Spring Break 2026

Vacation in 2018 nearly destroyed us. It (and COVID) led to some pretty big changes in terms of our land and how we vacationed. The last 3 vacations we've taken have included one of our sitters (and my dad for one trip, too) because we learned that more hands make vacations a bit easier. 

This year for spring break, though, we didn't have the option of taking a big along with us. So, we ventured out for a jam-packed road trip with just the 4 of us, heading to the East Coast and taking in as many sights and experiences (and donuts and ice creams) as we could!

The highlights of vacation in terms of sights seen included:

• 3 National Seashores (Cape Lookout (my favorite!), Cape Hatteras & Assateague)
• 1 National Battlefield (Moore's Creek with the slogan of "For King George & Broadswords!")
• 1 National Historic Site (Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad)
• 1 National Memorial (Wright Brothers at Kittyhawk)
• 4 National Parks (Shenandoah, New River Gorge, Congaree & Smokey Mountains)
• 3 hours in Washington D.C. with cherry blossoms everywhere exploring:
• Jefferson Memorial
• Lincoln Memorial
• WWII Memorial
• Korean Memorial
• Vietnam Memorial
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
• Washington Monument

Our favorite moments were our few hours in Washington, D.C. where we absolutely lucked out with a parking spot to walk with hundreds if not thousands of others in the beauty of the snow white cherry blossoms. AJ has never been to D.C., and we've wanted to take him there for years. While this doesn't replace the desire to spend a couple days there exploring all the museums and truly enjoying all the monuments, memorials and history, it was a wonderful opportunity!

The other highlight for our entire family was our trip to Cape Lookout, as we took a boat out to the island to explore for the day. Dave did a phenomenal job planning vacation and had rented us a side by side to drive around the island. It was the perfect way to get to explore the historic village, all the different beaches and the lighthouses. We laughed (and worried a bit) as we got stuck in the sand twice in the first 1/2 mile, but thankfully those were the only times we were stuck. It was a beautiful day, though windy, so we got to dip our toes in the ocean, search for sea shells and enjoy a picnic in short sleeves and sunshine!

Travel with Teddy is still travel with Teddy. As I've told others, we'll have our moments and challenges here at home, and I'd much rather be seeing, exploring and doing than not. So we had a 2 a.m. bedtime the first night and another night with a midnight bedtime because Teddy insisted on sleeping on the couch. That might not sound like a problem, but Teddy is at risk of falling out of bed and eloping or leaving the hotel room, so we always pair him in bed next to an adult for safety. I gave up that night, though, and blocked the door with a laundry basket and just slept lightly to keep an ear for him. 

We also had to do a lot of valet pickups for Teddy, as transitions were tough. He often refused to leave just about anywhere, but he'd go when the vehicle pulled up. The other challenge in the vehicle, which was a challenge, was aggression toward AJ. Teddy decided after the first couple days that he no longer wanted AJ sitting by him, so he was pushing, kicking and hitting at AJ. 

But, we saw progress with restaurants, even without an extra set of hands. Teddy did really well waiting and eating in the restaurants where we ate, which often isn't the case. We also saw progress with hotel rooms, with very minimal attempts to leave the room and much more willingness to just chill with hotel TV. Even bedtime was easier in the sense that it wasn't such a fight with flailing and crying as much as simply not wanting to sleep.

It really was an amazing trip with tons of fun memories for all of us! Here's pictures of some of the fun.

This occupied Teddy for 30-60 minutes. 

Shenandoah was a wee bit foggy.

Teddy still loves viewfinders. We saw a wild horse through it!

Like most boys, Teddy thought the cannon was cool!

Teddy's version of hiking is sprint and stop. Good thing I'm a runner.

The kid who rarely hugs gave Buc-ee a hug.

This boy loves boats!

4 x 4 exploring of Cape Lookout!

This seashore was a wee bit chilly, so they were cuddling for warmth!

Accessibility in Our Parks: Version 2.0

Several years ago I shared our experiences with accessibility within our National Park System. We finally had the chance to venture back to our national parks and travel as a family last month, and it's wonderful to continue to see accessible options. 

At Cuyahoga Valley, AJ made his standard request for Junior Ranger books. The ranger offered a more hands-on learning style if that was better for anyone in our group. She didn't single Teddy out, but she recognized that Teddy may not be able to do the typical workbook and provided that option. She didn't automatically assume and give that as the only option, but she gave a choice that might work better for us. 

It was a really neat set of cards with different activities to do throughout the park, with hands-on learning that could be done by younger ages or people who don't do well with written activities. It's such a great idea!

If they change the name on these, it's a darn near perfect idea.

