Posts Tagged: Travel with kids

White Sands National Park with Kids

We went to White Sands National Park with kids and had a blast. White Sands just became a national park in December of 2019. We were in the process of moving from Arizona to Florida so White Sands was “on the way.” We had fond memories of going here in 2013 that we wanted to go again. Actually Matt went to White Sands when he was a kid on a road trip and always liked it so he took me. We went with just two kids in June of 2013. Continue onto the next page to see a flashback photo.

Five Tips for the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival with Kids

The Hot Air Balloon Festival in Albuquerque was definitely one of our trickier trips. Matt wasn’t able to take time off during the week of the festival. So we had to get creative on how we would do the New Mexico trip.

This reminded me of our first Christmas we were married. I had to work at the hospital Christmas Day. We were living in Utah at the time. Matt flew from Salt Lake City to Long Beach on Christmas morning (after I left for work) and then flew back on the same day and he arrived home before I got home from work. He got to spend Christmas Day with his family. Christmas night we were able to have our own little Christmas and I didn’t even realize he was gone. That was nice that the flights worked out where he could fly to California and back in the same day.

Anyways, so back to our Albuquerque trip. The kids and I drove to Albuquerque on a Friday October 11th. Matt went to work on Friday and then caught a flight from Phoenix to Albuquerque that night. He was supposed to get in at 11pm and then we were going to have to wake up at 3:45am the next day to see the Hot Air Balloons take off. He was then going to drive back with us to Phoenix on Sunday. My kids travel pretty well. Here are some tips on how to make the festival more enjoyable.

Hike with kids in the Grand Canyon

hike grand canyon in december

Family of six hikes in the Grand Canyon

We wanted to hike in the Grand Canyon before we moved from Arizona. If my kids said they lived in Arizona I wanted them to also say that they have been to the Grand Canyon. So, with less than a month before we moved we squeezed in another quick trip.

When did we go to the Grand Canyon?

We went to the Grand Canyon in December 2019. It’s a little risky to go in December because it could snow and the trails could be icy. We had really pleasant hiking weather.  It was a little brisk at the start of our hike but with a little exercise and we all took our jacket’s off. We had lots of layers so everyone was warm enough. It snowed a day after we left. I don’t think we would have enjoyed the Grand Canyon as much had it been snowing. This would be not only because of the temperature but hiking in ice could be quite dangerous. We were very lucky to have had such beautiful hiking weather. Our trip was so good especially compared to camping in the Grand Canyon in June.