Tips for cruising with children

At the beginning of 2014, Hubby and I decided that we wanted to take our children on a vacation this year.  He and I have traveled on several cruises together in the past and we think that it is completely worth the money.  I will cover what we do and do not love about cruising in a separate post. 

Since our teenage daughter is in public school and we were not wanting to pull her out of school to go on vacation, that left our options fairly slim.  Cruising during the summer can be very expensive so we decided on a cruise at the tail end of summer out of New Orleans to Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico.  We have been to Cozumel several times and knew what to expect but neither of us had ever cruised to Progreso, so we were excited for a bit of a change.   

We would have two toddlers and a teenager traveling with us, so I was in full planning mode from the time that I booked the cruise until the day that we boarded the boat.  This was our first big vacation since the younger ones were born and I was nervous about what they would enjoy, how they would react, etc.  On top of all of that, I was dealing with anxiety about them falling overboard.  If you want to look up all of the research on google, let me save you some time.  It is almost impossible to fall overboard a cruise ship unless you are trying, i.e. climbing over the railing, standing on top of the tables near the edge in a 'Hold my beer and watch this' style moment, etc.  And as far as I could tell, there has never been a child fall overboard a cruise ship... but that didn't stop me from worrying that we would be the first.  With that fear aside, I plunged forth into planning and executing a vacation that we would all be happy with.   

The following are my 6 tips for happy traveling with kids on a cruise:

Know your food options. 
Anyone with children can tell you that a single moment can go from perfect to ruined if your child, or husband for that matter, is hungry or thirsty.  One of the positive parts of a Carnival cruise is that you can get something to eat and drink 24 hours a day.  This is perfect for people traveling with kids.  Weeks before boarding, I had already viewed the deck plans of the floors of the ship provided on the company's website to find out how close we were to the different eating areas.  Carnival will provide tea, water and lemonade during the day, and juice during the morning hours for free to all patrons.  Sodas and alcoholic drinks are available for purchase throughout the day and night at any bar throughout the ship.  I will review the Bottomless Bubbles soda and will talk about the alcohol program in a later blog. 

If you don't find anything that squelches your child's hunger pangs, there is always free room service.  A small selection of sandwiches, snacks and beverages is available for delivery for free to your stateroom.  Just remember to tip! 

There is a formal dining room option on every ship.  Prior to the cruise, your stateroom gets placed at a table.  Sometimes this is alone, sometimes this is with strangers.  In the past, we have been sat with our fair share of interesting people.  On this cruise, we were sat with a very nice family from Canada with three lovely daughters.  They were pleasant to speak with and it was good to get to know someone over a nice meal.  This dining room serves more fancy type foods than the other dining areas, think lobster, shrimp cocktail, escargot, etc.  I wanted our family to eat in this dining room everyday just for the experience, but hubby was not so sure.  We made plans for both situations and ended up eating in there every night.  The kids enjoyed it and we got to have our nice dinners.  If you kids are not used to dining out and behaving simultaneously, I would refrain from eating in this type of a dining room.  Ideally, this is not the place for loud children, children throwing food or screaming tantrums at the top of their lungs.  The waiters and other patrons understand a small disturbance but be respectful of other's trying to enjoy their meal. 

Typically on 'sea days' - where you don't stop at a port, they will offer a brunch in the formal dining room.  If you can manage to wake up in time and find yourself some decent clothes, you should definitely partake in this.  They offer kid friendly items, like chocolate chip pancakes, but also grown up fare such as heuvos rancheros.  We went to brunch one morning because we had a coupon for a free drink and it was much nicer and more enjoyable than we anticipated and worth the line that we had to wait in to be seated.  The kids enjoyed their pancakes and juice and we got to have a decent breakfast.   The day before they will place a menu outside of the dining room for both the brunch and the regular dinner so you can see what you will be offered before you get all gussied up for a meal.  There was also at least one vegetarian item per day offered in that dining room. 

The casual dining area serves different food options at regular intervals throughout the day.  They typically serve some of the same cuisine as the nice dining room but also more casual fare in a buffet style setting.  This area provides salad bars, soft serve ice cream, pizza, hot sandwiches, drinks, and a bar - a yay for mommy after a long day!  There were several days that after the children went to bed, Hubby and I snuck up here for an ice cream cone and an adult beverage.  On our boat this time was also a Mongolian grill and an outdoor grill area serving burgers, hot dogs, fries, chips, queso, and a few small desserts.  During breakfast, there will typically be an egg/omelet/quiche station.  This is the place to go with rowdy kids.  This is also the place to go to watch the drunks stumble around, as there was plenty of that.  Our casual dining was at the very rear of the boat, so it was neat to go in there and enjoy the view of the open water.  You can also eat outdoors next to the dining room.  This sounds nice and is good for someone without kids, but it is very windy out there  and that isn't always conducive to being able to enjoy a meal. 

