Traveling with kids is never like traveling, well, without kids. I remember our first trip with Hooper to Hawaii. He was just a few months and we left scratching our heads wondering if it was worth it but knowing, deep down, that it was not. I’m frugal in the sense that I hate to admit something that I spent money on was not enjoyable, but that trip to Hawaii simply felt like a different set of four walls. And the walls felt cold. Like concrete. I’m hinting that it felt like prison, but allow me to be blunt for a moment and actually say it felt like prison. It felt like prison.
I digress.
Since then, we’ve gotten better at traveling. We’re more experienced, we have more confidence, and we have a better perspective. The perspective part is invaluable. While we have yet to take the plunge and do a big trip, we have been doing a lot of small ones.
Willy’s still working out in Palm Springs every now and again, so we join him when we can. We brought Sarah along this time and voted her least valuable player after a night spent listening to her shake and lick and howl only to put her out on the patio to find her ripping apart the outdoor furniture. That was a hoot. But, it’s all about perspective people; so I won’t spend the whole time telling you about how Hooper would not leave his hands off Van or how the neighbors must have thought we were murdering our son when in actuality all we were doing was trying to give him a shower he was clearly not on board with because there was no bathtub. I won’t complain about the nuisances because the memory of the trip is a good one, all in all.
And that’s the thing about perspective. It’s easy to peek in on someone’s life, scroll through their photos, and think they don’t have the same day to day struggles that you do. I promise, everyone (especially those with young kids) has shitty days… or shitty parts of their day. When you travel with little ones, you have to expect this. Attitude is everything. The trip was a success, for me, because I managed to get some sun, I ate greasy food, and I didn’t kill my kids, my husband, or our dog.
And yes, I too am dying over that last photo. Maybe he’s finally starting to catch on to when I tell him to keep the peace. Part 2, coming your way tomorrow, I hope.
Awesome photos, as always. Love that first one. And the last one, of course.
One of your best qualities is your attitude. I worry about being a mom because, frankly, my attitude has never been as positive as yours. You look on the bright side and I tend to investigate the darker side, even when I know I shouldn’t. I could learn from you, little sister.
xo
Oh man, I’m jealous, I love Palm Springs (and I love the Ace). My husband and I actually got married across the street from the Ace, so we have many a wedding photo there. This is good advice as we are about to embark on our first family vacation with our daughter in two weeks. Five hour plane ride and two hour car drive, not looking forward to that! I’m just praying she sleeps while we are gone, but I guess I will survive if she doesn’t-as I have the last 10 months! Your little one looks so much bigger than my daughter, I believe they are close to the same age…
I love that Hooper sits on Van’s head. Great post! Love your writing 🙂
that sitting on van pic is just the bees knees! i also love that sarah is along for all of your adventures too.
we recently took our 16 month old to italy and what you said about your attitude going into it is so very true. we went knowing that it might be tough, and we might not get any sleep, and we wouldn’t get to do all that we would ideally like to. but ya know what, because we went into it expecting the worst it ended up being really easy. sure we hardly slept, but we expected that. and in the end, we took our little girl to italy and though she won’t remember it at all, her dad and i will never forget it!