For Spring Break we went to Lauderdale by the Sea, a little town off Ft. Lauderdale that is a hidden gem, so don’t tell anyone I told you about it! The best part about going there is getting to be outdoors with my boys. The worst part about going there is getting to be outdoors with my boys. We must have spent about 3 hours total applying suncreen on them. The toxic ones go on really smoothly and the non-toxic ones don’t….why can’t anyone fix that?!
One of my favorite bathing suits was this one from Target! It’s a one-piece and I loved wearing it as a shirt to grab lunch or ice cream with the boys or a drink with my hubby. The jean cut-offs are also from Target and I LOVED the length. I have never been a daisy dukes kinda girl and probably won’t ever get there so the length was perfect to be cool in the hot weather but still feel covered. If you click on this link you can find the bathing suit, if you click on this one, the shorts! I added a bikini option and my sunnies and favorite bronzer on the scroller too.
Now for the dinner outfits! I love spending a salty aired evening outside in a pretty dress eating dinner with my family. I think that’s my idea of heaven in a sense. After playing out in the sun for a good portion of the day and working up an appetite, I always look forward to winding down with a good glass of wine. I went back to a varietal that I discovered in Portugal last summer: Albariño. As a die-hard white wine drinker, I sometimes get stuck in a Chard or Reisling rut. Does that happen to you too?
This first look was the most unexpected color for me; bright yellow! I’m a neutrals lover and get really nervous about wearing pastels with kids but somehow the dress and I made it out of the restaurant unscathed. Haha! I’m so sorry but I was never ever to find the exact dress on the Like IT to Know it App but I did find similar dresses in the color! Also, BCBG is having a massive sale right now 30% off everything, hurry! I also linked my shoes, accessories and make-up for this look!
This was another favorite look and I covered the details in this post! It was comfortable and the perfect outfit for a surprisingly cool FL evening!
I loved this red bodysuit at first sight and FL is the perfect place to wear it! I paired it with white jeans and neutral belt, shoes and bag and added a long thin gold necklace that I found at a local boutique.
These 3 dress looks I’m lumping together because they were similar in methodology; black & white with accessories that pop! The length of all 3 dresses is similar, right above the knee to afford me a few bends forward to pick up the kiddos, black for the inevitable spaghetti faced hug and shoes that range in flats for running to heeled sandals for sitting. I think my favorite is the polka dot wrap dress, I love the ruffles, and there is something so classic about polka dots!
So traveling with toddlers. Ahem. It’s not easy. In fact, it’s stressful. To begin with the plane ride, WTH!? Does anybody else’s kids want to take long walks along the plane aisles? In all seriousness, these are some travel tips that I can offer from being a mom of two boys. Two. Toddler. Boys. They apply to girls as well, but there’s something about boys that’s just a little, well……crazy. Ironically, of course I’m the girliest girl there ever was, and here I am with two adorable little guys but it’s taken some getting used to. The energy, the testosterone, their constant need to explore and wreck things. Sigh. Here are some things to keep them safe & happy:
- On the plane: in my humble opinion, car rides are easier. You can eject if need be, you can stop and regroup. You have more control, probably because they’re strapped into car seats! But if you’re on the plane, preparation is key. I take on carry-on roller suitcase full of their stuff; diapers, wipes, goldfish, emergency bargaining chocolate, coloring books, their trusty toys that are considered favorites, suprise toys that will hold their interest due to novelty, books, emergency bargaining chocolate, off limits items like iPads full of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, off limits items like my make-up bag, emergency bargaining chocolate and layers for temp control. You get the picture. Unfortunately, sometimes this is still not good enough as seen in picture above, which is when you have to break out the wine in a sippy cup with a lid and let the good times roll.
- Length of Stay: I can say with 99% confidence that 5 days is the sweet spot when traveling with toddlers. We were there for 10. Just no.
- Accomodations: This is a tough one with toddlers. When you first get somewhere, more often than not, it’s not child proofed and that’s just plain scary. It’s not difficult to carry extra outlet plugs or sharp corner foams but you can’t carry gates or retaining walls so your best bet is to understand the layout before you get there and prepare and have a schedule of who is watching who, when. In all honesty, one child is a lot easier to watch than two. When we would travel with just the first-born, it felt relatively easy. The exponential factor of adding one or two, three is significant.
- Comfort items: I sensed a big difference in my boys when I brought stuff from home that reminds them of their bedtime routine; toothbrushes, favorite blankets/pillows/stuffed animals, bath toys and an item from their bedroom to make their temporary housing familiar and welcoming. Of course, I have to add an extra suitcase but it’s worth it!
