Hellobee

We kicked off our summer this year with a 5 day/4 night trip to the Pacific Northwest – one of my favorite destinations in the U.S.! We were a little ambitious, and wanted to kill two birds with one stone by visiting our friends who just made the move to Portland, so this trip involved two 3 hour flights to and from Seattle, and two 3 hour drives to and from Portland. Despite anticipating the worst, our trip went really well, and our kids did great!

First, let’s talk logistics. We had some debates on whether we should bring a double stroller, whether we should rent a carseat, which flight times were best, length of the trip, and where to stay.

STROLLER? We debated whether or not to bring a stroller because the idea of one less item to carry sounded heavenly, and Seattle and Portland are not necessarily walking heavy cities. In the end, we decided to bring a double umbrella stroller because my kids have outgrown the baby carrying stage, and my oldest still prefers to be strolled. Just thinking about walking through the airport, and going from security to the terminals was enough for me to say, “Yes! We need a stroller!” – the thought of running after two not-strapped-in children, at a crowded airport, was not my idea of fun. This turned out to be the.best.decision.ever because we ended up using our stroller everywhere.

RENT OR BRING CARSEATS? Another point of contention for us. Mr. Heels wanted to rent carseats for the convenience, but I felt safer/more comfortable bringing our own carseats. Bringing our own carseats meant we could be sure they’ve never been damaged or have ever been in an accident. They were also clean, and it wasn’t cheap to rent carseats for 5 whole days – I argued that we could buy two brand new carseats with that money. Plus, we were doing a three hour drive to and from Portland – I wanted to make sure our kids were comfortable and familiar with the seats they were in. We ended up bringing our carseats.

Now we needed to organize ourselves as efficiently as possible so that we had enough hands for all our stuff, and be able to manage the needs of two children. In order to do this, we armed ourselves with some essentials:

1| Gate Check Stroller Bag – I chose this one because it can be folded down small and has GATE CHECK in big, bold letters written all over it. I stuffed this into my diaper bag until we were about to board the plane. When we had to gate check our stroller I pulled it out and stuffed the stroller in it. This one is large enough for double strollers, but can be used with single strollers as well. You don’t need a gate check bag for a stroller, but we were borrowing a friend’s stroller and wanted extra protection.

2| MacLaren Double Umbrella Stroller – Our close friends graciously let us borrow their lightweight Maclaren double umbrella stroller for the trip. You can usually rent umbrella strollers at your destination of choice too, so that’s another option if you don’t own one.

3| J.L. Childress Ultimate Backpack Carseat Travel Bag – We invested in these thickly padded carseat travel bags so that our carseats would be protected, and we could be hands free. Love that this is a backpack, and our carseats actually felt really lightweight in it! We plan to do a lot more traveling in the future where the kids will need carseats so this was well worth it.

4| Evenflo Maestro Carseats  – These are actually our spare carseats that we use solely for traveling! They are lightweight, easy to install, and have great reviews. We checked them in along with our luggage right when we got to the check-in counter, so we didn’t have to bother with them again until we arrived at our destination.

5| Skip Hop Backpacks – We loaded each of their backpacks up with their favorite little toys and took them with us. So glad we did because it provided hours of pretend play whether we were just unwinding at night in the hotel room, or waiting for food at restaurants. We do this when we’re out and about on a daily basis too. We like to include toys such as mini rescuebots, my little ponies, hot wheels, and even toys they’ve collected from McDonald’s Happy Meals. A combination of these makes it perfect for them to pretend play with.

6| iPad – At 2 and 4, both my kids are familiar with and love the iPad. We loaded it up with their favorite shows and games!

7| LilGadgets Headphones – I liked that you can connect these headphones to each other and then connect it to the iPad, so both kids could listen in at once easily. We wanted headphones so we didn’t disrupt other patrons on the plane (it’s not a big deal if you don’t have one though because the white noise from the plane drowns out a good bit of noise).

8| iPad Car Mount – Since we were driving 3 hours from Seattle to Portland, we wanted a way for the kids to share the iPad and watch shows if it came to that. This mount was perfect because it extends out in between the two headrests, so both kids can watch from an equal distance.

Their backpacks filled with toys kept them occupied everywhere we went

LUGGAGE – We packed one larger sized suitcase for Mr. Heels and me, and another small suitcase for Jaren and Noelle. We checked the large suitcase, and decided to carry-on the small suitcase.

