Family Travel: Our stay at Marriott Clearwater Sandkey

Summer Travels at Clearwater Beach Marriott

Our family stay at Sand Key

 

Its hard to believe the kids are already back at school! We had an amazing summer capped off with an incredible family vacation in Florida. We closed out our vacation with a stay at Marriott Sand Key in Clearwater Beach and I’m so excited to tell you all about it!

As you all know, we LOVE to travel as a family. It can be a lot of work, but we find that if we select the right place with a good location and amenities, it can make traveling a little bit easier with small kiddos!

When looking in Clearwater, being near the beach was top on our list. The water is so stunning there- think white sands and clear water (no pun intended!). We love the beach- swimming, walking, and even playing beach soccer. We also wanted somewhere that had a good location: think easy access to grocery stores, things to do as a family, and shopping. Marriott Sand Key is about a 5 minute walk to the beach, and is super close to tons of shops, grocery stores, a quick 5 minute drive from downtown Clearwater and there is a huge state park about a 5 min walk away!

As for the property itself, we first and foremost look for large rooms to accommodate our family of 5. Being an all suite hotel, Marriott Clearwater was perfect. With doors that were able to separate us when the kids slept and a separate sleeping area, it was ideal. Not only did we have tons of room, but we had a gorgeous balcony overlooking the bay and pool area, as well as a spacious sitting area where we could relax. It also had a sink, microwave, and small fridge which was great for feeding the kids snacks and small meals.

Anyone with kids know they’re constantly hungry! Easy access to Restaurants on property was something we were looking for as well. Marriott Sand Key delivered large in this- they offer a buffet breakfast at their Watercolour restaurant for $22 and kids under 4 eat free. Kids 10 & under are only $10 so the whole family was able to fuel up for the day. We also went to Watercolour for dinner and the food was INCREDIBLE. Not only did we have an amazing view of the bay, but the service and portions were huge for the price. The kids meals were literally $7 each and I swear my 3 year old has never finished his plate eating out like he did there! I highly recommend the Watercolour for any meal. Ps. I recommend the scallops- they were to die for!

As for the property, it was super easy to get around. The pool area was gorgeous with a large pool complete with a volleyball net, basketball net and there was a splash pad area for the littles that my 3 & 5 year old loved. There were tons of beach chairs and cabanas for rent- no fighting for pool chairs or feeling overcrowded. They had a super nice gym complete with cardio machines and free weights which we used every day.

The boys LOVED Lisa’s Kids klub! This was a cute place where you could drop your kids off for $5/hour per child and they could do crafts, paint, make necklaces, play ping pong, video games and board games. The boys went in here while we worked out and they were begging to go back after their first day there.

Did I mention the service? I think the one thing my mother-in-law (who visited from Australia) and my husband were impressed the most with was the service. From the check in desk, to the bellman, to the servers at the pool…it was top notch and we were very impressed!

Clearwater Beach Marriott Sand Key literally has it all- great location, gorgeous beach, high end rooms, incredible service, a fine restaurant, and amazing amenities. I highly recommend this property whether you are looking for a couples getaway, a family vacation or a fun girls weekend!

Thank you to Marriott Clearwater Beach for sponsoring this post. As always, thoughts and opinions are my own!

Xo

Alex

 

 

 

 

Travel Series #1: How we fly affordably as a family

The Travel Series #1: Our Flying Hack

How we fly for next to nothing: Southwest Companion Pass

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately as I get a lot of questions about travel as a family and how we do it! How we are able to travel so much, tips for traveling with kids, etc. and I thought it would be perfect timing to start a mini-series on the blog on travel especially now that people are traveling more now after COVID. I wanted to start off with how we travel so much as a family with the costs of travel these days.

A little bit of background: Us & Travel

I know a lot of people with kids wait till they get older to travel and I totally respect that. It costs a lot to travel and it is a TON of work. On top of that, kids are creatures of habit and it is hard on them to travel and be somewhere new. And, I know a lot of people say that the kids will never remember it, so why spend the money/time. I definitely agree with some of these sentiments, but my husband and I are definitely traveling people. Even though it is a lot of work, we are still making tons of memories and exposing our kids to different places all over the country/world which is really important to us! My friend Sarah puts it best : do you stop reading to your kids because they won’t remember it? Of course not ! Travel is so AMAZING for kiddos of every age.

