Our Next Adventure ∙ Family Travel Blog

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Introducing…Sophie Louise!

She’s here! After 18 long, agonizing weeks of waiting and wondering, our little Sophie Louise made her debut into the world on January 16th! We’ve been on such a rollercoaster of emotions to get here…. [read more]

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  • Santa Barbara, California...they don't call it the American Riviera for nothing! ☀⠀ .⠀ Visiting Santa Barbara this time around was a little different with two kids in tow, but in a place so dang beautiful, it's impossible not to have a good time!⠀ .⠀ Santa Barbara is an awesome city for a family weekend getaway...there's lots of kid-friendly things to do, yet it's small enough that you can make a pretty good dent in just two days! Have you been? What are your favorite spots??⠀ .⠀ ✨Sharing mine #OnTheBlog today:⠀ A WEEKEND GUIDE TO SANTA BARBARA WITH KIDS⠀ .⠀ Check it out! [#LinkInBio] 👉🏻 @our.next.adventure
  • What are some of your favorite stress-free travel activities for kids?⠀ .⠀ For us, picnics in the park have become a new favorite pastime. Even better if hanging with these ladies. ✌🏻 .⠀ Because 1⃣ our kids can be loud and wild and usually get away with it, 2⃣ we love food, 3⃣ it gives us an excuse to visit a new market, and 4⃣ wine in a can is the best invention ever.⠀ .⠀ Do you have an unconventional ways you like to fill your travel itineraries?
  • As a busy parent, how do you stay on task and take care of ALL the things??⠀ .⠀ I made another big realization after a month of travel around Southern California: our kids have schedules and routines, so why the heck don't we??⠀ .⠀ The trouble is, when both you and your spouse work from home, the lines between when it's time for work and family and housework and errands, well...it all gets a little blurry.⠀ .⠀ And what ended up happening was I was trying to do everything all at once. The boundaries between all of these different parts of our lives were rarely there, and I was bouncing from one thing to another, completely overwhelmed with deciding what important task to tackle next!⠀ .⠀ I'm happy to say, with this realization I am getting better. I've created a schedule for myself so that everything has a place. Instead of folding laundry while writing a blog post, I've divided my day into "batches" so there's no more need to struggle between the two.⠀ .⠀ Now, is finding the time to do it all still hard? Heck yes! But that's a battle for another day. For now, I'm just working on driving myself a littttttle less crazy every day. 🤪
  • Is it really Monday?? I feel like last week didn't even really happen.⠀ .⠀ It started last Monday with a call from Sophie's neurologist. Sophie had a little bump on the back of her head, and when we sent a picture to her neurologist to take a look, we didn't expect we'd be doing an MRI 3 days later!⠀ .⠀ So pretty much last week was spent full of anxiety and worry about the MRI, the anesthesia, and what the result might be.⠀ .⠀ I pictured our lives being derailed again. Everything had been going too smoothly.⠀ .⠀ I thought about Sophie's mortality and the painful reminder that she is so fragile and that we could lose her at any moment.⠀ .⠀ It was like the whole week just froze, and we couldn't move forward until it was over.⠀ .⠀ But as it turns out, all that worry was for nothing. Sophie took the whole thing like a champ, getting back to her old self by dinnertime. And when we got her results back, they showed nothing alarming: more or less the same picture as always.⠀ .⠀ So, I'm declaring this week a do-over. Let's pretend none of that even happened, eh? 😕⠀
  • NINE MONTHS! 🎉 . Each month we get closer to 1 year, I just can't believe it. With Sophie being so immobile, it's hard not to still think of her as my little bitty baby. . But this little bitty baby now weighs nearly 17 pounds, is a lug to carry around, and loves to laugh and giggle when she pulls mom's hair (she might have a sick sense of humor, this one 😝). . #MIHV #Holoprosencephaly #WeHaveHoPE
  • Trick or Treat! 🎃👻⠀ .⠀ What are your littles dressing up as for Halloween??⠀ ⠀ .⠀ One of the tricky things about coming home just 3 days ago was making sure I had the girls’ costumes all lined up before we left!⠀ .⠀ So we went pretty pre-made this year, and our little pirate and parrot have been hanging in the closet since September. We didn't even do a test run try-on, so here's to hoping they both fit. 😬🤞🏻⠀ .⠀ Official reveal on our Instastories later tonight. 😜
  • Being away from home for an entire month was a pretty crazy feeling. ⠀ .⠀ Not only were we able to see a lot of really cool places in a seriously short amount of time, but it also allowed us to take a break for a second and jump off the hamster wheel of life. We eliminated a ton of our daily distractions (housework, appointments, home projects, etc.) and were able to really think about what's working in our home life, and what's not.⠀ .⠀ Realization #1: We don’t adventure enough at home.⠀ .⠀ As much as we love to travel, we are not full-timers. A majority of our life is spent right here in Omaha, Nebraska. ⠀ .⠀ And I realized that I hardly ever plan family adventures, just the 4 of us, when we're at home! It's the last thing on the priority list because our time is so spread thin as it is. If it's not on the schedule, it just doesn't happen!⠀ .⠀ So instead of living for the next big trip, we're going to work harder at being present at home. Not just seeing it as a break between journeys, but as part of the adventure!⠀ .⠀ What are you favorite ways to find adventure at home?
  • We’re back home in Omaha! 🤗 .⠀ And oh boy are we getting our fair share of fall now! 🍁🍂 ⠀ .⠀ It was 39 degrees this morning when I woke up FREEZING and realized I hadn’t quite adjusted the thermostat enough to compensate for the change in weather since we left. Brrr!⠀ .⠀ But the pretty yellow and red leaves are falling, I’ve got my autumn spice candle burning, and might even tackle some fall baking this week to get into the spirit (better late than never, right?!)⠀ .⠀ What are some of your favorite fall rituals? ☕️🍁🥧

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