Getting ready for Disney- The Quick and Easy Version

We are going on our first Disney vacation with our 2 kids in a few weeks and I am super pumped!! My husband and I both love Disney, we went together with his family before we were married, went there on our honeymoon and once after we were married but before kids. I know it will be quite a different type of Disney vacation than we have had in the past but this will be a whole new type of excitement. Seeing our kids faces when they spot characters they know and see the castle for the first time...ahh I just can't wait!!

I am sharing how I have been getting ready for our trip because I looked at other blogs that were extremely helpful when it came to this stuff, packing, schedule, etc. and thought I might be able to help someone else too. 

ROOM AND TICKET RESERVATIONS-  6 months out

The best resource I found for WHEN to plan our trip was over at Easy WDW. They provide crowd calendars of each month with all the information you could need all neatly organized on each day of the month long calendar including costs, high and low temperatures, crowd levels, etc. They also have information on each resort, restaurant, park and really anything else you need help with while planning your trip. 

I booked our trip during a promotion they were having for Disney Visa cardholders which gave us at least a week before general public to book our trip with a free dining plan. Yay, already saving some money! This was roughly 6 months prior to our trip even though I knew we were going to book a trip over the past year,

FLIGHTS- 5 months out

Next I waited until I could find good prices for flights, I found Southwest was having a sale on flights each way so I booked those 5 months before the trip. One reason I chose Southwest is because your first 2 checks bags per person are free! They have family boarding between the A group and B group during boarding so I am not worried about getting split up from the other members of our family.

DINING RESERVATIONS- 180 days out

With the 2 major items planned, I patiently (not!) waited until I could book our dining reservations for a character meal and one at The Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney. Do not delay booking these!! I waited until the following morning at 6am and one place I wanted to go was completely reserved for our whole trip. In hindsight I think the T-Rex restaurant would have been too scary so I am glad I didn't end up with that res.

FASTPASSES- 60 days out

Then booked our Fastpasses. Having two toddlers makes Fastpass selection much different from what we were used to, but I am excited for them to experience all the things I remember loving as a child. 

PACKING

We just got our MagicBands in the mail and now it feels real, like we are really going to leave in just a few weeks. So on to the packing. I am following the most extensive Disney packing list I could find which I got over at WDW Prep School.

One of the major items to pack or not pack is a stroller. We only have single and double jogging strollers which are too big for a plane trip or Disney bus, so the questions was do we buy or rent. I had all the rental places priced out and figured if I could find a used double stroller on craigslist over the summer I would buy it for about the cost of renting one which was around $80. All summer long and nothing turned up. So then I started doing some research on whether a double stroller was really what I wanted to go with and it is about 50/50 on bringing a double or two singles. Our kids are almost 2 and almost 4 years old and I decided to purchase 2 easy fold but higher quality umbrella strollers. They are Kolcraft Cloud umbrella strollers from Walmart and are $29.00 each.  

Some of the features I liked about them are shown on the picture of the box below. All of these are awesome to have for a simple umbrella stroller.

Here is my almost 4 year old sitting in it with plenty of head room under the canopy. I am about 5'-7" and can comfortably push these without tripping over them like normal umbrella strollers.

The basket under the stroller is not big by any means but it will be able to fit our diapers and wet wipes under one and water bottles or extra clothes under the 2nd stroller. Those are the things I wont mind leaving in the stroller when we go on rides. 

I love that the back of the seat fold up to uncover mesh which will be perfect if the weather gets warm during the trip. 

I also wanted to show you what I have packed special for each of the kids since we will be flying. 

Most of this stuff I got at the Dollar Tree where everything is a dollar or Walmart. I got each a little diary that we can use as an autograph book if they understand what that is when we get there, A photo album, a collapsible water bottle then a small pencil pouch filled with little goodies for the plane ride. 

I will post a trip report on how the umbrella strollers worked at Disney and gate checking them for the plane ride vs. if we would have rented one in Florida. 

With so much information to search through on the internet about planning a trip, I hope you find this to be a quick and easy start to your planning.  

When are you going to Disney and what other questions do you have?

Weekend Thrifting

The last few weeks have been busy as my brother got married and we celebrated fall by trick or treating with our kids and going to the local pumpkin patch. I live out in the country so not the most convenient place to go to garage/estate sales or flea markets often. So I usually do my digging at church rummage sales (which seem to be more popular around here than the previous two) and our local Goodwill.

I found this box of miscellaneous Christmas stuff at a church sale, love that there are so many bright colors!

The vintage metal icicles were in a bag by themselves so I grabbed them too. There were no prices and it was donation only so I grabbed a bag of home baked cookies and gave them $5.00.

My second stop was at Goodwill and I found these two ladies for 49 cents each. I brought them home and turns out they are bells.

I also bought these ornaments in a Shiny Brite box. Only some of them were actually Shiny Brite but for 99 cents, I couldn't leave them behind.

I am so excited because we are getting new furniture for Christmas this year and I just got to order it from joybird.com. I am getting the Hughes sofa and loveseat in Lucky Turquoise fabric!! So all of the retro accessories I have will finally look good when I get retro looking furniture. Now I am on the search for 2 matching end tables. I am thinking 2-step style, if I can find something in a medium/dark stain... we shall see.

Country Living Fair- What I Found

The top thing on my list to find at the Country Living Fair this year was a chalkboard and my aunt spotted one almost right away! I am so happy that I was able to bring it home especially with only a $15 price tag! I told the ladies at the booth I bought it from that it was the only thing I was looking for and they were pretty happy for me. 