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I will say that we have definitely curbed our travel (we’ve only been to Europe/overseas once since we had our oldest-before we had him we were traveling to Dubai, Australia, Thailand, etc!). And when I say curbed our travel, I mean picked places that are easy to get to (read: direct flights) and that are just EASY! Also, the last 2 years traveling internationally has been impossible with COVID. In saying that, we have gone as far as Hawaii with our kiddos and don’t regret it for a minute! We are excited to head over to Australia/NZ in the coming year when they completely open up and see our family overseas.

With real little kids (read: infants, toddlers, multiple ages of kids) Florida has been our go-to for so many reasons since we had kids. Obviously, the weather. On top of that, my parents have a place down here so we are able to coordinate when we can come down here. This also helps with keeping some “baby” things down here which make it feel more like home-think: high chairs, pack and plays, playpens, and other random kid things. We don’t always stay there -sometimes we get a hotel in Orlando or head to the Emerald Coast / 30A area (we did this in august and for February break) but 75% of the time we have the option to stay down here which is nice. Now that the boys are getting older we will be hitting different places for sure. 30A/Destin/Emerald Coast is our current family favorite!

My first tip is to avoid school break travel if you have toddlers/ preschoolers/ no kids. This will guarantee lower prices for flights, hotels, and less crowds at theme parks. Also, I find that leaving mid week is always best for prices. If you do have school age kids, I definitely recommend booking early, OR leaving a few days early/ and or returning a day or two late. This is what we did over February break. We never pull the kids out for a full week of missing school, but we are okay with missing 1-2 days to save $500 or more.

We have had 3 kids in 4.5 years, so Florida has basically been the #1 destination for us because we have always traveling with babies! lol! We need something simple & easy! Because we flew so much to Orlando on Southwest over the past few years, we decided to snag the southwest airlines credit card and THIS is how we travel. For example, when we flew to Florida over Christmas we paid under $1000 for 5 people during peak holiday travel.

How did we get it so affordable? I used points for part of the two older boys flights, and my husband has the companion pass through southwest and flies for free with me! AMAZING. I’m sure you’re wondering what the heck the companion pass is, and how you get it, right? Let me help you out:

What is the companion pass?

In a nutshell, the Companion Pass allows you to bring a designated friend or family member for (almost) free on any Southwest flight you take. You’ll just need to pay the taxes and fees (like $5 each way!). This is especially valuable because it applies to both paid and award tickets, allowing you to redeem Southwest Rapid Rewards points for you and then bring your companion without using any more points.

How do you get it?

You’ll need to earn 125,000 qualifying points or take 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar year to earn a Companion Pass. I know this sounds totally out fo reach but HEAR me out!

Timing really is everything with this! The pass is valid for the rest of the year in which you earn it plus the entire following calendar year. The first time we earned ours was in August of 2019, so this means we had it for the remainder of 2019 and the whole of 2020! SO, you definitely want to earn it as early as possible to gain the most value.

All that said, it’s important to note that not all Rapid Rewards points count toward the standard qualification requirements. Here’s how Southwest defines points that will count:

“Companion Pass Qualifying Points are earned from your revenue flights booked through Southwest Airlines, your points earned by making purchases with a Southwest Airline Rapid Rewards Credit Card, and your base points earned from Rapid Rewards partners.”

All revenue flights booked on Southwest will count toward earning the Companion Pass, as well as partner activity including the following:

  • Rapid Rewards credit cards, including sign-up bonuses (we earned 50,000 signing up and spending $1,000 in the first three months! This means we earned almost half the qualifying points in the first three months!)

  • Shopping and dining partners, including Rapid Rewards dining

  • Hotels: This is how we racked up a ton of points and secured the companion pass. We booked the Grove Resort in Orlando in August 2020 the first year we had the card and paid a very reasonable price for booking through Southwest’s site and got another 50,000 points. I always look for hotels that have high return on points when booking hotels on any travel! I look on the southwest app under hotels or on the desktop.

    To register for the SWA Credit Card, click here! Right now they have an offer out to earn Companion Pass through 2/28/2023 plus 30,000 points after you spend $5,000 in purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Can you change your companion?

You can change your companion up to three times per calendar year. In other words, you can have four different companions the first calendar year, then three in the second year (up to seven total across the life of your Companion Pass). It’s worth noting that even if you switch back to a previous companion, it’ll still count as one of your three allotted changes per calendar year.

What is the best way to earn the companion pass?

There are a few ways to earn the companion pass- Personally we used a combo of all of these to secure it! There is no way we could fly enough to gain it just via flights! I highly recommend looking into this in detail because it really is more attainable than you think!!!

