Traveling with the kids

After this trip, we came to a few conclusions about traveling with young kids:

1. Renting an apartment or house is far easier than a hotel.
2. Half day outings make for a happy family. [Either morning before naps or right after naps usually works best for us.]
3. Eat most meals at the apartment or eat picnic take-out meals.  Avoid meals at restaurants, when possible.  [We ate one meal at a sit down restaurant this entire trip.  It was much more enjoyable for everyone.  Of course, we dreamt of sitting with a glass of wine at a restaurant with an ocean view, but we had a great trip which was fun for everyone on top of saving lots of time and money that would be spent at a restaurant.]
4. Bring toys, blankies, and anything else that make the kids more comfortable in the new place.
5. Lower your expectations and pick maybe 1-2 things a day that are important to see/do.  Any more than that and you will find that you're too rushed or stressed to enjoy it.  [We planned to rent bikes for a day, but with the kids sick, we changed plans and just spent a couple hours walking around with the stroller.]
6. Try to plan one thing a day specifically for the kids. [Sometimes I feel like we are dragging them around, but when we have at least one thing a day just for them, it seems like we all enjoy ourselves more.  The carousel and playing on the rocky beach were big hits with Maddie.]

On flights:

There are a ton of great tips about traveling with young ones on plane rides.  We travel with them a lot.  It seems a little crazy that Maddie was on her first cross country flight at 3 months old (NC-->OR) and Carter had a passport at 6 weeks old.  Each time, we all get a little better at it.  It seems like we've already had "worst case scenarios" which make flying seem a little less daunting.  I still get stressed the day before, but remind myself over and over, what's the worst case?  In my opinion, vomiting kids and screaming babies are the worst.  We've had our share of both, finding ourselves literally counting down the minutes left in the flight and praying to God we can just get off the darn plane without screaming ourselves.

Don't forget:

• the iPad and charger
• blankies and/or special little stuffed animal or baby doll
• multiple fun, new snacks (pouches, fruit snacks, M&Ms, goldfish, peanut butter crackers, etc.)
• extra change of clothes 
• diapers, wipes
• sippy cup/bottle
• little fun new toys (wind up car to play with in the airport, coloring book and crayons, bubbles, best place to look is the Target dollar section or the Dollar Store
• medicine (children's ibuprofen and Benedryl...because Carter spiked a high fever 2 hours into a 7 hour flight and I was overcome with anxiety)
• a few favorite books that she hasn't seen in awhile

We always try to remember to:

• Add a new game or show to the iPad the night before we fly (and even keep the iPad away for a few days before so that it is "new and exciting")
• Don't force a kid to take a nap, let them just fall asleep when they are completely worn out
• Try to become friendly with the flight attendants because you may hang out in the back of the plane a lot
• Let them walk up and down the aisle if they're restless and definitely get them to run around in the airport during layovers
• I actually prefer shorter flights even if that means more layovers (as long as it doesn't increase overall travel time a ton)
• Let go of any expectations, be flexible, and do whatever it takes to make it through the day (even if that means giving them candy that you wouldn't normally give them or chips or whatever)
• Think about what's best to bring as far as strollers and carriers depending on your situation (AND what would be easiest lugging through the airports, cars, planes, etc. along with multiple carry ons)
• Wear layers because one minute, you'll be carrying a baby in a carrier sweating, then you'll be sitting on a cold plane, then you may be carrying a 25 lb toddler for what feels like a mile through the airport

If you ever see anyone traveling with little ones and think they could use help or even some encouragement, don't hesitate to go up to them!!!  It means a lot.  I remember traveling alone with Maddie when she was under 12 months old.  An older woman behind me happily offered to hold her for a few minutes so I could go to the bathroom, eat something, and give my arms a break.  I took her up on it and was relieved to have just 10 minutes.  I'll never forget her.

Traveling with little ones is not easy.  In fact, it can feel almost impossible at some moments.  But once you do it, even if it's just once, you gain so much confidence realizing that you CAN do it.  Now that is worth more than you know and you can't get that confidence without taking the dive.  Some people try to avoid it because of fear, others, like us, don't have a choice because of where our lives lead us.

I can't remember what it was ever like to cozy up to a book during a flight.  So if you're one of those, definitely enjoy that for me! :-)