Baby Loves Disco!

I took the boys to Baby Loves Disco at the Loew's Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday, June 5 from 2 to 5 pm. We went with my Dad and my Stepdad. This is the second Baby Loves Disco we have been to. The first one we attended was a long time ago when the boys were about 18 months old. It was at a nightclub in downtown Atlanta and the theme was Pajama Party! I don't think I have any pictures from the first time we went.

Baby Loves Disco is a great concept and company! They throw child friendly dance parties for kids and their parents to do together. They have them at different venues a couple times a year. They seem to only do them in major cities. So we have to travel to Atlanta where my Dad lives to attend one. The theme of this one was The Superhero tour!

So my boys wore their superhero capes with their names on them. My Dad and Richard dressed up in their disco gear too. The ballroom was beautiful and very classy. They had multiple tables set up with free face painting, crafts, snacks, manicures for kids and temporary tatoos. The MC plays games with the kids like Simon Says, limbo, freeze dance, etc. They also do a lot of dance contests with prizes that were supplied by H&M. The event cost $15 dollars a person for anyone that walks, so babies would be free. They do some free events as well.

We won a prize for being there the longest! We were there the entire three hours. They are okay with you coming and going as needed if your kids need a nap or get cranky, etc. It is for kids that are walking age to 7 year old. They provide a chill out area in a corner with toys to play with if they get tired of dancing. They also provide egg shakers and scarves for the kids to dance with. E danced the entire time!

We all had a great time dancing and spending quality time together as a family. Baby Loves Disco is a very kid friendly event to take your kids to and I highly recommend them! I can't wait for another one to come to Atlanta so we can go again!

Their website is www.babylovesdisco.com

Dinosaur World in Cave City, KY!

My mom and I took the boys to Dinosaur World in Cave City, KY recently.  We went in early June during a heat wave.  It is about a 4 hour drive from Soddy Daisy, TN.  We left at 5:30 am and arrived there at 10:00 am our time. Dinosaur World is on central time zone so it was only 9:00 am there and it had only been opened thirty minutes.

Dinosaur World is located off I-65.  We got there a different way though. Our GPS took us on a bunch of scenic back roads. The boys were very excited to go to Dinosaur World! They are really into dinosaurs right now. Their 4th birthday party was Dinosaur themed this year.  They can memorize all the names and facts about them. Harrison loves the "sharp tooths".

The first thing we did was go to the Dinosaur themed playground. It was already very hot outside in the 90s and the slides were too hot to slide on. So the playground really did not hold their interest long. It would be a great playground during less hot weather though. Dinosaur themed slides and dinos to ride on and jungle gyms and picnic tables. Dinosaur world is very picnic friendly. They have no food offered but have plenty of picnic tables in the shade.

The big attraction is the dinosaur walk.  It is very shaded so that was good. They try to make the dinosaurs appear more realistic by placing them in trees and keeping the trail very wooded. The trail is stroller friendly. There are a couple mulch areas on the trail that would be hard for a stroller though but the main trail is concrete.  The trail features over 150 dinosaurs in life size!  It was so neat seeing them in realistic proportions like that! The boys loved it and so did the adults!

You are not supposed to go over the ropes to get pictures with the dinosaurs, but H and I broke those rules!
They feature the dinosaurs with babies and in family groups. They also even theme it with meat eaters lurking in the trees stalking the herbivores! Very cool!

After the dinosaur walk we went to the dinosaur museum and movie cave.  They showed a dinosaur movie in a cave with fans blowing on you to cool you off. They also have an indoor museum with real life fossils.  Those did not hold the kids interest long. Then we did the fossil dig. The fossil dig is where each child can dig for real fossils in the sand and pick 3 to take home with them. So a free souvenir!  They liked that too.

Finally by this time less than two hours had passed, but we all were hot and tired. H wanted to check out the big sandpit where you dig up a dinosaur skeleton for a minute. Then it was time for us to leave. We bought some souvenirs in the giant gift shop.

