Traveling With Young Kids

We took our first "official" family of four vacation this summer with our 5 and 3 year olds.  I wasn't so much worried about my 5 year old like I was about the 3 year old.

JoJo has been to Mississippi once when she was 13 months old (we stayed a month) and spent a few nights in South Carolina at my in-laws during the holidays, but never a "true" vacation.

We were changing two time zones, going from eastern time to mountain time, two flights, then a 5+ hour drive from the airport to Glacier National Park.  To say I was stressed was an understatement.  

Joanna stopped taking naps in the car when we napped/sleep trained at 14 months old.  Only napped in her crib.  Yes, my 3 year old was still in a crib.  I knew there was no way she was going to nap in the car and knew there was going to be zero napping during our 10 day vacation, and I was right.  The only time she did nap was our first travel day driving to Glacier when she finally fell asleep, but for only 30 minutes because we had to stop in Helena and pick-up our Walmart order.

The day before flying out, we drove from Wilmington to Raleigh to spend the night in a hotel.  We booked two hotel rooms.  B stayed in the the room with the girls, and my Mom and I stayed in another room so we could get up and dressed without disturbing anyone.  We were able to fit Jo's pack n' play in the bathroom.  She did not love it when she went to bed at 6 pm, she didn't nap in the car driving to Raleigh and the next day we had to be up by 5 am to catch the van at 5:30 am to the airport.  

Poor Vivian didn't sleep much that night because she was under the weather.  She was up coughing a lot during the night.  I even had to give her cough medicine at 3:30 am.  Jo woke up crying at 5 am.  B went to get her and she wanted nothing to do with him.  Good thing she had to be up by then anyway.  Poor kid said she saw a snowman trying to get her.  I think it was the toilet paper rolls that she saw.  I did dress the girls in the clothes they were going to wear the day we traveled to avoid having to change out of their pj's.

Our first flight to Denver was 3 hours long.  We brought along lots of new toys.  We did our entire vacation without the Kindle.  No movie watching or screen time. I was impressed with ourselves!!

Even though Jo didn't nap the entire trip, she was in great spirits the entire time.  We kept our bedtime routine the same and she was in bed by 6:30 pm every night we were there and slept 12-13 hours. Even though our cabins had several rooms, we put her pack n' play (BabyBjorn Travel Crib that we borrowed from my MIL)in the bathroom instead of sharing a room with someone.  We didn't want to create any new habits that would be hard to break when we returned home. 

Our flight back was a tough one.  We were suppose to land back in Raleigh by 9 pm then back in Wilmington by 12:30 am, but our flight out of Bozeman was delayed, which caused us to miss our connection in Chicago.  We didn't arrive in Raleigh until 12:30 am and back home shortly after 3 am.  Poor Joanna didn't sleep on the flight home, Vivian passed right on out, and during the last 30 minutes of the flight she cried.  Hard.  The pressure was really hurting her ears.  We tried getting her to drink something, suck on a sucker, chew gum, but she refused everything.  She was worn slap out since she had been awake since 7 am.  Thankfully she did pass out in the car driving home and went straight to sleep after waking a short moment when I brought her inside into her crib.  I dressed both girls in their pj's to wear on the plane coming home so they didn't have to sleep in the clothes they wore all day.  

I did wake her at 8 am to get her back on schedule.  She begged for a nap at 12:30 that day and we went back to napping.  

I really was stressed over nothing.  The kids handled everything like a champ, especially those long travel days!  We did counter check both car seats instead of having them on the plane or gate checking them.  We bought travel bags for the seats to protect them on the plane.  No damage to either seats.  

We made sure we had plenty of snacks on hand, drinks, entertainment for the kids.  Each girl had their own backpacks filled with books, coloring books, a few toys, crayons, glue sticks, stickers, treats, new colored pens, card games.  They were never bored.  It worked well for us.

Happy travels!!!

New Orleans With A Toddler

Brian had a conference in New Orleans and Vivian and I decided to tag along.  Even though it is stressful traveling with a toddler, more on my end, I figured the more traveling she gets under her belt, the better.

  

Thankfully, she does great traveling!  She does really well on the plane.  Better than being confined in a car seat!  We made it to Charlotte with a wonderful 3 hour layover.  That's great with a child.  You can eat and let your child burn off all that energy before going on a little longer flight. Vivian napped for 1.5 hrs on the plane.  Yea!

We arrived in New Orleans around noon.  We gate checked the car seat and stroller frame in hopes of it not being damaged vs counter checking.  Somehow and another a black piece that holds the seat belt when not using the base had broken off.  Not sure how that happened.  Brian reported it to the airline and they said we can the car seat off and see if they could repair it which would take 2 weeks.  Sorry, that's not acceptable.  Who can have their car seat away from them that long?  Especially if it's the only seat you have.  Guess we are stuck with a ghetto looking car seat now. Strike one against US Airways.

We took a taxi to the hotel, but we first had to stop at a Walmart to find a box fan for Vivian.  She needs her white noise.  Unfortunately, the fan was a no-go.  Anxiety began.  I started downloading white noise apps on my phone.

When we arrived at the hotel Brian asked the attendant if by chance they had a box fan.  She said they had just purchased a few to dry paint quickly and she would call housekeeping to send one to our room.  Thank the Lord!!  Drury Inn rocks!

