August 29, 2022

Visiting the Eiffel Tower With Kids

We only had about half a day in Paris before picking up our RV and heading out on our road trip. We decided the best thing to do with our time was to return to the Eiffel tower and try to get all the way to the top.

Emmy was very excited to start our day at a little cafe big fans of Pain au chocolat. Our hotel was near the Eiffel Tower so we got there nice and early.

We had planned on taking the stairs to the second platform, then taking the elevator to the summit. We didn’t know that two legs of the tower offer access to the stairs and two have access to the elevator all the way. When we got to the front of the line they told us we had to go get into another line to climb but could get tickets in the elevators all the way to the top. We didn’t want to wait in another line and possibly miss getting tickets to the summit so we happily took the elevator.

The views are just incredible from every level.

Waiting in line to get to the summit isn’t bad when we had these views.

The summit was incredible, they sell champagne and macarons so it’s fun to see people celebrating all different occasions.

After our time at the top we took the elevator back down to the first platform where we had lunch.

When we were done we walked around the Champ de Mars and found a cute little Carousel of the Eiffel Tower.

Too soon we had to gather our luggage from the hotel and catch an Uber to pick up our RV. We were able to adjust pretty well to the time change by staying up late on our first night in France.

We got our RV and on the road in the afternoon, it was fun to be in the same model as the one we rented in Germany in 2019.

We recommend Indie Campers if you need a rental abroad or in the US. We are already thinking about renting a van for a UK trip soon!

August 28, 2022

An Evening at the Eiffel Tower

We spent most of our “day” flying into London then catching another short flight to Paris.

For the first leg of our flight we had four seats together across the middle and it was so nice to be able snuggle together and try to get some sleep. The kids did pretty well but they definitely didn’t get as much sleep as they usually do.

Our flight from Denver to London was almost two hours late leaving so that made our layover time in London much shorter than we would have liked.

Here we are on the train to a different concourse of Heathrow Airport trying very hard to make our flight to Paris. We made it with very little time to spare.

Once we got into Paris we grabbed a Taxis from the Airport to our hotel in Paris. It was late afternoon and we were tired from our 20ish hours of travel but we wanted to see some of Paris and try to adjust to our new time zone before going to bed.

Our hotel was close to the Eiffel tower so walked to around took in the sights of the Champ de Mars. We grabbed dinner at park venders, played on a playground and marveled at our first sights of the Eiffel Tower.

We stayed out until the lights turned on and it was even more beautiful than I expected.

We didn’t have time or the energy to go up the Eiffel tower that evening so we just enjoyed the sights before taking the train back to our hotel and crashing for the night.

August 27, 2022

Tips for Flying With Kids 0-6 years old

Since today is our travel day I thought I would share what we have learned flying with our kids over the last six years. Today we have a red-eye flight from Denver to London then a short flight (tomorrow) to Paris.

Our flight to London is about 10-11 hours but much of that is overnight so that makes the time go by much faster. We are by no means experts but our kids travel pretty well and we’ve taken them on short and long flights over the years.

When kids are too little to walk through the airport on their own (without trying to run away) use a stroller and check it at the gate. We have taken our giant double and umbrella strollers on different trips it just depends on what we were doing when we get to our destination.

Also if your kids are in a stroller in the airport then pack their stuff in your own carry on to make your time in security easier. Once they are old enough to walk through the airport they can carry their own backpacks.

If you have a baby that isn’t sitting up on their own yet you can have them lap sit with you on shorter flight. When Emmy was 9 months old we flew to California and we just took turns holding her. If it was a longer flight I would suggest buying them their own seat and having them sit in their car seat. That being said when Emmy was 18 months old and we flew to Germany she did have her own seat but she basically never sat in it, she mainly shared with Cannon.

At 3 and 1 they easily both fit in one seat.

For take-off and landing the flight crew gave us a seat belt addition to strap Emmy in during that time.

We have always just checked our carseats for travel and now that both kids are over 4 years old we bring our travel car seats and LOVE them. We put them in our carry on bag just incase our checked bags get lost!

If you want your kids to sleep on the plane (nap or overnight) bring comfort items that they use at home like a special stuffed animal or blanket.

If your flight has a meal request a “kids meal” if you can. We forgot on our trip to Germany and we got some unfamiliar food for the kids. They mostly ate it but enjoyed the kids meals on our future flights better.

