Summer means vacation time for many families, but that’s not something I’m used to. We did take family vacations occasionally, but it wasn’t a set every year kind of thing. Now that I have my own family, I see the same pattern happening.

We have been lucky to take a trip every year since 2008, beginning with my husband and I creating our honeymoon for our five-year anniversary, since we never had an official honeymoon. The year after that we took a big family trip to Puerto Rico and brought baby girl along, plus extended family. Since our vacation in Puerto Rico, all of our family “vacations” have revolved around social media conference trips I’ve had that we’ve made into family trips. Conferences in New York City, Miami, and Washington D.C. have allowed my husband and daughter to explore those cities while I attended the events. But, none have been true family vacations since it’s just not the same to do a little here and there while also juggling a conference.

We need a real family vacation.

Unfortunately, this year is looking to be about the same. We have no plans for a vacation this summer and are pretty much staying in Orlando. Some people call this a staycation; growing up we just called it staying home for the summer. Of course, we do have fun! There’s various things for us to do locally, including visiting Central Florida theme parks, heading to the beach, and museum visits. We’re even thinking of heading up the coast one weekend and making a visit to St. Augustine, the oldest city in the U.S.

While we may not have a traditional summer vacation planned each year, we manage to have fun as a family and have been lucky enough to have seen many cities in just the past few years. My daughter has done more travel in her short six years of life, than my husband and I did in our first fifteen years! Baby boy is not far behind, having traveled quite a bit before even his first birthday. We’re definitely lucky in this respect, as I know some families never get to travel at all.

Does summer mean family vacation time for your family? What are some of your plans this summer?

Disclosure: This story is sponsored by Hallmark through their Life is a Special Occasion campaign. As always, all stories and opinions are my own. To receive special offers and discounts from Hallmark, sign up for their e-newsletter!

Photo copyright ModernMami™.com

What is your best tip for getting back to you and your family’s normal routine after a vacation?

Last week, my family and I spent the week at the Universal Orlando Resort. Even though we live in Orlando, we had the opportunity to stay on-site and enjoy one of the hotels, as well as both theme parks. We had a great time, of which I’ll be sharing more with you in the future, but it was a jam-packed week of activities. On this Monday, we’re definitely feeling the effects of our vacation. As many say, we could definitely use a vacation to recover from our vacation. But, alas, it’s back to work, school, and household responsibilities.

It’s not just the adults that are feeling this way. Even our kids are still recovering. Baby girl is currently taking a nice nap, which she initiated without me prompting her to lie down. Baby boy has been sleeping a bit more than normal as well and is still coming down from the excitement. I’m sure they will both be back at it by tomorrow, but I can’t say the same for my husband and I. I imagine both of us will probably be dragging all week, because let’s face it, when will we really ever have time to properly rest and recover?

So, what are some of your tricks for getting back into a routine? Do you just let things flow until you eventually fall into a standard schedule? Or do you purposely work on getting everyone on track?

Disclosure: My family and I were invited to Universal Orlando Resort as part of a blogger/media press tour. All expenses paid. No compensation received.

My family and I are visiting Universal Studios this week as part of a blogger tour. We live about 30 minutes away from Universal, but haven’t been in 5 years, so this is definitely a treat for us. Baby girl is super excited, as am I, to be honest.

We’re staying at the Loews Portofino Bay hotel and after one night here, I can say it’s a beautiful hotel from what I’ve seen so far. Today we’re headed to Islands of Adventure, which is home to Dr. Seuss land, Marvel Comics, and many other fun themes.

Follow along on our adventure this week and join us on Twitter via the #UORfamily hash tag or on Facebook, where I’ll post photos as well.

What are some must-sees that we can’t miss?

Disclosure: Our family was invited on an all-inclusive blogger tour of Universal Orlando Resorts.

I recently participated in the Trekaroo KidsMobile blog carnival, where a few Orlando bloggers created lists of their favorite kid-friendly activities in the Orlando and Central Florida area. Many of the lists created have suggestions for traveling to Disney. I offered up a list of Free and Low-Cost Activities in Orlando for Preschoolers.

Since Orlando is a popular vacation destination for those with families, and you may one day find yourself coming to visit the various theme parks housed here, you might find these links handy.

The Orlando KidsMobile blog carnival has many recommendations from Trekaroo families and local bloggers. Check out the following lists for more information on activities for kids in Orlando:

• Top Activities for Kids in Orlando, Florida – voted by Trekaroo parents
• Top Kid-friendly Hotels in Orlando, Florida – voted by Trekaroo parents
• 5 Tot-friendly Restaurants Favorites in at Disney by Two Kids and A Map
• Disney Hotels for Tweens and Teens by Travel with Teens
• Top 5 “Must Do” Walt Disney World Attractions with Teens by Disney Everyday
• Water Parks in Florida – Cheerio Family
• More Disney, Less Waiting – A review of RideMax – Li Er Hanson
• 71 Activities for Kids in and around Orlando, Florida
• Kid-friendly hotels in and around Orlando, Florida

The Trekaroo KidsMobile’s next stop is Memphis, Tennessee. The Trekaroo KidsMobile is a blog carnival with a twist. It’s designed to provide a unique opportunity for mom and dad bloggers to be featured on Trekaroo while 1) expressing their unique point of view, and 2) getting a web of link exchanges. Join them for one of their next stops.

This will be the last post about our Puerto Rico vacation. With it, I share a few more photos from our trip.

Enjoy.

***All pictures taken by Justin Edwards.***

Ahem. I know I said that today you’d be getting a run down on what we did and saw on our vacation in Puerto Rico. But, I just had to tell you about our time before we even officially got started. Apparently, I had a lot more to say than I thought, and it became a post of its own.