She also politely inquired about how accessible one of the trailheads was due to construction because she observed us pushing Teddy in his chair. They have to keep safety during construction as the top priority and had made some changes to make it more accessible, yet it still wasn't truly accessible. She appreciated knowing, so she could inform other visitors as well as management. 

The other really cool thing we saw was a variety of adaptive equipment at Indiana Dunes to make beach access possible for people with limited mobility. If you've ever tried to push any wheelchair or stroller on sand, you know how challenging that is. They had several options to give people the ability to more fully experience the parks.

A variety of devices allow better access for more people.

The reality is there will always be a balance between accessibility and the component of leaving our parks natural, which means that all trails cannot be wheelchair accessible. I love to see, though, where parks make the outdoors available to people of all abilities. 

Our Vacation In Pictures

About 6 weeks ago, I lamented to my husband how much I missed visiting our national parks. Within a day, he suggested the possibility of visiting New River Gorge, the newest national park that we haven't visited. As COVID was currently calming down, it seemed perfect to plan for a spring break trip. We still took all the precautions we could (masks indoors when around others, limited hotel rooms and opted for rentals instead and no dining at hotels or restaurants). But we got to go on vacation!

As background, our family loves to travel. Ever since we visited two national parks on our honeymoon, we have planned nearly all our travel around national parks, monuments, etc. Each year we have explored our country, often on trips that no sane person would consider with young children. As Teddy has grown older, these trips have become more stressful and the tough realization that the hikes of years past are in the past. But we still managed to have a wonderful time with a few adaptions.

Most of our stops along the way were rest stops to allow Teddy to stretch his legs, unless we needed gas. We had to change him in the backseat of the truck, as there's rarely suitable changing locations for a 70-pound child who's way too tall. 

That scrunchy nose gets me every time.

Teddy loves exploring new places. Fortunately our first rental had very little in terms of decor or things that he could easily break. In fact, both our rental places worked well for Teddy, aside from needing locks on the bedrooms.

Teddy loved the game room at our rental place. We all did.

We spent the majority of our time at New River Gorge National Park, as we hadn't explored it yet. It was a great place to spend time outdoors exploring, and the weather was beautifully cooperative for this part of the trip. The river is the center of the park, and this was the day we were checking out the falls and rapids on the river.

Aren't we all so cute?

Notice the semi-matching cameras for Dave and AJ. 

We gave AJ our old digital SLR camera on this vacation. We had talked about selling it because we don't use it, and instead we decided it would be a great opportunity for AJ. He absolutely loved it and commented that now he really was like Ansel Adams, his namesake. It also motivated him while hiking and exploring. Teddy, meanwhile, was motivated by adventure. The rougher the trail, the more fun.

I'm sure his chair was meant for this terrain ...

I mentioned a few adaptations. The single best thing we did on this vacation was bring along reinforcements! Our wonderful childcare provider loves to travel and explore, and she was willing to tag along with us. She gets along fantastically with all of us and fits right into the family. I think she might need to join us for every vacation, especially considering she got Teddy asleep both nights in hotel rooms. Magic, I tell you, pure magic.

AJ loved being able to go off exploring with Bri.

On our first day of driving, I mentioned that it was both a good and bad thing that I packed the backpack carrier for Teddy. I said it's a bad thing because I might use it, but it's a good thing because we have it if we need it. Well, we did need it. Teddy can hike remarkably well when he wants to, but he didn't want to finish a particular hike. In fact, all he wanted to do was run in the opposite direction, when there was a really tall cliff about 20 feet away. I carried him for less than a half mile, but it made the hike so much more enjoyable rather than trying to convince a child laying on the ground to move in the right direction.

One day he will be big enough to carry me. Hopefully he listens by then.

We were fortunate enough to have hot tubs at our rentals. The boys did an afternoon dip, so that Teddy got to enjoy the experience. Otherwise, we usually hot tubbed while Teddy was going down for the night.

Teddy was excited to enjoy the hot tub.

All of our kids, including our childcare provider, did the Junior Ranger program to earn their badges. Well, we did Teddy's booklets at most parks. AJ was really happy to add 6 badges to his collection, including 5 brand new locations.

This was the most official swearing in ceremony in front of the backdrop.

After a few days of nice weather, we transitioned to much cooler and rainier weather. It felt appropriate for Fort Necessity, where they were in rain-filled trenches fighting all day. It also felt appropriate for the somber tone of remembrance at Flight 93 Memorial.

This is my favorite picture of Teddy from the trip. 

