Click here to view this photo book larger
Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.
Destinations
 |  |  |  |  | |||
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Friday, March 6, 2015
Key Largo Vacation 2015 (February 7-14)
We are fresh back from our trip to Key Largo the second week in February, and we really had a great time together as a family! Sooo many great memories :) Here is a little compilation of the posts I did for each day we were in Key Largo.
Day 1: Calm and Storms
Day 2: Gator Park
Day 3: Bahia Honda and Key West
Day 4: Key Largo and Harris Park
Day 5: Theater of the Sea
Day 6: Hanging around the Condo Property
Also, instead of doing a boring recap of how our traveling went there and back, I thought I'd do a little piece on flying with toddlers with our experiences and tips.
Flying with Toddlers
I did a much more thorough recap of our trip with links as well, including the "best" and "worst" parts on my family blog, but I thought it was worth repeating here at least as a sort of menu for the rest of my blog posts on here.
Day 1: Calm and Storms
Day 2: Gator Park
Day 3: Bahia Honda and Key West
Day 4: Key Largo and Harris Park
Day 5: Theater of the Sea
Day 6: Hanging around the Condo Property
Also, instead of doing a boring recap of how our traveling went there and back, I thought I'd do a little piece on flying with toddlers with our experiences and tips.
Flying with Toddlers
I did a much more thorough recap of our trip with links as well, including the "best" and "worst" parts on my family blog, but I thought it was worth repeating here at least as a sort of menu for the rest of my blog posts on here.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Flying with Toddlers: To Miami and Back
I'll be honest: Ever since having kids, the thing I dread the most is being in an uncontrolled environment where there are expectations that you don't set yourself.
In a controlled environment where there is a short end in sight, if your toddler has a meltdown, you remove him from the situation and strap him in his carseat and you leave. If you are in your own home, you have your own rules: You set the rules. You can send them to their rooms to cool off. You can't always control a toddler, but you have an endless supply of snacks and books and toys and space and snuggles and crafts (even if they are messy ones) and Netflix shows. You have options. It's hard for your toddler to get lost or inconvenience other people (or break things) when you're in that controlled environment. (So as an aside, if you don't have kids and you can't figure out why your friends with kids don't want to come over...that would be why: Because it might be cool that you have that pair of $100 shoes, but do you REALLY want them in your toilet? Because sorry, but you don't have door locks...or outlet covers...or a gate at the top of your stairs...)
In an airport or ::cringe:: airplane, the only options you have available are the ones you can fit in your carry on. And while 7 books, 6 episodes of Paw Patrol/Bubble Guppies/Clifford/etc., etch-a-sketch, toy alligators and snacks and milk to last a week for a normal person might SEEM like enough...it's not enough. It's NEVER enough.
Traveling with kids is one of the biggest nightmares I have, and it's not because my kids are even bad travelers! In fact, on the first flight, we got numerous comments about how wonderfully our boys did. And that was when we thought that they were being HORRIBLE. So...I guess it probably wasn't as awful for any of the other passengers as it was for us, but we made a rookie mistake traveling with kids: We had a half-charged tablet on a 4 hour flight and a phone with only 2 (15 minute) episodes of Paw Patrol on it.
Considering all that, the boys really were very VERY good.
So I thought I'd pass along some tips for traveling with two kids ages (just turned) 3 and 17 months.
I know there are probably a thousand other things I'm forgetting, but these are the biggest ones we noticed this time. Next time (which is hopefully a LONG time from now) we'll be better prepared.
In a controlled environment where there is a short end in sight, if your toddler has a meltdown, you remove him from the situation and strap him in his carseat and you leave. If you are in your own home, you have your own rules: You set the rules. You can send them to their rooms to cool off. You can't always control a toddler, but you have an endless supply of snacks and books and toys and space and snuggles and crafts (even if they are messy ones) and Netflix shows. You have options. It's hard for your toddler to get lost or inconvenience other people (or break things) when you're in that controlled environment. (So as an aside, if you don't have kids and you can't figure out why your friends with kids don't want to come over...that would be why: Because it might be cool that you have that pair of $100 shoes, but do you REALLY want them in your toilet? Because sorry, but you don't have door locks...or outlet covers...or a gate at the top of your stairs...)
