Tips for Surviving a Family Vacation

So I'm planning a quick get away for the family. What happened to the days of throwing a bikini in a bag & hitting the road? Oh I know, 4 kids, a husband, a business & a dog made those days disappear.  I Googled tips on family vacation survival. Here is what I learned:
Take lots of food.   For when kids {and adults} get hungry they get cranky. It's called "hangry" people.

Take time to exercise.  Bwahahahahaha.

Recognize your child's limits.  Hey, forgot to add, "and your husband's limitations".

Take lots of pics of happy memories.

Yes, like this lovely example from last Christmas with my precious children. Such sweet memories.

Embrace technology.

We had to count cows on road trips when I was kid. I don't want to be without my technology on the road. Why not let the kids enjoy a movie, game, app or text while driving countless hours down the road.

Perhaps the most important tip for planning a family vacation is to remember to enjoy the moment. Especially given the technology today. It makes it hard to put down the phone to take a pic, which requires editing, before posting on the 5 different social media sites. Vacay means taking a break from our normal routine to have fun, relax, enjoy the moment. With that said, I need a vacay from my vacay.

xoxo, Mrs. Montgomery Summer Traveling Like...

Praying for Oklahoma

Our great state has suffered yet more loss due to tornadoes. I was glued to the television and Facebook all afternoon and evening, as I'm sure everyone else was. First, in fear of it coming my way and then later, sadness over the devastation in Moore, OK. The tornadoes that hit Edmond and Shawnee were horrific as well.  
Last night my six year old looked out the window and noticed the sky was a very eerie orange color. It looked completely amber outside. I went outside to try and capture a picture with my iPhone and it just didn't capture the amber color at all. I immediately noticed how calm and quiet it was, along with the amber sky. It took me back to when I was a 6 year old girl living in Moore, OK. My dad was on in the highway patrol there. He had come home for a dinner break during his shift. When he left we all went outside with him. It looked and felt exactly the same way as it was tonight. 
My mom had been typing at our table, in front of our big bay window in the kitchen. My brother, age 3, playing under the table. I had been sitting at the table as well. Directly behind our backyard was the fire station. About 30 minutes after my dad had left the tornado sirens started going off. My mom grabbed some candles and took my brother and me to our bathroom. It seemed like we had just gotten in the bathroom when the back side of our house was hit by the tornado. It brought the back wooden fence straight in through that bay window where we had just been sitting. It was also during that time that my dad, in his patrol car, was being lifted numerous times off the ground. We were certainly fortunate we weren't hurt. That house ended up being hit a couple of other times by tornadoes over the years before being completely destroyed by the May 1999 tornado. No, you could not pay me enough money to live in Moore, OK again. It is truly "Tornado Alley." 
My husband has finally decided it's worth the expense to have a storm shelter installed in our garage. It will just give us and the rest of our family a peace of mind. Do you have a shelter? Where do you go if you don't? I have a few friends with shelters/cellars/basements who welcome us anytime there is a tornado warning. It will just be nice to have something right here at home. 
I, along with the other housewives, will continue to pray for all the families affected, the service helpers and those children who lost their friends at school. I'm hesitant to watch too much news today, as I know the sadness will likely just be too much. 
I saw this right before I started writing this post and LOVED it. I don't know who to give credit to, but know whoever created it knew it would likely be shared. Join us Okies in praying for our great state. 

~Mrs. Albright Praying, like a...