I booked a room at the Super 8 in Cave City which was right next to Dinosaur World. There are several nice hotels near there to choose from. We liked the Super 8.  They had a nice outdoor pool which we swam in twice. We needed that pool to cool off! Cave City is a sparse town. I mean sparse! The closest Walmart was 15 miles away.  There is not much there but caves, Dinosaur World, some cheap tourist stuff, some hotels, a couple fast food restaurants, a couple local restaurants and a Cracker Barrel.  We at the the Cracker Barrel twice and it was a good experience.  The Super 8 rooms came with a mini fridge and a microwave. We went to a Save A Lot and got milk, fruit and a couple other things to eat in the room. The hotel has a great continental breakfast in the morning.

We left the next morning and headed home. I wish the weather was cooler and we might have done the dinosaur walk multiple times or played at the playground longer. If you keep your bracelet on you can leave and come back later in the day. I recommend going early in the morning or late evening if you go during Summer because of the heat taking from the enjoyment of the attraction. I would say Fall or early Spring would be the best time to go to Dinosaur World. We went on a Tuesday and it was not busy.

Quick facts about Dinosaur World:
Stroller friendly-Yes except for small parts on mulch
Kid friendly-Absolutely!
Age range of kids- I would think any kid that loves dinosaurs of any age would enjoy it. We saw much older kids there having a good time.
Food policy: No food service but very picnic friendly
Price- $12.75 for adults, $9.75 for children 3-12, $10.75 for Seniors over 60.  You can find coupons online for a dollar off too. Here is where I got mine http://www.couponsforfun.com/couponsforfun.com/Kentucky_Attractions_savings.html.
Pet friendly- Dogs on leashes are welcome
Hours-8:30 am central time to website did not say but I think I remember 7:30 pm every day of the year except Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Day.
Nearby attractions-Mammoth Cave, Diamond Cave, Kentucky Action Park, and Guntown Mountain

Here is the link to their website www.dinosaurworld.com

General traveling tips for kids

I thought I would make a general traveling tips with kids post and give you some of my tried and true methods for a safe and happy trip with your kids!

-If your child has food allergies make sure to research restaurants ahead of time and already have your plan in place about what and where you will eat. I have a peanut allergic son and he also used to be allergic to eggs. We often have to bring our own food for him or research restaurants ahead of time. This is also true for picky eaters.
-Picnic lunches save a lot of money and the kids really enjoy them. We often take a cooler or an insulated bag with us when we travel packed with sandwiches, fruit, cheese, crackers and cookies.
-If you are traveling over 4 hours I would say try to plan some of your car time during a sleeping part of the day for your kids.  We leave early in the morning so they will go back to sleep and there is less traffic or we travel in the middle of the day so they might nap. Cuts down on boredom and whining!
-Buy a couple new toys to give them to play with in the car during your trip.
-Stop about every 2 to 3 hours for bathroom breaks and let them run around a bit. Cuts down on whining and boredom!
-Pack snacks to hand out to eat in the car.
-For long trips it is a good idea to plan on doing laundry at your destination if you will have access to a washing machine. It cuts down on what you have to pack and you don't have to take dirty clothes back home with you.


We have done all of our traveling so far by car without a DVD player.  We do all of our car traveling in either our old Crown Victoria, our new Chevy Impala, my husband's Saturn Ion, or my mother's Chrysler Concord. None of our cars are super large so packing lightly and smartly is something we always have to do. When you have twins packing lightly is not a very easy thing to do either. Somehow we manage.

If I think up more traveling tips I will add them as we go.

Kid friendly places!

Hi everyone! I am starting a blog about all the different places and trips I take with my kids. I have twin boys who are currently 4.  I have been traveling with them since they were about 3 months old. I love going on outings with my kids because it gets us out of the house, they can be educational, they are always fun, and it breaks up the monotony that being a stay at home family can sometimes have in abundance!

The reason I started this blog was because when I plan an outing with my kids I often try to research online beforehand.  A lot of the time there was little to no real life information or tips out there.  Especially for smaller venues.  So I thought why not post my tips and experiences online for other parents who might be researching for their trips with their kids!  So I hope this blog will show up on search engines and I hope that you find my information useful and maybe even entertaining. The main goal is to get you out of the house and into the world with your kids!

A little about myself, I am a 30 year old stay at home mom to twin boys. My husband works at home.  I travel with my husband, by myself, and with my family.  So you might see pictures of them or hear them mentioned.  I have a college degree in Spanish and History which I don't use! I have worked around children my whole life by babysitting, teaching dance to little girls, and working in a daycare.

Hope you enjoy the blog!