In an airport or ::cringe:: airplane, the only options you have available are the ones you can fit in your carry on. And while 7 books, 6 episodes of Paw Patrol/Bubble Guppies/Clifford/etc., etch-a-sketch, toy alligators and snacks and milk to last a week for a normal person might SEEM like enough...it's not enough. It's NEVER enough.
Traveling with kids is one of the biggest nightmares I have, and it's not because my kids are even bad travelers! In fact, on the first flight, we got numerous comments about how wonderfully our boys did. And that was when we thought that they were being HORRIBLE. So...I guess it probably wasn't as awful for any of the other passengers as it was for us, but we made a rookie mistake traveling with kids: We had a half-charged tablet on a 4 hour flight and a phone with only 2 (15 minute) episodes of Paw Patrol on it.
Considering all that, the boys really were very VERY good.
So I thought I'd pass along some tips for traveling with two kids ages (just turned) 3 and 17 months.
Plan out ahead of time how you are going to work the airport drop off.
Mark and I decided how it would work almost a week ahead of time, to make things go pretty smoothly. We usually park at our corporate work's facility and take a taxi to the airport. This costs us $40 for a taxi ride versus approximately $140 to park at $20/day at the airport for a week.
We tried this process when we took Cashel with us to Hawaii in 2013, and it was nuts! See, the taxi drop off is way on the other side of the street, and you have to lug all your crap way over to the elevator, then across the road on the skyway, then down the other elevator, and then way down to the check in, and then, since traveling with a lap child and needing to check the carseat, hiking backpack, pack 'n play, 2 checked bags, 2 hefty carry ons, a pump, a laptop, and 2 carry ons, having to wait in the check in line. We learned after that that we would be buying a bigger suitcase and waiting to fly again until after no one needed a pack 'n play or stroller.
This time around we were smarter. Mark dropped me off at the curbside check in with the boys still strapped in to their carseat, but seated IN the carseat bags (with wheels!) just unzipped, along with the luggage aside from two carry on bags, then he went and did the cab thing while I got us all checked in with curbside checkin (for a $10 tip, it was SOOOOO worth it). It was a flawless process, and then I had just my personal item bag and two boys. He was back within about 15 minutes, and we were ready to head through security.
Easy peasy!
It was actually really easy to get from point A to point B with the boys strapped in an able to be pulled around with the wheels on the bottom of the seat: You just move one set of stuff, then the seats, then trade back and forth, until you reach your destination.
On the way back, we did the same thing, except here was our mistake: We overloaded our checked bag by NINE pounds. So I had to pull NINE pounds worth of crap out and I had nowhere to put it until Mark got back with the (under-loaded) carry on bags). Which meant that I had to sit there with the boys in their carseats for 20 minutes (after they had already been in them for over an hour) in the middle of the bag drop off area, which was crowded, and they were NOT happy campers. It set the entire day off on the wrong note. Make SURE your bags aren't over-loaded.
We tried this process when we took Cashel with us to Hawaii in 2013, and it was nuts! See, the taxi drop off is way on the other side of the street, and you have to lug all your crap way over to the elevator, then across the road on the skyway, then down the other elevator, and then way down to the check in, and then, since traveling with a lap child and needing to check the carseat, hiking backpack, pack 'n play, 2 checked bags, 2 hefty carry ons, a pump, a laptop, and 2 carry ons, having to wait in the check in line. We learned after that that we would be buying a bigger suitcase and waiting to fly again until after no one needed a pack 'n play or stroller.
This time around we were smarter. Mark dropped me off at the curbside check in with the boys still strapped in to their carseat, but seated IN the carseat bags (with wheels!) just unzipped, along with the luggage aside from two carry on bags, then he went and did the cab thing while I got us all checked in with curbside checkin (for a $10 tip, it was SOOOOO worth it). It was a flawless process, and then I had just my personal item bag and two boys. He was back within about 15 minutes, and we were ready to head through security.