In the casual dining area for breakfast, they will have individually packaged dry cereals.  Typically, I would grab at least one extra for the kids to have at a moment's notice.  We usually carried one bag around the boat and I would keep them in there.  That way if we were walking around and someone started acting up, they could eat a little something to hold them over until the next meal. 

Keep some "normal". 
If your children are young enough, like two of mine, to still need a daily nap, don't forget that they will still need to nap on board.  As a matter of fact, they will need a nap more because they are out of their routine and constantly being stimulated by new people, new sights and new activities.  This nap during the day was also good for the rest of us because it enabled us to chill out and relax while they were resting.  Also, one of the days, Hubby and I snuck away and played Bingo and walked around.  It was nice.  If your children don't need a nap, then don't be afraid to keep them on their regular schedule from at home.  If you typically eat at 7 and are in bed by 10, why change that because you are on vacation? 

There is a higher chance that your children will be well behaved and enjoy their vacation more if they have something familiar like their schedule when they are surrounded by a lot of unfamiliar things.  I packed the pillowcases from their beds and one of their toys that they sleep with to have on board to give them some comfort since they would be sleeping in an unfamiliar bed.  It worked very well as they didn't seem to have any problems going to sleep during the day or at night.  Have them help you pick an item out to put in their suitcase and they will feel more involved in the process. 

We also chose to bring our own re-usable water bottles, so we could keep the kids hydrated throughout the day.  These came in handy on the boat as well as in the ports, since you don't always want to drink the water in Mexico.  We would fill them up several times per day with ice and lemonade or tea.  Since they were our own water bottles, the kids were familiar with them and thought nothing of drinking the same amount of water that they would at home, where if we would not have had them, the kids might not have stayed as hydrated as they did.  This is important since getting overheated while swimming on the upper decks or at a port can be very dangerous. 

Don't be afraid to try new things. 
This is for kids and adults alike on a cruise.  In the formal dining room they will offer items like escargots, lobster, etc.  If you have never tried any of these items, what are you waiting on?  Encourage your kids to try items from the menu that they never would.  Isabella ate a seafood pasta and a mushroom pasta at the dining room one day and loved both of them.   

There are also 2-3 nights during a 5 night cruise that they will have their performers put on a show.  This might not be every one's cup of tea but it is really cool.  Dancing and singing and sometimes audience participation - what could be better?  Of course, at home, we have never taken our toddlers to see a show like this.  Our teenager might have seen a show like this but never with us.  They loved it on board!  Silas was SO enamored by the sights and sounds that he looked like he was in a trance.  Isabella enjoyed it because she got to dance around and sing with the people.  She now acts out shows like this in our living room every day.  Take your kids and if they don't enjoy it, you can always leave and find something else to do.  They will put a flyer everyday in your stateroom that will detail all the activities for the following day so you will be in the know. 

We did not participate in a lot of other activities but on the boat there is literally something to do all day and most of the night.  They have competitions out by the pool, such as the hairy chest competition, Bingo, dance classes, art shows, etc.  No matter what you like to do, they have something for everyone to enjoy.  There is a casino aboard every ship and they are always busy.  I usually have decent luck with the slot machines and always spend a small amount of money in there during each cruise.  The casino is a nice place to go to indulge in some alone adult time since no children are allowed in, sneak a cigarette and an adult beverage.  Plus there are plenty of deck chairs for anyone who likes to sit out by the pool and relax in the sun.  Since three of the five people in my party are almost transparent they have such fair skin and red hair, it is impossible for us to be in the sun for very long without super sun protection. 
 
Utilize the childcare. 
During the week, my children are watched by my mother.  If hubby and I want to go somewhere, they are always watched by our teenager, or another member of my family.  There is never a time that they are being supervised by someone that they don't know personally, so the thought of using the daycare program on board was terrifying.  Camp Carnival is a children's area for children that are 2-17 years old.  The children get separated into appropriate age groups and different age-appropriate activities are conducted in each group.  Some of the older groups even roam around the ship, can swim, etc.  The younger group that my toddlers fell into stayed in the area where we dropped them off.  There were tons of toys, Legos, books, etc. in this area for them to play with. 

