What Our First Disney World Trip Actually Cost (And What I'd Do Differently)

My husband and I are professional dreamers.

We're always talking about places we want to see, vacations we should take, or experiences we want our daughter to have. The problem is our bank account doesn't always agree with our ideas.

A few years ago we signed up for an American Express Gold card because we wanted to become people who traveled. We hit the welcome bonus, earned a pile of points, celebrated... and then made some pretty average financial decisions.

We'd charge too much, spend months paying it off, feel good, and then slowly rack up another balance. Repeat.

It's a cycle we're actively trying to break because long-term financial stability matters more than chasing reward points. That's probably a post for another day.

But those points ended up making something possible that otherwise wouldn't have happened.

The trip that wouldn't leave my mind

Around July 2025, I got completely obsessed with planning a trip.

Not in a casual, "that would be fun someday" kind of way.

It became one of those thoughts that followed me everywhere.

I kept thinking, If we don't start traveling now, we'll always find a reason to wait.

My husband and I have plenty of places we'd love to visit together. Scotland. Germany. Nova Scotia. National parks. Europe.

But we've always agreed on one thing: while our daughter is little, we want our vacations to be centered around experiences she'll genuinely enjoy.

My parents took me to incredible places growing up. Looking back, I'm grateful they did.

The funny thing is...I barely remember the castles, museums, or historic sites.

I remember catching frogs.

I remember swimming in hotel pools.

I remember one of the places on our trip to Scotland being so populated with rabbits that they were everywhere. 

The things adults travel halfway around the world to see? Most of those memories faded.

So we decided those bigger international trips could wait until she's old enough to appreciate them.

Right now, we wanted magic.

So... Disney World.

Why we celebrate "Birthday Month"

If you have a summer birthday, you know.

July is vacation season. Family reunion season. BBQ season. Every weekend seems to belong to someone else's plans.

And if you're a parent of a summer birthday kid? You know how hard it can be.

My daughter loves birthdays. She loves parties. She loves decorations, candles, surprises, and making people feel celebrated. She watches her friends have birthdays during the school year, when everyone is home and looking for something fun to do.

But summer is different.

What this blog is not

 This isn't a blog written by a perfect mom.

It's also not written by a crunchy mom, a Pinterest mom, a minimalist mom, a luxury mom, or a camping expert.

The First Night in Our New-to-Us Camper (and a Reminder That My Little Girl Isn't So Little Anymore)

Every September, our local state park hosts a Harvest Festival.

If you're local, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about.

Kids dress up in their Halloween costumes and go campsite to campsite trick-or-treating. What started as a campground event has grown into something much bigger. Families who aren't even camping bring their children just to participate. Campsites are decorated, candy is handed out by the bucketful, and more than a few adults have "special treats" tucked away for the parents making the rounds.

It's become one of those events that marks the changing of seasons for our family.

Before we owned a camper, my husband, daughter, and I attended with my brother and sister-in-law, their child, some friends, and my in-laws. We had walk the campground allows evening, collecting candy, spend time around the campfire afterward, and then head home.

Then leaving became the hardest part.

My daughter never wanted the night to end.

Truthfully, neither did my husband or I.

I Finally Became a Reader (Just Not the Way I Expected)

I'm going to admit something that has always felt a little embarrassing to me.

I've always wanted to be a reader.

You know the kind of person I'm talking about. The woman who curls up with a book and a cup of coffee on a quiet Saturday morning. The person who always has a novel in her bag and somehow manages to finish multiple books a month.

I wanted to be that person.

The problem? My life doesn't exactly lend itself to sitting quietly and reading for hours.

Between work, motherhood, dance classes, laundry, making dinner, driving everyone where they need to be, and trying to keep our household functioning, finding uninterrupted time feels almost impossible.

And if I'm being completely honest, there's another hurdle.

The Myth of the Put-Together Mom (and Other Lies I Tell Myself at 6:43 AM)

There is a version of me that exists in my head at night.

She meal prepped on Sunday. She laid out outfits for the week. She is hydrated, rested, emotionally regulated, and somehow has matching socks for everyone in the house.

And then there is 6:43 AM me.

She is standing in the kitchen, mentally deciding which task is a higher priority for us to get through our morning with the greatest success, trying to remember if today is “library day,” “dance bag day,” or “the day I forgot it was anything at all, and now we are all emotionally recovering.”

Somewhere between those two versions of me is where reality lives. And reality is loud.

What's In My 6-Year-Old Dancer's Practice Bag?

Well, it's been a little while since I have written here. Life looks a little different these days, but I am excited to start sharing again. 

When my daughter first started dance, I assumed all she needed was her dance shoes and a water bottle.

I was wrong.

After a few years of forgotten hair ties, ripped tights, and hungry meltdowns between classes, we've figured out a few essentials that make dance nights run much smoother.

For context, my daughter is 6 (almost 7), takes multiple dance classes, and participates in our studio's community troupe. She's not training professionally, but she spends enough time at the studio that having a well-stocked dance bag makes life easier for both of us.

Here's what we always keep in her dance bag.