Easy peasy!
On the way back, we did the same thing, except here was our mistake: We overloaded our checked bag by NINE pounds. So I had to pull NINE pounds worth of crap out and I had nowhere to put it until Mark got back with the (under-loaded) carry on bags). Which meant that I had to sit there with the boys in their carseats for 20 minutes (after they had already been in them for over an hour) in the middle of the bag drop off area, which was crowded, and they were NOT happy campers. It set the entire day off on the wrong note. Make SURE your bags aren't over-loaded.
Also...have a plan for when you arrive at the next airport
Our plan, which works for us, is that since we were getting a rental car and getting in late, as soon as we got all our baggage in place, Mark headed to pick it up right away so as not to waste time trying to load everything into a rental car and occupy babies while standing in line with all our luggage. It's also a heck of a lot easier to beat all the other people going to get a rental car if you don't waste the time lugging everyone along. You get in line first (or maybe second), and typically get on the road faster.
Check as much as possible
I know that it stinks these days having to pay for each checked bag: I get it. But one of the things I hate the most about flying is what's left to lug around the airport after you check your bags. I told Mark that next time we will be checking two large bags and just taking a small carry on bag otherwise. Or maybe just a personal item. When you are traveling with toddlers, it SUCKS when you have to end up carrying your kid (who moves at the pace of molasses OR runs off and you have to chase them) on top of lugging a carry on and a bulging personal item (because, you know, you're supposed to dress in layers, yet no one wants to wear their sweatshirts...and you have to carry 4 sippy cups and snacks and (heaven forbid) everyone elses' boarding passes.).
See, when you want toddlers to actually go where you want them to, that pretty much means you are carrying them. And two 30+ and 40+ pound kids get HEAVY when you have to carry them across an airport on top of lugging two carry ons and two personal items chock full of crap.
Fifty bucks round-trip for that extra bag is SO worth it (or at least that's what I'm telling myself for next time haha)
See, when you want toddlers to actually go where you want them to, that pretty much means you are carrying them. And two 30+ and 40+ pound kids get HEAVY when you have to carry them across an airport on top of lugging two carry ons and two personal items chock full of crap.
Fifty bucks round-trip for that extra bag is SO worth it (or at least that's what I'm telling myself for next time haha)
Take the bare minimums, but don't skimp on the necessary stuff.
You don't want to have too little when you're flying with toddlers, but there's no reason to have an enormous bag full of crap you won't need. The first 20 minutes or so before take off (and then right after take off) are fairly easy, because they're so excited to explore, but that wears off soon after, and then you have to actually entertain them (or risk irritating the passengers around you) for the next 3.5 hours. (Or if you're smart, you wouldn't book a flight that long unless necessary). And really, it's not bad if you have some movies or shows on a tablet, interesting books, decent snacks, and plenty to drink. And diapers. DON'T forget about 2 diapers more than you think you'll need...with extras in your carry on too.
Did I mention to bring GOOD snacks?
I don't know about you and your kids, but when traveling, my kids refuse to eat pretty much anything. Do you know what that means? Their snacks are what they eat for the day. That's it. Snacks. So don't forget to pick up stuff like a fruit cup or cheese or crackers at the little (extraordinarily over-priced) newsstand cafe place before boarding. Or, if you don't live 3+ hours from the airport like we do, bring it from home - if it's for your kids, they're pretty good at letting it through security, at least at the airports we've been to with kids.
But also pack special snacks that they only get on special occasions...just in case.
We seldom give our kids fruit snacks (we've been using them as rewards for potty training, and well...that hasn't been totally seamless just yet), but we went through an entire box of them on the way home from Miami. Twelve packages. When your kids get to that "just done" point of the trip, you do what you have to do to keep you and everyone around you sane and injury-free. If that means letting them watch the 5th episode of Paw Patrol and eat their sixth packet of fruit snacks on the 3 hour flight, then that's what it takes. And for Kendrick, it was walking up and down the aisle about 20 times in a row. And more milk. And more milk. And graham crackers. And raisins. And fruit snacks.
