Over the years we had our share of traveling faux pas. Traveling with kids can sometimes be difficult (perhaps you can relate?). With four children of our own, there are often stretching moments for everyone involved. We’ve had car top carriers that opened up on the highway (that was fun), screaming babies, trips to the ER, someone who had to pee RIGHT NOW or might burst (that might have been me – cough), and everything in between.

Regardless of the ups and downs, there is one thing that is a definite – our travel adventures have created memories that we can laugh about (eventually) and talk about for years to come. They’ve also given us ways to connect and g-r-o-w as a family. With an upcoming car trip and vacation planned I thought it would be fun to share 7 ways that our family connects while traveling. Follow along with us via Instagram and Twitter to see what we’re up to. You can also use the #TravelforReal or #FamilyForward hashtags to look for pictures of our family (and others).

1. We learn to compromise.

Travel with four kids and limited space and you’ll quickly find that EVERYONE wants to sit in the front seat. Or watch the movie that they want. (Or fill in your own blank). One thing that we’ve learned is how to compromise. Our kids have figured out a seat rotation schedule that works for them – and while not everyone is always in the ‘prime seat’, everyone is happy (and counting down the hours until it’s their turn in those seats).

2. We learn patience.

This is as much for the adults as it is for the kids. Being cooped up in a car for endless hours can wear on everyone’s nerves. Frustrations can mount and little issues can flare into things that blow up way beyond where they should. A car engine starts overheating and lights on the dashboard go nuts. Somebody has to go to the bathroom again even though we just made a designated potty break 10 miles back.

But we need to be patient with each other and extend the same grace to our family that we so much desire for ourselves. Life doesn’t always go according to plan and patience is a part of the overall story of life. That car top carrier that didn’t latch and resulted in our luggage being released all over the interstate made for a lot of backtracking and searching for the missing items. Not planned, but necessary.

One thing that is great about families – we can be REAL with each other. We see each other at our best and messiest moments – and learn to love still despite those difficult moments.

3. We try new things!

Sometimes we don’t always have the ‘familiar’ surrounding us – the food we are used to, our own favorite pillow, and those times are opportunities to try something new. It may require a little encouragement from others, but we have had SO much fun watching our kids get out of their comfort zone and try new things – like jumping in the deep water and snorkeling.

4. We learn how to laugh at ourselves.

It can be tough to laugh when something goes wrong or we make a mistake (even though it’s hilariously funny to others). Our last road trip resulted in something that was extremely embarrassing for me personally, but I quickly realized I had to let it go.

Sometimes we just need to learn to let loose, have fun, and join in the laughter. When we’re together on vacation, it’s the perfect opportunity for us to let our guards down with those we love – and then continue that pattern when we get home!

5. We get to splurge and treat ourselves.

Hotels are a huge treat for our kids. With a family of six, there aren’t many times that we can afford a longer stay and be together economically (because typically only 5 can stay in a room). When we have saved up our money, found some great deals, and are doing something super special together it is so much fun to splurge and treat ourselves on things we wouldn’t normally do. Maybe it’s a special dinner out or getting dessert just because. It’s so much fun to do something out of the ordinary (and surprise our kids every now and then too!).

On a side note – our kids are always THRILLED to stay at a hotel – because we have our very own TV and soaps. It’s the little things, right?

6. We get over our entitlements.

Although we do splurge and treat ourselves, our children have learned too (as have the adults) that we don’t always get what we want. We’ve learned the hard way how difficult a high debt-load can be on a family and it’s been a long process in understanding that we can’t always get what we want.

When we are taking a big vacation, our kids have set a savings goal and worked hard over a period of months to earn spending money. We’ve also had yard sales and cleaned out the excess to fund the spending money goal – that alone has been a huge learning experience for the kids. It’s a LOT harder to spend your own money and they make much different choices when it’s their own money on the line (that’s a great life lesson!).

7. We make new friends.

One of the best benefits of traveling together have been the friends that we’ve made. On almost every one of our trips, our children (and the adults) have reached out and connected with others, resulting in friendships that have extended beyond a short weekend. We’ve even had the fun of introducing some of those families to each other and have since vacationed together. It’s been wonderful!

Those are honestly just a few of the many ways that our family has connected through our travel time together – there are SO many other ways as well!

How has travel benefitted your family over the years? I’d love to hear your about your adventures!

