I'm a full-time mummy

A family staycation is a perfect chance to treat yourself and your family, giving you all a break from reality and our day-to-day responsibilities, to rejuvenate our mind and body, and to see and feel a different environment for our sanity's sake.

You can let your hair down. There is no need to worry about cleaning the house whenever your children make a mess as there is room services to handle that. At least for a few days, you are worry-free on matters of cooking, laundry and to-do-list as a mother and housewife. All you need to do is just focus on the break and rest as much as you can during staycation.

Staycation also reduces the traveling time. Have fun being a tourist at your hometown. You can pack lightly and reduce the cost on airplane and airport transfers. You just need to go to any hotel for a staycation by driving your own vehicle. Most of the hotels provides free parking within their premises too.

Anyway, it is every mom’s concerns to check on the places to go for holiday that will suits her family and children. Whether the hotel is suitable for children, whethere there have any children pool, no smoking rooms, and if possible, connecting room for the children. Also do note that not all hotels are child-friendly. So here are few tips to plan a staycation with your family and children:

Choose a hotel that caters to your little ones

When scouting for a hotel, not only scout for the best deals, you must also check on child-friendly hotel or family-friendly hotel from beds and amenities to children activities. If you have extra budget, you can go for a hotel that offers spacious rooms, with extra amenities such as baby cots, bottle warmers, and stroller. Some hotels also offer exciting activities for children such as children’s yoga, rock climbing, and cooking class. This is to ensure you and your children will have a good staycation experience.

Make sure all items and belongings are well-packed

With the little troops I have (5 children between 2 to almost 12-years old) packing can be an overwhelming task. But when packing for a hotel staycation, the list become less as most hotels provides toiletries and basic amenities such as towels, hair dryers and iron. So all you need to do is just pack important things that are not easy to get such as medication and diapers. Also don’t forget the children swimming suits if they love to splash in the swimming pools. I'm actually very glad that I'm at the phase where my older 3 children can pack their own clothes when we go for our family holiday!

Stock up on some healthy snacks close to you

This is to avoid the typical tantrums, hunger meltdowns or crankiness in the younger ones. You can stock up on nuts, biscuits, or raisins as well. It easy to carry and perfect to control a little hunger pangs. Some hotel also provides snacks in their freezer, but it is better if you prepare ahead. I usually stock some in my diaper bag and some in one of my child's backpack (as we might be split into 2 groups while walking around hence, the backup hahah)

Include ‘me time’ and time with your spouse

Staycation is the perfect opportunity to spend quality time with your spouse or partner. Beside getting some rest from daily responsibilities, this is the time to recharge your romantic battery. Get the children busy with activities, or get the babysitting and childcare services under your staycation hotel for a few hours. You and spouse can get some much needed alone time together.

Of course for now, it is still impossible to have a staycation because we are still under MCO. Sigh.... But heyyyyyy, for our neighbouring country, Singapore, they can enjoy Staycation Singapore! Not only that, there is also promotion on hotels by Traveloka.

Do go check out their campaign Singapore Rediscovers Vouchers for more interesting offers and tips on attractions and hotels!

That’s all for now. Hope these tips helps to give some ideas for mommies out there to have a little break. Stay safe everyone!

As a busy mum with 5 kiddos between 2 to 11-years old, I have already cut down on doing product reviews since the beginning of this year to focus on my childcare and family life, home cooking, education, helping with hubby's administration site of the business and occasionally sharing informational articles on my FB fan page. 

Now, our family has always been a big fan of all things LEGO, so when I received an invitation to attend the LEGOLAND Brick-Tacular celebration with my family, how can I say no?! After all, it is coming to the year-end and we have all been safely staying home due to the CMCO. After getting positive feedbacks from friends who have visited LEGOLAND recently, we quickly arranged for our trip down south so that we can catch the show on time!

Just a quick info on the LEGOLAND Brick-Tacular celebration, this year, LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort will be transformed into the Candyland of your dreams. The resort will also be extending their operating hours on the weekends (Fridays to Sundays) so that everyone can have extra time to enjoy their annual BrickTacular celebration. We are lucky to fully maximise our visiting ours there during our Saturday to Monday stay at LEGOLAND Hotel.