Also bring lots of snacks for the flight. I like to take the kids to the grocery store during the week before our trip to buy snacks that are different than we normally have. Also we have found that suckers can help little ears with take off and landing.

Whenever we travel I put the kids in really comfortable clothes that can double as pajamas like sweat suits and warm socks. Planes can be cold so even if you are going somewhere warm remember layers for on the plane. Also be sure to pack at least one full change of clothes for everyone, even the adults! Kids can have potty accidents, get motion sickness or spill a full drink on themselves and you!

This next one might be controversial but we don’t limit screen time on flights.

Our kids do bring little toys, activity books and games but they aren’t old enough to read to themselves yet. We let them watch kids movies provided by the airline and/or play on their tablets. I figure they are stuck on the plane so let’s just make it easy on all of us.

If your flight is delayed grab some fun snacks or a meal then find an empty gate. That way you can spread out, let the kids run around and kill time until your flight is ready to go.

If you are flying a long way know that your kids will be tired and might act out, remember that you are all a team and you will get there together!

We are off to Europe now, what are some of your top tips for flying with littles?

Some travel favorites:

Travel Car Seat – Kids Tablets – Kid friendly headphones

August 11, 2022

Back to School Occasions Bins + A Slower Day

After a few days (weeks) of trying to cram in as much summer as possible I think we were all craving a slower day. We played at home for a long time, we even gave Bonita a makeover. This skeleton has been so much fun.

We spent the rest of the morning playing at the library and picking up books for the first week of school.

I still can’t believe that we start school next week.

lucky for us, these slow days will continue we just won’t have full freedom anymore.

We spent the afternoon at my parents house where I found this classic set.

It was actually a gift to my brother back in 1981 from our Aunt that we lost many years ago. I asked both my mom and my bother if I could take them to read to my kids and they were happy to share. I am so excited to have this family set as I have been meaning to buy it.

When we all got home we played outside all evening, had dinner on the deck (steak because it’s Cory’s birthday week). We were excited to see a humming bird visit our feeder.

I finally got out Back to School Occasions Bin put together and while it’s simple I really think I love it!

I think these little pencil cups are the cutest!

I also love these letter sprinkles.

We’re ready to celebrate back to school!

I’m a little sad I didn’t take pictures of my spring or 4th of July baskets!

When do your kids go back to school? Are you doing anything fun to celebrate the end of summer?

August 8, 2022

The Big Bold Decision to Go Our Own Way

There has been a lot of big decisions made in our house this summer. Ones that will shape what the future looks like for all of us. Some I will wait until a more appropriate time to share. We took months to decide to go the nontraditional route of homeschooling (hybrid schooling) our kids.

We did preschool for Emerald last year and we all loved it so much.

Cannon would join us when he was home from school and stated asking me to do the lessons while he was home because he loved it so much.

I mentioned hybrid school because we are sending both kids to school part time so they still have a classroom experience while maintaining much more flexibility and time together.

I am very excited to start this journey together and a bit nervous. It makes me a bit uncomfortable because the norm is to send kids to public school. And we are big fans of public school, the teachers are amazing and our neighborhood school is fantastic. I was a public school teacher and really do think it’s wonderful. For us it just came down to wanting more time together, more one-on-one learning and chasing a wild and free life. Also we plan to take this one year at a time, as soon as it stops being the best choice for us we can always return to a more traditional route.

The plan is to have the kids attend school part time and do lessons at home with me sometimes. Also we want to include a lot of road-schooling where we take school on the road to learn and flourish while traveling.

It’s no secret that our favorite thing is to travel and see the world as a family. I am excited to take our little school on the road with us.

Have you ever considered non-traditional school? I would have never considered home schooling before but Covid forced us to do some in the past couple years and we found that we loved it! But please wish me luck, I have no idea what I am doing.

This feels like a very magical season in life.

August 7, 2022

A Day in Frisco

We woke up to the sound of the river next to our campsite and fresh mountain air.

The kids were excited to just play in our campsite and ride their bikes. Cannon is enjoying his new bigger bike and Emmy is still loving her strider bike. Emmy has started riding around on a pedal bike with assistance.

Cannon has been loving having his own kayak this summer, sadly we forgot his paddle at home this trip. Luckily the Dillion Lake Marina had kids’ paddles you can rent. We picked up a paddle then found a beach we could launch from.

