A trip to Hawaii means a trip to Kilauea National Park to see the ever changing volcano and its surrounding landscape.  When we booked our tickets to Hawaii, we knew this would be at the top of our list and that we specifically wanted to hike the trail that would allow us to get within about ½ mile of the point where the active lava was spilling into the sea.   Traveling with three children five and under didn’t even factor into our decision making-we wanted to see the best of what the National Park had to offer and so we proceeded to the head of the trail and stopped to talk with the Ranger about our destination.

Never before have I been given such a head to toe inspection.  He looked at our feet (we were wearing sandals) and then he looked at that baby on my hip, and then he looked back at our feet again.  Then, I think he recounted the three small children just to make sure he hadn’t misunderstood. 

Then, he spoke and when he did, he didn’t even bother hiding his disdain.  “It’s a 2 ½ mile hike.  You are never going to make it!”  I smiled and nodded and thanked him profusely (because that’s what proper Southern women do) and I marched off in the direction of the hike I was never going to make.

If I was to look at our motley crew from an outsider’s perspective; I would have probably come to the same conclusion.  Sure, we looked unprepared.  We weren’t wearing hiking footwear, and it didn’t look like we had enough water.  At least we were wearing sunscreen, but he didn’t know that.    But, I think Mr. Doubting Ranger would have overlooked all of that if it hadn’t been for the children.  Adding the children pushed us from naively ill-prepared to handicapped.   Hmmmph!  How dare he underestimate me and my children?  He didn’t even know us!

With a smile on my face (and a righteous indignation to drive me forward), I looked at my two small hikers and the precious baby on my hip and reminded myself that there was a lesson to be learned and I was going to be the one choosing the lesson, not Mr. Ranger.  “Let’s go kids,” I declared without a moment’s hesitation. “It’s going to be a long walk, but I believe that we can do it.  We came all the way across the ocean to see where the lava meets the sea and I don’t want us to miss it!”

They didn’t need convincing, of course.  There is nothing better if you are a little boy than scrambling over the hills and valleys of hardened, black lava.  And it was a long walk, but it was a fun walk.  Whenever we grew tired, we stopped to check out the little pools that had filled with water in the lava or we reached down and ran our fingers over the texture in the rocks.   Little by little, one step at a time, we made it to the end of the trail that was, by outward appearances, impossible for our group.   As the sound of boiling lava hitting the cold water as a backdrop, I looked at the accomplishment on my kids’ faces and couldn’t have been more proud.

With the heroine and three little heroes (and that guy we brought along to take our picture) staring off into the picturesque view having vanquished our villains, you would think this would be the perfect place to end the story.  But, it gets better-and it gets better in a way that even Hollywood couldn’t write.

On our way out of the park we stopped at the Pu'u Loa Petroglyph Trail.  We hadn’t planned this as part of our day, but the lure of seeing petroglyphs at least suggested that we stop and examine closer.  A sign at the head of the trail warned that the trail would by a 2 mile round trip hike over rough, hardened lava.   The adults of the group were hemming and hawing over whether another hike was really worth it.  We had already proved ourselves on the first hike, and really weren’t feeling the need for bonus points. 

Our indecision was interrupted by the sage and insistent words of our five year old son.  “What are you waiting for?” he demanded incredulously.  “We’re not going to quit now.  We are not a family of quitters!”  And with that he turned on his heels and began marching his way to the end of the trail, a born leader at such a tender age.  I’m not sure he even knew why he was walking down that trail.  He only knew that it was another path to be conquered and his family could conquer it. 

I think my feet practically floated over that two mile trail. So often parenting is a wait and see kind of game.  You sweat and toil to teach your children the lessons you want them to learn and hope that someday you get to glimpse the fruits of your labor.  Instant gratification is not a part of the parenting grind; it is instead a game of planting the seeds of positive lessons and hoping they don’t turn into big fat weeds in the future. 

