Adventures of a Minivan

A post shared by Lauren (@adventures.of.a.minivan) on Jun 1, 2018 at 9:52am PDT If I'm being honest, half the reason I loooove the beach is the fresh seafood. I could eat seafood 9 out of 10 nights happily. So when planning my beach menu, I don't put normal summer foods like burgers and hot dogs. We do as much seafood as we possibly can. :) We also like to cook every other night, and do restaurants the others. So for a six-night trip, we will have 3 dinners to cook, and 3 nights out. Even better is when you bring other family with you, and you take turns cooking dinner. This year, we have 10 adults coming on our trip! So my mom and I will cook dinner one night, my aunt and uncle will cook one night, and my sister and cousins will cook the third night. I thought I would share our menu you with you, in case you want a little inspiration! For breakfast, we make our own little hotel-ish breakfast bar: granola bars, cereal, bagels, fruit, and yogurt. For lunches,...

A post shared by Lauren (@adventures.of.a.minivan) on Jun 1, 2018 at 5:25am PDT I remember going for spontaneous weekend trips in college and just throwing some things in a bag, grabbing my CD case, and hopping in my friend's car. (Fun fact: I didn't have a car until I got married at 21!) Well, weekend trips with kids are not exactly like that.............. Don't get me wrong, traveling is actually one of my favorite things to do with my kids. We've been on many, many trips in the nearly 12 years since our first baby was born. But throwing stuff in a bag and leaving can have unintended consequences (especially if you have a baby and somehow forgot diapers). We have taken about 6 weekend trips so far this year (thanks, baseball); and we have several more to go! So I thought I would share my to-do list that I follow before short trips. If you only have a few days notice, there is a lot to cram in! Ideally I like to start basic planning about a month o...

A post shared by Lauren (@adventures.of.a.minivan) on May 24, 2018 at 7:56am PDT It's time! You've planned and made lists and daydreamed of sugar sand for months, and now is the time to pack those bags to make sure you bring just the right things. You don't want to overpack (good luck.....), but you don't want to forget anything important either. (But you made sure to save the address of the grocery store nearest your condo just in case, because #reallife). For your reference, I have 5 kids, ranging in ages from 4 to 11, including both boys and girls. I did my best to remember back a couple of years ago to taking a baby as well; but mamas of infants, let me know if I forgot anything! My list is pretty comprehensive; you may not need everything on it. And my general rule is, if I'm not positive I need it, and it costs less than $5, I don't bring it. You also need fewer clothes than you think, provided you have a swimsuit coverup. Another thing t...

A post shared by Lauren (@adventures.of.a.minivan) on May 23, 2018 at 12:51pm PDT Why is that when you add one child to your family, your stuff doubles? Like, each time. So with kid number one, you have a lot of stuff right? Kid two, you have double that, about right -- enough for two kids. Kid three, you have enough for four; kid four, you have enough for eight. You see where I'm going here.