My daughter was immediately fascinated and as a child who is mostly out of that 'stranger danger' mindset, she was excited to go and play with other children her age.  Plus the person that she was going to be left with was a woman and she has a tendency to be a lot more comfortable with women strangers than men strangers.  Not sure why... it's just the way that it is.  Silas, on the other hand, did not approve of this plan from the get-go.  He was determined that he would not be left there and I was determined to give it a go for a bit.  On our boat, they gave us a phone for the duration of the cruise that they would call if something went awry with your children during their stay in Camp Carnival. 

I dropped them both off one morning.  Silas cried at the door and Isabella ran off to play.  The woman told me that he would be fine and they would distract him and I took off with hubby for some time by ourselves to walk around, etc.  I am glossing over the part where I was also crying leaving him there.  As a mother who is lucky enough to not have to leave my children while they are crying like that ever, I don't know how you parents do it if that happens to your child at a daycare.  That was honestly one of the hardest moments of the trip.  Little did I know that we would be back to pick them up about an hour later.  Grace had gone back to have them call us and find out where we were and this upset both of the younger kids and they called us to come retrieve our three upset children.  It was a small break though. 

I fully believe that if your children are used to being around a daycare type environment or old enough to walk around by themselves, that the Camp Carnival atmosphere is awesome.  Grace's age group had ice cream socials, towel animal folding demonstrations, swimming, their own formal night, etc.  They plan lots of fun activities and the people who work with the children seem really invested in ensuring that the children of all ages have a great time.

Child containment devices are your friend. 
The two most important items that we brought on our cruise were our Ergo carriers.  In the planning stages of our cruise, I was very overwhelmed with the idea of getting my children through the long lines that you have to wait in to get on the ship, metal detectors, etc.  At that time, we had one Ergo carrier and I would comfortably wear either one of the children on my back anytime that we needed to go on a walk in the mall, around town, etc.  I knew that we had to get another one for this cruise. 

Now that they are older, the stroller is less and less a good idea.  Plus our stroller that will hold both of them is so bulky and heavy and I knew that we would be stressed for space in our room making that a less than awesome option.  These Ergo carriers were the best item ever and I would recommend them to anyone traveling on a cruise with toddlers and babies.  Being able to wear the kids when getting on and off the ship saved us time and energy wondering where they were, getting them to walk up the gangway to get on board, etc.  You just strapped them on your back and away you went.  They are fast and efficient and the staff even let us through the metal detectors with them on and allowed the kids to take a picture for their ID while still strapped to us. 

And last, but certainly not least... let your kids be kids.  A vacation is a time for everyone to relax and enjoy themselves.  This should not be limited to just adults, but should go for teenagers and kids alike.  There are so many activities available to people on board, there is no excuse to not have fun on a cruise.  If my kids wanted to dance and sing with the many performers singing and playing music around the ship, I let them.  If they wanted to swim at night and have an extra ice cream cone before bed, I let them.  I know that when they grow up, they probably won't remember a cruise that they took when they were 2, but if they do, I want them to remember that they had fun and enjoyed themselves.  These times don't last forever and we should try to preserve them as best as we can and allow our children to experience joy in anything that they are doing. 

What are your tips for cruising with kids? 

2014 Family Vacation Recap

Our family took our first family cruise with three of the four children this summer.  Everyone breathe a sigh of relief with me that it is over.

Sigh...

I have heard people say before that they need a vacation from their vacation and I have never really felt anything like that, until my vacation with toddlers.  We took a vacation a few years ago with two pre-teens and that is awesome because even though there is attitude, they are able to go and do things and not rely on you 100% for absolutely everything.  Toddlers need you for absolutely everything.  Combine that with my constant concern that they were going to fall overboard and you have the most stressful vacation on record for me ever.

It's not to say that it wasn't awesome.  Hubby and I have never been on this exact cruise before and we still had a number of different and great experiences than we have ever had on previous cruises.  Spoiler alert - this one ends with a broken arm!  It was an amazing trip and I am glad that we decided to do it.  It just makes me realize that I want to take a family vacation every year and I also want to take a grown-ups only vacation during the year as well.  

We booked a 5 day Carnival cruise out of New Orleans, La for the very end of the summer before our eldest daughter was set to start school for the year.  We drove to Louisiana in enough time so we could stay in a hotel the night before the cruise.  We cruised from New Orleans to Progreso, Mexico and then Cozumel, Mexico before returning back to Louisiana.

I will be posting several blogs over the next few days and will return and link them here once they are posted.  I have planned to do:

a review of the ship that we cruised on
the ship room that we stayed in
tips on packing for a cruise
tips for cruising with kids
tips for road tripping with children
a review of the shore excursion that we booked
Carnival Programs review - Faster to the Fun and Bottomless Bubbles Soda program
Louisiana hotel review

If there is anything else that you are curious about or would like to know you can message below and let me know.  I am far from an experienced cruiser but this was my fourth, so I like to think that I know a little bit more than your average joe.

