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This month, I found myself traveling quite a bit. The four of us drove back from Washington state early in the month, and I found myself traveling by plane, ALONE, mid-month. With all that extra time on my hands and nobody looking to me for snacks or entertainment or diaper changes, I came up with a list of tips for traveling with kids. Most of these work for car trips or planes, but some are specific to one or the other. I hope you find some useful ones and enjoy some of my travel anecdotes!

• Pack ALL the snacks. Your kids won’t be the only ones looking for a snack before you get to your destination. And you can never be sure when you will be able to stop, or if you’ll have time on your layover, to stock up. Pack a small cooler with drinks for a car ride. If you’re traveling by plane, pack empty cups and fill them up after security. I’ve had some let me take milk and juice through security if I have my kids with me no questions asked, and I’ve had others I’ve had to practically beg not to throw away my breastmilk. Just avoid the hassle if you can.

• Pack layers. Just like you’d pack layers for yourself, pack layers or a small blanket for the kiddos. You never know what the temperature will be like. And, if you don’t need the extra layers, you can use them as a pillow! They also come in handy during car rides in the carseat when they fall asleep and their head is hanging at a bad angle.

• Pack several different activities. I get bored on a plane and in the car, and I’m old enough to just suck it up. Now, imagine a kiddo with less attention span and a need to be on the move! Make sure you have plenty of options to keep them busy. If you will be low on space, plan some games/activities you can play that don’t require anything (I spy, making up stories, planning what you will do at your destination, etc). If you have a tablet, this would be the time to use it. We try not to let the boys use theirs, but we always have it as a backup when we travel.

• Make sure you have a change of clothes…or three! You never know when there will be a blowout or a puke. I’ve had travel days where we don’t need any changes of clothes. And then I’ve had travel days like our drive out to Washington where Nico puked twice before we were half way there (darn mountain roads!). Make sure to have several changes accessible, whether it’s a separate bag in the front of the car or your carry on. And have a plastic bag ready to keep yucky clothes away from the clean ones! I’ve made that mistake before…

• Snag a window seat for your kiddos if possible. It has the dual purpose of giving them something to look at AND you block their exit! My biggest issue with plane travel is my boys want to get up and RUN. If you give them a window seat, it at least makes it harder for them to escape.

• Make sure you know which bathrooms have changing tables. I sat and waited for the bathroom near the cockpit to change my baby one time just to find out there was no changing table. On the way home, I made sure to ask, and it turns out both had changing tables. So you never know. The same goes for bathrooms at restaurants and gas stations. I was so surprised to find that the bathroom in a McDonald’s we stopped at didn’t have one. So I had to change Nico on the floor and hope he’d stay on his little mat that comes with the diaper bag. Turns out the bathroom inside the play area was the only one with the changing station.

• Make friends with the flight attendants. They are the providers of snacks and napkins and you want them on your side! Plus, if you’re like me, I don’t like the idea of leaving my kids with a stranger to go the bathroom. I know they can’t be stolen, but still. Although the flight attendants are strangers, I feel less weird leaving my kiddos with them. (Though I still have never done it…just hold it ‘til we land!)

• Know your kiddos and plan travel times as best you can. I’ve had the best luck with earlier flights, my boys are still sleepy when we get on the plane and haven’t had an entire day of energy building. When we drove to Washington, we left at like 4am, which got us about a third of the way there before the boys woke up and got antsy. What are your kids like? Would morning, afternoon, or evening travel be better for you?

• Plan for everything to take three times as long. This isn’t much of a tip. If you’ve had your kids for more than 5 minutes, you know that everything takes ages. But especially remember that when you are planning how you will spend your 40 minute layover, or how many stops you will have to make and for how long along your drive.

• Don’t stress! I know, easier said than done. Chances are you won’t miss your next flight, if you’re concerned, let someone at the desk know you’re on your way and go get that diaper changed. And anyone with kids will totally understand if your kiddos have a meltdown. There’s nothing you can do about it, and you definitely shouldn’t feel bad! On our way to Washington, we managed to take a wrong turn and not realize it for like 45 minutes. It happens, we made fun of ourselves and started a game of I spy and only arrived a bit after we had hoped.

My parents and grandma are visiting at the end of the month to celebrate my boys’ birthdays. And I have a new book coming out this summer, How Many Sleeps?, which is all about counting down the days until long-distance relatives come to visit. So, to prepare myself for our own long-distance relatives, I’ve put together this list of fun (and free!) things you can do when family or friends come to visit!

