama is TIRED!

On the plus side we are going to Disneyland before we leave….had to throw some fun in.

Day 4 at California Adventure

by Ariana Peters, posted in kids, life, travel

California Adventure kind of sucked hahahahaha. There were only a small handful of rides my son was tall enough for and even less for my daughter. So many rides were closed, things didn’t open when the park did. There was just a lot that was disappointing. We did manage to occupy ourselves for the whole day but we were super glad we only went there for 1 day.

My son loves the Cars movie so Cars land was a hit
Frozen snacks……so cold they almost broke your teeth
The rare picture of just us
I found the Starbucks!!!! Both parks had a Starbucks in them but they don’t outwardly advertise that they are Starbucks until you get up close.
He thought Chip or Dale (not sure which hahahaha) was cool but he was a little wary. My daughter wouldn’t even go near him.
There was this cool redwood forest place in the park with lots of fun stuff to climb and explore……but even parts of this had height requirements. What the heck??!!!
Nap time
My sister and brother-in-law got to come and spend part of the day with us! The kids were so thrilled
The ‘san Francisco Pier ‘ area in the park.
My sister!!!!
They both like Monsters inc.
He LOVED this wrecked car outside one of the shops in Cars land. It would smoke and make a noise like it was trying to start. He stood there forever! And we went back several times.
Micky’s philharmonic 3d show.

And that’s a wrap!!!!

It was long and exhausting but I am so glad we did it. I loved watching their little eyes light up and watching them explore so many new things.

I wish the food was better for the prices they charge. I wish some of the characters were more easily accessible or accessible at all. There were no characters from Encanto which my daughter loves and to see Anna and Elsa you had to wait in a line forever and they were behind doors until you got up there so you couldn’t even wave at them and see them if you didn’t want to wait in line.

I don’t see us going back for a very long time, if ever. It’s just soooooo dang expensive! They really do nickel and dime you…..or should I say like $20 and $50 you.

I was very happy with the time of year we went though. Granted with small kids we didn’t go on some of the most popular rides with the longest waits but with the use of watching the app for wait times and trying to be smart the longest we waited was about 20min for a ride. So, I am incredibly thankful for that because I don’t think they would have tolerated much longer.

All in all I am so glad for the memories but I don’t need to do it again.

Disneyland Day 3

by Ariana Peters, posted in kids, life, travel
Oh man, by day 3 of Disneyland and day 10 of traveling I needed all the coffee! But how dang cute are they??
She loved Dumbo……I tolerated it hahaha. I don’t love spinning things.
So freaking cute!
She loved Winnie the Pooh from a distance but was skeptical up close…… brother was napping during this time.

Sister’s nap time!!! We took it day by day and nap by nap hahaha
Goofy’s house in toon town. We spent time there everyday.
Just before the rocketships in tomorrow land. Robert loved these and apparently so did she…..I HATED them!!!! I felt like I was going to fly out!
Sometimes they have sweet sibling love…..othertimes it’s thunderdome
It’s a small world. We did this every day, short lines and air conditioning!!! Need I say more?
Snacks, snacks and more snacks. This is how we survived most lines.
Every body of water had ducks, which she is obsessed with.
Sleeping Beauty’s castle
His nap
He LOVES to drive!!

Another long, fun day.

Disneyland Day 2

by Ariana Peters, posted in kids, life, travel
Good morning!!
It was fun to see Disneyland decorated for Halloween.
Runaway railroad! Ella loved it! Robert not so much, I think it was a little herky jerky for him.
Fun in Toontown
Mini’s house!
It was fun to explore the houses and see what was just decoration and what you could really interact with.
Mini me.
He LOVED the rocket ships……I took Ella on once and she loved it…….mama did not lol. I do not like spinning things and it leans to the side and goes pretty fast! Not for me lol.
Napping on the Jungle Cruise
Star Wars land. Sort of a mini date for us to walk around together while the kids napped in the stroller.

Star Wars land is freaking cool! Very immersive feeling….but! Only 2 rides and the rest is all shops……seems gimmicky for a whole land….but 100% worth exploring…..if you are there.

