Everyone ELSE is sharing travel tips.....

Thoughts of Traveling with the Kiddos. 1) Get a late start. We are NOT morning people, though we go through phases when we can do nothing but wake up in the early hours - rarely am I ever happy about it. So on vacation, we all sleep in as much as possible and try to add in evening activities to 'make up for lost time' - not that that is a real thing. So far, this has worked well. In Europe, we started at noon and ended at 9-11pm. The kids got to see some of the nightlife and we were prevented from over-exposing them to 'culture'. Since museums and such generally close early, we had fixed time to force it down their throats and they appreciated that. 2) Check for evening hours. Aha! Just because we don't get up early doesn't mean we CAN'T do culture late! The Louvre and Musee d'Orsay had evening hours until 9pm. We started late, missed the crowds and enjoyed the evening vibe. The Smithsonian does this too in summer. 3) Use apps! We downloaded a TON of apps (mostly free) for our last trip. While internet when we were out and about was sporadic since we were not using cellular data, when we were within Wi-Fi, we used our apps to plan and I used the screenshot function to save the info. When those bits showed up in my PhotoStream, it was quite nostalgic for me. Maps were often not accessible offline either so I used screen shots. In the US, we use an app called Roadside America that shows you crazy and odd things near where you are at the moment. World's largest ball of twine? Foamhenge? I keep a folder for current event apps on my phone which helps with getting into the local swing of things. Favs? Smithsonian, Roadside America, Maplet, National Park Service And don't be afraid to delete and reload apps. Disney's Wait Time app is only useful on the 2 days a year you are in the park, but man those days are much more awesome with it than without! 4) Cameras, cameras, everywhere! My kids LOVE taking photos. So everyone had a camera. My teen had an old Nikon D40 and my littles had their ipod Touch and iphone cameras. We all took many photos and since they ended up in the same photo library eventually, it was cool that our snaps came from everyone. And a side note, why not do family pics while on vacation?  I read about this online and found an American photographer in Paris who gave us an hour of her time for a very reasonable price.  We got family photos, something we had not done since before my 7rd old had been born, with the Louvre and Eiffel Tower in the background. Brilliant?!  Yeah, I think so!  

5) Prepare for the worst. Before doing much, I searched online for the most miserable experiences people had and then tried to figure out who to circumvent them. I expected to spend all of our 2 weeks in Europe soaking wet. I bought umbrellas (coming from AZ we never had these before), rain coats (stylish ones since I knew they would be in photos) and even an adorable rain poncho for the littlest monkey. It was cool to have new things for the trip and made the little rain we did encounter kind of fun! 6) Hang it up. For our trip abroad I bought the London and Paris Passes, cards that give free or line cutting admission to places. We also got the travel card option so we also had train tix. But what to DO with the darn things! In the end, I bought lanyards from Hot Topix with cute phrases for the three kids. Each had a plastic ID holder that we used to hold 1) the city pass 2) the metro tix 3) a business card with all our numbers preprinted and our flat address handwritten. The kids had room to put a paper bill but chose to use their pockets for that. I was surprised but we didn't lose anything big (on the last day, one metro tix went missing because it did not make it back into the lanyard pocket but that was a cheap fix). We hung them up the moment we got in and everyone helped by checking everyone else. I had peace of mind that the kids wouldn't lose their location info in a strange land and it was a blessing being able to visually see those lanyards and knowing that everyone had their passes. 7) Make the most of travel day. We were flying on a red eye which made the day we left feel odd. In the end, our good buddy offered to let us leave our vehicle at his house near the airport so we made a day of it and went to his place early. There was a great park nearby so we bought a lunch and had a picnic while our kids ran amuck. The kids were happy and exercised (like puppies, see!) when they finally plopped onto the plane. It was nice they had that time since it made the plane ride itself less confining. 8) Figure out the day pack in advance. We have a rule that since I plan, I do NOT have to tote. So I am exempt from having to carry anything I do not want to carry. But there is stuff I want to take (bandaids, tummy tamers, extra SD card). I prepacked our day bags so I was sure they wouldn't be too heavy and would have all the essentials. My eldest is old enough to be a Toter so was assigned a day pack. I consider these to be the essentials - weather modifiers (rain gear, coats, or sun screen/hats), maps/guides/tickets, medical (advil, moleskin, tums, bandaids, anti-allergy), water (1 bottle for emergencies), snack (we bought local candy bars because by the time you realize you waited too long to get a meal, the only thing that will get into a kid quick and easy is candy... and the kids loved trying out different brands of candy). Additionally, we carried my camera and sometimes an extra lens (depending on where we were going). 9) Don't be afraid to splurge on one thing that is awesome. I had this idea that England should be all about castles. But the ones I remembered were from a driving trip I did with my folks as a child, not the fancy schmancy "do NOT touch" ones you find in the cities. And we were spending most of our time in London. But it nagged at me long enough that I investigated online, searching for 'best castles to take kids' and 'try not to miss this in England'. The online folks were brilliant and led me to a very isolated ruined castle that was amazingly intact - Old Wardour Castle. The kids went nuts! The gift shop sold foam swords and the kids spent several hours defending the castle from each other. It was a trip highlight. Further investigation led me to a castle that had been turned into a hotel and was offering a Sunday night April special. We drove (an experience in and of itself) to Stonehenge then to Old Wardour and then to Thornberry Castle where my children slept in the room that King Henry VIII and Anne Boylen stayed in while on Progress. We finished the experience with a stop in Cardiff at the Doctor Who Experience and spent sunset at Oxford. I got some amazing deals, but over all this WAS a splurge. And I think it really made the trip for us all. There ya go! Our travel tips, based on our European adventure.