Travelling?...Leaving The Kids Behind? keep them healthy!!!

So, we went to a wedding this past weekend. We went for 3 whole nights. Yikes. We haven't left our boys since the beginning of the year and I swear I scrambled for days to get everything organized, ready and exciting for them while we were away. 

I'm not sure how often any of you guys leave town without your kids, so, I'm not sure how many tricks you have up your sleeve for this kind of thing. But, I have a few and I will share them with you. I am NOT claiming to be any kind of a parenting expert or even good at it for that matter. But I can say we do travel a lot - mainly WITH our kids, but sometimes without them as well!

My two big challenges when we leave them at home: 1) keeping them from dwelling on the fact that we're gone. Making sure everyday is filled with something fun and exciting. And 2) keeping them healthy!

Last year when we got home from a trip, our kids were both sick. Mainly because of my lack effort in putting together a good meal plan. You don't want to stress out the sitters, so making it easy for them can be tricky. 

Lots of healthy snacks - stuff they've never had before. Maybe this means spending extra money on healthy stuff that tastes really good. 

Smoothies - made ahead of time or directions for during. Choose an organic fruit that you want the boys to eat. Have the sitter use that in smoothies, or whatnot, each day. 

Let go of a few things - let the kids have extra treats that they don't normally get. Or spoiling them with toys or MOVIES!! 

Feed them really well before you leave - green smoothies, no sugar, no junk. So as to save up for the weekend away. 

Make meals ahead of time and package in tupperware - so the caregivers don't have to spend time doing this. They can just play with kids. 

New toys - either give the caregiver money for a fun trip to the toys store or buy stuff ahead of time and hide it in a bag. Give your kids a toy or two each day. This gets them excited plus it keeps them busy and not bored or sad. 

Clothes - my kids LOVE super heros, thomas the train, and so on. So sometimes, I pick up a few of these things at Old Navy, thrift stores or Target. Give them one before you leave. Or maybe a superhero cape or something. Tell them to be brave and like super heros while you're away.  

Mom and Dad take a few videos of yourselves talking to the boys. We don't always have time for or aren't in the same time zone for Face Time {talking on phone} while we're away, so taking videos ahead of time can be fun. Telling them things like you love them. Maybe get creative and add a soundtrack? You could even do a scavenger hunt?!

Adventures & Activities - try and plan fun trips with friends or family members during this time. If you don't mind sitter/caregiver driving your kids around, then get them some passes to LEGO Land or a local museum. 

FAMILY & familiar faces! - even if you have no family around to help out with overnights, you can at least ask them to stop in or take one of your kids for the day. Or if your cousins have been wanting to come by, this would be a great time for it. 

Those are just some ideas to keep kids having fun and excited about your being gone plus keeping them healthy. Again, I'm not the expert parent. In fact, some people might find my tips totally annoying. That's why I would like it if you shared YOURS with us as well: That being said, if you have any other fun healthy ideas, please share them!

Snacks as you see them from top to bottom & left to right:

raw vegan hail merry tarts | fresh coconut water | dried mango | raw vegan rhythm chips | sun power raw vegan snacks | kookie karma raw vegan krackers | just tomatoes dried fruit | macaroons | living intentions sprouted green food grawnola | roasted organic seaweed snacks | homemade juice popsicles | bananas