Soooo, you’ll be getting four days of Puerto Rico instead of just three. Lucky you!

I promise I’ll get into the details of our week and tell you about all the wonderful places we visited. But today, I will tell you about our first travel day.

The Plane Ride

Oh the flight. The flight that nearly killed me. And I’m not.even.exaggerating.

First let me tell you that I’m not really a nervous rider. I only get a little anxious on take-off and landings. Something about the bumpiness of it all and feeling those wheels lift off the ground just shakes me a bit. I always have to hold someone’s hand. (So, who volunteers to get me through the flight to BlogHer?) Once we’re in the air, though, I’m fine.

However, when the plane starts to jerk this way and that way, and just a little more than what you’re used to, you begin to get a little nervous. And sure I’m used to the pilot officially announcing “we’re experiencing some turbulence.” That’s all normal.

But, then the plane suddenly dropped. Dropped as if I was on the freaking Tower of Terror ride at Disney. In case you’ve never been on it, your butt lifts off the seat as it drops.

That’s exactly what happened on the plane. That’s never happened on any flight I’ve ever been on. Ever.

Of course you know that I was crying my eyes out. You know how people say that they see their lives flash before their eyes? I didn’t. Instead I saw my baby girl’s life…or what would be her life. And I just kept thinking “I’m not ready. There’s so much to see her do still.”

And do you want to know what my husband said? He took my hand and said, “What does it matter? We’re together.” It shocked me into calmness.

Trekking Across the Island

Ok enough dramatics. Oh no, wait wait. One more story.

The SUV we rented online said that it would fit 5 passengers and 5 large bags. But, we quickly realized that it only fit 2 bags comfortably and maybe 3 if we squeezed it in.

(Here’s where I would insert a picture of the trunk and us trying to fit all 5 bags, had I taken one. But, I’m pretty sure that would have royally pissed off the husband who was desperately trying to make it work at the time.)

After much struggle, the company gave us two intermediate sedans. But, that meant that I would have to drive one of them 3 hours across to the other side of the island.

Me? Driving in Puerto Rico? Oh.hell.no. I was not at all for it.

Of course, I got lost just trying to leave the airport and finding a spot where we could meet my older brother who had flown in with his family from Milwaukee. And my husband who has never been to Puerto Rico was following me.

It was an awesome start for our trip. Absolutamente-freaking awesome. And me coming off the shakiness from the plane ride. Oh yea, I was a JOY to be around at that moment.

But, we finally found our way after some guidance from my older brother and met up with them about halfway through the trek to the west coast of the island.

The House

Finally, we arrived at the rental house. Exhausted.

We stayed in Cabo Rojo, on the southwest corner of the island. The house we stayed in was actually really nice and comfortably fit all 9 of us. At last something was actually looking right for the week and I could actually begin to enjoy myself.

A quick run for dinner, some brief planning of the week’s itinerary, and our first day in Puerto Rico was over.

Come back Wednesday when I’ll finally tell you about our sightseeing.

*Photo from rental information page.

I know you’re all waiting on me to post all about our trip to Puerto Rico and post pictures.

I know. I know.

I’ve been slacking this week on getting our pictures onto the computer and all that good stuff.

Mainly, I’ve been trying to catch up here and there on email and social networking, but have also been stricken by a bad case of “not feeling good.”

I’ll spare the details on all that and will just tell you that I’ll post about the trip next week.

In fact, it’s going to be a full week of nothing BUT Puerto Rico!

• Monday – I’ll give you the run down on what we did and saw.
• Wednesday – I’ll update you on what we actually ate and if I got to eat any of the Puerto Rican foods I was looking forward to.
• Friday – I’ll post a photo album so to speak and you’ll get to bask in the loveliness that is La Isla del Encanto.

Looking forward to sharing all about our trip with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Whoa! What a week.

Hiking through rainforest, swimming in waterfall, exploring caves, lounging on the beach, and lots and lots of fried food.

I’m back from our trip to Puerto Rico, but now have sooo much to do.

Not only catching up at my “real” job, but also catching up on personal email, modernmami.com email, and the myriad of social networks I belong to.

Blogging and social media is hard work! Comments, follow-backs, updates, notifications, etc etc.

Anyway, I just wanted to quickly update you to say I’m back and hopefully will soon get back to a normal routine.

If you don’t hear from me for a bit, bare with me. I’m desperately trying to catch-up and respond to everyone.

In the meantime, you can read a bit about how our little monkey did on her trip over at Family Eden.

Today’s the first full day we’re in Puerto Rico. I’ll be gone all week and won’t have full Internet access. I’m not even taking a laptop.

But, I’m sure I’ll manage to be on twitter and maybe even facebook from my phone, so be sure to follow along to get updates of our trip.

In the meantime, enjoy the scenery. See you next week!

Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico

Photo from garbageboy

Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?

Sorry, I’m just a tad bit excited about my latest blogging gig.

I’m guest blogging, along with four other great ladies, at Scholastic Parent Voices for the month of May. I’ll be over there at least once a week blogging about various topics. First topic is Summer Plans in a Tough Economy.

And my first post? It’s all about our summer vacation on a budget. Meet all the guest bloggers and check out my first post, won’t you?

You also already know that I’m blogging at Family Eden. But, starting this week, now I’ll be over there once a week and on Tuesdays instead of every other Wednesday.

This week’s post at Family Eden is all about tantrums. I took a look back at our ordeal with tantrums about a year ago. Whew! What a time that was.

And if you’re currently dealing with tantrums or know someone who is, be sure to enter the contest for the book I Brake for Meltdowns: How to Handle the Most Exasperating Behavior of Your 2- to 5-year-old.

It’s a busy week no doubt. But, when isn’t it?