Adventures with the Many children, Part 3. What works, what doesn't.

There are some things we have learned over our long road trips that make things easier with the masses. I have divided them up into lists here. 

Take it

-Two coolers. We save gobs of money by buying food from Costco and local grocery stores. I get as much already prepared food as possible (soups or bagged salads or bars or sushi rolls!). Have gallon size ziplocks for when the ice melts and you find your butter floating.....

-Audiobooks that we download on Overdrive from our local library FOR FREE and headphone splitters for both rows. We used phones, old phones and iPads for listening devices. Headphones themselves are ridiculously expensive, especially for the littles. We found some comfy $5 ones in the Target dollar section. And when June and Marcus ripped off the jack, I didn't have a heart attack because it was not expensive!

-Brightly colored organizing folder with all confirmation pages printed out and in clear sleeves. This came in handy because there was hardly any phone/internet coverage the entire time, even when it appeared we had a wifi signal. We would have been lost without my trusty itinerary notebook, especially when we drove into Badlands at 8pm, and there was no one to check us in or tell us our site number. 

- I love love love ebags for packing. We use their packing cubes and their TLS Motherlode Weekender and the Junior version of that bag. I can send you a discount code if you are interested. The packing cubes and only having to take 3 suitcase-type bags saved our sanity on this trip. 

- Do laundry along the way and bring your own small container of detergent. We felt we packed light but we still could have packed less because we did laundry a couple times. 

- In the clothing department, I felt like a total genius this time by not giving each kid their own packing cube to rifle through. Instead I put all the long pants in one cube, all the underwear in another, etc. So, this meant that we only had to open a couple packing cubes instead of 5 to get dressed depending on the weather. Loved this. Also, we don't worry about PJs when camping, we just put our kids to bed in what they will wear in the morning. 

-Go shopping for perishables closer to your destination. While I love saving money by bringing coolers full of food, if we have a long day or two of driving to start the trip (like always!) then we do eat fast food along the way so we don't have to deal with coolers at hotels on the road. We wait to do our big grocery shopping until our biggest city near our destination. This time it was Billings and Costco carried local favorites like Huckleberry Jam and Wheat Montana Bakery bread, so that was fun.

- Melatonin. Chewable strawberry so the kids sleep in new locations without a big fight. 

Leave it

- activity books/sticker books and the like. We have found these to be a waste of money and super irritating in how the back seat is COVERED in stickers and half used crumpled books. We did take some pads of paper, markers, etch-a-sketch and a few picture books for the littles. Otherwise, we did audiobooks and occasional movies on the iPad. 

-Heavy Coats/gloves. We bring layers and stick hands in pockets. We brought winter hats and really we should have just made sure each kid had a hoodie for warmth and a cap for sun exposure to eliminate extra stuff. 

-French Press. We brought this and felt dumb because I saw Starbucks Via at Costco on the road and grabbed that instead. Less hassle!

- Fancy "camping food" aluminum foil packets that require lots of chopping. I gave these up a long time ago. I find it waaaaay less work to buy more prepared foods (hello, chicken sausages from Costco) than I normally would so that camping is fun for me and not just meal prep. 

- Leave behind the clothes you don't like for you and your kids. Sounds weird, but vacations are prime time for photos. I know I have some photos from previous vacations where I regret having the one child dressed in ill-fitting stuff or stained, etc, because we love to display these photos. 

Wish we'd had it

- National Park Passport book. We bought these for all the kids this time and I was totally sad we didn't have stamps with dates from all our previous National Park adventures for a keepsake. 

-Binoculars for the kids

-More hydration packs- We liked OGIO better than the kids' camelbak for additional storage and for ease of filling. 

-Hot cocoa in bulk (instead of the expensive 10 packs from the gas station)

- Maps. Not having a 3G or 4G signal meant we were lacking in the map department!

So, there you go. If you have questions, let me know. Big trips with kids CAN be done and are great fun to boot.  

Wild Adventures with Kids, Part 2. Grand Teton National Park.

After three quick nights in Yellowstone, we headed to GTNP to meet up with Andrew's parents for 4 nights. We stayed at Headwaters Campground and RV sites at Flagg Ranch. We made the reservations through Grand Teton, but this place was actually located on the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway that connects the two parks. It was a beautiful area, but I don't think we will stay in this location again. We spent most of our time driving south toward Colter Bay and Jenny Lake. One benefit of Headwaters, though, was the ability to make reservations ahead of time instead of being first come, first served. That was helpful this time, since we had two groups to coordinate.

Hiking buddies at the String Lake picnic area.

Ruth and Byron got to go with Daddy to Colter Bay for a couple evening ranger programs to get signatures for their Junior Ranger badge.

Our first hike was labeled as easy, though Oma and the kids begged to differ. It would have been a pretty easy hike if we weren't busting it to get out of the frigid wind and rain that started up the last mile. This hike was the String Lake loop. I especially wish we could have gone rock-hopping where the bridge crossed between String and Leigh lakes, but the storm was brewing at that point. 

Do you see the rain drops on my lens? It is funny that you can't tell it's raining, but it definitely was!

Our second day, we hiked Polecat Creek in the morning up near Headwaters. It was a beautiful hike, and a bit warmer. 

Polecat Creek hike crosses over a stream that runs off from a hot spring. If you look closely, you can see the stream is actually steaming! It was pretty incredible to lean down to touch the water and find that it felt like a hot tub.

