skysworldadventures

So...  Every kid is different.  I know this.  Wren is a very agreeable little person.  This is some things that worked for us with our toddler.  This list might not be applicable for every one and is based on my experiences and opinions. KNOW YOUR KID - I think the number one thing that helped us be successful when traveling is knowing our kid and reacting appropriately.  We know the signs of an impending major meltdown versus a little complaining for the first 2 minutes.  We catered to her needs and gave her breaks and downtime when she needed it. Choose your destination wisely.  With toddlers you really need to go someplace that they can drink the water.  You can't tell a toddler not to open their mouth in the shower or put their hands in their mouths and expect them to listen.  A clean country makes things so much easier.  Save the developing countries for when they are older. Have a flexible itinerary.  There were a co...

Part of our crazy inexpensive plane tickets involved a long layover in Amsterdam.  We booked a hotel close to the airport since we had a lot of luggage and would be arriving in the afternoon and flying out the next morning.  Since it was such a short amount of time we wanted to make it count.  We also kept in mind what we though Wren would enjoy.  We decided to book a private cycling tour since Amsterdam is famous as a cycling city.  We had some flight delays getting there so by the time we arrived at our hotel (near the airport) after collecting our bags (the baggage was SOOO slow!) we had 5 minutes at the hotel to drop things off, grab long sleeve shirts and try to get to downtown Amsterdam to meet our tour guide.  We were a little late but the tour was great.  We learned a bit about the history of Amsterdam.  It was originally swampland but they decided it was a good place for a port city so they build canals to drain the land.  The pr...

We had a lovely last day in Portugal.  I took a sea kayaking trip and Jeff and Wren played on the beach.  The swells were really big in the morning during my trip so the pictures were not so good.  I was trying to keep the camera dry, keep my kayak going in the right direction and not tip over with the next big wave but it was beautiful and so much fun!  The trip went through 5 caves along the alagarve coast.  The whole coast is lovely limestone cliffs and things poking out of the ocean.  Benagil is one that was beautiful but I couldn't manage to get a decent picture of, look it up, it's amazing.  Here are a couple of pictures I took that were not terrible.  The salty water totally fogged up my lens and the last few pictures I took were blurs.  Glad I took an older camera for this.  You will have to believe me that the real thing was much prettier. After getting cleaned up and a nap for Wren we heade...

Well... it was thought to be the end of the western world until the 1400's.  Today we went to the Cape St. Vincent.  It was a foggy and windy morning making it not as photogenic as I think it could be but it was a very cool piece of history to visit.  We headed in to Lagos today for lunch and I finished up a little souvenir shopping while Wren and Jeff had some fun on a Merry-go-round.  We then headed a little out of town to our hotel. Once Wren woke up from her nap we all headed to the beach right by the hotel, it was lovely!  Even though the weather today was not ideal, the sun came out and Wren had a great time collecting shells and playing in the sand.  Portugal really is a beautiful country. I've got an early adventure in the morning so I'm keeping it short tonight.  Good night!

I decided to get up before sun rise this morning and take a longer run along the ocean.  There were some trails that sounded interesting.  You might be thinking "what kind of crazy lady gets up before sunrise on vacation to exercise?".  Well, there are several reasons why I run on vacation.  Mostly, I get to see more if I get out and run.  Since I'm traveling with a toddler, the pace at which we move has slowed down a whole lot and I don't get to see or do as much during Wren's waking hours.  However, if I get up and run, I get to see those things I'd otherwise miss out on. Jeff is happy to have a lazy morning snuggling Wren, which is something he considers a treat.  It also helps with some back issues I've been having this year.  And, for me, running outside without a stroller is a treat that I normally only get on Saturday mornings.  The rest of the time it's a jogging stroller or the treadmill, bleh.  Anyhow, So I ran about 11 mi...

Today we headed out of Sintra and headed down south to Alegarve region.  On our way through Lisbon we noticed that the bridge is a Doppelgänger for the Golden Gate bridge, but in Lisbon, there is a giant Jeasus bonus.  Apparently it is 28 meters tall. I know, this a terrible picture of both the bridge and Giant Jesus but you need to trust me on this one and look it up if you are curious.  We stopped Cabo Sardao which is a lighthouse. Behind the lighthouse are 300-ish foot cliffs with crashing waves and beautiful blue green water.  Here are a couple of pictures.  We only checked out 2 bays but I think there were more.  Not the safest place to hang with a toddler so Jeff and I took turns and we can only hang so long.  It was a beautiful and worth while stop.    From there we went to Aljezure in the Alegarve area of Protugal.  It is known for fantastic beaches and were we are staying tonight.  Wren got her first e...