The resort was like a giant Candyland, everywhere you go, you're bound to see candy canes, lollies and more! We enjoyed hunting for Gingerbread Man in the MINILAND as well as being mesmerised by the beautiful decorations around the resort!

My children were so engrossed at watching the LEGO Friends performance on stage! Even I couldn't resist dancing and swaying around to the songs! It was also cool to see LEGOLAND staff giving out Christmas hats for the children around the center stage area. Everything is awesome!

We also made it a point that it's a MUST to visit SEA LIFE Malaysia! I'm impressed with the strict SOP of social distancing and keeping the hygiene of the guests. We also noticed some cute lollies and candies around some exhibits!

I feel safe and assured walking around the resort as you can see staff getting guests to sanitize their hands before and after each rides. There are also staff walking around the resort to sanitize the park, benches and etc. Hand sanitisers devices can be found everywhere and signs to remind you to practise social distancing as well can be seen everywhere. Kudos to LEGOLAND Malaysia for this initiative and effort!

Even at the LEGOLAND Hotel Bricks Restaurant, you can see that the staff are strict and rules are being adhered to by guests too. Instead of going around, taking your own sweet time to choose your food selections, you practically do the same but line up one by one at a safe distance, when it's your turn, you walk up to the counter and give your food order to the staff in-charge and they will scoop and get your dish and food portion as per your order. I also like the table covering during our dinner at the Bricks Restaurant. My children get their own Lego crayons and immediately proceed to choose their own activities - connecting the dots, finding the differences, complete the maze, words search and more!

If you are planning to visit LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort, do keep a lookout for character appearances throughout the park as well as joining in the fun in the activities provided. We managed to take pictures with the Toy Soldier mascot as well as Lego Pirate in our hotel.

Overall, we really enjoyed our trip this round and looking forward to visiting LEGOLAND Malaysia again in the near future!

 You can find out more info from LEGOLAND Malaysia's website.

If you want the latest scoop on promotion and activities, do stay connected with LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort via Facebook and Instagram.

I received no monetary compensation for this review. I was invited to the event with my family in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

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Planning to move house across the country and you want to know how to prepare your furry friend for the move?  Pets are family and moving with them across the country can be an adventure.  How well they transition during the moving experience is extremely important. Moving long distance requires a lot of thought and planning, not just for your belongings, but for the well being of all family members.

As pets have an instinctive fear of new environment, pet owners want to help them adjust quickly. Pre-planning for the transfer of your pet, as well as for your household goods, should start as soon as you know you are going to move.  A long distance move can be a stressful time for anyone, pets included. If you are moving to a new city or state, you are likely to be worried about your pet's wellbeing. Do not let this cause additional stress.

Do scroll down for some tips on moving with our pet safely and make it an enjoyable experience.

Laws and regulations

Be sure you understand all rules and regulations related to animals for your new state, city, apartment complex, etc.  Health certificate from a veterinarian is required in several states as well as up-to-date vaccinations.  Certain breed is ban too so you will need to be aware of that. Exotic pets, reptiles and rodents may have additional requirements.

Schedule a vet visit

Bring your pets to the veterinarian for a general health checkup and to get the necessary documentation, vaccinations or medication.  Ask your vet for recommendations for a peaceful travel if your pet gets motion sickness or extreme anxiety in the car.

Ground Transportation for Pets

If you are unable to drive your pet to your new home on your moving day, you can use a ground transportation service. This service is typically more expensive than the other options but you can expect your animal family member to receive top-quality care and attention.

Choosing the right moving service

When there are pets involved, it is important to think about the moving service you use. Depending on the service you choose, your furry member may travel alone or with animals. All ground transportation services offer a fast and safe ride.  Finding the right shipping company for moving your pet should not be difficult with Shiply, an online shipping platform.  Shiply has a range of rated pet transport services that can send personalized quotes for your job and allows you to make comparison in one place.

To choose the best ground transportation for moving with pets across country, remember to find out if the companies provide insurance or you will need to purchase it, ensure that the business is properly licensed, and do research the company online.

The Cost Of Pet Transport

The cost of moving your pet can are based on a variety of factors such as distance, pet size, timing,  location for pick-up and delivery as well as the time of the year. These services can be costly, but if a pet is a cherished part of your family, no effort or expense should be spared to ensure that your pet is comfortable and safely transported to your new home.