 We settled into our hotel room before grabbing an early dinner.  B had a reception he had to attend at 6 pm.  We went to a pizza place down the street.  It was so good, but took forever to get our food.  Plus, we were the only one's there eating.  Vivian was all over the place.  She was a wild child.  We finally got our food, ate and left.  B walked to the hotel where the conference was being held and Viv and I went back to the hotel.  Viv got her bath and was in bed by 6:30pm.

The next morning, Vivian woke up at 3 am!  Ugh.  I almost went into the room to get her because I didn't want her to bother the neighbors, but decided not to.  She settled after about 10 minutes.  At 4, she started crying again, settled again and then back up at 5:15 am for the day.  

We went downstairs for breakfast at 6:30am and explored the hotel.  Brian finally got up and we all got dressed for the aquarium.  Vivian loves all animals and she loved seeing all the fish.

    

      After the aquarium,  we made our way to Huck Finn's Cafe.  I wanted a shrimp poboy and B wanted boudin balls.  Very good food.  Poor Vivian was exhausted.  She almost fell asleep in my lap.  I got her into her stroller and she was out.  We went back to the hotel so she could nap.

Brian had a presentation at 4 pm, so he left and it was just Viv and I.  We walked to the local grocery store and picked up a couple of baked potatoes and soup for dinner.  We also ran up and down the halls for a bit.  She loves to run around.  Little girl had zero issues goibg to sleep.

Our last day, Brian's sister and her husband drove down from Baton Rouge to go to the zoo.  The Audubon Zoo was really nice.  I actually liked it better than San Diego Zoo.  Vivian again had a great time.  We all did!

Not long after getting into the car, Vivian was out!  We ran her ragged :)  Drury Inn offers free dinner to all guests so we decided to eat at the hotel.  I wish I knew that the night before, I would have ate there.  They had a nice spread...pasta, salad, baked potato, broccoli and cheddar soup, hot dogs and chips with cheese sauce.  We called it an early night since we had to leave the hotel by 5:15 am.

We got up bright and early the next day to make our home.

B checked us in at the self check-in.  After the tickets were printed, my ticket from Charlotte to Wilmington did not print.  Apparently U.S. Airways over sold our flight and I got bumped off.  Geez.  Strick two against US Airways.  B said he would stay behind and I could take his seat if they unable to get me on the plane.  

We landed in Charlotte and thankfully they were able to get me a seat.  We weren't able to sit together, but at least we were on the same flight.  Vivian and I sat next to a nice older lady that entertained Vivian the majority of the flight.  Made for a nice flight home. 

Hated I didn't eat any beignet's...oh well. Another trip for the books.  I have to say, I'm done with traveling for a while.  We are worn out! 

Smoky Mountains

It has been 3 years since we've been to the smokies.  Growing up, going camping there was our yearly family vacation.  Such great memories!  I will always love going.  

This year we decided to take Vivian for her first trip.  We met my parents and my brother and his family for a few days in the great mountain air.

Vivian loves the outdoors which means she would love being in this new environment.  She had a great time exploring.  Especially throwing rocks, acorns and leaves into the river.  I think she could have done that all day long.

Getting there was a little rocky.  We left out of Wilmington at 8:45am and didn't arrive in Townsend until after 6pm.  A 7 hour drive turned into 9 hours.  Horrible.  It was fine until we got into Asheville.  We were stuck in stand still traffic on the interstate FOREVER.  And for what?  Nothing!  There were a couple of vehicles on the side of the road and that was it.  Pathetic.  Then I missed our turn to Sevierville.  We ended up in the second oldest town in TN, Danridge.  Then the traffic in Pigeon Forge was RIDICULOUS!  Stand still traffic, again.  We hardly moved for an hour.  B decided to take some back roads to Wears Valley Road.  The road was very curvy and steep. Then Vivian throws up because of all the turns.  We sat in throw up until we got to the cabin 30+ minutes later.  It was a mess.  We were glad to get there.

The next day we hung around Townsend.  Went to the top pool of the Little River where you start inner tubing so Vivian could play next to the river.  She had a ball!   We ate lunch and got ice cream later.  A perfect day after a long day the day before.  

Sunday we spent the rainy afternoon at Cades Cove.

We picnicked at the entry when it wasn't raining and once we started the 11 mile drive, the rain came on and off.  We didn't even get to go to John Oliver's cabin.  I wanted a picture of Vivy on the cabin porch and in the meadow with the mountain back drop.  Oh well, we will return.  At least we were able to make a couple of stops between the rain.  After Cades Cove, we drove to Gatlinburg.  We a did a family old time photo and had dinner at Bennett's BBQ.

Can't go to Gatlinburg and not eat at Bennetts.  So good!

Monday, B, Chris, Suzanne and Audrey rode Smoky Mountain Alpine Roller Coaster in Pigeon Forge.  Vivian was napping in the car so I was unable to ride.  They really enjoyed the ride.  After the coaster, Chris and his family had to return home.  We grabbed some lunch and drove to Chimney Rock and up to Newfound Gap. When we got to Newfound Gap, the weather went from the upper 70s to the 50s.  It was cold and windy!  After a quick stop we drove down to Alum Cave Trail  for a little hike.  It was beautiful.

Tuesday we stayed at the cabin all day long because it rained all day long.  We needed a lazy day!

We left Townsend before 6:30am to make our trek home.  Thankfully the drive back was much smoother. No traffic jams, getting loss or sick.  Vivian did great hanging out in her car seat.  We did stop at South of the Border, aka the most random in place in America.  They had a little playground which was great.  We made it home around 2pm.  So good to be home!