This summer has been one of travel for our family of 7. We've gone on three long trips this summer with our five kids, four and under. It's been mostly fun with a little crazy thrown in. 

Throughout our trips, we've received question after question about how we manage it, what it's like traveling with young kids, and if in fact, we are crazy for attempting to do yes. Yes, I think we are a bit crazy but that comes with the territory of having two sets of twins, five kids under five, AND running a business together from home. 

Listen to the Podcast:

We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both 

And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

While we certainly don't have all the answers and we are still knew to this whole travel-with-little-kids-thing, there are a few things we picked up this summer in our travels. So today I wanted to share a few of those lessons and things we will do differently next time. 

Our first trip this summer was a spur of the moment (I'm talking 2 hours notice before we were packed and in the car) trip to LA for a conference for Jason and a trip to Legoland. This was our very first family road trip and with a 10+ hour drive each way and 8 days in a hotel, we learned a lot! 

Our second trip was with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and their 10 month old. This was a 6 day road trip to Universal Studios, the San Diego Zoo, and the beach. 

And our final trip is one that we do every year: two weeks in a cabin by the lake. By far the most laid back of all our travels! 

Overall, we had no idea how our summer of traveling would go (only ONE of these trips was on the schedule at the beginning of June). We had some rough patches, but overall it was a great summer of making memories. So read on (or listen above) for some trips we picked up along the way. 

Are you curious about how we work from home and can leave on an 8 day trip with 2 hours notice? Come on over to our other blog, Our Work at Home Life, and discover how we make a full time income from home - all while raising our five young kiddos! 

Tips & Lessons Learned on Traveling with Young Kids

Adjust your expectations

We had to learn this the hard way. Traveling with young kids is nothing like years ago when Jason and I would travel by ourselves. We had to quickly remember that we are traveling with young kids and most of the time, we would be traveling at their own pace. 

This meant we had to be fine with the four year old, who was so distracted coloring in the back that he "forgot" he had to go potty BAD (so much so he started crying), needing to pull over right away...even though we had just gotten back on the road after an extended lunch stop. 

Or the accident in his car seat from one of the other four year olds less than two hours later. We had to take it all in stride, because that's just life with five young kids. Overall, we just had to remember that life is just a little slower and a little more chaotic when traveling with young kids. 

Remember they are tired as well

This goes hand in hand for me with point #1. I needed to remember that all these little guys were just as tired (if not more) than myself and Jason and that we needed to give grace. 

This struct me hard one night. We had just left Legoland after an emotional hour (see point #4) and we decided to head out early and go to Denny's for dinner. Jason and I were both drained and the kids were mostly good, but a little wild. They were a bit louder and more rambunctious than I would normally allow at Denny's.