This year my husband and I decided we should take our kids and our Brazilian Au Pair on a road trip to see the great southwest. We had a goal. My husband wanted to take a #selfie at the Grand Canyon. So back in March we started planning. We found one open night in a cabin at the North Rim Lodge the day before our anniversary and planned around that. I would say it was a successful trip as we saw six National Parks in three states, took hundreds of pictures and created unforgettable memories with our family. It was a trip not about the destination but about the journey and after 25 hours in the car I learned a lot about my kids and life in general that I thought I would share:
10) Three-year-olds do not hike. My son acts like every moment of walking is torture. We started our trip on the most incredible and challengi
ng hike- Hanging Lake near Glenwood Springs. It took about five minutes before he was asking to be carried. Halfway through he just laid down and refused to get up. After much protesting my husband was able to convince him that Peyton Manning never gives up and neither should he. He never made it to the top but spent the return hike high-fiving every person coming up the trail and telling them “never give up.” Unfortunately, that attitude quickly reverted to whining on all subsequent walks. Whether it was two miles or 200 feet everything was “too far” for his little legs. In the end, I carried him in a backpack – all 35+ pounds.
9) Children should never go out to dinner. Now, I knew this one before. In fact, my husband and I do everything we can to avoid bringing our children out to dinner in public places. They last about five minutes before they whine and make a giant mess. One of us almost always has to walk out of the restaurant to entertain the children before our meals come. On the last day of this vacation we saw other children sitting quietly at a fancy restaurant and were completely baffled. It doesn’t matter if there are crayons or chalk or computers or swings, my children throw fits at every restaurant we ever go to.
8) My husband needs a boat. We rented a boat on Lake Powell and I have never seen my husband so happy. He was grinning ear to ear as he steered through the deep canyons. He grew up boating and if only we had some extra money and a body of water near us I would buy him one.
7) ‘Smores made with oreos are the best things EVER! My traveling companions were not that into chocolate so on our nights camping we tried something new. We roasted marshmallows and smashed the ooey gooey goodness into golden oreos. Heaven on earth.
6) Utah has some good beer. Contrary to popular belief – they do sell alcohol in Utah. One day we had to go to a strange state-run liquor store but for the most part this mostly Mormon state has come around to the modern traveler’s desire to drink while on vacation. We went to some great breweries, inclu
ding one just across from Zion National Park with good beer and the most stunning setting.
5) ALWAYS strap your children into high chairs. We put my daughter in a high chair at breakfast near the Grand Canyon. The strap did not fit around her little belly so I just left her unbuckled. I turned my head to look at the menu and one second later my daughter was crashing into the floor face first. Poor thing was so upset and ended up with a terrible fat lip. Lesson learned.
4) NEVER let your childre
n watch TV in the car. We should have learned this lesson when our son threw up Indian food all over our car on a recent trip to Steamboat but we were so desperate to entertain him on the longest drive of the trip that we just kept feeding him snacks and handed him the ipad loaded with movies. Terrible idea. We were rewarded with a car full of vomit to clean up on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere Arizona. We had to throw away his clothes and our car was so hard to unpack that our poor son spent the rest of the day shirtless while driving through Indian country. Luckily, he didn’t mind.
3) One and three are difficult ages. They don’t hike. They don’t bike. They can’t swim. The baby can’t even walk. They need naps. They cry. The whine. They throw fits. All in all it makes traveling a bit difficult. But they are pretty cute 🙂
2) Kids are entertained by the littlest things. We went to the coral sand dunes in Utah. It was blazing hot and I decided to rent a sled (for $25) and hike up the dunes with my son to give him a fun ride. Of course he hated walking and I had to carry him a good part of the way. But finally we made it through the sweltering heat and took our ride. At the bottom he looked at me and said, “Mom, can I go play with that boy up there now?” He did not care that I paid money for the sled or hauled him up a huge sand dune during the hottest time of the day. He just wanted to play trucks in the sand with some kid he met earlier. This was a good lesson that all the planning and money in the world can’t the happiness of a child.
1) Savor the unexpected moments. We were at Bryce National Park when my husband received a work call. We were just finishing a picnic and miraculously had phone service. While my husband took the call I brought the kids to check out the amphitheater. I asked them to perform for me. There we were in the middle of nowhere with my three-year-old belting out “You Are My Sunshine” at th
e top of his lungs and my baby girl crawling around him on stage. It may have been the best and most unexpected moment of our vacation. It was a great reminder to treasure every moment because my children will never be one and three, vomiting and falling on their faces while being drug across the country on a road trip ever again. It was certainly fun while it lasted.