Monday Thrive - August 21

I am trying to get us back into our routine after a couple months of craziness. G went to school every day for a month, then we were gone for a month and now we are trying to find our new groove. I thought I would share some of my traveling tips with a toddler and eating paleo in today's post. 

1) Last year in September I wrote a post about Traveling with a Toddler. I didn't want to be a traveling Gypsy this year, so I wanted to come up with a different way to bring a car seat. Two days before we left I ordered a luggage cart you can find HERE. I wasn't sure if I was going to use it or if I would use my Bob Stroller. I figured if I decided to use my Bob I would return the luggage cart. It was moments before our shuttle picked us up that I decided to leave the Bob at home and use the cart. Best decision!!!! 

I was traveling alone with G. I needed to have my hands free as much as possible. When we got to San Francisco Airport I told G the cart was too heavy and I needed help pulling it. He was really nervous about riding in it. I threw our carry on bags in there, pulled the luggage cart with car seat and my suitcase. I had him right beside me, so I could grab him if necessary. I had looked at the car seat carts which ran $50-$100. I looked at them numerous times online. I just thought they looked like a luggage cart and the they were marking them up because parents buy all this crap we think we need for kids. I am glad I went with a cheaper version. This will work great for us while we travel. We have 2 more trips coming up this year. I also like to bring our car seat on the plane. 

On our flight home G wasn't scared to ride in the car seat. We had an episode of a tantrum in the Denver Airport. I strapped him in there while he was whaling and got to our gate. 

2) Just buy your kid their own tablet! It's a life saver for traveling. We ended up buying him an Amazon Fire Tablet. I am still not sure I am happy with this purchase. I kind of wish we would have just spent the extra money and bought him an Ipad mini. You can download YouTube Kids on the Fire. G loves YouTube kids. If you are only going to let them use it for traveling this is no big deal then. 

I was able to download shows from Amazon Prime and Netflix. Just a helpful tip download the shows the day before you leave. I downloaded some of them and they expired before he could even watch them. Thankfully we realized this on the 1 hour flight. I had some new toy firemen I was able to pull out and save the day. Rookie mistake for downloading shows. :::eyeroll:::

I downloaded a bunch of podcasts for myself. These saved my sanity for the 3 hour flight. You go through a magazine way too fast! I downloaded a bunch of different ones. Jen Hatmaker has a new podcast I just love! I listened to some Dave Ramsey to help me stay on budget and My Favorite Murder. Those girls on My Favorite Murder are crazy. I can only listen to that podcast a little or become paranoid about being murdered. It's very unlikely I will be murdered on a plane, so I felt it was safe to listen on there. I had to then listen to Jen Hatmaker before I got off the plane. lol

3) Pack lots of snacks for everyone!!!! On the way to ND I packed some paleo pizza. Thankfully I packed 3 pieces. G ate one, I dropped one and I got to eat one. I packed the Kids RX bars. I love these! They are the perfect size! I packed G some of his favorite snacks - crackers, pouches, fruit leather, nuts. I usually pack a big bag of nuts. Both of really like them. 

I always pack a reusable water bottle for both G & me in our carry on bags. Once we are through security I find a place to fill them up. This saves you about $5-10 bucks. It's ridiculous what they charge for water in the airport. I did end up buying us a soda water on the plane to share. G was very excited about the juice. He thinks soda water is juice and I am just going to let him continue thinking that. =)  

You can usually find a salad in the airport. I have gotten a side salad from McDonald's skipping the dressing. Quizno's had a salad that I just had them skip the dressing that seemed to be paleo approved. I do the best I can when I am traveling. If I end up with a little sugar in a dressing I let it go. I can't eat dairy at all, so I always skip anything that might have dairy. 

4) Dress in comfortable clothes and layers! Why is take off so hot and when you are in the sky it is so cold? I am usually sitting in the airplane sweating like crazy before we take off. Then we get in the sky and I am shivering because it is so cold.  I wore some looser fitting boyfriend jeans, tshirt, jacket and converse. I need something that I don't need to be adjusting and tugging on. 

I dress G in usually one of his favorite shirts. It helps getting dressed early in the AM. It also can be a conversation we can have while waiting. What is on your shirt, what color is that, etc? I also put on easy shoes for him. As soon as he is strapped in his seat I take his shoes off and put them in one of the bags. He is known for kicking his shoes off right away. I just take them off, so they don't get lost. 

5) I packed a rollerball with lavender this year! This was a great thing. I would roll some on the bottom of G's feet and the back of my neck. It really helped us stay relaxed. Early mornings, cramped space, and long travel days do not mix well with a toddler. Thankfully he slept for 3 hours on the first flight. Then we had a FOUR hour layover. It was either a four hour layover or an over night layover. I picked the 4 hour one! While I love Frontier's prices I do not like their flying times 90% of the time. We also don't have many options that fly into ND. 

When we would get on the plane I would roll some lavender on us. When we got to Denver I had him run as much as possible. We went up and down the moving walk ways. Up and down the escalators. He walked around looking at different planes. Whatever we could do to get out some energy. Using the tablet is not an option once we have landed. I will give him toys to play with while we watch planes. 

G really did well! He has been on planes often, so he knows the drill. It is getting easier now that is older too. A lot less to pack. No diapers or bottles. Smaller toys. 

I hope everyone has a fabulous Monday!