Travelling As a Family

We love holidays around our house! We just returned from an awesome Easter long weekend in Scottsdale. The boys love it there. We lived there for 4 years when Jason played hockey for the Coyotes, so it’s been a big part of our lives. We usually head out of town for the Easter long weekend, and it’s kind of the kick-off for the spring and summer season (even though it doesn’t feel like it with all this snow) when we do the majority of our family road trips and getaways as a family. We spent our Easter long weekend with friends, playing outside, swimming a ton, and Jason and Easton caught a baseball game.

This last trip down to Scottsdale got me thinking about how we’ve become so organized for family trips over the last few years. We’ve done a fair bit of travelling and moving as a family, and I’ve honed my travel skills to make sure the kids have fun while they’re away from home, and that Jason and I get to carve out some time to relax together, too. I thought I’d share some of my hacks for making travelling as a family as fun and carefree as possible:

Keeping up traditions

The boys still believe in all the magic of holidays like Easter and Christmas, which is so cute. We love watching their eyes light up, and we know these days are numbered so we like to take advantage! Whenever we head out of town for holidays, we make sure to maintain some of the same traditions no matter where we go. Usually for Easter, one of my friends will stay at our house and dog sit, and I task them with the job of Easter bunny, making sure they hide eggs and baskets around the house so there’s a surprise waiting for the boys when we get home. The bunny never forgets them! The boys love coming home to it and it’s important to us to keep building these family traditions. This year, Brijet was prepared and bought special treats for the boys to have when they woke up at her house on Easter morning!

Pack rat

With all the packing I’ve done over the year, I’ve become a pro. My favourite trick right now is to use packing cubes. I ordered these on Amazon and I love them. They help keep us organized when I’ve got clothes for myself and the boys in one suitcase. It’s nice to put all of our clothes in different colour cubes, and it’s one less thing to deal with when we arrive, meaning we’re that much closer to hanging out by the pool.

Familiar faces (and feasts!)

Whenever we go to Scottsdale, we usually stay with a former teammate and family while we’re there. We prefer being close to friends + family rather than at a hotel or resort, and staying with them allows us to get a few more visits in throughout the year.

In keeping with traditions, no matter where we are I like to make sure we have family meals at home. I don't love to cook, but somehow I still manage to make a mean turkey dinner during the holidays, and I’ll say it - my appetizers are killer. Especially my charcuterie board! The boys love when we have parties, having the people they love around them, so they always look forward to holidays for that reason.

Think ahead

I would also highly recommend planning ahead and making use of any and all services that can simplify your life. Whenever we’re going to be travelling around the holidays, I plan ahead and order the boys gifts in advance online. I don’t love shopping and battling crowds at the mall, so I take advantage of online ordering, making sure it arrives before we leave and hiding it away while they’re at school.

I’ve said before that we’re not big on giving gifts and toys, so we keep it pretty small and simple and make sure the boys know our trips and experiences are the treat. But when I do want to get them a little something, two of my favourite go-to places to order from are:

Chapters/Indigo - always easy, and my boys love the store. I get them books, lego or gift cards!

Mastermind toys - they always have great puzzles and challenging toys