Baby Bonding At Universal Orlando Resort #FamilyForward

One of the biggest reasons I was sold on Family Forward at Universal Orlando --- Seuss Landing.  We are huge Dr. Seuss fans!  The Lorax and The Cat in the Hat play non-stop in our home.  I expected our littlest Omie to enjoy Seuss Landing the most but it appealed to our whole family!  Since babies are brilliant, it was the perfect place to stimulate a thriving baby brain.  It is important for us to explore new surroundings with Omie so he can enjoy different sights, sounds, smells!  It was a real bonding experience for all of us!

5 learning lessons for baby:
Interacting - At this point, your child has probably only interacted with family, friends and pets.  Developing social skills is necessary for forming healthy relationships!  Introduce baby to Sam (of Green Eggs and Ham fame), The Cat in the Hat with Thing One & Thing Two, The Grinch and the Lorax!  They make appearances at Oh! The Stories You'll Hear!

Engage in play - Make silly faces and funny sounds.  Joke around with your baby!

Follow baby's lead - If your little one is walking, let him/her lead you around.  If baby is still in a stroller, ask him/her to point where to go!

Put baby in the spotlight - Give all of your attention.  We made it known that we were visiting Seuss Landing just for him!

Tell stories - Stories help the thought and analyzing process, get your baby thinking about everything around him!

You just have to start out your day in Seuss Landing with The Cat in the Hat ride!

It was wonderful meeting our favorites from Dr. Seuss!


Breathtaking views from The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride

You will get wet on One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish!

Green Eggs and Ham!


Not pictured: Caro-Seuss-el - All carousels are not created equal.  Have you ever seen one in the same?  Me either!  The World's Most Unusual Merry-Go-Round has elephant birds, twin camels, cowfish, aqua mop tops and dog-a-lopes...

Missed: If I Ran The Zoo - it was super hot out and our little guy fell asleep.  We are looking forward to visiting this next year!

There is a Green Eggs and Ham Cafe and you can get Moose Juice and Goose Juice!

I have other Family Forward posts!

• #FamilyForward at Universal Orlando Resort
• The Simpsons & Springfield In Real Life #FamilyForward

Disclosure:  This is not a compensated or sponsored post.  We purchased a heavily discounted family pass to Family Forward.  All thoughts are my own.

#FamilyForward At Universal Orlando Resort

I get home from trips and just want to marinate in the memories.  

The past 12 months have brought in a lot of new, good memories for me.  Sadly, most of them without my family.  I almost always feel a huge amount of guilt for having to work out of state sometimes.  What weighs hard on my heart and soul is experiencing fun, new things without the people I love the most.  When the invite came in for Family Forward, there was no way I was turning it down.  I wanted to treat my family to a trip they would remember and cherish forever.  (Insert hearts here)  My family loves traveling, the boys have been to more states than I had as a kid.  I think it is vital for them to experience life out of their state.  Family Forward was the window to see we are a Super Hero family and we have to continue working on ourselves and our community.  
At the welcome reception, Jyl and Troy Pattee shared about their family.  I loved their story about the 50 states.  Definitely inspired us to do a family mission statement and create our own wow factor!

“Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” ― Booker T. Washington

Our family loved the Super Hero Family Bingo activity.  The goal was to socialize with the other families and I found out just how social and competitive my teens can be.  Not only did they go for bingo, they went for blackout and filled up their whole card.  I was so proud of them!
Sample questions:
Does your family like sushi?
Does your family go on road trips?
Do you have brothers?


Universal Orlando Resort surprised us by bringing out three important families at the opening kickoff.  (Read about how I feel about The Simpsons here.)  Family pictures are so hard for us sometimes and I absolutely adore these!  It really gives you a sense of our family!


After the opening kickoff, we headed to Islands of Adventure to attend the private dessert party at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  What a treat it was.  It was only open for us!!!  My absolute favorite was the bottomless frozen Butterbeer.  I guzzled my butterbeer, licked my moustache off and we headed to Three Broomsticks to stuff our faces with sweets.

The Frog Choir was amazing.  I could have listened to them all night long.

Ollivanders.  I hear the line is always long.  Whatever you do, wait in it.  I really loved the magic inside.  (If you don't want to wait and just buy a wand, you can walk into the store via Dervish and Banges or The Owl Post)

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.  The teens could not stop raving about how good this ride is.  I decided to wait with the baby in the "child swap" area.  I cannot praise Universal Orlando enough for child swap.  You wait in a little room while the rest of your party enjoys the attraction and then when they are done, it's your turn.  Seriously, best idea ever.  Universal Orlando makes it easy when you travel with kids.

Inside Dervish and Banges - that's The Monster Book of Monsters (stand very close!)

Honeydukes - Oh my.  I spent 20 minutes inside just looking around at all the sweets.  Because, sweets. Fancy a chocolate frog?  I bet you do!


The teens loved all the rides, I fell in love with the details.  Duke wants to watch the movies now.  Nighttime at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is electrifying but we had to return in the day to see it again.  You just have to.  I cannot wait till Diagon Alley opens in 2014.  Are you excited?