  1. Flights

  2. Spending on the credit card- $1 = 1 point, and you get 1.5 points for any SWA purchase.

  3. Partners (ie. booking through SWA for hotels, cars, etc.)

  4. Credit Card bonuses: this is what i spoke of above, we got a huge bonus after we spent the initial amount. You can also open a small business credit card if you are self employed and double up on points and get a SWA business credit card.

What if I have no chance of doing the above and securing the companion pass? Is the card still worth it?

YES, YES and YES! I am constantly getting points deposited into my account to use for flights every month when we buy everything: gas, groceries, etc. So, even if you don’t manage to get the companion pass, you’re still able to get TONS of flights for free! Think about it: the current offer is 40,000 points for spending $1,000 in first 3 months- thats basically 2-3 roundtrip tickets in the USA! Totally WORTH IT!!!

We’ve flew to florida twice at peak travel times right before covid hit and paid less than $700 TOTAL for those two vacations for a family of five. This is unheard of!

About Southwest…

FYI this is NOT a sponsored post! I genuinely love this program and what it has done for our family. SWA has incredible customer service and is one of the ONLY airline out there that doesn’t have change fees! These are key for me traveling with kids (we are always moving things around between our businesses and things with the kids-sickness, etc!). Also they don’t charge for bags which is great because I always overpack HA. Also, with kids you have carseats and things and you never have to worry!

I know some people don’t like the fact that you don’t have an assigned seat, but 6 & under is family boarding and it is worth it to me with all of their perks!

To register for the SWA Credit Card, click here! Right now they have an offer out to earn Companion Pass through 2/28/2023 plus 30,000 points after you spend $5,000 in purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. This is AMAZING!!!!

And as always let me know if you guys have any questions about how we fly on Southwest or use the card or how any of this works!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Travel Series!

xo

Alex

***I am not a financial consultant or expert. I may gain additional points through Southwest’s program if you use my link. You should not use this blog to make financial decisions. From reading this blog I cannot assess anything about your personal circumstances, finances, so any information contained on this blog are just that-opinion/information. All thoughts and opinions are my own and should be taken as such, and are based on my personal experiences/situations.

How I keep my fitness routine on family vacations

How I keep my fitness routine on family vacations

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Hi friends! Coming to you LIVE from a quick little getaway in florida during our “fall recess”.

I wanted to touch base on traveling & how I fit fitness in while on vacation! Before I had kids, it was pretty easy to fit working out in while traveling! Now…it’s a whole different ball game.

Travel with kids is something I really can’t even describe! Basically, it’s the most amazing thing but also the most exhausting! You need a vacation from your vacation LOL. Just thinking about packing for a family vacation legit gives me anxiety (especially now with 3 kids lol!!). It can be really tough, especially with little ones that miss naps, and don’t understand a change in environment.

However, I can honestly assure you that taking the family vacation, however exhausting it can be, is ALWAYS worth it. It’s kind of like child birth at times…the journey to get there is supperrrr painful (read: babies screaming the whole time on the flight) but more than worth it when you smell that salty ocean air.

Speaking of prep work before a vacation…one of the biggest vaca prep I hear about is people hitting up the gym before their vacation so they look and feel great on their vacations. This is AWESOME. Motivation comes in so many different ways, and I’m cool with whatever gets you motivated to become more healthy, and fit. Motivation doesn’t always need to come from pure intention. REAL TALK: A third of my workouts are fueled by this.

BUT what happens when you get to your hotel, resort, cruise, all-inclusive? SO many drop their activity levels when they’re on vacation and let loose on their nutrition …because they’re “on vacation” or “because I deserve it”. I’m totally with you. You do deserve to live a little. BUT making sure you’re active every day during vacation can go a LONG way in continuing your progress/routine when you get back home. Half of the battle is staying on schedule throughout your vaca so that when you get home, you hit the ground running!

It can be tough especially if you don’t have help on the trip (we never usually have help or a babysitter)but IMO nothing is more important than your health!!

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Here’s a few tips I try to live by when going on vacation:

1.     Research before you go: Be smart about your hotel selection. Nobody has an endless budget, but there are a lot of hotels with decent gyms. All it takes is 30 minutes to get a good sweat in. I look for hotels with 24 hour access to gyms that have free weights-there is so much you can do with those. Also, you can find a hotel that has a path nearby for running/walking, and sometimes I call ahead to see if there are side walks.

