If you read my travel blog, I outlined all the airlines and the baggage fees that they (the airlines) are now collecting.  I seriously swear it is getting to the point that if you have the wrong color bag, they are going to charge.  A lot of the airlines are also charging for blankets, pillows, soft drinks, water, and anything else you can think off.  In this last year, I have done a lot of flying, and it just floors me that you can run a business this way.

It is getting to the point that it will be cheaper to go the route of a getting a Private Jet Charter. No more of having to get to the airport 2 hours or more ahead of time to be told that your flight is delayed. No more having to worry about missing your connecting flights due to the airlines ineptness. If you want reliable service, streamlined, high safety standards, and no-surprise billing, you should definitely be looking at companies like New Flight Charters. They were founded in 2003, and they have an accident free history. Last year alone, they had 1,600 customers that were flown to 212 airports in 14 different countries!  Crews are FAA certified and every Captain is Airline Transport Pilot rated. You even get to pick what plane you want! In a world where the the airlines are nickel and diming you to death yet providing crappy service and missed connections, private charter jets may be the answer!

Well, I finally did it.  I set up my Orlando vacations deal. There is a conference there in September that I had registered for months and months ago.  However, I was looking for a roommate and hadn’t set up my plane or my hotel yet.  However, now it is done.  I am using the free Southwest ticket I won at BlogWorld last year to fly there (when I called to set up my flight, the lady was so nice and friendly and even spoke English!).  We are going to be staying at the Courtyard Marriott.  I found an awesome deal on their website (better than the deal that the conference was getting for us!).  I wish I would have time to do some fun playing at the theme parks there, but I have to get back to my kids plus the conference has us booked up.  Let me know if you are going to be there too, so we can meet up!

We just got back from another weekend up in Green Bay.  I had a wedding shower on Saturday for one of my cousins who gets married in six weeks.  Everybody had a great time.  Since my parents only have dial up, I don’t bring up my laptop computer which means I am behind with both my blogs and my emails.  I am slowly but surely catching up, but I probably won’t be completely caught up till tomorrow.  I plan on going to bed soon.  However, I just love this picture.  I took it while we were at the Wildlife Sanctuary this morning (will be writing a review on it over at My Road Less Traveled By soon).  The kids loved the ducks and geese there.  We also checked out the buildings that are located there, and they had a blast.  Somehow, Bill managed to get two mosquito bites.  I think I am going to be going to bed shortly, so I’ll update some more tomorrow.

I am so bad. I have been so busy since I got back, I am finally now writing about this awesome event. I was contacted about this the day before my birthday (I know, what a great birthday present!!!). Sony wanted to talk to 15 mommy bloggers and give us some cameras (I didn’t know this last part till the day before I left for the trip!). All expenses paid trip, how could I say no?

I flew out on April 16th to San Diego. They got me an a flight through Midway (which I seriously needed since Midway is only 15 minutes away and Ohare is about an hour). Sitting in the airport always sucks, but I made due. My plane flight there sucked. A little girl screamed the whole way. This is why I don’t fly with my kids. I am terrified that is going to be me. The mom was by herself, and she walked up and down the aisle for the four and half hour flight. I felt so bad for her.

We then got to San Diego and I had a limo driver waiting for me. He had my name on a sign. It was super cool. I know I’ll never see that again. He took me to the La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla (it was about a half hour drive). The hotel was awesome (I’ll be writing about it on my travel blog, so I won’t go into too many details here). Sony had boxes set up in our room (to use to Fed Ex our cameras back). They also had left us headphones for our kids, a rose, and two chocolate candy bars. They obviously know the way to a woman’s heart. We were on our own for Wednesday night (though we did have a $50 certificate to use at the restaurant). I met up with Deanna and Anne Marie , and we went to dinner. I had filet mignon. It was super yummy. It was one of those steaks that you didn’t even have to chew it — it just melted in your mouth.

The next day we had to be at breakfast at 9:00. We had a buffet breakfast (which was awesome). This is the view we had from the room we were in. Beautiful, isn’t it? We spent the first two hours after that introducing ourselves. We then had lunch out in the beautiful sunshine. We were only out there for about an hour eating some of the best food ever and I got sunburned!!! Here’s a list of all the awesome ladies who were there (if you have more blogs that I haven’t listed, let me know and I’ll get them added):

• Ciaran from MommiesWithStyle.com, Celebrity-Babies.com, CarandCaboodle.com
• Jenny from Momminitup.com
• Stacy from MomCentral.com, MomCentralConsulting.com and Mother-Talk.com
• Deanna from DomesticChicky.com, Apronista.com and HappyHousewivesClub.com/hotmama.html
• Kim from InAShoe.com
• Tracey from Sweetney.com, MamaPop.com and RocknRompBaltimore.com
• Erika from PlainJaneMom.com and emomsathome.com
• Heather from TheDomesticDiva.org and idivalicious.com
• Anne-Marie from AMamasRant.com, MyReadableFeast.com, ThisMamacooks.com, The-Write-Spot.com
• Christina from GeekGirlfriends.com and Tynanwood.com
• Amy from Amalah.com, MamaPop.com and Advice Smackdown on AlphaMom.com
• Laura from PaulnLaura.com
• Janice from 5minutesformom.com

After lunch, we got to learn about Sony and the impact of women on their business (Let me tell you, we have a huge impact!!!). We then got to start playing with the cameras we got. Oh wait, I didn’t show you the cameras yet —-

Camera #1: Sony Cybershot

Camera #2: Sony DSLR-A300K

Camera #3 - Handycam HDR-SR10

Yes, Sony gave us all three cameras! They also set aside time for us to work with their trainers so we could learn how to use them!

We then got instruction from photography expert Me Ra Koh. She gave us shooting instruction and tips of how to get specific results. She was really nice and she’s a blogger too!

We then got to go out to the beach and play with the cameras!

We then got a little bit of time to run up to our room and get ready for dinner. I took these pictures from my room!

We then met up with Sony and went to dinner at the Azul Restaurant. I got back to the hotel between 10 - 11 and went to bed.

On Friday, (April 18th), we met again for breakfast. Me Ra took some of our photos and critiqued them for us. She told us how to make our photos better. We then had a presentation from Rocket XL (the advertising agency who helped pull this all together). Us mommy bloggers ended up taking over that session with our opinions and thoughts.

After this session, we were able to do whatever we wanted till we caught our plane. Sony also gave us certificates for the spa, so I went and had a deep tissue massage. I then ate lunch and then had to get on my plane.

And that was my trip to San Diego!

Have you ever heard of DialAFlight? DialAFlight is a UK travel agency that allows you to book your flights, hotels, and cars through them. You can even book your activities through them! Surprisingly, you can even book Flights to India. I know if we even went to India, I would love to check out the temples. I like looking at castles, and I think the temples would be just as interesting. The history and beauty of it all is what I love. In one phone call, you are able to plan and book your entire vacation! Who wouldn’t want that?