Disclosure:  This is not a compensated or sponsored post.  We purchased a heavily discounted family pass to Family Forward.  All thoughts are my own. 

Our Secret Mission: 2014 Kia Sorento SX

Disclosure: We partnered with Kia.  All thoughts are my own.

I recently blogged about us needing a bigger SUV and eyeing the Kia Sorento after hearing rave reviews from friends.  It has been an ongoing conversation on Twitter for the past year with Kia owners Melissa and Melissa.  But shopping for a car is not easy when you have a budget it's completely dreadful!  It's right up there with looking for a preschool and looking for a home.  When the opportunity came up to test drive a Kia Sorento for a week while we were in Orlando, FL for Family Forward - I was all over it.  The kids though, they are an even tougher sell.  I decided to make it fun for all of us and coined our test drive a "secret mission"!!!  

Orlando International Airport is unique because it is attached to the Hyatt Regency.  Yeah, try hearing that and then seeing it for yourself.  First part of our mission was to retrieve our Kia from Hyatt Valet.  I gave them the claim ticket number that was texted to me and we waited for the valet to pull up.  I wish I got video of the kids faces when they saw the shiny 2014 Kia Sorento that was ours for the week.  It looked perfect for us with it's chrome wheels!  I might have heard "swag" a few times from the teenagers.

We had 2 suitcases, 2 duffle bags, a stroller and 4 backpacks - and it all fit.  Now the real mission was figuring out how to work an extremely tech savvy vehicle since our truck is a 2006.  We were all seated, I was checking out the console - Chris was trying to figure out how to start the Sorento and Ty yells from the back that he has to push the Engine Start button.  It was really quite hilarious.  After about 10 minutes and the help from the valet, we were on our way!  We all appreciated that the ac worked it's magic in Florida heat and humidity.  Even at 7pm, it was ugly outside.  We just wanted to get to the hotel, unload and pick up some dinner.  It was a smooth, smooth ride.  I personally loved the navigation system with 8" display.

I asked my husband Chris what his favorites were and he says:  The Kia Sorento SX drove real smooth.  I appreciated blind spot detection when we were on a freeway that I'm not used to.  The teens sat in the 2nd row with the baby and found built-in window shades that really won us over.  They also enjoyed the panoramic roof and SIRIUS/XM radio!  Other noteworthy features:  cooling front seats, UVO with rear camera display and power liftgate.

Teenager approved!  Our 16 year old Ty got his license earlier in the month and was impressed!

There's that Engine Start Stop button - How spiffy is that!

Keep your smart key in the center console or in your purse or pocket!

This has to be my favorite feature - the console is full of goodness.

How about we go to Miami!

Our schedule was really packed with things at the Universal Orlando Resort but we did get around to shop and feed ourselves!

We are leaving with more bags than we arrived with and they all fit too!

One happy husband - he really enjoyed the Kia Sorento!  (After looking at all these pictures, I noticed Duke and Damien missing and every time it was go time, they jumped in the car oohing and ahhing over it!)

Secret Mission COMPLETE.  Family APPROVED.  

Thanks DriveSTI for facilitating this review!

5 Surprising Menu Items @ The World's Largest Entertainment McDonald's

Disclosure:  We partnered with McDonald's.  All thoughts are my own.


I do my research when we travel.  I want to find the best places to eat at, if there are any roadside attractions, good thrifting spots... I like to get a good idea of where we're going.  When I was prepping for Family Forward, I was shocked to find that there are 25 Themed McDonald's in Orlando, FL.  Yes 25!!!  I knew there was no way we'd be able to check out all 25 so we decided on visiting The World's Largest Entertainment McDonald's & PlayPlace.  I had no idea how massive it would be or how extensive the menu is.  My bigs could not decide what they wanted to eat.  I asked them what were the 5 most surprising menu items were and here are their thoughts:

• Pasta Station - Create your own pasta with different pastas, sauces & toppings!
• Pizza - Customize your own pizza!
• Chimichanga - Sun dried tomato flour tortilla stuffed with grilled chicken, beans, rice, salsa & a mixed cheese blend deep fried to a golden brown & topped with a sour cream sauce
• Banana Split Pie - Layers of chocolate cookie crust, dark chocolate cake, hand whipped banana mousse & whip cream are all topped off with chocolate frosting and cherries
• Breakfast - There are some amazing entree choices including french toast, belgian waffle, eggs benedict panini and create your own omelette!

That's a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich.  Our 14 year old Damien loves trying new food.  He's the future Andrew Zimmern.  He has a strong taste for spicy food but this sandwich had him breathing fire.  He could not stop raving about how good it is.

I rarely get Big Macs but this one was calling out to me.  It was so good and I was bummed my husband ate half of it!

There is so much California in Florida.  Love the Hollywood wall.  That McCafe cup is as big as you think it is!  And yes those are bowling lanes and animal print tables and chairs!

Our family always stops to play 2 games.  Air Hockey and Basketball.  They were amazed this table is 4 player.


So much to take in, I'm glad we decided to check it out!  Can't wait to visit again next year!