But on that lava trail, I had a shining parenting moment in which I got to see the seeds of perseverance I had planted just moments before blossom before my very eyes.   The petroglyphs at the end of the trail were a great reward for our hard work, but the lessons our little family learned that day were the true treasure.

~Today I am linking up with Budget Travelers Sandbox and R We There Yet Mom?

“I’ve never seen this time of day before.  So, this is what sunrise looks like!”

“72 degree water.  That’s warm, right?”

“I love the slimming properties of this wetsuit.  I wonder if I could get away with wearing one of these all the time.”

“Do manatees bite?”

These were my pre-dawn thoughts as I rode out into the Crystal River aboard the River Ventures Manatee tours in Crystal River, Florida.  My nine year old son and nine other intrepid, coffee-laden snorkelers had risen early enough to catch the 6:15 boat into the spring fed river that is home to the West Indian manatees.  At a constant 72 degrees, the water temperature is the perfect habitat for the tropic loving giants and an equally welcoming atmosphere for travelers who want a chance to get up close and personal with the cows of the sea.

Snorkeling tours are available from a host of boats along the river, but we chose River Ventures because their price included all the necessary gear, plus continental breakfast and their photo packages of the tour were reasonably priced at an additional $15.95.

Our day began with a mandatory film that instructed us on proper manatee interaction and then we were quickly ushered into our wetsuits and headed out for a short van ride to the river.  Once on the boat, it was a slow ride into the channel as we watch a gorgeous sunrise and learned more about the creatures we would have the privilege of swimming among.  The slow ride also gave me a chance to worry wonder about any difficulties we might have with the trip. 

I was curious as to how Evan would take to snorkeling.  He is notoriously awesome at just about everything he tries, but I still wondered if he would need help and if I would be able to help him.  I am notorious lousy at buoyancy when scuba diving or snorkeling (which they tell me indicates a low percentage of body fat, but I have plenty of physical evidence to the contrary), so I was concerned about how to deal with that.   My biggest thought was about how cold the water would be and how much of a baby I would look like when my teeth started chattering.  I had a fleeting thought about accidentally running into a creature the size of a small car, but I pushed that to the back of my mind and took the now or never jump into the water.

Our first manatee sighting was in the shallow water, which was murky and I immediately had difficulty with floating.  At least the water was warm, as advertised.  Evan was easily able to navigate the water with a pool noodle to keep him afloat and I needn’t have worried about his experience, as Larry the Captain took care of him and made sure he had a fabulous experience.  This manatee was sleeping in the shallows, and judging from the layer of moss on her back, she had been sleeping there for some time.   The sleeping pose allowed us plenty of time to float over her and stroke her back, but we quickly returned to the boat to head for clearer water.

Normally, the manatees make their presence known with only a nostril peeking out of the water for a breath, but our next sighting was a huge gray back that arched above the surface of the water near the edge of river.  Manatees need to eat 10% of their body weight every day, so they are often found along the edges of river munching on the grass.  Once in the water, we learned why the manatee  was munching so intently at the edges-she was over 2000 pounds and the largest manatee our guide had ever seen.  As she contented munched away, we were able to get a good look at her, and since I have no semblance of pride, I also used a pool noodle on this trip and had much better buoyancy.    While the grownups stayed at a distance, Evan swam up and had an intimate encounter with the massive creature and came up beaming from ear to ear under his snorkel mask.

Because we were able to find manatees so quickly, we had time to swim down Three Sisters Spring, which our guide promised would be just as exciting as meeting the manatees.  The spring was crystal clear with excellent visibility, giving us plenty of chances to see fishes, crabs, and even a red bellied turtle.   Our captain was again an invaluable resource, as he snapped pictures and found creatures for us to check out up close.  The spring was such a relaxing location, with the early morning light hitting the bald cypresses that dripped with Spanish moss, but soon numb fingers and toes won out over serenely floating along in the water. 