- Develop a routine: For the time you’re there, find your new routine. For us this time around it was going to Starbucks, coming back to apartment and playing and then getting ready to swim or explore. Then, we’d come back inside and take a nap or get ice cream and go to a store in town or watch some TV. Then we’d head back outside to the beach for a couple of hours, come “home” , give them a bath and get ready for dinner. Schedules really help these toddlers develop confidence in their routine and they’re better able to negotiate or be up for the expectation.
- Pull out the phone if need be: I hate to see my kids on a cell phone or iPad, but if you’re out to dinner and you know they’re tired from a long day of action, just let it be and allow yourself the break. Remember, this is not your normal routine, you’re on vacation and so are THEY!
- Embrace foiled plans: Many times, you have the perfect reservation or activity booked but for whatever reason your toddlers weren’t up to it….don’t beat yourself up about it! This happened to us a couple of times and at first you can’t help but be disappointed but then you realize how little and unreasonable they are. They are probably doing their best and so everyone has to adjust but it doesn’t matter because you are all together.
- Soak them in: Taking kids on vacation is arguable one of the hardest things ever. You are parenting them in a foreign, unfriendly environment and things are going to go wrong. One thing that I really felt during this trip was to soak it all in. In many cases, they are experiencing these environments for the first time and it brings you back to your first time as well. This is so special. Put your phone down and just enjoy them seeing the ocean for the first time or mastering a sand castle. I feel like this was 40% of the time for us, pure magic and unfiltered joy.
- Bodies of water: It goes without saying, but don’t look away not even for a second. Enroll your kids in swim lessons, don’t drink while you’re watching them, don’t let them out of your site if the pool is not covered, don’t assume anyone is watching them. They are not. Apply sunscreen.
- Keep them safe at all costs. Sometimes, when we are on vacation, especially with other family or friends, we want everyone to have a good time and feel relaxed. Unfortunately, this is not congruent with keeping these little humans safe in an unknown environment. Don’t risk it. Don’t be afraid to speak up and say we can’t do this amazing thing because it’s not safe for my baby. I had one of the biggest, if not the biggest scare of my life while on this trip. About a week before the trip and knowing the layout of where I was staying, I started to feel really nervous about the balcony in the place. I knew there was a large gap at the bottom and in between each bar on the gate of the apartment which is 4 stories high. I went on Amazon and bought a safety mesh for the gate and it worked great except that it was too short. I didn’t have the measurements and still had about 4 feet of open gate left after it was installed. What I should have done is to tell everyone that the door to the balcony would not be open under any circumstance. I had actually done that already in December during our holiday trip and everyone had obliged. This time, I felt silly about asking twice as many people to keep the door locked to a beautiful ocean view for their ENTIRE vacation. So we agreed that everyone would keep it shut most of the time and that if we opened it we had 80% of the gate covered with the mesh, plus someone would be there to watch all of the time. The problem was that we didn’t establish times or qualifiers of when it would be open. The last evening we were there, my husband, his father, my 2 sons and I were in the room adjacent to the balcony door. My boys were watching TV and I was working on my computer since I have a business that needs TLC 24/7. Suddenly, my husband got up, went to the other room and made a phone call, then my father in law said he’d be right back, and headed next door. I didn’t think anything of it, but divine intervention, God, got me off from my computer and into the TV room where my boys were. Except. Someone had left the balcony door open. Except. There was only one boy, my baby, my one year old was missing and I immediately scanned the room and balcony for him when I spotted him. He was outside, in the balcony, precisely in the 4 feet of balcony that had not been covered by the mesh. I could see his little body struggling, his head had gone through the gate, he was visibly upset that he hadn’t figured out how to get his shoulders through the gate and off the balcony. My worst nightmare, the one that had led me to order the saftey mesh a week before the trip, was all realizing right in front of me, except felt too far away from my reach. I felt like I was flying towards him but couldn’t reach him, I was yelling but the more I yelled the more he was trying to get away from me, until I grabbed his chunky little arm, seconds away from plunging 4 stories down to concrete. He gazed up at me furious I had caught him, furious I was preventing his adventure from happeing. His little head had to come back through the gate and in my panic I hurt his ears and was still screaming, scaring him and my other son who had come out and asked me why I was crying. 10, 15, 20 more seconds. I don’t know how many seconds I had but I was spared from losing a child this time and I was and am angry, anxious, sorry and grateful. I’m angry at myself for not being more absolute in the safety of my child in the enviroment I was in. I’m anxious to know that what I worry about can come true. I am sorry that I failed to be more pro-active and that I have that image in my head, probably for the rest of my life. I’m grateful to God that I got to keep him and will never stop thanking him. I’m sharing this because I want you to know that if you’re a mom you NEED to trust your instincts, be RUTHLESS in your child’s saftey and never be afraid to ruin someone’s moment for the safety of your baby.
Wishing you a happy, safe, blessed Spring! Do you have any tips for traveling with toddlers, I would love to hear them! XO, Z
