*This post was written in collaboration with Orbit Baby.

It’s been a few weeks now but we recently made a trip to the Oregon Coast and had an amazing time and adventure. Vacations just aren’t the same as they once were when we were kid free and honestly they have changed quiet a bit since adding a second child but anyway you look at it a vacation is all about having fun. After sharing some fun photos and tidbits from our trip I’ll also share some tips at the bottom. Enjoy!

We rented a house just two blocks from the beach in Netarts, Oregon with my parents. This was our first trip to this part of the Oregon Coast and it was so incredibly beautiful. Check out the view above! Yes that was our view from our rental house, what’s not to love?

We arrived in the late afternoon on Friday, unpacked and enjoyed a yummy dinner and then of course we had to make a trip down to the beach. Getting down to the beach was a little bit of an adventure as we had to basically go down the side of a steep hill to get there but luckily the Ergobaby Wrap came in handy or rather gave me hands to help get Alder and myself down to the beautiful, quiet and clean beach. We played in the sand and watched the sunset. We then made our way back to the house for bedtime.

We started our Saturday out with a short hike at Cape Lookout.  The forest was so beautiful and check out the sun through the trees – how beautiful is that? This was my first postpartum hike so we didn’t go to far but nonetheless we had wonderful time. I wore Alder in the Ergobaby and Neil wore Edith up in the Ergobaby Performance. Edith is now getting old enough that she likes to do a lot more of the hiking/walking on her own so she walked back down the trail and headed straight to the beach to play before lunch.

I had to share the photo above because look how beautiful this (last weekend of) September weather was! Unfortunately after taking this photo we walked over to Pelican Brewing and the wait was over an hour so we ended up turning around and headed back to the car to have lunch back at the rental. Lots of tears were shed when Edith found out we were no longer going to the restaurant although I have a feeling that she might have been disappointed anyways because we have come to find out that restaurant = Veggie Grill in Edith’s world. Oh well at least we got a great photo at the beach.

We spent Saturday night just relaxing at the house attempting to put together puzzles and trying on funny hats.

We woke up Sunday morning and after breakfast and packing up we made one last stop to Cape Meares Lighthouse before heading home. Of course on the 15 minute ride over to the lighthouse Alder fell asleep but YAY for the Orbit Baby Car Seat and Stroller*! I was able to move him from the car to the stroller base and put down the Paparazzi Shield^™without waking him.

 

 

Unfortunately it was really overcast so the views were not as amazing as they would be on a sunny day but we had a great time at Cape Meares.  Neil has a thing for reading informational signs and he is getting Edith into it; they stopped and read every sign they saw. It was super quiet so we had the entire park to ourselves and we took our time checking out the views – okay who am I kidding we took our time because it was all uphill back to the car park and there was a side wind slowing us down. We made it back to the car park and I hung out with sleepy Alder while Neil and Edith went to see the octopus tree and then after a few diaper changes and a nursing session we were back on the road to home.

 

 Tips for Travel with Two

• Travel during nap times: We left right after lunch when Edith usually naps and 10 minutes into our trip both kids were passed out. The drive to Netarts is around 1 hour 45 minutes and Edith woke up 15 minutes before arriving.
• Keep your routine (or at least try to): When you are traveling solo time/routine doesn’t seem to matter but with kids, especially toddlers it is important to keep some structure. We aren’t ones to follow the clock but we do follow a routine which is usually breakfast, play, lunch, books, nap, play, dinner, play, books and bed. We try to keep this same routine even while traveling because it means a happier child and more relaxing vacation. Nap time actually forces us to slow down and relax which I am finding to be really nice.
• Do what you love (aka life isn’t all about kid focused activities): so maybe you can’t go out for fancy dinners or to beer/wine tastings (although you can find some friendly brew pubs and wineries) but it also doesn’t mean you have to spend your vacation at Chucky Cheese’s.  Take your kids to do things that you love and enjoy and most likely they will enjoy themselves as well. We love hiking (or rather Neil loves it and I enjoy it) so we take the kids along with us.  We take them (or rather try to) to restaurants that we want to eat at and don’t worry if they have a kids menu or not. We do things as a family and we always (okay 99% of the time) all enjoy ourselves because we are doing it together.
• Travel with friends or family: We rented a house with my parents which meant they had someone else to play with aka we had someone else to entertain our children at times.  This gave us a break and made us feel like we were really on vacation and not just spending the weekend at someone elses house. Maybe going away with family isn’t for you but maybe you have some really great friends with kids your child(ren)s age and you could rent a house together.  I find that when Edith is with her friends she’s like ‘mom who’? and the kids spend their time entertaining each other which gives me a little bit of break.
• Give yourself lots of freetime.  This is a follow up to keep your routine. Make sure that you don’t over plan your days. Playtime doesn’t mean you have to have some planned activity it just means doing something fun.  If you over schedule yourself/over plan you are going to end up exhausted and disappointed. Focus on one or two things that you “must do” on vacation and have a few other things you’d like to do but don’t over commit. It’s vacation! Relax and unwind!

What are your tips for traveling with two? 

This was our first mini trip with two kids and we have a bigger trip to Seattle planned at the end of November and then an even bigger trip in August to Vermont for a friends wedding. So more tips and sneak peeks of our adventures to come!