The three hour tour seemed to end almost as quickly as it had begun, and none of my pre-dawn worries made a dent in the magic of the morning.  As we putted back to the shore, I wondered again if the 4:45 wake up call, the rented wetsuit, and the blue fingers were worth it.  For a chance to go snorkel mask to nuzzle with a gentle giant-absolutely!

True confession time: Even though I am a huge proponent of family travel there is always a day in the traveling process where I inwardly rant that it is just not worth it and it would be better to stay home.  Any guesses on which day pushes me to my traveling breaking point?  It’s not the day that everyone wakes up way to early from jet lag or the day that the kids meltdown at dinner from too much stimulation.  It’s the day (or hours) right before we leave-the day affectionately known in our house as the “Mom’s acting crazy, she must be packing” day. 

Packing, especially with a larger family, is such a frenzied affair that it is the day that I definitely have to power through with positive affirmations and promises of chocolate to make traveling possible for our family.  I have learned that it isn’t the packing that causes me trouble, but the gathering of things from all over the house.  To minimize the frustration (and not max out the supply of chocolate before the end of the day), I have developed a system to cut down on the packing time and get us onto the traveling fun.

1. Pack from the Laundry. This is the fastest way I have found to get four kids clothes into suitcases in the quickest time.  The key to making this work is to let the laundry pile up until everyone is wearing the ripped up pajama bottoms and last year’s baseball jersey.  This laundry slacktivity is a regular occurrence in our house whether we are traveling or not, so it is easy to just wash all the laundry at once and then pull from the laundry pile to fill the suitcases and save the trouble of going to each closet to grab clothes.  I’ve been known to do the washing machine to suitcase duty days before we actually leave to be sure that everything is clean and ready to go on travel day.
2. Keep a toiletry bag packed.  Duplicate toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, etc are kept in a small travel bag that can be grabbed and thrown into the suitcase quickly. As a bonus, there is much less of the “oops I forgot” syndrome using this method. We also keep a small first aid kit stocked with all our medical needs packed and ready to be thrown into the suitcase, as well.
3. Keep a stash of travel ready games and toys. All of our favorite airplane and car games and toys are stored in a large bin in my laundry room.  I regularly add dollar store purchase, clearance items, and party favors from birthday parties to the bin to add to the collection.  When it is time to travel, I can go right to the bin and fill up the busy bag with our old standbys and some new fun for the trip.
4. Create a reusable master packing list. I got this idea from my son’s scout camping preparations.  He created a master packing list that he can use to help him remember what he needs for each campout and refers to it to be sure he doesn’t forget anything.   Now that my kids are older, I can give them a list and let them help gather the things that we need to pack.  Ideally, I would like to create a customizable, laminated list to give to each child and circle the items needed for that trip with a dry erase marker.  Of course, this is one of those best of intention ideas, but as soon as I get caught up on the laundry, it will be the next thing on the list.

How about you?  Do you have any tips to make packing smoother and easier?  Be sure to share them in the comments.  If you have your own travel tips that make traveling easier, link them up below with Travel Tips Tuesday and happy travels.

“Shh…Don’t move.  Did you hear that?”

“What?”

“Over there in the bushes.  Did you hear something?”

“Whew, it’s just a family of triceratops….”

“Being chased by a Tyrannosaurus Rex”

“Ruuuuuuuuuunnnnnnn!!!!”

This was the little production I was treated to as we spent a cool, sunny afternoon at Dinosaur World in Glen Rose.   Although it was all fun and games for the kids, I was on a mission.  I had been working on an article for a local magazine about visiting Dinosaur World and the press photos they had offered us just weren’t working for the layout.  The kids had been begging to check out Dinosaur World, so it seemed like a good opportunity to let them enjoy the prehistoric fun while I tried to snap a magazine worthy photo.  I didn’t have high hopes, though.  I’m not a professional photographer, but at least wanted to see if I could practice my photo taking skills.