Thanks for reading!  

Toddler learning

One of Isabella's new loves is time.  "Ok, I will go but not for three minutes." "Ok daddy, but in 30 minutes."  She knows the names for time, but she doesn't understand what time is relative to her everyday life, of course, but we are working on it.  I try to set a timer when she says something like that and I try to assign times to certain things like until naptimes that way she can start to grasp the time that she is saying.  This is the kind of stuff that I love about having children that are this age.  Yes, they repeat everything that you say, and yes, that is definitely frustrating when you have a slip and accidentally utter a four letter word that you wish that your children would never repeat ever.  But outside of that, they are constantly amazing you with new and exciting things that you realize that they never knew. 

I am very lucky that a large majority of the people in our family realize the importance of education and learning and are constantly helping us grow our children.  From their aunts quizzing them on colors and shapes of toys while they play, to drawing letters on this drawing toy that we have, to Grace reading books to them, to my mother constantly teaching them new and exciting things.  This, I think, has helped foster their interest in learning.  Plus, as controversial of an issue as this is, we do not limit 'screen-time' in our family.  We don't watch a lot of TV everyday, but the TV is always on as background noise.  However, this has helped both of them to learn new things on their time and at their speed.  Isabella spends a lot of time watching educational programs, matching games, puzzles, and things that.  Yes, there are times when it feels like she is a crack-fiend on the search for her next fix, but then we just have a break from the phone for awhile and let her focus her attention on other things.  This time that she has spent with 'her phone' has helped her to practice fine motor skills, reinforce her letters from an early age, and more easily learn colors and shapes.       

When Isabella first started being able to walk around in stores without running off and acting like a fool, we were walking around in Target. Corry and Grace were shopping for new water bottles, and I was entertaining Isabella down on one of the end caps with the coffee travel mugs and she says, "This cup has coffee in it."  It was such a simple sentence and six of the ten million words that she said that day but it was just one of those times when you are like when did she learn what a coffee mug was?  As much baby fever as I have lately, I LOVE this age that my children are in.  It's the age where you can actually see their little brains working to figure problems out.  It's the age where they can begin to communicate their problems with you instead of just sounding like a monkey all the time repeating the same sound.  Well, Silas is still kind of in that phase, but I am going to blame that on him being stubborn!  It's also the first stage that they have been in where I have stopped comparing their development to other children. 

In the first few months of their lives, I was constantly comparing their growth and development to other children.  Isabella was a slow weight gainer.  Silas was an early teether and an early walker but a slow talker.  This is absolutely one of the worst things that you can do because no two children are exactly alike.  Even the doctors will tell you most items on their development chart have a range associated with them.  Like sitting or standing unassisted has like a 9 month to one year range that is 'normal' for children.  It's hard to not do it but eventually I think that you realize that it doesn't matter when your child is doing a certain activity, so long as they are doing it according to their normal. 

Isabella is now in a stage where you can have a complete conversation with her and she is learning new concepts everyday.  This is amazing to me and so fun.  I love that she can tell me about things that she did during the day and that, even though half of the time it's to tattle on him, she can recount things that Silas did during the day as well.  It makes me feel like I am there more during the day.  She is also better able to explain her feelings and what she is upset about instead of just screaming and crying like a banshee when something is wrong. 

I love teaching my children of all ages new skills and new information.  I love seeing their eyes light up when they practice a skill that they just learned or talk about a subject that they just learned about.  It is so exciting to see their brains developing and changing as they age. 

What is your most favorite thing that you have witnessed your children learning? 

52 in 52 #10 Homemade Yogurt Melt Snacks

I have seen this pin like 9,000 times on Pinterest.  My kids were never that into the yogurt melts when they were younger, but they love yogurt now so I figured that perhaps this would be a less messy way to indulge their taste for yogurt.  I don't know what it is about yogurt but I can barely eat yogurt as an adult without getting it everywhere so you can imagine two toddlers and the mess that comes after them trying to eat yogurt on their own. 

The basic idea of this pin is very simple.  Dump a container of yogurt into a plastic sandwich bag, cut the tip, squeeze dime-ish sized dots onto a foil lined baking sheet, freeze and then enjoy.  Sounds simple.  I went into this however with apprehension because I have been burned by pins

that appear easy before. 