I kid you not when I say that probably half of my over-flowing personal item was filled with snacks. And we had a separate bag just for sippy cups with milk. Don't skimp on the snacks.
But also pack special snacks that they only get on special occasions...just in case.
We seldom give our kids fruit snacks (we've been using them as rewards for potty training, and well...that hasn't been totally seamless just yet), but we went through an entire box of them on the way home from Miami. Twelve packages. When your kids get to that "just done" point of the trip, you do what you have to do to keep you and everyone around you sane and injury-free. If that means letting them watch the 5th episode of Paw Patrol and eat their sixth packet of fruit snacks on the 3 hour flight, then that's what it takes. And for Kendrick, it was walking up and down the aisle about 20 times in a row. And more milk. And more milk. And graham crackers. And raisins. And fruit snacks.
I kid you not when I say that probably half of my over-flowing personal item was filled with snacks. And we had a separate bag just for sippy cups with milk. Don't skimp on the snacks.
Take MULTIPLE changes of clothes
Cashel is working on potty training right now, and he's in pull ups (thank goodness), but when we were standing in the security line, he suddenly decided that he HAD to go potty. And ya know, after standing in the security line for 20 minutes, it's not like the first thought in your head is, "Hey - let's just jump out of line and run you to the nearest bathroom". So, by the time we made it through the security check, the kid (who had been drinking milk and water all morning) now has wet pants. Change #1.
And then, while he usually naps around 2 or 3pm every day, this particular day he was out while watching Paw Patrol a whopping 2 hours earlier than anticipated, and we didn't realize it until he was already asleep. How the heck do you change a passed out 40lb toddler in an airplane bathroom is just beyond me. And this kid? When he falls asleep, you could let him go bungee jumping and he'd still be sleeping, so no way could we wake him up. By the time he woke up an hour later, his second set of pants (and the ONLY other long pants he had at all to make it home to the balmy 4 degree temps in Minnesota) were a little wet. Thankfully the pants weren't really that wet (just a tinge at the front of the top of the pants) and dried fairly quickly, but in reality, if we had another pair of pants, we would have changed him into them. So theoretically, this would have been change #2.
You never know what's going to happen when you're traveling with toddlers, but be prepared! And REALLY stay on top of the potty trips and diaper changes. It's easy to get so flustered and rushed (gate changes at the last minute, anyone?) that you forget before it's too late.
And then, while he usually naps around 2 or 3pm every day, this particular day he was out while watching Paw Patrol a whopping 2 hours earlier than anticipated, and we didn't realize it until he was already asleep. How the heck do you change a passed out 40lb toddler in an airplane bathroom is just beyond me. And this kid? When he falls asleep, you could let him go bungee jumping and he'd still be sleeping, so no way could we wake him up. By the time he woke up an hour later, his second set of pants (and the ONLY other long pants he had at all to make it home to the balmy 4 degree temps in Minnesota) were a little wet. Thankfully the pants weren't really that wet (just a tinge at the front of the top of the pants) and dried fairly quickly, but in reality, if we had another pair of pants, we would have changed him into them. So theoretically, this would have been change #2.
You never know what's going to happen when you're traveling with toddlers, but be prepared! And REALLY stay on top of the potty trips and diaper changes. It's easy to get so flustered and rushed (gate changes at the last minute, anyone?) that you forget before it's too late.
I know there are probably a thousand other things I'm forgetting, but these are the biggest ones we noticed this time. Next time (which is hopefully a LONG time from now) we'll be better prepared.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Florida Day 6: Hanging around the Condo Property (February 13)
Our final day in Key Largo was a pretty great day :) It started with the boys in a big dog pile on Daddy and then some sweet snuggles with a super happy Kendrick and Mama :) And not just one delicious cup of coffee, but two!