We have driven past Dinosaur World several times on our way to Dinosaur Valley State Park (where you can walk in the footprints of a dinosaur), and the larger than life sculptures always catch the kids attention.  I have always played down the excitement of this attraction, thinking it looked a little too touristy and a lot too cheesy to really offer enough entertainment.  I am happy to admit that I was wrong.  Well, I do think it is still a bit cheesy and touristy, but the kids loved every minute of it and can’t wait to get back. 

The main attraction is over 100 species of dinosaurs arranged in groups in the natural vegetation along a tree lined path.  With life sized sculptures waiting around every corner, it is easy to see how the kids could create an imaginary game of “When Dinosaurs Attack.”  As the performance escalated to Jurassic Park proportions, I snapped pictures, hoping for a perfectly lit composition.  The harsh, overhead sunlight created shadows along the path and on the sculptures that seemed determined to ruin my photo shoot, but I kept on shooting.  What I lacked in skill, I definitely made up for in volume.

At the end of the path, the kids dove into the fossil digging area and discovered shark’s teeth and fossils.  They were allowed to keep three of their finds and they spent a good deal of time choosing the best specimens from the dig.  For a second time, I really didn’t think this activity would keep their interest long, but I was again proven wrong.  Lesson learned: don’t judge a kid’s activity from an adult’s perspective.

In keeping with the twilight zone of my underestimation of Dinosaur World, the small, dimly-lit museum that served as our last stop ,had a quite an impressive collection.  Each of the kids found a specimen that impressed them and made them want to learn more.  One of my kids even exclaimed, “I’ve wanted to see one of these my whole life!”  You can’t ask more of a museum than that.

At the end of the day, the kids had some great souvenirs and plenty of stories to tell about their treacherous walk through the prehistoric past, while I had a card full of pictures and the hope that one of them would pass inspection and fit the layout.   I sent the best ones over to the editor, but I didn’t mention that they were photos that I had taken just in case my fears of photo inadequacy were actually founded.    Imagine my delight when I got the layout from the editor, and one of my photos was featured.  When I was asked to provide the photo credits for each photo, I was thrilled to give my name as the credit for my first photo in print.

In the end, Dinosaur World turned out to be full unexpected fun and surprises, and a few life lessons.    It will always be remembered as the place where my kids got to skip and play along a path lined with prehistoric pals, and I learned that you can’t judge an attraction by its cheesy entrance, and I snapped a photo that became my very first published image.

~ Dinosaur World provide my family with complimentary tickets.  They did not require that I express a particular viewpoint and all opinions are my own!

Today I am linking up with Budget Travelers Sandbox and R We There Yet Mom?

I have a little speech that I give to my kids whenever we gear up to go somewhere, be it a local outing or a trip around the world.  It goes something like this: “Please remember you are representing your family today.  Please act in a way that reflects positively on the choices we have made.”  Of course those lofty words are really just code for, “please fight your natural tendency to behave like punks, don’t embarrass me, and for the love of all things good, don’t act like one of “those people.”  

You know “those people” right?  They are the people whose toddler won’t buckle up when it’s time for the airplane to take off or whose preschooler kicks the seat in front of them non-stop.  They are the people whose kids act like they’ve got an IV sugar drip at the nice restaurant and interrupt the tour because they won’t stop running and touching things.  Those are the people that other people complain about when they say that children should be kept off planes and out of restaurants and away from anything that aren’t brightly colored with a cartoon character mascot. 

We definitely don’t want to be “those people” and so I give my little speech in hopes of sending my children out into the traveling world as little ambassadors.  If you read any of the articles (and the comments that follow*) around the interwebs about kicking kids off planes and out of restaurants, you will see that the kid hating party line is that they don’t mind kids as long as they are well behaved kids.   So, I have shouldered the heavy burden of doing my dead level best to be sure my kids were well behaved  in every restaurant, airport, airplane, and tourist attraction in hopes of convincing these curmudgeons that kids can participate positively in any activity.

