Happy Pi-Day!

Hi mamas! Happy Friday (Pi-Day)!

We are gearing up for a BUSY few weeks of travel here, and I wanted to share some things that I prioritize when we’re traveling that help me stay on track. Do I do them all perfectly? Definitely not, but I do try to do them consistently. This helps me feel more grounded, less stressed or overwhelmed, and less bloated/icky when we get back.

1. WATER- this one I am admittedly not the best at, but I do always bring water with me and try to refill the bottle 2x while we are out and about. PSA Moms- bring the stroller EVERYWHERE including the bathroom and you can pee without wrangling toddlers at the same time.

2. PROTEIN- I aim to get a large serving of protein with each meal (especially breakfast) so that when we are out and about, I can snack on fruit or other things and not worry about hitting my protein goals.

3. MOVEMENT- My favorite thing to do when we travel is to drop into a gym with Gabe. Sometimes we can do this, other times it’s not feasible to go together and we take turns. I realize this might not be for everyone, but if you can prioritize some form of movement (walking, running, squats and toddler bicep curls) while traveling, you will feel better for it!

That’s it- those 3 things help me feel better while traveling, even when I don’t have all the little details ironed out.

Below I’m sharing some of my favorite travel accessories that make traveling with young children that much easier!

We have traveled with our double stroller from Mompush and our Jogging Stroller from Guava, and both are honestly great for different reasons! The Mompush Double stroller is so convenient to even carry some stuff when we’re out and about, also on the off chance that both kiddos sit in it at the same time, it’s so easy to push around! My Guava Jogging stroller holds a special place in my heart, though, because of how easy it is to maneuver. I’m not supposed to tell you this, but I will tell you anyway- I strap Charli in the seat and Shay sits on the foot bed of the jogging stroller- it makes it easy for him to get on and off when he wants to walk, and like I said it’s just easy to push around because it’s pretty compact for a jogging stroller and great on all terrain.

Another Guava favorite of ours is our travel crib. It’s basically a Pack-n-play, but it folds down much smaller, making it easy to travel with. It’s also significantly easier to set up and break down than a Pack-n-play, too. We tried traveling without our Guava travel crib the last time we flew to California, and tried to use a hotel pack-n-play and regretted it almost instantly. Everyone ended up sleeping in our bed which means that no one slept 🙃 . So lesson learned, we are 10000% always traveling with the travel crib from here on out. We also got this slumberpod to go over the travel crib to help keep the space as dark as possible for Shay when he sleeps. We’ve learned our lesson that sometimes the closet isn’t big enough for him to sleep in!

We love traveling as a family, but I will admit that traveling with a toddler is not my favorite. I have even seen the trend on instagram of rating travel based on the age of the kids. Toddler (2-3yo) is always the lowest, and honestly, I get why. It’s hard to keep them entertained for long, they have the impulse control of a chihuahua, and they don’t sleep as well while traveling. So I’m always on the hunt for things that we can bring that will keep him entertained while traveling. The thing is, I hate toys that make noise, and I don’t want to have to keep track of a lot of little pieces of things. I made a list on my Amazon storefront of toys and activities for toddlers that fit into my parameters. You can check it out here!

See you in two weeks, same time same place.

Xoxo,

Arielle