Once we got to the Alaska Airlines counter to check-in our stuff, we were able to offload our carseats (safely contained in the J.L. Childress travel bags), and our large suitcase. This left us with one small suitcase, Mr. Heels’ backpack, my diaper bag, and the double stroller the kids were already sitting in. Mr. Heels pulled the suitcase and carried his backpack, while I pushed the kids in the stroller and carried my diaper bag.  Despite all the gear we seemingly had, it had all been checked early on, so getting through the airport was a breeze.

CARRY-ONS – Besides our small suitcase, I brought my diaper bag, and Mr. Heels brought his backpack. The kids each had their Skip Hop backpacks as well, but those didn’t count towards our as carry-on allotment (you get a carry-on for every ticket purchased, so we technically could have brought four carry-ons). My diaper bag contained diapers, wipes, an extra change of clothes for each kid, their Foogo stainless steel cups (empty so I could fill them with anything throughout the trip), and an ample amount of snacks (lollipops, fruit snacks, and crackers). Mr. Heels’ backpack contained the iPad, LilGadgets headphones, coloring books, and a couple children’s books.

Stroller (check!), headphones (check!), bag of toys (check!)

FLIGHTS – We wanted daytime flights because the flight was relatively short (2.5-3 hours), so both our destination and return flights were around 1-2 pm in the afternoon. This gave us enough time to sleep in, pack, get to the airport, and eat lunch before boarding.

CAR RENTALS – Enterprise was by far the cheapest when it came to car rentals, so we went with them. We made reservations before we left, so by the time we got there and checked-in, it was a quick, easy, and smooth process. We opted for a simple 4-door sedan (they gave us a Kia), and it was perfect for our family of four with ample trunk space for both our double stroller and luggage.

ACTIVITIES – We kept our itinerary open-ended and flexible to make it more fun and relaxing for all of us. We did make a loose itinerary, but nothing was set in stone other than meeting up with friends for meals.

Seattle Activities

Pike Place Market – The bright red sign at Pike’s Place is pretty iconic now, so this is a must see, especially if you’re a first time visitor! Just walk, eat, and sightsee your way through this awesome farmer’s market! It’s right by the waterfront. You’ll also find the famous gumwall down one of the alleyways (I just wouldn’t touch it if I were you!).

– Seattle Center – This is a huge space that contains some of Seattle’s most popular activities, such as the Space Needle, the Seattle Children’s Museum, a brand new outdoor playground (ideal for kids 5+ though), and Pacific Science Center, to name a few.

– The Fremont Troll – I would only come here if you have time. It is a little out of the way and near nothing, but it might be fun for the kids to climb.

View from Kerry Park

– Kerry Park – Come here for a breathtaking view of the Seattle skyline!  There’s a grassy area for the kids to run around and burn energy too.

Seattle Food

Pre-kids we would go all over for the most delicious places in town, but now we just go wherever our excursions take us because who wants Hangry kids? Luckily, there is no shortage of food options in Seattle. If you find yourself at the Seattle Center, there is a large food court right above the children’s museum. Mod Pizza is a delicious, family friendly option! If you’re at Pike’s Place, I could go on and on. Maybe try a grilled cheese sandwich or some mac and cheese at Beecher’s, clam chowder at Pike Place Chowder, a variety of Piroshky’s at Piroshky Piroshky, and top it all off with donuts from the Daily Dozen Doughnut Company. All of these are quick and easy, grab and go options so you can enjoy the waterfront, or stroll through the farmer’s market with food in hand. Pike’s Place is also home of the original Starbucks, perfect for that midday pick-me-up.

Portland Activities

It was 90 degrees in Portland and the weather broke all kinds of records the weekend we were there (just our luck, huh?), so we tried to keep things indoors.  We did go on a beautiful hike one of the mornings though! The hike to Multnomah Falls is a must-do as a first time visitor to Portland! The drive there is surreal – just trees upon endless trees, flanked by a gorgeous, serene lake.

Hiking Multnomah Falls

– Multnomah Falls – It is only a one mile hike to the waterfall, and you don’t even have to hike at all if you don’t want to. You can see the waterfall from your parked car. It is the perfect small, nature hike with kids! It doesn’t hurt that it is absolutely gorgeous there, albeit a bit touristy.