It’s a small world after all!!!! The kids loved everything you could look at and mom and dad loved the air conditioning
Tom Sawyers island. Robert LOVED the caves. Lots of fun to look at and explore.
He was so stinking proud to get his ‘licence’ lol. $7 well spent. He still has it. He spent the rest of the trip showing it before every driving ride.
We ended the night on the carousel.
Hi Papa!
IT’S NOT PAPA!!!!!

Disneyland Day 1

by Ariana Peters, posted in kids, life, travel

As if I wasn’t crazy enough to sign up for a long race with 2 kids under 3 I then decided that with only 1 day of rest we would spend 4 days at Disneyland.

I loved watching them look at all the new things and explore everything.
It’s impossible to get a picture where we are all looking at the camera and smiling.
Churros!!!! Oh the amount of sugar we consumed.
This was goofy’s house playground. The kids loved these kind of things just as much as the rides.
I love that there were things for them to explore and help their minds work and not just rides.
Daily stroller naps.
Both our arms were dead at the end of each day. Even though we had a stroller half the time the kids wanted to be carried.
I love the wonder in their eyes.
Ducks! My daughter is obsessed with ducks and they are all around at Disneyland.

Don’t know how but we picked a great time to go. During the day, we were almost always able to find a ride that had less than a 20 minute wait. I can tell you anything longer than that and your kids are going to freak out. Even the 20 minutes my daughter would get really fidgety by the end. Snacks are key.

Home, Sweet Home

by Ariana Peters, posted in healthy lifestyle, school/studying, training, travel

It feels amazing and horrible to be back home. I missed by dog and my boyfriend but other than that I wish I could have seen more.

Back to reality means back to paying bills and going to work. Back to apartment and house hunting with the bf so we can move in together. Working on getting all my transcripts transferred over to a new school here so I can start working toward the nursing program they have now that I know where we will be staying. And I need to starting getting all my annual Dr appts set up since it’s actually been like 2+ years since I did any of that.

Obviously I am actually looking forward to moving in with my BF and getting closer and closer to nursing school is a good thing and I have nothing against health checkups except the copays hahahahaha. It just sucks to come back from vacation and I am super tired, traveling transcontinentally is difficult. Thankfully I work today then have two days off.

Went for a 1 mile walk today with the dog, need to get back to my running.

I will keep posting my Europe trip slowly but surely until it is all done.

Have a good night, talk to you tomorrow!!

European Cruise: Day 10 Dubrovnik

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle, travel

Hello Croatia!!! Nothing on my itinerary excursion wise so its all me to wander around. I do know this is a major Game of Thrones place, I think they have filmed here so I may just do my own little GOT walking tour.

Emily decided to accompany me so we slept in a bit then had some breakfast and made our way into town. From where the boat docked it wad about a 20 min walk to ‘old town’ which is one of thr big draws.

Here is the view from our balcony. Not too shabby huh? 

Old town! This and the day is where most people were. This is where all the Game of thrones stuff happens

The views were amazing everywhere. Walk five it and it was an amazing view from a different angle, and once you got up on the wall that surrounds old town, forget it.  There wasn’t enough time or memory capacity. 

The bay, well one of them

Anyone recognize this tower? When the dragons (when they were still babies) were stolen from Calisi (butchered that name right) and locked in that tower when they were on that creepy island. The sorcerer was trying to steal them and she ran around the base of that crazy tall tower and there was like no door then the door moved and all that. Yep, turns out, towers not that tall after all hahaha. 

I had Bosnian food for lunch. This was as adventurous as i was willing to get. 2 of the cheeses were good and i almost liked the dried beef hahaha. But the sausage was a no go for me. The bread was amazing though.  I didn’t want to be rude so i had them box it up for me and threw it away later. Always need to be careful in foreigner countries, you never know what the local customs are. 

Cappachino ice cream! We have left gelato land. 

Found coffee right before i got back on thr boat!

Bye Croatia!!! Still can’t believe i have been to Croatia. Very surreal. 

