Adventures of a Minivan

photo: Kate Gantner On a day trip with my in-laws today, we were commenting that when you are newlyweds with few responsibilities, you don't have enough life experience to fully appreciate the freedom and possibilities of that time of life. And then I said, "And I'm sure in 20 years, I'll look back at now and say the same thing." That prompted me to consider -- what will  I look back at right now and really remember as the best? If I look back at my newlywed days and remember sleeping in on Saturdays, having the money to eat out whenever we wanted, and just the total freedom of those days -- what will I look back on during these days now and remember with the same fondness? I think it will be the simple evenings at home; the summer nights swimming at the neighborhood pool; decorating gingerbread houses at Christmas; laughing at one of the kids' corny jokes; cuddling on the couch; yard games with friends; late summer night walks with my husband; story ti...

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...