Browsing: Travel

I know a lot of people travel during the holiday. We do too, about 30 minutes away, but far enough away that I need to have the right items with me. There is no driving home to get something I forgot, that is for sure! This holiday season, I am packing up my wristlet with several of my go-to items – most of which I just discovered this year! If you have not found out about these items yet – be sure to check them out!

If you know anything about me, you know that I love Disney and Star Wars – and that I was recently on a trip to Disney World. When I went, I knew I had to find the right luggage to totally rock on my trip – and I found it with American Tourister. American Tourister is the official luggage of Walt Disney World and Disneyland. They have the cutest luggage for kids (and adults) that feature their favorite Disney characters. My husband and I are really into Star Wars (we even honeymooned at Disney’s Star Wars weekend 6.5 years ago) so I knew I would be choosing a Star Wars themed bag. I decided on the Darth Vader 21″ Spinner because – let’s face it, I love the dark side – and I could not be more thrilled.

Heading on a trip to the most magical place on Earth? Well, grab your luggage and start packing! I have prepared a must have packing list for any Disney vacation. There is a printable version too to make life easier on you. Now go enjoy yourself!

My name is Brett Smith and I am an Operations Instructor at James A FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant. I grew up in upstate NY, originally in the Finger Lakes region. My parents were farmers turned small business owners. When times became tough my parents sold their business and my father got a job as a security guard at FitzPatrick and moved the family to Oswego. This was 13 years ago. I attended Cayuga Community College and then enlisted in the US Navy out of Oswego. The Navy gave me an unbelievable experience and an education in nuclear power plant operation and maintenance; I gained a passion for nuclear power. In the Navy I met and married my wife and started my family -we have two amazing young girls. For 9 years we lived in the south from Virginia down to Florida, always on the Ocean. In the Navy I saw a lot of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. When I got the opportunity to return to CNY I jumped and brought my family to a place they had never been. I was lucky to get a job back in nuclear power at FitzPatrick, now teaching others how to operate and hopefully instilling the same passion for nuclear power that the Navy gave me.

I love taking my daughters to The Great New York State Fair every year – it is something we really enjoy as a family. I had heard some people mention that if you have real little ones, there was not much to do there. That could not be further from the truth. There is so much to do with kids. We have a 4 and a 2.5 year old and always have a great day at the fair! When you first walk in (any entrance) to the fair, you will see Lost Kid Tags where you can write your name, child’s name, and your phone number so that if you do get separated from your child, you can easily be reunited. This is just one of the many things that shows how kid friendly the fair is. We spent two days at the fair this year (so far) and I thought I would put together a list of must sees for those of you with young kids.

My family and I attend The Great New York State Fair every year. There is so much to do there – from free concerts, to animal shows, to arts and crafts, to a Native American Village, to rides and games – the fair has it all. You can easily spend a full day there because it is huge! We usually go at least twice in the 12 days (Aug. 27 to Sept. 7, 2015) it is at the fairgrounds. One of the best things about the fair though, is the food. There are so many vendors and carts and places to grab a bite to eat that I wanted to take the time to tell you my top foods – my “must haves” if you will. In a later post, I will tell you more about everything else.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend one of the most anticipated panels at the D23 Expo this weekend – the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts panel. There was so much news that my mind was racing. From Star Wars to Toy Story, the park expansions across the world are going to be incredible. Get ready to have your mind blown.

Today I took my family to the PPG Syracuse Nationals Car Show at the New York State Fairgrounds. We were all very excited to go. My daughters actually really love old cars – I am sure they get that from their father. We ended up having a really good time, despite what happened when we first arrived (read below to find out more). I used to attend car shows with my father all of the time so it was really great to experience one again; it brought back a ton of memories! There are a lot of great exhibits and the Syracuse Nationals sure makes for a great day of family fun! There is still one more day, so grab the family and go tomorrow. You will not regret it!

As you may already know, I was selected to attend the D23 Expo with 24 other amazing bloggers next month and I am beyond excited! From the second I found out I was going, I started thinking costumes! I have always wanted to cosplay at a con and this is my chance. So many thoughts were running through my head. I love Disney, Marvel, & Star Wars equally so what is a girl to choose? Well, there are three days which means three costumes, which means one for each. That is the current plan, however, I cannot say for sure what I will decide on. I am not crafty when it comes to clothing at all. I once made myself a Rogue costume and it was, well, it wasn’t pretty. So if you are not crafty at all and need some cosplay ideas, you have come to the right place. Since I have been researching all week, you get to reap the benefits! Below are my top 10 costumes and where to find them!

Last Friday, my husband and I packed up the car and drove up to Niagara Falls – which is only about a 2.5 hour drive for us. We took the girls with us because we knew that they would love the experience as well. The convention was from Friday to Sunday but we only had Saturday Media Passes so we did some sight seeing after we arrived. Friday night I could barely sleep, I was too excited! Saturday morning we all powered up with some breakfast at the hotel and headed over to the Scotiabank Centre – the convention hall. Just walking up was surreal. Seeing so many people in costume was amazing – my daughters loved it! We checked in and immediately went to get our photo op passes (we knew they might sell out). The three that we decided to attend were Sean Astin, Billy Dee Williams, and Scott Wilson. These were all later in the day so we had the morning and early afternoon to explore.