Traveling is different with kids
For as long as I can remember, I have always traveled somewhere. I mean anywhere driving around Denver and maybe further outside of the metro area, all the way to hopping on a plane to NYC. I had a family that loved to travel. It helped to have a father in the airline industry and a grandmother that loved to shop. I can remember flying to the Virgin Islands, going to visit my aunt in Atlanta, my Senior class trip to Disneyworld, sightseeing in Utah before my boyfriend played football and then came my little ones. While traveling has changed slightly, I have enjoyed seeing their faces light up when we surprised them with trips to Vegas, Cabo, Hawaii, and Texas. While it is 100 times harder to pack for 5 people than it is for 2, the endgame is always what makes it all so worth it. As 2025 sets itself on the horizon, my family is hoping to make it to Taiwan in the summer and Spain in the fall. Maybe there will be other stops along the way and I hope there will be many more memories to reflect on.
2024 took us to Hawaii to start off the new year. My boys thought they were vloggers/content creators and had a vision to document the entire trip. My husband got all 3 of them set up with GoPros and all the accessories only for him and I to be the main ones recording. We loved Oahu. So much so that we even considered how we could stay there or have a summer home there.
June took us on our first family cruise. As scared as I was, I ended up wishing that every vacation going forward was a cruise. It was short but sweet. The boys got to experience being on a ship and exploring the Bahamas. Themed nights were a blast, eating pizza at 2 in the morning was amazing, rock climbing while floating on the middle of the ocean was insane, getting a massage and feeling like I was going to lose my dinner was not pleasant but getting that time with all of my boys was something I will always cherish.
Later in June we took a road trip to South Dakota. Our boys had the opportunity to travel for swimming and get their first experience of swimming outside. I ended up liking South Dakota more than I ever imagined. We visited Mount Rushmore and could not see a thing through the thick fog, we explored Bear Country and loved being surrounded by incredible wildlife, we spent hours at Crazy Horse and looking at so many beautiful pieces of beadwork. It was trip that I am so glad that we took and got to cram so many different sites into one weekend.
We got to take a couple weekend trips as well. I had never been to Estes Park and then realized how much I had missed out on. We tried the biggest pizza I had ever laid eyes on and enjoyed every single person staring at us. We took in the infamous Elk roaming the streets so carefree. Our airbnb had the most amazing view of the mountains and a small lake nearby. Our boys got to go on the obstacle course, play in the arcade, visit The Stanley Hotel, roam an outdoor festival and slide down a mountain.
September rolled around and we went on another adventure to Idaho Springs. Before we could even make it out of our driveway our youngest had flipped off the trampoline and broken his foot. There is no experience like your child breaking their first bone. We had successfully made it to 3 children before the youngest, wildest one managed to be the first one of the brothers to break something. Dad took care of the Urgent Care visit and getting the boot put on and decided he would just carry our boy around everywhere. What a trip. We still managed to go on a gold mine tour, we had to skip our plans to hit the hot springs and go fishing. Maybe in the future we can do all the things we thought we might get to do that go round.