Vacationing Tips with Little Kids

SO blessed with an amazing family vacation last week! Almost 20 people with JUST the immediate family I grew up with, 7 siblings, 3 in-laws, 2 nieces & nephews & my own 3 kids! SUCH precious memories that were beautifully captured by my talentedhusband 🥰, I’ll post the beauty below :) As I am home reflecting here are some lessons I learned from vacationing with littles: 

1. Lower your expectations of the kids & yourself. I was cracking up at the posts about "vacationing with kids is not a vacation for the parents." Some hilarious truth. New environments, lack of routine or naps, all while sticking to their 6am rise & shine. I’ve found the best ways of trying to enjoy that transition is to completely lower my mom life expectations. More candy and an afternoon screen may be the win. (Of course, if you also have the bonus of multiple extended family for your kids to be around definitely embrace! 😍) 

2. Make a game plan for vacation prayer. As creatures of habit, when we’re thrown off our normal routines it's just easier to fall into negative temptations or habits, and let our prayer time slip. Downtime is necessary & part of why we vacation in the first place, but too much mixed with mental or physical exhaustion can lead to regretful choices; raising hand from experience! I've had vacations where I made it to mass or a morning holy hour every day, but that’s not always the case. This time my Bible stayed closed, and I barely made mental prayer time. Granted my large fun family & fourth pregnancy circumstances, but it reinforced the necessity of intentionally prioritizing a vacation prayer plan to step away, center my heart and keep my soul focused on the Lord during vacations.

3. Focus on relationships. Duh statement, but once again, with little kids it’s easy to get wrapped up in their care, vacation checklists, capturing the picture memories etc., that we can overlook the chances of deeper connections or mountain top moments that may only come when we have the chance to step away from our normal environment while on a vacation. I try to get in as many 1:1 conversations as possible to allow that to happen 😊. That’s all for now, & we’ll be home all day recovering 😘 what are your best tips of vacationing with littles?!

In Joy,

Alex