Ariana’s travel tips

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle, training, travel

 

  1. plan, plan, plan- I know some people like to fly by the seat of their pants and that is great but in some cases you need to plan. If you are not on a budget then you might have a little more room to play with this but if you are on a budget, as I always am, planning is your best friend. Also if you only have a limited amount of time planning ahead can save you hours of wasted time standing in line.
  2. research- Groupon is international if you didn’t know. For most places if you do a little research you can find inexpensive skip the line passes, semi-guided tours, activities and so much more at reduced costs and it definitely saves you on those hours in line.
    1. planning and research also help you squeeze in as much as possible in a short time period. For example we are packing Venice into a day and a half then on our last day in Venice which would have been a 3/4 day anyways we are instead taking the train and spending a few hours each in Verona, Florence and Pisa before laying our heads down in our AirBnB accommodations in Rome.
  3. Think outside the box when it comes to lodging- you don’t have to stay in a nice hotel to feel luxurious when traveling. If you once again research you can find nice places for a lot less expensive. I have stayed in some seriously nice hostels and and used AirBnB several times when I have travelled. If you are traveling with friends AirBnB is a great choice. We have accommodations in the heart of Venice, Rome and Barcelona through AirBnB that are less than $150/night,  whole apartment in each place, split the cost between everyone and you are looking at $20-30/night for each person in a nice place. and having and entire apartment means you have a kitchen so you can hit the market and make a few meals to save some money. You are still eating locally!!!
  4. Do a few things that aren’t overrun by tourists- on my first morning in Venice after some coffee and a pastry I plan on walking the opposite direction of the crowds and will continue to do this. That is how I will explore Venice, going the opposite direction of the crowds (obviously do a little research on places you should avoid and use common sense, if you turn down a street and it feels sketchy, backtrack quickly).
  5. Safety!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- Be safe, research the places you are going, know the areas to avoid, know the laws and customs. Pay attention to the dress code. If something or someone doesn’t feel right get out of that situation and place ASAP. Think before you act. If you are alone, don’t get so drunk that you are impaired. That movie TAKEN with Liam Neeson is a fun thriller but it is also real, people are kidnapped and murdered every day, enjoy your vacation but be smart and be aware.
  6. common sense should see you through-if you wouldn’t do it at home don’t do it abroad. Again take 10 minutes and learn about the place that your are going, I would sunbath topless in Ibiza, I would cover all tattoos and most skin in the middle east, different place different experience.
  7. Check in. Give someone at least a vague itinerary of where you will be and when you will be there and when you will be home so someone will know if you don’t arrive. Try and check in at least ever 72 hours (I tend to check in at least once every 24 hours) you can find a free or very cheap internet café almost anywhere. And most cell phones have international coverage if you check. It will cost me $.55 every day to send 1 text message to my mom and get one back from her both acknowledging we know I am alive. $.55/day is not much to ensure piece of mind.
  8. Be a dork. Take selfies and make stupid faces and journal and take videos. Who cares what the people around you think, in 5, 10, 15 years you are going to be so glad you can look back on those memories.
  9. Be respectful. It may not be your culture, religion or favorite food but it is theirs. You wouldn’t want someone to bad mouth your way of life so don’t do that to anyone else. You don’t have to believe in it or even accept it but don’t be mean about it. Step to the side, quietly leave the church, discreetly bow out of the ceremony, say thank you and try the tiniest bite you can manage.
  10. lastly HAVE FUN!!!!! You may never be back, you may never experience something like this again so drink it all in. Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way and truly live this experience.

Hawaii day 5 and heading home

by Ariana Peters, posted in Uncategorized

By day 5 i needed to relax so while the girls went out i thoroughly enjoyed having the condo to myself and reading pretty much all day.

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I took a break from reading to go for a run on the lovely overcast day with some drizzle coming down.

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And yes when i say lovely, i mean lovely. The drizzling helped a bit with the temperature.
Though the humiditing mixed with the drizzling led to me dripping sweat.

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A lot of it.

After running i enjoyed a delicious simple lunch

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Then i contined to read for the rest of the day until the girls got back and we all went to dinner at Duke’s. I had Ahmazing fish tacos!!!

Today was pretty much all traveling. A cab picked me up at 9:45. It took me an hour to get through security, Hawaii’s airport is packed.

Then i spent 5 hours in a plan then a $50 cab ride later i was sitting on my porch waiting for my roommates dad to let me in with the spare key since i somehow didn’t pack mine.

And now i am finally in my own bed so excited to go to sleep.

Goodnight!

How was your weekend?