Unforgettable Childhood

I couldn’t start the summer posts without a few from our trip. It was an amazing time for our family. We shared lots of laughs and a few tears. We learned quickly that meltdown was going to happen at about 3pm each day. We worked through it, took a break and kept going to we all dropped.

Disney World truly is a place that every family needs to experience at least once.

We started our second day bright and early at Sea World. We all loved it!

Next stop, Animal Kingdom. I think we voted this as one of our favorite parks of the trip.

Magic Kingdom with three girls under 10, truly a magical place!

We were glad we decided to go to Disney Hollywood Studios. Playhouse Disney was a hit for Nadia and the Rockin’ Roller Coaster was the older girls favorite ride.

Our last Disney day would not have been complete without a visit with Daisy Duck. The girls were on the lookout for her all week. Thankfully she was right past the gate when we arrived so the girls got her signature and they felt their autograph books were complete.

We also enjoyed a little time at the beach. After two days of sun, we spent the third day near the pool and a few beach umbrellas.

Now we are at Grandma and Grandpa’s and summer is in full swing with reading, gymnastics and softball. I am wishing that I had rainy day kits ready to go because the days have been filled with a lot of rain!

We have spent a lot of time inside reading. My girls love to read. I can’t wait to share more about their favorite finds so far this summer.

I am so excited to share this post with you today. Tracie from tsj Photography is one of my favorite bloggers. She is a seasoned traveler with kids and she is an amazing photographer. In fact, I would love to plan a big road trip with my family of five to Wisconsin just to have her take our pictures.

She is an amazing writer, too. After you check out some of her very useful travel tips and pictures, head over to her blog. She is also a mother of daughters. (She out does me with 4)

Stop by and say hello to Tracie, you will be so glad that you did.

I’m currently traveling with 3 of my 4 girls and thought it’d be the perfect time to write this guest post for Amy.

We’re in Chicago for the weekend, just an hour train ride from our home … so not a major trip, but if it involves children, packing and oodles of patience … pretty sure it means traveling with children.

I know some couples aren’t too hip on the idea of traveling with their children.  Or at the very least, think they should wait until the children are older before they begin traveling with them.

But we are definitely not one of those couples.  I think I’d be lost without our family travels and adventures!

Each of my girls have had passports from the time they were infants and the earliest flight I remember one of them taking was Wynter’s at 11 days old.

Traveling instills so many great qualities in children.  I think they learn adaptability, definitely learn other cultures, tolerance and even independence.

Because of our blended family and different opportunities that have come her way … Taylor, who’s 15, started traveling alone since she was 11.  She’s been on numerous flights herself and is no longer considered an unaccompanied minor, so no one on the airline helps her get to her gate or connections.  Not to say she doesn’t call or text me every time she lands to ask me where she should go next … yeah, cuz I’m telepathic like that!

In fact, she’s currently visiting friends in the Bahamas and the reason she’s not with us this weekend.

But I think because we’ve been traveling her whole life, she’s confident enough to make her way through an airport, plane, etc.

Anyway.  As I mentioned, we’ve been traveling with the girls since they were born and I thought I’d share a few trips we’ve taken and the age of the youngest at the time:

3 month old – Galapagos Islands
16 month old – outer region of Australia
3 month old – Spain, Venice & Denmark
4 month old – the Canary Islands
just to mention a few …

Alright … all that aside … I suppose I should get to the reason Amy invited me here!

I’d like to share a little bit of our traveling-with-kids secrets …

First, and most important: don’t make it a marathon.  I mean, I know traveling can cost a small fortune … but is it really worth it if everyone is miserable?

Here’s what I mean {and I’m not judging, if it works for you fine … but I’ve seen plenty of experiences where it clearly isn’t working, so I’m merely suggesting and alternative thought} … and not to suggest our kids don’t get cranky and irritable … oh my word, they sure can … but here’s what we do to keep it to a minimum.

Okay, like I said, don’t make it a marathon.  Figure out what your most important points of interest are, and make sure you keep those your priorities.  You really don’t have to see every single point of interest do you?  Depending on the ages of your children, they aren’t going to care … or remember.  And hey, even miss teenager was happy when we got back to the hotel at the end of the day!

I’d much prefer the kids remember a few points of interest and what a great time we had … then trudging them through the full city and arguing and being cranky.

I also think keeping time at restaurants to a minimum is key.  Bring along some cereal or breakfast bars so you’re not doing 3 meals a day in restaurants.  If your kids are anything like ours … that sort of puts them over the edge.

So what does our schedule typically look like?  We get up on our own schedules {which is relatively early, if you’re not a teenager that is} and head out around 9:00 in the morning. We spend a couple of hours sight-seeing, then have an early lunch.  We try to eat early to avoid crowds.

After lunch, we’ll spend another hour or so touring, then head back to the hotel for a couple of hours to relax or unwind.  If the hotel has a pool, we’ll go swimming … otherwise, we let the girls watch a movie, read or play games.

Again, to avoid crowds and waiting, we’ll usually head to an early dinner … depending on where we are, we might see another sight … and then head back to the hotel to get everyone rested for the next day.

I know I can be a major taskmaster … but even on vacation, I try not to stray from bedtime or our routines.  I think being lenient on bedtimes can set you up for failure … again, who wants unrested, cranky kids on vacation?

One last travel tip: I gotta tell you … we’ve got an iPod touch for each of the girls … they’re only used for travel, but they’ve saved us more times that I can count!  I realize it’s an investment, but it’s definitely paid off for us!  You can also bring a portable DVD player and I recommend a double headphone jack, so 2 kids can watch one show.

Amy, thank you for inviting me here today!  I’m hopeful my perspective was helpful as well as encouraging.

The girls are busy wrapping up another school year with field trips, school programs and cleaning out their desks. I am busy trying to pack for our vacation.

I made a Travel Packing List that each of the girls could use to help me with the packing process. I am so glad that we have a washer and dryer in our condo so that we can wash some clothes and not pack for all 12 days we will be gone.

I am following some tips from April Welch from Simply Organized Online to make our trip easier. Here are some of her tips for making a car trip more enjoyable. (We drive 7 hours before we fly)

• Present new toys or ideas (surprise themw/your thoughtfulness)
• Have them pack their “travel bag”
• Use craft organizers to bring along their Legos or Polly Pockets
• Pack the cooler w/healthy choices that won’t raise their sugar level
• Schedule for potty breaks
• Try to set up their own space
• Be realistic of their needs
• Have Fun!!!!!

In the tips above April talks about having each child pack a “travel bag” for the road trip. Here are some of her suggestions for this bag:

• a snack
• something to drink
• a book to read
• a book light
• playing cards or traveling game
• CD player/iPod
• a ‘new item’

I am actually packing their carry-on bags for the flight. The last time we flew with the girls I didn’t let them see their goodies in their carry-on bags until we got to the airport. I will write a post next week all about what I pack to keep them busy.

Do you let your kids pack their own bags when you go on vacation? How do you survive your traveling with your kids?