I have wanted to kayak on Lake Dillion forever and was really excited to get out on the lake. We have a stand up paddle board, adult kayak and Cannon’s child’s kayak. Emmy road along with Cory on the SUP, Cannon had his own kayak and our dog Humphry road with me. Humphry is not a fan of the water and isn’t a great swimmer so we made sure he could swim with a life jacket on.

We are lunch and spent most of the day down at the lake. We are trying to fit in as much time on these mountain lakes while we can. We will be out of town until mid September and then it will be too cold to enjoy the water. Camping will continue year-round.

When we were done we went back to camp for more playing, riding bikes, exploring the river and grilling dinner.

We were planning on going for a night hike after dinner before bed but there was a flash flood warning for part of the drive home and our neighborhood. The kids got nervous about it when they heard us talking about it. We decided it wasn’t worth making them feel nervous to stay another night. It only took about 30 minutes to pack up and head for home.

I love camping but I won’t lie, my bed and coffee are better at home.

Hoping we actually get some rain tomorrow, without the flooding.

August 3, 2022

Kids Hike – Gem Lake – Rocky Mountain National Park

We decided to join some friends today in checking off a bucket list item of hiking Gem Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.

We got up early piled all the kids in the car and got to the trailhead around 9 am.

The trail was not too crowded which was not surprising given it was a Tuesday. There was plenty of parking and toilets at the trailhead.

The trail is rated moderate and there is a lot of climbing on the way to the lake but the views make it worth it.

Gem Lake is gorgeous!

Unfortunately the chipmunks have been fed so much by people that they have lost all fear and are almost aggressive in begging for food. Remember to never feed wildlife, it’s not good for them no matter how cute they are!

On the way out we decided to add onto our hike to see the Twin Owl rocks.

It made for close to five miles of hiking. Cannon (at 6 years old) hiked this with no issues or complaints. Emmy (at 4) also did really really well but did get tired towards the end, I think this is the furthest she has ever hiked without having to be carried.

This hike gives me hope that Emmy will be able to hike 6 miles, mostly downhill, to see the Matterhorn in Switzerland.

Do your kids like to hike?

August 1, 2022

Hello August – 2022

August first means all things back to school for us! As usual it feels like it’s just the middle of summer and we shouldn’t be thinking about back to school until September. Colorado doesn’t agree with me and has set the first day of school in mid August.

We are focusing on getting everything organized and ready to go. Also after a very free range summer I need to help the kids get organized and ready to get back to some structure and work. We also want to enjoy our last two weeks of summer the best we can, this includes:

More time outside
More time at the pool
visiting as many playgrounds as possible
Two last camping trips (we will still camp during the school year but we will have to go for shorter trips around the kids’ school and soccer schedule)
Enjoy the slow mornings while we can!

I have lots to do to get us ready for school. My Pinterest page is full of fun ideas.

My goals for August are to:

Create a list of things we want to do and create a schedule
Get in a routine of getting up early to exercise
Help the kids transition to school as best I can
Plan fun meals and activities for their first days of school

July was amazing with lot’s of travel, camping and time with friends.

Tell me something amazing you did in July.

When do your kids go back to school?

July 18, 2022

Trails + Monarch Pass

Before packing up to go home I wanted to get some miles in on the trails.

Hartman Rocks has amazing trails for mountain bikers and runners. Some were a technical above my comfort level (double black diamond).

I figure this is good training for a half marathon in the San Juans, I don’t think that terrain will be easy either.

The kids joined me for the last bit of my run, they love to trail run!

When I got back we needed to pack up to head home.

I love going on gondola rides up in the mountains and since the weather was nice we decided that today would be the day that we would ride to the top of Monarch Mountain.

The kids and I were getting ready to go up the gondola when we saw that the trails were open. Instead of riding up with us Cory decided to ride his mountain bike to the top. What a great mid drive way to get some movement!

At over 12,000 ft I was impressed with his climbing skills.

The rest of the day was spent driving home, stoping for playgrounds and iced coffees along the way.

July 17, 2022

Wildflower Festival – Crested Butte Colorado

We woke up excited to visit Crested Butte during it’s peak wildflower season, I had seen online that Crested Butte was hosting a wildflower festival this weekend.

We started our day by driving from Gunnison to Crested Butte then up to the Peanut Lake area for a hike to see the wildflowers.