traveling with kiddos

11 hour car rides, 3 hour plane rides with several long lay overs with 2 kids under the age of 4 might not sound enticing to you.

We LOVE it!

We love traveling with our kids and our families. Creating memories and seeing different places through their eyes is important and fun to Scotty and I. Sometimes getting to our destination might get a little crazy with kids but in the end it is worth it.
However, I have learned a few things that work for us. Of course we learn something new on each trip.

I am envious of those people that pack before hand and have it all together. I am not that person. I wait til the last minute and end of staying up way to late, get tired, and just start throwing things in a bag. But I have learned a few tricks that make it easier when packing for little ones. Too many times I have looked up to see Kase wearing a belly shirt or Knox wearing shorts to the floor due to my husband being notorious for mixing up the boys clothes I have learned I have to pack their clothes separate and keep them separate. I found 2 adorable handy totes from thirty-one that works great for us. They are great to stack, save space, collapse and are pretty darn cute.

When we get to our room I do not put their clothes in drawer I keep them sorted in these bins which I think is easier and I am not a fan of putting everything away in drawers for a short amount of time.

I have also found that when packing Ziploc bags (my favorite Ziploc bags are from IKEA because they are extra big and cute) and rubber bands are must haves.



I have learned if I roll the boys outfits it saves space as well as keeping wrinkles out because who really wants to iron on vacation? Then I wrap a rubber band around the outfit to keep it together.

I am really bad about forgetting what I packed to go together so the rubber bands keep me organized and saves time.

I use the Ziploc bags to sort underwear and shoes.

On trips with long drives I have learned to make it fun for them. On this trip I knew that I wanted to pack the boys beach pales so I decided to use their pales as a goody bucket as well.

I packed up left over Easter candy and other gifts that the boys have received that I had put back for times like these and filled their buckets. I wrapped the treats in brown sacks I had in my pantry to make it a little more fun for them.

Then along the way if I noticed them getting antsy that meant it was time to pull something out of the pale. This distracted them and gave them something new to play with. Kase loves it!! Of course Knox loves it because Kase loves it. Of course I didn't want the adults to feel left out so I decided to make them goody buckets as well.

When we were little Mom always packed a picnic and we would stop on the way. Which is some of my favorite memories of traveling with my family. We do the same with the boys. It gives them and me something to look forward to, provides a healthy meal for them and lets us all get some fresh air and burn some energy.

Where else can you have lunch with no shirt and no pants? Picnics are the best!

(Wendy and Brandon went earlier than us, so they missed out on the family picnic)

In the end we always get there no matter how long the drive or flight is and have a great time. Yes traveling with kids can be crazy and slow, but we think it is worth it.
On this trip we are at Jekyll Island. Seeing the boys faces when we arrived and their little feet running towards the ocean made me forget the long drive, flights and all the junk I had to pack up to bring. I can't wait for the next trip!