*Read at your own risk.  Comments may cause disillusionment and overall horror at the state of the world and the heartless people who live in it.

I have always believed that if we (and other traveling families like us) continue to represent families in a positive light that we will be able to convince the world that kids are worthy of spot in the world.  But this week I had to face the facts: I was wrong.  No matter how hard we try or how many well behaved children exist, there are always going to be people who hate children just because they are children.  

This revelation smacked me in the face this week when we toured a cave in the Hill Country with a couple from Seattle who couldn’t have been more disgusted that they allowed children to take the tour along with them.   They huffed and puffed when my kids so much as dared to ask a question and they visibly bristled and rolled their eyes when my kids came anywhere near them.  Ironically, the man of the pair had to be repeatedly reminded by the tour guide that he needed to stay with the tour, while my kids couldn’t have been better behaved.  For a while, I was watching my kids like a hawk to see what it was about their behavior that was so troublesome to this pair, but then I realized it wasn’t my kids, it was these people.   No matter how my kids behaved (even when they behaved better than said adults) they were already tried and convicted on the charges of being too young to be a part of the world.

That somber realization in the cave made me start to think about how American society responds to children and their place in the world.   The more I brooded over my cave experience, the more my head just wanted to burst with the frustration-and that frustration spilled over onto the page.  Consider this my open letter to the kind-hearted strangers and the kid haters and everyone in between.

To those who smile and coo at my little ones and give me knowing glances of kindness when I travel with my brood: thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Your generosity and silent encouragement makes it possible for me to continue to try to show my children the world when I know the kid haters are around every corner. 

To those who openly declare that children are tolerable as long as they are of the well behaved variety: thank you for at least keeping your cringes to yourself when I board the plane with my parade of children.  Thank you for judging children on a case by case basis and giving us the opportunity to prove that there are many children who can and will behave respectfully in public.  It is my true desire not to disturb your flight, your meal, or your overall world and if we happen to make a childish mistake, no one will feel more horrible than me. 

To those of you truly hate children-who despise them simply because of their smaller stature and fewer years: I could remind you that you were once a child yourself.  I could try to be poetic and suggest that children are the only material we have found so far from which to make adults.  I could even offer you a song about the children being the future and treating them well. But none of those platitudes would likely sway your Grinch-sized hearts and your closed- minded age discrimination. 

Instead, I offer you this sobering truth.  These children, the ones that “ruin” your grocery store trips and your plane rides and your overall existence on earth, will come into acceptable adult years about the time you enter elderly status.  They will be the policemen who pull you over when you are too senile to drive, but still value your independence.  They will be the doctors and nurses who administer your end of life care and determine if you end your time on this planet with respect.  They will be the strangers upon whom you depend to bring you meals and clean your homes when you are no longer capable of caring for yourself.  They will be the countless, nameless faces who will hold doors for you and are forced to shuffle slowly behind you when your body can no longer move at normal pace. 

When these children are adults, it is my sincere hope that someone taught them to treat everyone, regardless of age with respect and concern.   Hopefully, along the way they learned that the way that we treat the “least” in our society directly reflects on the overall good in our society.  I know that even these thoughts probably won’t sway your opinion, because you don’t consider yourself to be the in the “least” category.  But you will be.  Some day.

Travel has become such a regular part of our family life that the kids have come to view the next big trip as a rather mundane occurrence.    Often when we pile in the car they don’t even bother asking where we are headed, figuring they should use the travel time (and relaxed rules) to log as many Nintendo hours as possible before we arrive.  This penchant has allowed us to pull off some pretty big traveling surprises in the past, but it also takes away from the magic of anticipating the trip along with the kids and watching them get giddy with excitement. Come on kids!  Sometime your parents need a little giddiness!