Couldn’t get enough of OMSI

– OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) – This is an amazing children’s museum focused on STEM. We spent a good 3 hours in the afternoon there, and it is only $2/pp on Sundays! They have an entire section just for play – this area had a water section, sand section, grocery section, magnatiles and other building toys, caves, book reading nook, and area where they were showing kids how to make goo. Then, they have exhibits filled with all sorts of hands on learning activities. They also have rotating special exhibits – when we went, it was for Mr. Ridley’s Believe it or Not. The kids loved it all!

At Portland Children’s Museum

– Portland Children’s Museum – This is a pretty standard children’s museum with different sections for the kids to pretend play. They had a pet hospital, grocery store, indoor treehouse, water section, builders/construction section, and more. Really great way to spend an afternoon if you want to stay indoors (and away from 90 degree heat! Which I’m guessing is pretty rare in Portland).

Portland Food

The men wanted good craft beer (after all, Portland is known for its bajillion breweries! I think it might be the beer capital of the nation??), and we wanted kid friendly. If you think that is an unlikely combination, think again. Leave it up to Portland to have kid friendly breweries! Hopworks BikeBar has a little play area just for kids so the kids can play while the adults can hang. Genius! It doesn’t hurt that the food and beer are really good there too.

My favorite meal in Portland has to be a little hole-in-the-wall called Nong’s though. Amazing chicken and rice – it sounds and looks simple, but it was a bite of heaven in my mouth. Go to Screen Door for the most gargantuan and delicious fried chicken you’ll ever have, and Pine State Biscuits for comfort breakfast the size of your head. To quell that sweet tooth, there’s Blue Star Donuts for unique donuts such as blueberry bourbon basil and mexican hot chocolate, or Salt & Straw for creative ice cream flavors like almond brittle, strawberry honey balsamic, and honey lavender.

CAR DRIVE – Our 3 hour car drives to and from Portland actually went pretty well.  You might wonder why we didn’t just fly into Seattle, drive to Portland, and fly out of Portland. Mr. Heels did look into this option, but it turned out the cost of leaving our rental car in a different location wasn’t worth it to us, so we nixed the idea.

If you ever decide to do a combination of flying and driving like us, one big recommendation I have is to break up travel if there is opportunity to. For us, it was to drive the night before our flight. That way, we were not stuck with double back-to-back travel on the same day! We were originally going to drive back to Seattle Tuesday morning, then jump on a flight a couple hours later that same day. Thankfully, we realized that it made so much more sense to make the drive the night before, sleep in a hotel, and not feel rushed the day of our flight.

Since our flight wasn’t until 2 pm in the afternoon, we got to sleep in, grab breakfast, check out by 10 am, and hang out at a park local to the airport until it was time to head out. Seriously, with toddler-aged and up kids… it’s so important to let them get that energy out, so that they are calm and settled when it matters.

If you ever find yourself in Seattle, and need time to kill before a flight… I highly recommend Steel Lake Park – it’s only about a 10 minute drive from the airport!!

We love traveling with our kids, but the key is to keep expectations low and schedules flexible. The kids car napped every single day on our trip, so we didn’t feel the stress of having to rush back for naps. Even if the naps were a mere 45 minutes, it was enough to get them through the day. They were so stimulated by the adventure and newness of their surroundings anyway that they did just fine being away from routine.

KEY TIPS

• When traveling by plane I like to dress everyone in comfortable layers, so it makes it easy to regulate our body temps. I also make sure we’re not wearing any accessories, no belts, and wearing easy to slip on/off shoes so we get through security without much of a fuss.  The kids were not required to take off their shoes when going through security.
• Give kids the opportunity to burn energy whenever possible.
• Have a rough itinerary so you’re not stuck wondering what to do, but also keep an open mind and stay flexible.
• Download the Waze app – it provides real time driving directions, and alters course if there is heavy traffic in any one area, so that you’re able to get to your destination in the quickest and most efficient way possible.
• Bring an external battery charger for your phone and iPad. When you’re out and about all day, it is nice to not worry about running out of batteries.
• Break up travel whenever possible, especially if you’re going to multiple destinations like we did.

We are so looking forward to traveling more with our kids.  It’s one of those things that gets easier and easier the more we do it.

“Sometimes, you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory” – Dr. Seuss