One of the most amazing parts of our trip was being able to connect with not one, but two, other families with CDG-PIGN. We had previously met one of the children 3 years ago when Teddy did his week-long study at National Institutes of Health in Maryland. It's amazing how much both of them have progressed in just 3 years! And then the next day we got to meet a nearly 2-year-old sweetheart, who took us down memory lane to when Teddy was that little.

Teddy spent Gettysburg pushing Alexa around, when we didn't put him in his own chair.

This is Teddy giving his version of a hug to sweet Hayden.

I felt better sneaking away for a couple runs because Dave had an extra set of hands to help. It's a good thing because the chairs we brought for Teddy weren't always meant for all the terrain, so Bri carried Teddy's chair up and down the stone steps on this path, but they got to explore a cool trail while I ran through Cuyahoga Valley National Park. 

Everyone is happy, even me as I was dying running hilly trails.

It was an absolutely wonderful vacation, although it felt really short when we were back home a week later. Our earlier trips have been upwards of 2 weeks, but we managed to pack a lot of fun and exploring into this week. And then we had a day at home to sleep in our own beds and recover before heading back to our normal routine.

Vacation ... Blissful Vacation

As I write this, I'm in my bedroom with the door shut. I hear Teddy complaining in his room about being put down for a nap. (This is the second attempt since he was up before 4:30 a.m.) AJ is in his room, supposedly laying in bed until his clock says 2:40. (It was 2:30 until he spent 10 minutes going to the bathroom, washing his hands with a baby wipe and soap and having a drink from a cup that was also holding a toothbrush and floss.) I'm in my room because AJ insisted I rest for 30 minutes since I'm making him rest for 30 minutes (because everything that comes out of his mouth is a whine or he's in tears).

And a week ago I was in 80 degree weather with plenty of sun and no children. Now I'm staring at 6 inches of snow on the deck railing outside, but at least it's warmed up nearly 40 degrees to get into the low 30s.

This feels like a dream right now. I wish Teddy were dreaming instead of kicking his door.

So this post has next to nothing to do with Teddy, aside from the fact that his grandparents not only kept him alive but took great care of him while we were gone for the week. And our sitters who provided respite for my mom who had the Monday-Friday shift may be our saving grace in hoping to do any kid-free vacations in the future. I think they are both my mom's heroes. (Let's just say that from 11:15 a.m. until 4 p.m. can be a very long time with my boys, especially if there's no relief in sight until bedtime.) We're extremely grateful we had amazing family and friends who pulled together to make this trip a reality by taking care of the boys.

This was the first time Dave and I were gone together for more than a night for fun. (We've been gone together a whopping two nights at a time, but that's when we're volunteering and working the entire time.) We dropped the kids off Saturday morning and didn't pick them up until noon a week later on Sunday.
 
We went to the Virgin Islands, flying into St. Thomas but spending most of our time at the Virgin Islands National Park in St. John. It was amazing! We slept nearly 9-10 hours most nights. We sampled a few of the island drink specialties, such as painkillers and bushwackers. (If you ever get the chance, try a bushwacker.) We hiked miles without carrying children, which is oddly enough much more enjoyable. We snorkled together, watching sea turtles swim beneath us. (Dave only had to worry about me drowning instead of three of us drowning.) We went for a sunset hike that turned into a night hike, which was our intent. We rented a standup paddleboard. We used outdoor showers that were mighty brisk for 5 days. Dave drove on the left side of the road without any accidents. I ran on the left side of the road up crazy steep hills with sharp turns. I've never ran hills like that in my life.

Enjoying the warmth. Even the downpours were warm!

It was absolutely incredible to spend so much time with the man who keeps me sane ... most days. We got to sleep next to each other every night. (In contrast, our first night home I spent 2 hours in by AJ. Last night, Dave went in by Teddy around 4, and then I was up with Teddy at 4:30 a.m.)

There were times we thought about how much the boys would love the sun, sand and water, but it was so easy to travel without them. The airport waits with the boys would have been really tough, especially with weather issues canceling half the flights both when we flew out and flew back. The Virgin Islands are anything but accessible, so Teddy would have been on my back much of the time and changing him would have been almost always done in the back of the Jeep.

Beautiful sunset in a beautiful national park.

This was our 43rd national park together since we got married in July 2006. I hope we manage a few more trips without the hoodlums, especially to check off some of the ones like American Samoa with a long flight or the remote ones in Alaska. But our next vacation will be a family adventure out to Washington, checking off the last of the parks in the continental US. As crazy as our road trip adventures are with two young boys, one of whom is Teddy, we're already looking forward to it.

This is me not missing the boys.

Until then, back to our reality. As my husband said our first day back, "Last week, I only had to wipe my own butt."