The boys were being great! We went down to the little beach again to check out the fishies, then to the park to play again and met some fun people who own a B&B up in Niagara on the Lake with kids just slightly younger than ours.
Mark played a couple rousing rounds of Candy Land with Cashel, and the boys ate great, which meant they also napped great!
And the great napping meant that Mama got to spend a couple hours all by herself...SHOPPING!
Before we knew it, nap time was OVER! ::cue the dramatic music to accompany this adorable picture of Kendrick::
We got ready and headed down to the pool to swim for a while, and we had the whole pool to ourselves!
My friend Jill asked me after I posted this on Facebook how we managed to get a picture without kids in it in the pool, and I have to reassure you that Mark was holding Kendrick, I just didn't get him in the picture. And Cashel was in his little floaty thing (see above).
The rest of the night was fairly uneventful. We made a chaotic trip to Arby's that ended with neither of the kids eating, and an unsuccessful attempt at seeing the sunset over the ocean. The boys conked out earlier than usual and we spent the rest of the night getting our stuff packed up and ready to go for the early morning, since we had to be on the road by 7am.
It was definitely a memorable trip in so many ways, but oh were we just aching to be home at this point. The condo was nice - it really, really was - but there really is just something to be said for sleeping in your own bed and being in your own environment. Having BUTTER to cook with (who buys a whole pound for one week?) and my favorite spices and not worrying about if the boys were going to break something or fall off the balcony or...you get the picture. A week is long enough when it comes to vacationing with toddlers, and it was just time to go home.
Florida Day 5: Theater of the Sea (February 12)
When I was initially planning our big Key Largo trip, I had etched in stone that we were going to the Miami Seaquarium. However, after our two big days already going to Gator Park (in Miami) and Key West, we were just traveled out. We knew the end of the week would bring a very long day home, and we just wanted to stay closer to Key Largo. Theater of the Sea was a wonderful compromise, and it was just a 10 minute drive, which was perfect.
The boys were completely fascinated by the dolphin and sea lion shows.
Mama just absolutely loved the beautiful gardens and gorgeous temps :)
Cashel was OBSESSED with the giant sea turtle and wanted to hang out and visit with him all day.
We had lunch at the cafe there, then explored a little more before the boys were ready for nap time, and we made our way back to the condo for them (and Mama!) to nap. We kept the rest of the day pretty low-key and had supper together at the condo, then were able to catch another gorgeous sunset.
The boys were a little later to bed this night, so we didn't stay up much past they did. Mark was especially wiped, which turns out is because he ended up coming down with a cold the next afternoon.
Florida Day 4: Key Largo and Harris Park (February 11)
After our really long day the previous day, we were feeling pretty content to just hang out around the condo on day 4. Of course, with the boys having spent most of the previous day just hanging out at the beach and then napping the rest of the way to Key West, they were feeling fairly adventurous still, so we started the day with a trip to the park again. Thank goodness this was part of the condo complex!!
We also went to check out the little beach they had on the property and the boys loved checking out the big fish they had in the inlet.
After our disastrous experiences thus far with eating at restaurants, we decided to try a few meals at the condo again, and then the boys had some really good naps (thank goodness!) and we watched more Scandal on Netflix.
When they woke up, we had everything mostly ready to head down the road a few miles to Harris Beach, where we spent a good hour. The condo had some fun sand toys available, which was great for the boys!
We tried our best to do the whole "Key Largo 2015" in the sand thing, but it was just the wrong time of day, and the boys were just too squirmy to get a decent picture. These were our attempts haha
After our time at the beach, we decided to check out a place our condo owners recommended: Chad's Deli Grill Pizzeria. And let me tell you: Our trip to Chad's will go down in history as the most ridiculous restaurant experience we had on the entire trip: Probably ever. The place itself wasn't so awful, the waitresses were sweet and the food came quickly and everything, but the boys were just plain awful. I ended up hauling them out to the car about halfway through the meal one in each arm, kicking and screaming and putting them in their carseats while Mark finished eating, paid and got the leftovers boxed up. I've never had to do that before, but this eating experience called for it. We're thankful that Cashel only *almost* knocked over another customer's pizza.