A fortunate string of trips on the horizon has given me the opportunity to spend a few days on a vacation with just one of my kids at a time.  Talk about giddy?  I am practically over the moon at the thought of having one on one time with each of my kids.  I am so used to dealing with them as a mob in constant motion that focused time with each individual is something to be treasured. 

Can you guess from these pictures where we are headed?

With my excitement so high, I wanted to pass on the excitement to each of them, so that we could anticipate the upcoming trips together.  Since they had no idea that there were even trips on the horizon, it was easy to pull off a surprise.  For each child (and trip) I searched the house for items that would give clues to our destination.  In some cases, I had to go out and spend a few dollars to get a special clue item, but for the most part, I was able to find everything at home.  I assembled all the items in a cheap bag, along with a calendar that marked the date of the trip and presented the bag of clues. 

Wait for it…wait for it…

It was so exciting to watch them pull the clues out one by one and watch as they puzzled through the confusion of what all these items had in common. Then, there was the moment of clarity and sheer excitement as they realized that the items were all connected and led to a special trip.  It was a priceless moment that set the tone for the excitement to come.

This pre-trip fun added so much to the thrill for me that I am already planning other ways I can surprise the kids with trips in the future.  I am even thinking that I could make a regular educational field trip look pretty special if I presented with the right panache. 

1. A Box of Balloons: This would work especially well if the trip was a part of a holiday or birthday celebration.  Attach words or pictures to the streamers of helium balloons that give clues about the upcoming trip.  Wrap the balloons in a box so that when the box is opened the balloons float to the ceiling and reveal the trip.   It’s a double surprise as the balloons pop into the air and reveals the fun to come.
2. A Scavenger Hunt: Similar to my bags of clues, clues could be hidden around the house and collected to expose the upcoming surprise.    
3. Surprise on a String: Tie a trip themed package to one end of a ribbon and anchor it to a specific point in your house or yard.  Back out of the room, laying the ribbon along with you as a trail to the trip surprise.  Offer the other end to your child and let the follow the trail to the fun.
4. Check the Mail: Kids love getting mail and will love it even more if they find an “invitation” to an upcoming trip addressed just to them.  You could even get super creative with this option, and have Mickey Mouse send a letter inviting your kids to Disney World, or create a message in a bottle for a beach vacation.
5. Theme Time: Plan an evening of fun centered on the theme of your trip and do the big reveal at the end of the evening if the kids haven’t caught on already.  Planning a trip to Hawaii could involve a pineapple and macademia nut snack with a viewing of Lilo and Stitch.  A ski vacation could include hot chocolate and an indoor “snow” ball fight with crumpled paper.   Use the theme to plan games, snacks and entertainment and have the tickets to your destination as your final surprise.

Have you ever surprised your kids with a trip?  Share your best surprises in the comments. Don't forget-today is Travel Tips Tuesday.  Link up your best travel tips below!

It’s unclear whether I was just passing notes during these lessons in middle school, or perhaps my internal GPS chip was somehow dislodged during a hair teasing incident circa 1985.  Whatever the reason, I am stuck with a bit of directional dyslexia.  Normally, this wouldn’t be a life altering problem, but I was born to be a traveler, and a travel planner.   Part of my job as the master of the traveling schedule is to plan an efficient itinerary that groups destinations into a logical geographical order.   Most of the time, I rely on a combination of crossed fingers and dumb luck to do this task, but that backfires often enough that I began searching for a more reliable planning tool.

On a recent road trip to Houston, we were really packing in the stops and I felt we were spending way more time than necessary criss-crossing the city.   I mused aloud that what I really wanted was a program that I could plug addresses into and it would spit out a map showing me which locations would be grouped together.   A quick Google (and let us pause here for a moment to pay homage to the great Google) led me to Multiplottr. 

I am in love.  Usually technology leaves me cold, but this program does everything I want and then some.  Plus, it user friendly and intuitive-an important feature for me as my tech skills rank just slightly above my map reading skills. 