Homemade Yogurt Melt Snacks
Prep time: 10 minutes
Freeze time: 2 hours

1 container flavored yogurt
1 baking sheet
aluminum foil
plastic sandwich bag

Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Decide which yogurt flavor you want to make your snacks out of. 

 

Empty the yogurt container into the plastic sandwich bag and cut a *small* hole in one of the tips.  I quickly learned that what I first considered a small hole was vastly too big. 

 

Drop dime sized dollops of yogurt onto the baking sheet.  Be careful to not put them too close together unless you want them to run together and become bigger 'dots'. 



 

 

Freeze baking sheet with yogurt dots for at least 2 hours.  They will probably be frozen through sooner than that, but I think that it works better if they are SUPER frozen.  Once they are frozen through, you can gently scrape them off of the foil and store them in a plastic bag or container in the freezer, like this:

 

 

 

Now, since you are flash freezing your melts they will start to melt once you remove them from the freezer so unless you live in Antarctica, this is not a good "on the go" snack.  Mine also are starting to break apart a bit every time they are handled in the freezer.  I don't know how to rectify that problem.  However, they do amuse children and are super easy to make.  I haven't purchased the packaged variety of these snacks in over a year, but I would definitely be willing to say that these are cheaper than the ones that you can purchase at the store. 

 

Give this a try and let me know how it works out!

 

-Sara 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My kids are turning me into a mental patient

Today has been a hard day and I just need to vent. 

After having my first child, I came to the conclusion that I am not the ideal parent for a newborn.  The lack of sleep, the inability to communicate, the feeling like you are going to break something on them when you hold them because they are so tiny, all turn me into this anxious, emotional wreck that is less than ideal.  I had this general idea when I was still pregnant that I was going to have instant amazing relationships with my newborns and that they would sleep forever and I would have plenty of time to enjoy my time off with my children. 

Contrary to that my children didn't sleep as newborns.  Isabella didn't really nap a lot and probably only slept 10 hours per day total and most of those were, luckily, at night when she was sleeping in our bed.  Until he fell out of my parent's camper (separate story), Silas slept a total of about 7-8 hours per day.  He didn't really nap for very long and he was awake 4-5 times every night. 

And a little gem that wasn't fully disclosed before I had kids: newborns cry a lot.  Those women who say their newborn doesn't cry a lot are either extremely lucky or lying.  My vote is for the later.  This is a topic for a later post but I want to say it now and get it out of the way - when you become a parent, you develop this organic need to brag about your children all the time.  Your average baby suddenly becomes a baby genius because she looked at an elephant when you said gray.  So don't be surprised when you run into that.  Back on topic...

As much as I am not the ideal newborn mother, I absolutely LOVE the age once your children start showing their personalities.  Once they develop out of that "I am a crying sloth" stage and can move, communicate with you, move their limbs with purpose, etc - that's where the real fun begins.  My love and my excitement to see my children learn new things and explore the world grows every day.  My recent days within the past few months have been amazing and ridiculously enjoyable now that both are walking and interacting with each other.   

However, the last two days my children are trying to turn me into a mental patient.  Isabella is 29 months old and Silas is 14 months old.  Both are walking.  Silas says about 8 words and Isabella says about 2,000 including sentences and phrases.  She spends 99.9% of the time that she is awake talking.  I love this though because she learns so much every day.  You can tell from day to day that she is learning. 

Since Isabella is in that '2 year old' age range, she is headstrong, stubborn, and very smart.  Headstrong and stubborn are key words that any person who has ever had a two year old should recognize as 'terrible twos'.  She doesn't listen, she pushes Silas down, and she is having more tantrum than I thought possible.  This has been going on for awhile but has really just come to a head over the last few days and it makes me feel like I'm going insane. 

Silas has long been a difficult child.  He screams at the top of his lungs and cries at the drop of a hat.  He has thrown tantrums since he was about a month old if he doesn't get everything that he wants.  He is the polar opposite of Isabella as far as behavior - he pinches, he shoves, he snatches things that he wants.  He is also super headstrong - where are they getting this from?  I'm voting Corry.   

I hate to complain like this because she will have a few off days and then she will be fantastic for like a week and you wonder where this angel child came from.  And even on days like today when she is absolutely being crazy she is still amazing and fun and incredibly intelligent.   I learn so much from my children each and every day.  I love being able to see the world from a child's eyes.  They are so amused by simple things that adults take for granted.  I love them more than life itself and I wouldn't trade who they are for the world. 

Now it's time for bed to hopefully prep for a better day.  I'm getting my hair done tomorrow for the first time since I was pregnant with Isabella, I think, so that's something to look forward to even if they still act like crazies. 

-Sara