Traveling with Kids
We love to travel. And we have 2 small children. Travel and children generally do not go hand in hand and we get a lot of shocked expressions when we tell people how much we travel with our kids. By the time Joelle was 6 months old she had been on 28 planes and qualified to go through the “Expert Traveler” TSA line.
The shocked expressions do not come from people thinking that we shouldn’t travel with our kids, the shock comes from the fact that many people think that you CAN’T. As though you and/or your child(ren) will actually implode after a certain number of hours in the air/car or days on the road. FACT: you won’t actually implode. FACT: you will most likely feel like you might at one point or another.
Bottom line: you CAN travel with children. It’s not easy. It makes every trip about 400% more difficult. But it also makes every trip about 400% more fun which is why we do it.
Disclaimer:
**Our kids are terrible sleepers/nappers, so we don’t wanna hear any of this “but my kids would never ______” stuff ;) If we can do it with kids who never sleep, you can do it with yours :) Here’s the behind the scenes images from “traveling with [crazy] kids to the Pacific Northwest. Enjoy:
We have a couple of trusty tricks for the airplane:
1. Take a trip to the Dollar Store before the trip, spend $5-$10 and pack a bag of “surprises” for the plane and pull one out every hour or so. Some of my favs: Mini coloring books with markers included, playdough (we bring stamps for them to stamp the dough with), new books, ColorWonder stuff for Charlie so she doesn’t destroy the plane, stickers, etc. Just be sure to hide them once you get to your destination so they are still fairly new on the trip home.
2. Snacks. Snacks. More snacks. We don’t eat a lot of junk food or real snacky type foods so when I buy lollipops, cheez-its, fruit snacks, etc it’s like the most exciting thing ever and can entertain them for a long time. Also…when flying with babies or toddlers, swallowing and chewing can help their ears equalize on the way up and down so I always bring something chewy for them during that time.
3. Make everything a big deal. The drink service is the main event on our flights and we turn it into a 30 minute ordeal deciding what kind of drink to order, whether or not we want ice and practicing how to ask the flight attendant for it. Going to the bathroom can also be a 20 minute process, getting there, looking at all the cool stuff in the back of the plane, etc.
4. Media is a fail-safe. As tempting as it is to just whip out the iphone/ipad/dvd, I really recommend holding out on that as long as possible because I promise you’ll want to use it at the end of the flight and if they’ve already used it for an hour or two they’re going to be over it, whiny and bored. So save it for the end when you REALLY need it.
5. Be flexible. On the road with kids is not the time to stand your ground on what they can eat/drink, when they should nap, how messy they can get, etc. It’s also not the time to stick to a plan regardless of what’s happening around you. Go with the flow, understand that everything takes FOREVER and be ok with it. I realize this is easier for some of us than others. But attempt it. You’ll all be happier. I promise. ;)
Above: Joelle is hiding [curbside] in the luggage to surprise Grandma Laloni, who picked us up at PDX. Then we went straight to Mt Tabor for a picnic and some play time (below).
As fun as it is for us to experience a new eatery (which we LOVE doing), it’s often not so much fun for the kids (or with small children for the other people dining), so we often get our food to go and have a picnic at a park with a playground. Yelp has an option to search for playgrounds and is a super useful app when traveling and looking for a kid-friendly play spot.
After checking in and partying at the hotel (and after some swimming), we hit the hay early. The next morning (since we're [always] up early) we headed out to grab some breakfast at Tin Shed (delish!!!) and ran around Portland.
Above: Post naps, pool and dinner, we hunkered down in the hotel closet (out of the way while Laloni attempted put Joelle to bed) waiting for the kids to FINALLY fall asleep, then off for a date night!
The next day was our work day. So Gary’s mom partied with the kids downtown Portland and we went and photographed the awesome story of Courtney & Jay’s wedding day.
Below: Early the next morning, we fueled up with some local coffee/pastries for our drive from Portland to Seattle. While trying to get something for one of the kids in the car Courtney totally spilled her whole cup of coffee in her crotch. Flexibility = KEY when traveling with kids :) ‘Cause sometimes your coffee ends up in your crotch.
We arrived AT THE LAKE (Lake Tapps, WA), for several days of max chilling and family hangin' with Gary's family.
Above: Again with flexibility… our kids were sick the majority of the trip and I finally broke down and took them to the Doctor. Turns out they DID need some meds. Poor babies. :( But they were such troopers the whole trip for being sick!
Below: date night, downtown Seattle!!! Caught the sunset on the wharf (overlooking the Puget Sound), Hit up Odd Fellows for dinner (legit), and Molly Moon ice cream for dessert (too legit… fair trade chocolate FTW!).
Travel day home from Seattle to San Diego! PAAAAAARTY!!! Warning: The flight home is never as fun as the flight there.
Above: This is pretty much what it feels like corralling kids through airports ;) Chaotic, fast and over burdened with STUFF.
Below: Prying open Charlie’s mouth and discovering she had eaten half of some random dude’s luggage tag she had found on the floor. :/ Seriously.
Always filling up water bottles everywhere we go... always. Such a thirsty little family.
Above: Pre-flight dog piles on the airport floor and making new friends on the plane.
Below: Moral of the story... even though at times you will feel like this:
... it's all 3,000% completely worth it to travel and create awesome memories with our kiddos because of moments like THIS:
*Happy adventuring and enjoy the journey* - Team Christenson