This week we’re anticipating connecting more with our family as we gear up for a trip to the #FamilyForward conference at Universal Orlando Adventure hosted by Mom It Forward. There are many amazing sponsors: Universal Orlando Resort, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, DohVinci, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Loews Royal Pacific Resort. The kids may be a wee bit excited to see Blue Man Group and be a part of family-building workshops along with me too.

We’d love for you to follow along via Instagram and Twitter and see what we (and other families) are up to! Use the #TravelforReal or #Family Forward hashtag to search for pictures.

Although our homeschool year has officially come to an end, somehow the lazy days of summer don’t seem to be quite as quiet as I had anticipated (a.k.a. hoped) they would be! Between swim team, traveling, swim meets, more traveling, a homeschool convention, and more travel coming, life has been a whole lot of busy.

Can I just say that last year, although it was hard, was the first summer that I learned the meaning of true rest – and I rather miss that at the moment?

But, on the other hand, life is full. And crazy. But it’s a good crazy. We are reading and keeping up skills in that area, and the audiobooks have been flying by as we travel and listen. We are two books from the end of the Series of Unfortunate Events and still as hooked as we were from the first book!

Here’s a quick peek at what we’ve been up to – in a picture nutshell.

At the end of May, our entire family traveled to Ohio to attend Teach Them Diligently. Carisa and I were both speaking, so our families had a chance to hang out together and have some fun at the waterpark and later on get a peek at Lake Erie. On a side note, just so you don’t think that car trips are all sunshine and roses, that car trip about threw my husband and I over the edge with two of our kiddos.

The next weekend we traveled to a wedding, which while it may seem insignificant, was fairly emotional since the groom was the ring bearer in our wedding some 17 years ago. I refuse to admit that we could possibly be that old. To me, that boy is still the one hanging from the front pew of the church while we said our vows. But then I snapped a picture of our kids and realized that my kids are getting way too big. And that’s an entirely different kind of scary.

Not long after we returned I was scrambling to finish my curriculum shopping lists and pack up for HEAV, one of my most favorite places to visit every June. Between the used curriculum sale, vendor hall, and speaker line-up, I was moving the entire weekend. Almost everything is now purchased and I may have even taken advantage of slower shipping on Amazon to get free digital book credits. We won’t talk about the piles of books in the school room that need to be sorted through and organized, ok?

This was the result of the weekend. Needless to say, I didn’t send the picture to my husband because I didn’t want to scare him. It wasn’t all my stuff, but the combination of four ladies finding some great deals for the upcoming year. Pretty sure that we are good to go for this year (grins).

As soon as we returned from convention, we were packing up Laurianna and gearing up for a week of craziness locally. For the last five years our church has spearheaded a camp for teens that focuses on volunteering in the community and building relationships between area churches. This year there were over 275 people attending that helped repair and build, ran VBS camps, cleaned area schools, and SO much more. Every day the kids were out working and each night they returned for worship and teaching.

I’ll be honest and tell you that being the one washing dishes for all the kids isn’t the most glamorous job (or one that I was always cheerful about – because gum on a plate = ewwww!), BUT it was an amazing week – and our community is so blessed by these kids and seeing the changes in each of them is nothing short of amazing too!

One thing that I’ve been trying to do much more of – exercise. It honestly makes me giggle even saying that, but on mornings when the kids are at swim practice, I’m walking laps (and even running) nearby. For some reason I volunteered to do a 5K/Strength training class with our co-op kids this coming year and my theory is I should probably be able to get moving long enough to participate and not fall over. And having birthed multiple children, the running aspect of the class is a little bit scary – we’ll just leave it at that (grins). Right now my goal is to get in close to 2 miles, run a little further each day (I’m up to 1/2 mile now!!), and shave a little time off my pace each time. That alone is encouraging to me!

And this week I am SO excited to be taking a super quick trip to Texas to visit Flash the Donkey. My online friend, Rachel Anne Ridge, will now become and IRL friend – and I’ll be able to hug her neck and Flash’s too! She has written an amazingly wonderful book, simply titled Flash, that you will laugh (and maybe even cry) through parts of. It will be a quick trip, but one that a close friend will be taking with me, and we are both looking forward to the girl-time together! (p.s. it would be a great summer read, I promise!).

Other than all of that – life is normal. How are YOU doing?