Let me show you how it works.   Start with a list of addresses that you want to visit and plug them into the address batch filter.  At the same time you can add a description for each address, which will help you to identify them once they are in your map.  You might also want to group your addresses into categories like restaurants, must-sees, museums, etc.  Later on you can filter your map by category if you choose.   You can even change the color of the marker for each category if you’d like an extra fancy map.

Once you have plugged in all your addresses, you create your map and start planning.  Thanks to this little color coded wonder, you can easily see which attractions and restaurants are geographically close and plan your days accordingly. 

The program is free to use (although a donation is accepted and deserved, in my opinion), but you do have to sign up for an account to save your maps.   Maps can be exported to Google maps and can even be converted into HTML so that you can upload them to a website.   Best of all, your planning will be much easier, and you kiss your map reading woes goodbye.

Looking for more great tech traveling apps?  Check out these travel blogger favorites!

Trip Doc from Debbie Dubrow at Delicious Baby is a great I-Phone app that has similar capabilities as Multiplottr.

Traci Suppa at Go Big or Go Home shares her reviews of the best travel apps at App Smitten

For great photo apps, check out Keryn's suggestions for photos on the go at Walkingon Travels.

Today’s life lesson: if you are going to decide that you don’t really enjoy climbing, sweating, and the general hiking experience, decide this before you find yourself half way into a 425 foot climb to the summit of a giant rock.   Halfway in, you either have to openly admit that you are a wimp and don’t really care if you make it to the top, or you will have to continue to climb so that you can save face in front of your three young children who don’t understand why mom has to stop to “take a picture” every ten feet. 

This was my predicament about 200 feet into the half mile climb up Enchanted Rock, a dome of pink granite that rises 425 feet above the landscape of the Texas Hill country outside Fredericksburg, TX.  At our base camp (because as far as I am concerned, this was my Everest), I had already given my pep talk about how accomplishing difficult tasks makes us stronger and spurred the troops on with the promise of the sense of pride we would feel at the top.  

Mid-way through, the kids were running-yes actually running-up the steepest part of the rock, while I didn’t give three figs if I ever made it to the top as long as my lungs didn’t collapse.  Phooey on all that inspirational talk-somebody get me a rescue chopper!

In the end, I did make it to the top.  It could have been the fear that if the boys made it up to the top with too much unsupervised time, they might use the lone tree up there as some kind of human slingshot.  It’s possible that it was that sense of pride that spurred me on-not the personal pride that comes from accomplishment, but the pride that won’t allow a parent to be bested by their kids. I can’t show my weakness now!  I still have to make it through the teen years!

Tips for Wimps Climbing Enchanted Rock

1. Check the weather.    Any temperatures over 90 degrees would likely make the climb slower and more brutal.   If you are already feeling wimpy, you don’t want to add heat to the equation.  Be on the lookout for rain, as well.  The rock is quite steep and will be very slippery if wet.

2. Bring along plenty of water-at least one quart per person.  Rehydrate often.

3. Purchase the trail guide at the information desk for a dollar.  Not only will you learn something along the way, but it will give you a chance to pause and read without looking like you are actually resting.

4. Go early in the morning.  The rock is huge, but parking is limited.  When the parking lot is full, the gates close until more spots are available.  Waits can be up to two hours, and nothing makes you feel wimpy like idling in a hot car for hours. 

5. To avoid the lines, consider entering the park from the North (coming from Llano) rather than the South (coming from Fredericksburg).  The lines are much shorter from the North.

6. Explore once you get to the top.  You may be tempted just to start your descent, but there are caves and other interesting outcroppings that are worth a look before you start down.

7. Be wimpy, but make the climb anyway.  The climb is steep, but short enough that it is a good starter climb for young kids and wimpy moms.   It was about a little over an hour round trip climb, and that was with plenty of breaks for whining and breathe-catching.  It is a very doable hike, really.