2.     BYO: Bring your own. If its impossible to find a hotel with a gym in your location/price range…Bring your own. Bands and body weight exercises can be an awesome, easy way to incorporate training. And, bands take up very little space. I also pack my own protein powder with me as well as protein bars so I’m prepared for snacks on the go! Also, running, walking (and swimming if hotel has a pool) are easy ways to get exercise.

3.     Diet: The biggest tip I could give to anyone (especially moms with kids) is stay somewhere with a fridge and microwave. This way you can store healthy snacks. Even better? Stay in a hotel with a kitchen, or rent a house. Cooking on your own isn’t very vacation like, but you would be surprised at how much healthier you eat just having breakfast and lunch at home is, then eating all three meals out. We always find hotels or apartments that have full kitchens and stock up at local grocery stores. We tend to have breakfast and lunch at home and some days cook & some days go out!

4.     Balance: Speaking of diet, balance is key. Enjoy those tacos or pizza, but the next meal balance it out with chicken or salmon. Also, using those extra carbs to fuel (and feel GREAT) is the best part of eating them. I always find my runs post pizza/pasta I feel SO good.

5.     Make the time: Its funny to think that most people make the priority when their lives are the busiest (at home, working, daily grind) BUT when they’re on vacation (and have all the time in the world) they let it all slide. There’s 24 hours in a day, and you will prioritize something if its important!

6.     Find things to do that include activity: Sure, nothing wrong with having a beach afternoon or a pool day in the shade, but there’s something to be said for exploring a new place by going on a walk, finding a local playground for the kids, looking for a hiking trail, or swimming instead of lounging. One of my favorite things to do is run in a new neighborhood/right when we get into a new hotel. You learn so much more about the area if you’re not in a car! You don’t need to be a slave to the gym on vacation! Vary up your activity.

7.     The 50-50 rule: A good way to approach vacation workouts is try to do a “workout” half of the days you’re there. The other days, be intentional about moving more. I think we can all commit to working out 3 or 4 days out of 7!!

8.     Plan to succeed: Be intentional and plan your workout with your spouse. For me personally, I love to get my work out before the kids wake (especially a run because I can literally walk out the door). Not a morning person and your kids nap? Get your workout in while they sleep.  I find if I think about when I want to get my workout in the next day based around our schedule the night before, I’m more apt to follow through. Also, when they go to bed is another time I use. There have been times I have gone to a hotel gym for 30 minutes once the kids go to bed. ALSO…if you have school age children going at a time that your kids have to do school work or reading for school is another great time to take advantage of.

9. Something I really do is try and stick to the most important parts of your diet/exercise routine. One piece that I am continuing with while on vacation is my fasting. I am counting macros, just more loosely which allows me to enjoy my vacation more. By still fasting, I know I’ll still make progress even though I’m away!

10. Lastly, don’t beat yourself up!!! If you miss a day or two, no worries!

I hope these tips help you out and keep you on track as you plan for your summer vacation! Hey

Xo

Alex

Doing Disney with Toddlers

Hey guys! Happy November! Hope you guys all had a great halloween!  The dust has finally settled after our trip and I thought I'd write a little post on hitting up Disney with two little ones. 

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Staying at Disney hotels vs off site: 

Whenever we travel now with the boys it is a must to find a hotel with a kitchen and ideally separate bedroom from ours. Seb still wakes up most nights so we don't want him disturbing his older brother so we usually put Max in with us and Seb in a room on his own. I think by next year the boys can be in their own room on their own. We like to have some space to ourselves and not feel forced to go to bed at 8 pm :) 

Last year we stayed at Disney's Old Key West which had two bedroom and a kitchen when my mother in law came with us. I loved it. We ended up getting it around $350 per night which is actually a great deal for the hotel. I've stayed on disney properties before so I wasn't surprised by how nice it was and this time was no different. There are several positives to staying at Disney: Transportation to/from the parks, luggage transportation from the airport, ability to buy tickets and book park events at concierge, and the all around "ambience" of Mickey mouse :)

So naturally, when we first booked the trip to Florida, Disney hotels was my first stop to look for hotel prices.. but it was OUTRAGEOUS. It was over $600 a night. So, I started looking around and found a really nice Marriott 2 bedroom/full kitchen about 15 mins from Disney for $175/night. Yes, $175 a night. 1/3 of the price of the Disney Old Key West or any other of their villa hotels. so, needless to say we booked! 

