Oh Honey, Oh Sugar Sugar!

Travelling with kids; it can be joyful, inspiring, and sweet or it can be down right sour.  One thing I know for sure, if you don’t put a little bit of effort into it and do some planning, it will be a challenge.  The good news, as with all things in life with a little bit of foresight, and some creativity family vacations can go down in the memory books as the best trips ever! 

When packing up my family for a vacation one of the details I try very hard not to overlook are the snacks and meals for the week.  What’s that you say?  You prefer to fly by the seat of your pants, eat in restaurants for every meal and go where the wind takes you?  Sadly I found out the hard way this is not something that works for my young family.  Over sugared kids living on fast food only equals cranky and tired children.  Over the past 14 years of travelling with children I have learned a few tricks about surviving a family vacation, and avoiding all kinds of tummy trouble and drama along the way. 

Rule number 1:  Every thing in moderation, but don’t go crazy!  Yes, you and the kids are on vacation and this may be an excuse for extra ice cream, but just because your heart knows you are on vacation doesn’t mean those little tummies are prepared for an onslaught of sweets at every turn.  Pace yourselves!  Nothing ruins a beautiful day faster then an upset stomach.  Ug. 

Rule Number 2: Snack Smart.  When you arrive at your destination spend 20 minutes at a grocery store and pick up some apples, bananas, cheese, juice boxes and even some dry cereal.  When on vacations snacks can equal survival!  Nothing helps beat a little one’s melt down faster then a hastily retrieved snack magically produced from the bottom of a diaper bag or purse.  Three cheers for home made trail mix, raisin’s and granola bars!      PS You would not believe how many snacks I can hide in my purse!

Rule Number 3:  Start the day with a good breakfast!  Add some fruit to those fast food breakfasts.  Staying in a house on this vacation?  Take it a step further and when you hit up that grocery store snag some healthy options for quick and easy meals.   Not only will you save money by eating at “home” but your kids will kick off their days with enough fuel to last for hours.  Avoiding the “Mom I’m hungry” whining until at least 10:30am?  This is a gift!   

Rule Number 4: Don’t forget your vitamins!  Yep, we take our IronKids every day at home so why wouldn’t we take them on the road with us?  Sure you could just pick up a “different” vitamin when you land in that grocery store in Florida or Timbuktu, but did you know not all gummy vitamins are created equal?  IronKids vitamins have approximately 1.4grams of sugar so if your kids take all the recommended vitamins they will still be consuming less than 11 grams of sugar and receiving tons of nutrients.  Winning.

Rule Number 5:  Make healthy food substitutions for the “junkier” ones whenever possible.  Water with lemon and raspberries instead of pop?  Sugar free popsicles instead of ice cream.  Frozen strawberries with whipped cream instead of that big old piece of cake.  Trust me, no one will feel like they are being deprived! 

Relax and have fun.  No vacation ever goes exactly as planned so try and roll with the punches and live in the moment.  Enjoy your family time, make some memories and start looking forward to the next successful healthy vacation!  Cheers!

 

**Find more information about IronKids on Facebook and Twitter, and Adult Essentials here.

**This is a sponsored post however all opinions reflected are my own. We have been an IronKids family for more than a year and loving it!

IronKids Gummy vitamins are made in Canada by Life Science Nutritionals, a growing company started in Burlington, Ontario to give kids an all natural choice in a gummy vitamin! No sugar coating, no aspartame, no artificial colors . . only real ingredients.