Enchanted Rock has some pretty great history and folklore, but I am too out of breath to tell it to you.  Check out R We There Yet Mom for the story of a family who doesn’t whine their way to the top.

~I'm linking up with Budget Travelers Sandbox, R We There Yet Mom, and Delicious Baby~

Welcome to Travel Tips Tuesday!  With summer on the horizon, I'm reminscing about our trip aboard the inagural cruise of the Carnival Magic.  It was a trip of firsts, with a new ship in its new home port of Galveston, TX, but it was also our first time aboard a cruise ship as a family.  I have admitted before that I was skeptical that we would enjoy a cruise, but the Carnival Magic, with its ultra-family friendly appeal, made me a believer in the magic. 

As it was our first cruise, I wasn't as prepared as I usually like to be, but now I know that there are certain tips that help make the time aboard the Magic smooth sailing.

1. Pack a carryon bag that includes your swimwear.  As soon as the kids see the waterpark, they are going to want to make a splash and you won’t want to wait for your luggage to arrive.

2. Bring along a refillable water bottle, so that you can fill it with water or tea or lemonade from the cafeteria.

3. Instruct your kids to meet you at your muster station should they get separated from you during your voyage. (Kids will be given wristbands that list their muster station, so they can easily ask for directions if they don’t know the way or can’t remember the location.)

4. Choose a section of the dining area to serve as your family meeting place when you are dining.  It is easy to get separated when you spread out to find food, and so much of the dining room looks that it is easy to get turned around. 

5. Take advantage of the time in port to try out the Sports Square.  At sea, the wind often gets high enough that the course must close and you will want to play in the square as much as possible.

6. If you have a lot of electronic gear, you might want to bring a splitter for your outlets.  A extension cord might come in handy, as well.

7. Take some time to study the map and find your way around.  Help your kids orient themselves to the forward and aft and make sure you notice if your room is on the odd or even side.

8. Avoid the glass elevators on Embarkation Day.  Yes, they are very pretty, and also very slow with everyone wanting to take a ride.  Save it for the next day and you won’t have to wait.

9. Check out Camp Carnival and fill out any necessary paperwork so that your kids are ready to party.

10. Bring along a highlighter so that you can keep track of the activities you don’t want to miss in your daily program.

Got Tips?  Join the fun and link your best travel tips below!  This week I will be traveling during Travel Tips Tuesday and Keryn at Walkingon Travels will hopefully be getting some baby snuggles with her new little one, so help us out by visiting a few of these great travel sites to comment, stumble, tweet and like.  Here's hoping you make a few new friends and learn some great travel tips in the process. 

~Tuesday is twice as nice! I'm also linking up with Top Ten Tuesday at Many Little Blessings.~

Weeds.  Well, it’s not just the weeds; it’s what the weeds represent.  And it’s also the weeds.  And the leaky toilet.  And the cluttered garage.  These are the things that we would normally do on the weekends and during our time off work, except instead we travel.   Most of the time, these are things that we can move to the back burner, but when an impenetrable forest threatens to take over your backyard, something has to be done.  I’m thinking machete or blowtorch.  It’s serious, folks.

Those weeds (and the other tasks they represent) are a living, yard consuming reminder that there is a cost to travel that doesn’t involve dollars and cents.  They also offer an answer to question we are often asked in conjunction with our travels- “How do you do it all?”

Easy answer.  We don’t.  It’s just not possible, and who would really want to do it all anyway?  We sacrifice the things that don’t really matter to us, for the things that we want the most. 

The weeds still seem to bother some people, though.  They just can’t wrap their mind around how we can let those typical tasks get left behind.  “Don’t you have a ‘to do’ list?” is a typical question.

Easy answer again.  We do.  Our ‘to do’ list just doesn’t have the standard bullet points.  Instead, it lists things like dip our toes in all the oceans of the world and see the seven wonders and make precious memories with our kids.  With a list like that, weeds just can’t compete.