But after getting back to our condo, we did get to catch one of the two sunsets we actually were able to see the entire trip.
And my babies? They did eventually settle down.
It was one of those rough, rough, rough parenting moments, but we made it through. And then we settled in and watched a couple episodes of Scandal.
When they woke up, we had everything mostly ready to head down the road a few miles to Harris Beach, where we spent a good hour. The condo had some fun sand toys available, which was great for the boys!
We tried our best to do the whole "Key Largo 2015" in the sand thing, but it was just the wrong time of day, and the boys were just too squirmy to get a decent picture. These were our attempts haha
Florida Day 3: Bahia Honda and Key West (February 10)
I'll be honest: We didn't stick to our "agenda" at all, and this particular day, we just sort of took off and started driving south. We ended up going all the way to Key West, but were so tired that we didn't even stop once we got there.
We had no idea where we wanted to eat in Marathon on the way to the beach, and ended up going with Burdine's, after looking at reviews online. It ended up not being anything to write home about, and (as usual) the boys were fussy and didn't want to sit still or eat, so we kind of rushed through lunch.
After lunch, we made a stop at Bahia Honda State Park. And the boys LOVED it, although I wasn't too fond of all the nasty seaweed washed up on shore. The Keys are known for their beautiful water and temps, but they are NOT known for their beaches. Once you get away from seaweed mounds, it was alright, but the water still had bits and pieces of the seaweed floating around in it.
The rest of the day kind of ended up going downhill. We decided to head on to Key West, and the boys fought naps until after Big Pine Key. We got to Key West and ended up finding that it just really wasn't our thing. If we had a stroller that we could transfer the boys into, it might have been better, but it was just so crowded and busy and loud and crazy, and while that might have appealed to us 5 years ago before we had little ones in tow, it just wasn't our thing. So after spending 2 hours driving all the way down there, we basically drove around for a bit, let the boys nap longer and then headed back home. I didn't even hardly take any pictures.
We ended up stopping in Marathon at IHOP for supper, knowing that at least the boys would probably eat pancakes (and they did - thank goodness) and then just went back to the condo.
It was a VERY long day. We were both kinda glad that we had pressed on to Key West, however, because we then were able to spend a whole other day at the condo instead of drive that far with the boys again. It freed up another day that we decided to spend swimming and playing at the park, which was a MUCH better decision for us.
We had no idea where we wanted to eat in Marathon on the way to the beach, and ended up going with Burdine's, after looking at reviews online. It ended up not being anything to write home about, and (as usual) the boys were fussy and didn't want to sit still or eat, so we kind of rushed through lunch.
After lunch, we made a stop at Bahia Honda State Park. And the boys LOVED it, although I wasn't too fond of all the nasty seaweed washed up on shore. The Keys are known for their beautiful water and temps, but they are NOT known for their beaches. Once you get away from seaweed mounds, it was alright, but the water still had bits and pieces of the seaweed floating around in it.
The rest of the day kind of ended up going downhill. We decided to head on to Key West, and the boys fought naps until after Big Pine Key. We got to Key West and ended up finding that it just really wasn't our thing. If we had a stroller that we could transfer the boys into, it might have been better, but it was just so crowded and busy and loud and crazy, and while that might have appealed to us 5 years ago before we had little ones in tow, it just wasn't our thing. So after spending 2 hours driving all the way down there, we basically drove around for a bit, let the boys nap longer and then headed back home. I didn't even hardly take any pictures.
We ended up stopping in Marathon at IHOP for supper, knowing that at least the boys would probably eat pancakes (and they did - thank goodness) and then just went back to the condo.
It was a VERY long day. We were both kinda glad that we had pressed on to Key West, however, because we then were able to spend a whole other day at the condo instead of drive that far with the boys again. It freed up another day that we decided to spend swimming and playing at the park, which was a MUCH better decision for us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)