All in all, we had a great experience at Marriott Harbour Lake. They had numerous pools (with tons of slides, kiddie pool, and numerous spas), a craft room for the kids,  a playground, a soccer field, basketball courts, and a very good gym. Rooms were really spacious and service was awesome. We were a short 12-15 mins from Disney parks. It was also 1 mile from Sea World. 

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Would I stay at Disney again? After this experience I'm not sure I would until the boys are older. Yes, the atmosphere is second to none and service is fantastic. I think if you have older kids and don't mind sleeping all in one room and eat out (we prefer to cook a majority of the time for the kids with how old they are-eating out is a mission at the moment.) it could work. Also, with older kids 8 or 9 years and up, the buses make more sense (and you don't have a bunch of stuff (stroller, etc.) that you're lugging on the bus with 439820 other people). Keep in mind IMO the transportation from the Disney park took about the SAME amount of time as it did from our off site hotel just due to waiting for the buses and all of the stops the shuttle/bus had to make. So jury is out how beneficial the transport from disney hotels to parks really is...

Disney has decent priced 1 room hotel rooms to stay in but if you're going the route where you want a kitchen, etc. and you have babies/pre schoolers finding off site is the way to go! 

Stay all day or go back to your hotel for a siesta? 

We've done both. We've powered through the day and skipped naps, and we've also gone home for a nap and come back. I would 100% recommend getting up early, hitting the park for a few hours and then coming back for a nap. Disney allows you to leave and come back so that is a non issue, and your parking rate is for the day.

 I think the kids are always super fresh in the morning making it easy for everyone to enjoy themselves. Also, the heat of the day is between 1-4 pm which you miss if you head back for a nap. The nap allows everyone time to recharge, regroup (including mom and dad) and gives you another 3-4 hours (or more) at the park at night. It is completely worth the 45 min treck (by the time you leave the park, take the ferry, etc. get to the parking lot and get home) to get back both ways. 

Disclaimer: If you have angel children that sleep in their strollers with no issues...I say power through!!

                    Awesome aquarium when you get off of the "Nemo" ride at Epcot

                    Awesome aquarium when you get off of the "Nemo" ride at Epcot

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Park Hopper vs Single Park? 

I feel like I come from the days where there wasn't as much of a difference between the single park and the park hopper pass in terms of price so I actually love this feature and remember hopping on the monorail from MK to Epcot when I was a kid..

While its super nice to be able to hop from park to park, I woulden't recommend spending the extra $50 pp unless you are going with adults or older kids who can really utilize both parks. 

 

Other Tips on surviving Disney with Toddlers: 

1. Lower Your standards. Did you lower them? Now lower them again. lol. Have one thing on your list, and accomplish it. Anything above and beyond that is #winning. Examples: meeting mickey/any other character, or another big ride that they enjoy. The smaller your kids are, the less ground you're going to be able to cover. Thats just the reality of it! 

2.. Download the App: The My Disney Experience App allows you to view information about the parks, see wait times for rides, make reservations for meals, or order food ahead of time. You can also update and select your fast passes on the app (see #3 for fast pass.).
 

3. Fast pass that shit: Log on and fast pass the important things you want to do. Fast pass means you basically don't have to wait in line, and now that Disney seems to be busy all year long (read: 45 min waits *everywhere* ) it is the way to go.

Some popular ones for Pre-K would be Meeting Mickey, Its small world, the old fashioned cars, Dumbo, Nemo (at epcot), to name a few. I'm sure girls love the princess meet and greet so if you have girls I would fast pass that also. You can only do three for each person so choose wisely. Once you use them up you can select different ones (this is another reason why coming back at night is better, a lot of times the fast pass windows will be between 5-8 pm which I am not sure you would make unless you have a nap).

If you know what day you're hitting each park, try and fast pass it in advance. Also: sometimes it will say one of the rides is "no longer available for fast pass". KEEP REFRESHING!!!! This happened to me twice now with Meet Mickey and I refreshed about 8 times and then it popped up. 

4. Snacks, Snacks, and more snacks: Snacks are like the holy grail of surviving Disney. Pack enough snacks for a 3 day trip. Trust me. Bars, crackers, fruit, raisins, PB & J, and tons of water. Disney lets you bring in everything so use that to your advantage! 

5. Get there early: Beat the heat and the crowds by getting there when the park opens or shortly after, It'll be worth it. Everyone is fresh in the morning and do your "prep" work the night before (packing snacks, laying clothes out, etc.) to make your morning less chaotic. 

Enjoy! 

 xo
Alex