It literally fits perfectly in the spot I wanted to hang one! I love that I was able to get one with graphics on it too. The little train has animals and ABC's on it. 

 Isn't it so cute!? I don't have a lot of  purple in my house but.......

.....it is a two sided board and the other side is black! 

It had a screw on each side so it must have previously had a stand so that it could be flipped. 

I added some hardware at the top so that I could hang it and that way I can also flip it to either side. I think it looks great. I got it so that I could write bible verses on it that I want my son to learn. Also to add holiday sayings on as it will be one of the first things people see when they walk in our house. 

I also picked up another blue seltzer bottle to go with my collection, I now have 4, two with tops and two without. This one was only $15 too.

I picked up a $10 grab bag that has all sorts of vintage goodies in it. ribbon, ric rac, wrapping paper, appliques, cards, etc. 

I grabbed this one because of this cute little cat, I don't know what I am putting her on yet but she will be used!!

Lastly, we stopped at a thrift store on the way home and I grabbed this vintage tree skirt kit. It has snowmen and santas on it and it will be something to finish probably for next Christmas.

It was a great weekend with fun finds. I am already planning out next year because my country chic sis-in-law will be with us and she has never been there before. She is going to love everything!! 

I am linking up to melissasantiques.blogspot.com, 

stop over to see more awesome vintage and thrifty finds!

Country Living Fair!

Our day at the Country Living Fair this year couldn't have been better! Between the cool but comfortable weather, great finds and delicious food, it was just a swell day! Not to mention the wonderful company I had. 

The signature pumpkin pile, they have a few of these scattered around the Fair.

A purple cow. That was the first thing I remember looking for the first time I went to an antique mall with my aunt and mom. My aunt was on the search for a purple cow creamer, or something like that. It's always so fun to go with them because we each have our own style but we know what each of the others like. 

We arrived at about 9:30 am and the gate doesn't open until 10 am, so I went up and bought our entrance tickets, got a map and headed back to the car so we could see where we wanted to go first. My aunt had missed a glitter house 2 years in a row so we hit them up first and she found one that will match her lake cottage perfect. I am sure she will add her own touches to it as well. 

I wanted to head straight to the vintage tents and so that was our next stop. We really ended up buying so much awesome stuff in that first hour that we bought a rolling cart. In previous years only a few people had carts but this year it seemed like about half of the population had them. Some had even decorated their carts with lots of vintage fabric, we decided we are doing that next year!!

Sorry this picture is upside down, I can't fix it, but there were a few paint by numbers. Not as many as I remember there were last year. I am working on my own horse paint by numbers which my mom had up in her attic, so these got left behind for another collector.  

My aunt watched the show Cash and Cari and got to meet Cari and get her picture taken with her. Her booth is full of vintage finds, paints and all sorts of fun things! 

See the red cart in the left hand side of the picture, people had lined them with fun fabrics too.

I love those little chenille Christmas trees with the fuzzy tops.

Loved these globes but I have 5 and don't know where I would put another large one right now. 

The whole chair was painted, I feel like his would just be a decorative piece. It was cute because the edged of the chair were ripped like the kittens had been sharpening their claws on them.

My mom and aunt enjoying the day with me!

Every year the Sisters On The Fly group has a glamper display. A few of the members bring their campers so that we can all enjoy looking through how they have decorated them. My mom has a camper right now that is slowly being transformed into a glamper. I will save that for a post all its own. I just got one of those pie carriers!

My aunt got one of these bags made out of an old book, it is seriously adorable!

 This gal had some of the cutest vintage stuff. She said she didn't have a shop but did a few shows each year from stuff she has thrifted and collected throughout the year. See that little lady in the purple dress? I have a collection of those from my mom!

Mom and I almost at the end of our adventure.

This lampshade was made from old advertisements, so cool!!

It was really a fun day and I got to spend it with two of my favorite people!

Tomorrow I will show you the awesome things I got at the show!

Country Living Fair- 2 days to go!

Two days from now I will be in the midst of one of my favorite Fridays each year, the Country Living Fair in Columbus, Ohio! Its really hard for me to do much by myself since I have 2 toddlers but I have taken them with me just to go to this event in the past. This year I will be kid-free and in great company! Here I am with my cousin and aunt the first year we went. It was so blazing hot and I was pregnant with capri's on, a nightmare!!! 

It was so much fun though and I have only missed one year since then! My mom was also with us, on the left. There is nothing that makes me happier than a good thrift but sometimes you just have to find someone else who thrifted and buy their stuff!

This year I am going with my other aunt, my mom's sister, below on the left. She is pretty crazy, crafty, the Queen of Everything as she calls herself, so a lot of fun to go with!!

I don't usually go with any idea of what i will end up bringing home, lots of times things I like are out of my price range but this year I have a few things I am going to be on the lookout for. 

I would love to find a medium size vintage chalkboard, black or green, with or without graphics (with would be awesome). If not I have an idea to make one myself when we get back home. I am also going to look for some vintage posters or advertisements. Any old cameras that are any color other than black. I don't really want to collect black cameras at all since I love color so much. 

Me with my baby girl last year, she was such a good girl the whole day! 

Most of the handmade items (not quite my taste) are up towards the entrance so I will probably make a beeline for the back which houses all of the vintage and antique shops. I am sure we will make a game plan the night before. Check back in a few days to see if I scored anything!!