• Take a walk or go for a hike. Look up local nature trails, or just take a walk around the block! Make it a scavenger hunt, look for certain animals or buildings to check off your list. It’s a great way to enjoy the fresh air and get some exercise.
• Go to the park. As part of your walk, check out a local park and play on the toys or play catch. Go to your favorite one or find one you’ve never been to.
• Have a picnic. Pack a picnic lunch for your walk or trip to the park. It’s a great way to take a break from all the fun.
• Go to the zoo or a museum. Although this isn’t always free, there are many museums that offer free or discounted admission days. Take advantage of those and learn something new on a day when spending time outdoors isn’t possible.
• Cook a meal together. Pick a long time favorite or try a new recipe! You might learn a new skill, and as a bonus, you get to eat the end result! If you aren’t into cooking, you could go out to eat instead. Take your guests to your favorite restaurant or try a new one!
• Have a game night. Pull out all your favorite card games and board games. Our family game nights are always full of fun and laughter. Game night is sure to make some great memories!
• Put on a fashion show. If you or your kids love dressing up, get out all those old Halloween costumes and the out-of-style clothes hidden at the back of your closet. See who can make the most ridiculous outfit and practice your stage walk. This is sure to lead to a ton of giggles.
• Read a book together. If you love reading as much as I do, a nice, quiet activity to do with family is to all snuggle around a good book. Or, for older kids, everyone can enjoy their own book for a little while. Sometimes it’s nice to read in the company of someone else.
• Create art together. Grab your crayons, markers, paints, chalk, or whatever your favorite medium is! Everyone can create their own piece of artwork, and then you can make an art gallery for everyone to show off what they’ve made!
• Have a dance party. Blast your favorite songs and dance around the living room. Show off those moves! This is a lot of fun and also great exercise! If dancing’s not your thing but you still like music, see if there is a live show somewhere nearby.
• Put on a talent show. Everyone has some unique talent they can show off. Have everyone prepare their talent and then put on a show. You might be surprised by what you see!

Of course, the most important thing is to enjoy spending quality time with loved ones. It doesn’t matter what you do, if you do it together you are bound to have a good time. Don’t forget to take some pictures. But more importantly, live in the moment, nothing can replace the memories made with family and friends.

Comment below with your favorite things to do with visitors!

I originally intended for this to be included in my post about International Day of Women and Girls in Science, but there is no way I would be able to do these women justice as one part of a bigger post. So, they get their own! This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the awesome women in science, just some of the ones that I get most excited about.

Marie Curie

Marie Curie worked alongside her husband, Pierre, but was one of the first women to be recognized for her work in science. She did research on radioactivity, and discovered two elements – polonium (named after her home country of Poland) and radium. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person (and only woman) to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win in two different fields. Unfortunately, the research she is so well known for also led to her death. She died at age 66 of radiation poisoning.

Mary Anning

From a very young age, Mary Anning spent her days exploring the seaside and collecting fossils near her home in England. When she was only 12 years old, she discovered the first ichthyosaur. She was also the first to discover a complete skeleton of a plesiosaur. My favorite contribution of Mary Anning is her pioneering study of coprolites (fossilized poop!). Despite all her discoveries, she was not eligible to join the Geological Society of London because she was a woman. Mary is still regarded as one of the greatest fossil hunters to this day.

Jennifer Doudna

Jennifer Doudna codeveloped CRISPR, a technique used in gene editing that is much more efficient and simpler than previous methods. She won a Nobel Prize in 2020 for her work with CRISPR. Some of the food we eat today has been genetically modified with using the CRISPR technique. There are so many possibilities for advancement using this technology, but the one I find most interesting and controversial is its use in de-extinction – bringing extinct animals (like the woolly mammoth) back to life. If you haven’t heard about this, you NEED to check it out. And then let me know what you think, I could talk about this for days.

Rosalind Franklin

You have probably heard of Watson and Crick – the co-discoverers of the double helix form of DNA. But did you know that Rosalind Franklin played a key role in that discovery as well? She learned the technique of x-ray diffraction, and then pioneered the use of that technique to create images of not just single crystals, but entire crystallized solids. With her new technique, she was able to get a photograph of DNA, which showed the double helix structure. That photograph (Photo 51) was used as evidence to support the proposed DNA model, and the Watson and Crick duo took credit for the discovery and Rosalind was basically passed over.

Vera Rubin

Vera Rubin is most well known for her work with “dark matter”. She determined that about 90% of the mass in the universe can’t be seen, but it can be detected by how it distorts visible matter around it. She was the first woman allowed to observe at the Palomar Observatory, which had the most powerful telescopes at the time she was using it. Vera Rubin was elected to the National Academy of Science and was awarded the National Medal of Science. And although she was not awarded a Nobel Prize, she arguably has something better – The Vera Rubin Ridge on Mars was named after her, as well as the asteroid 5726 Rubin.

Katherine Johnson

As a young girl, Katherine Johnson loved numbers and everything about them. At age 34, she started work at NASA, where she worked as a mathematician for more than 30 years. Her calculations were crucial to the success of the first manned space flight. For that first flight, she did all the calculations by hand and was known as a “human computer”. For later flights, she helped pioneer the use of actual computers to do the complex math instead. She was also one of the first African American women to work as a NASA scientist. You may be familiar with Katherine Johnson from her portrayal in the 2016 movie Hidden Figures.

Elizabeth Blackwell

Elizabeth Blackwell studied medicine privately, but when she applied to medical school, she was met with rejection after rejection. When she was finally admitted, she was harassed by classmates and even barred from certain classes. Despite that, in 1849 she graduated top of her class and was the first woman in the United States to get a medical degree. She was then also the first to become a practicing doctor. Elizabeth Blackwell advocated for women to be more represented in the field of medicine, and even opened her own medical college for women, giving them the same opportunities she had fought so hard for.

In conclusion

All these women, and many others, have made important discoveries and advancements in all fields of science and math. And while I am so excited to learn about them and share their stories, it is a little disheartening to realize how many of these women faced significant hardship or missed well deserved opportunities and accolades because they were women. I hope that we can continue to change the culture around STEM fields and create equal opportunities for women to do the work they love and receive the recognition they deserve.