We got them all looking at the camera- yay! Too bad that for 75% of photos Eli refused to smile. Goober.  

Ruth tickled Eli for this photo. Smart girl.  

My favorite place was Colter Bay.  

Another Colter Bay. I think next time, I would choose to stay at Colter Bay as it's in the north part of the park, but much closer to everything than Headwaters. 

We ate dinner at the Colter Bay picnic area. I totally recommend it. 

The Colter Bay picnic area has a trail right down to the beach of Jackson Lake. This was my favorite time in Grand Teton. Marcus has asked to go back several times. 

The kids throw rocks in the water like it's their job. 

We call them "the twins."

This beauty was such a helper. Having she and Byron to help with taking little kids to the bathroom was seriously a massive game-changer on this trip. We really appreciate them. They were rewarded for their efforts by getting to do "big kid" things like the horse ride and secret evening swims at the hotels we stayed at when the little guys went to sleep. 

Andrew and I  got away for an evening while Oma and Opa took care of the kids. (Thanks Oma and Opa!) We took a dinner cruise from Colter Bay to Elk Island in the middle of Jackson Lake. This was the view from right next to our picnic table. 

I highly recommend the dinner cruise. It was so much fun, very informative and the food was incredible, and all cooked outside on Elk Island. This was a highlight for sure. 

On our last day in the park, we drove down the eastern road in the park from the Moran entrance to the Moose entrance. Don't miss this road. It has the BEST view of the Teton Range.

 Then we went to the LSR Preserve. When you read that the parking lot is full by 10 am, heed that warning and arrive EARLY. Unlike other places in the park, there is no extra place you can park there and the road isn't wide enough to pull off and park there. Thankfully, we had some extra drivers (thanks, Opa!) who could sit with the car in line and get a spot when someone left. The benefit of the parking situation is that it eliminates the hoards of people and makes hiking here contemplative and peaceful. Above you see tranquil Phelps Lake, which is 1.3 miles from the visitor center. 

Our brave hikers, who managed to be relatively quiet, in the spirit of the Preserve. Ruth and Byron stayed back for the Interpretive Center with Oma and Opa. 

Fantastic trails at LSR Preserve and you could hear a bubbling brook for some of it, which was delightful.

 The morning we left, Ruth and Byron were sworn in as Junior Rangers in GTNP. We took our time getting to Gillette, WY that day so we could have some time to get clean, swim and relax before the long trek home. We stayed at Holiday Inn Express there and it was the best one I have been in. They catered to kids and were super sweet overall. 

From Gillette, we visited Devil's Tower National Monument, along with about 1000 bikers who were headed to Sturgis for the motorcycle rally. That night, we spent a quick night at Badlands NP in Cedar Pass campground. We will need to go back there to see it more fully,  as it was beautiful. 

This is the last day of the trip. Can you tell? This photo began a very long day driving through South Dakota and Minnesota. 

Wild Adventures with 5 kids, Part 1. Yellowstone NP.

At some point, we decided that having children wasn't going to stop us from going on adventures. We went to Zion National Park when Byron was 3 months old and have tried to keep it up since. It is always crazy and it is always worth it. We have found that the two go together and we must get out there and experience the crazy and stressful to enjoy the beautiful.  Our latest adventure was to Yellowstone NP and Grand Teton NP.  We were in the parks for 7 nights total. It wasn't long enough. Either park could easily take a week or more by itself. Here are the Yellowstone pics and I will share the GTNP pics in the next post.

The Beartooth Highway enters the northeast corner of Yellowstone and was called the most beautiful drive in America by Charles Kuralt. We don't dispute it, though it's awfully hard to choose when America has so very many gorgeous drives. 

Me, on top of the world on the Beartooth Highway, which reaches almost 11,000 feet at its highest point. 

We spotted a group of mountain goats walking in a line, so we parked and hopped out to see them more closely. Doesn't this look like a scene from The Sound of Music?

Someone got a ride from Daddy. June was possibly our least complaining adventurer and hiked many miles like a champ.

Obligatory bison-induced traffic jam photo. Can't leave Yellowstone without one!

We stayed in Grant Village Campground on Loop I, right next to Yellowstone Lake. This was a great loop to stay in as you can access the lakeshore by foot in less than a minute. Grant Village is about an hour drive from both the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Old Faithful. It's also less than an hour to Grand Teton. 

The fantastic thing about kids who wake up early is that you get to explore in the golden hour when few people are awake. Yellowstone and "few people" are not usually in the same sentence, so I cherished my early morning photo walks on the lake. 

Old Faithful Inn, as seen from the boardwalk trail.

Grand Prismatic Spring trail. 

Frog hunting (they did find one!) at Grant Village Campground.

The pelicans were also up early. 

Site 312 in the I loop. This was a great place for our family because we were right next to the bathroom, which made it much easier for littles. 

The three musketeers and I checked out the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone while Daddy took a horse ride with the kids at the Canyon location. 

We found the skies to be absolutely incredible. 

Byron on Casino and Ruth on Cheyenne after their 1 hour trail ride. This was their favorite  part of the trip, along with becoming Junior Rangers and getting their patches.

 We managed to have some relatively quiet moments at a very busy park as you can see in most of the photos. However, here is a great example of what the roads are like if you a) are near the main attractions b) are behind someone who spotted a moose/bison/imaginary animal and stopped in the middle of the road to take photos or c) are caught in construction traffic.