vacation

Winchester, Virginia Visitors Guide {Play & Eat!}

by Mandi on June 7, 2012

source: Mandi Ehman

As part of my role as an Official Apartment Guide Organizing Blogger, I’ll be sharing some more tips in the coming weeks for exploring the Winchester area. If you haven’t already read my Shenandoah Valley staycation ideas, be sure to start there!

Today we’re creating a guide for visitors to the area. If you’re from Winchester, what are your must-do, must-see things? Be sure to share them in the comments!

Here are my recommendations for families with kids:

Parks

Jim Barnett Park
With two large playgrounds, there are plenty of swings and slides at Jim Barnett Park as well as picnic shelters, open fields and a walking path. If you’re staying in the heart of Winchester, this one is definitely the most convenient, but I recommend early mornings or late evenings to avoid the crowds!

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Strategies to Avoid Pre-Vacation Stress

by Mandi on May 31, 2012

source: Mandi Ehman

Before I share my pre-vacation strategies with you, I have a confession. The night before we left for our recent beach vacation, I posted this on Facebook: “It never fails…no matter how I try to plan ahead, I end up wishing we were NOT going on vacation the night before vacation. Thankful that tomorrow we’ll actually be on vacation and all this packing and cleaning will be behind me!”

That said, I know these strategies work because the one time I haven’t felt that way was before our trip to Disney last fall. I was so prepared and organized that when we woke up to 5″ of snow on the ground — and it was still falling — we were able to walk out the door hours earlier than we had planned!

The key? Starting early.

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Summer Planning Checklist: Vacation Planning

May 3, 2011

Have you started planning your summer vacation? The third post in my series for Cozi.com on summer planning includes a vacation planning checklist to help you get ready: Now is a good time to think about what you’d like to do before it’s too late to find accommodations or tickets for the places you’d really [...]

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Keep Track of Travel with a Free Printable Itinerary

April 11, 2011

Traveling can be stressful, but this travel itinerary makes it easier to keep track of your flights and hotel information so that you have one less thing to worry about. Whether you’re traveling for work or for vacation, use this itinerary to write down the details of your trip, and don’t forget to make copies [...]

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Printable Vacation Packing List

March 28, 2011

Planning a vacation soon? Use this printable packing list to keep track of what you need to pack so you don’t leave anything important behind! Click here download or print the free summer packing list. Or get all of the Life Your Way printables in a single download when you buy the complete download pack [...]

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Get Organized for Your Staycation

June 18, 2010

Tsh from Simple Mom is on maternity leave this month, and I’m guest posting for her today with some ideas to help you get organized for a staycation: Let’s face it…as mothers, family vacations are rarely restful. Fun, full of memories and worth the hard work, yes. Restful, not so much. Many families are taking [...]

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Minimizing the Stress When Traveling with Children

May 21, 2010

As you know, we live in the boonies, which means we drive anywhere from 2-4 hours to visit family and friends — or go on family field trips — at least once a month. In many ways, I think this is a blessing for our children, because they think nothing of spending that much time [...]

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Question of the Day: Share Your Best Tips for Traveling with Children

May 20, 2010

Last week, I got an email from Andrea, who will be traveling to the U.S. from South America and then around the States in a Winnebago this summer….with four children under seven. She is looking for tips to help her get organized to make the trip go as smoothly as possible! I’d have to agree [...]

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