During the winter seasons it’s always nice to escape the cold and snow and enjoy some warmer weather somewhere else. Our family loves going south to St. George, Utah. It’s a beautiful red rock community that is completely different than the Wasatch front. It’s a fun change. If you want to explore, here are 5 Fun & Budget Friendly Things to do in St. George, Utah.

1. Thunder Junction Park. This park is the best that I’ve seen in the whole state! It’s fun for all ages. You can also ride a fun train around the park for a small fee. There are so many different areas to play in for all ages. There are pavilions as well to bring some food and enjoy being outside. This is an all abilities park which is made for those who need accessibility to the park.
2. Hiking. There are so many different places to hike around St. George and the best part is it’s free! So check out this website and see what route would be best for your situation. If you have younger kids then the shorter ones would be perfect. Be sure to bring water and enjoy the scenery. It’s always so nice to be out in nature.
3. Snake Hollow Bike Park. This is a fun bike park that has some fun trails. There are hundreds of features and four skills zones: Rattler’s Revenge (dirt jump zone), Snake Den (pump track and skills loop), Venom Drops (gravity skills) and Sidewinder Slopestyle (gravity jump trails). This is such a fun place to visit. Our kids could have stayed there for hours.
4. Pioneer Park. This is seriously a favorite for our whole family. This isn’t the typical park. It’s a rock climbing adventure in open space. While there be sure to clip to the top and see the beautiful view down below. Make sure there is parental supervision while climbing. There are steep ledges, so you’ll want to climb together as a family. My little 3 year old even loved climbing around the red rocks. You can find the location here.
5. Washington City Aquatic Center. We went here with my son’s soccer team and they all loved it! There is a BIG slide that circles around (and even goes outside!) that is super fun as well as slides for the younger crowd. You can check out the details here.  If the place you are staying doesn’t have a pool then check this place out. It’s not too pricey which is nice and fun for the whole family.

Are you a fan of flying? I’ll admit, it’s not my favorite thing to do. I tend to get antsy about an hour into the flight. However, it’s SO much faster to get to point B, so flying is inevitable most of the time. Flying with kiddos adds a whole new dimension of being prepared and enduring short and long flights. I’ve come up with a few tips that have made flying with kids so much easier.

1. Prep the kids for a plane ride. Explain to the kids what is going on when they fly. You can explain how many stops you may have, if they will get a snack and drink, who they are sitting by and what an airplane ride feels like. I forgot to explain how an airplane works to our youngest, so when we got on the plane she started to FREAK out. I didn’t know why until she finally told me that she thought the plane would be going upside-down. Oops! I did not tell her that it’s not like an amusement ride airplane- no loops and twirling going on. Once she understood, she was so much happier!
2. Each child has their own backpack. If you’re child is old enough to carry a backpack, then do it! It’s so nice to have them pack a few of their favorite things that will bring comfort on the plane ride and in the airports. You could have them pack a few toy cars, dolls, books, activity books (see #3), tablets with games, and anything else they would enjoy doing.
3. Sticker Books & Activity Books. This is something I’ve recently started bringing and my kids LOVE them. I go on Amazon and grab a few new sticker books and activity books. I don’t show them until we are well on our flight and they need something to do. I pull these out and give one to each kid. This keeps them busy for awhile.
4. Individual bag of snacks. Every flight I make a snack bag for each kid. Again, I don’t give it to them until we are well into our flight. I try and space it out. If we have a stop overs then I make a bag for EACH leg of our journey. It doesn’t need to be big or fancy, but the excitement of a treat/snack makes it so fun. Some examples of things I put in their bags are gummy candies, goldfish crackers, pretzels, suckers, fruit snacks, banana chips, dehydrated fruits, and cookie assortments like oreos. You can find most of those here. 
5. Bring headphones & blankets. It’s so nice to have individual headphones for movies that are on the TV in front of you. For kids, it’s even nicer to have headphones that fit and are comfy, consider grabbing some of these. It’s the worst to have earphones that don’t fit or keep falling out. You could also bring a favorite blanket or pillow to keep them comfortable.
6. Know Your Flight Plan. If you have multiple stops, then be sure to check out the airport that you will be stopping in. If you have time to grab a meal, then do it. Give the kids time to stretch, use the bathroom, eat a good meal and get ready for the next stretch. If  you don’t have time to do all of those things and you have a fast connection, be sure you know where you’re going ahead of time. Consider grabbing food at your first stop that you could eat on your connecting flight. Being prepared ahead of time will make the flight so much better, especially with kids.

We recently got back from a trip to Austin, Texas. It was our first time exploring the city and it was simply amazing. It’s a city with a great variety of things to do and beauty is all around. We have 4 kids, so the activities we chose were more kid friendly, however I’m pretty sure all ages would enjoy these. Here are our top 5 spots to visit in Austin, Texas.

1. Bike around Lady Bird Lake. We rented bikes from a local bike shop and rode the full 10 miles on the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike trail. It was perfect weather and beautiful. There are a lot of places to stop if you need a quick break. We were able to see a ton of turtles in the lake, Texas bluebonnets scattered around the path, and a group of people rowing on the lake. You can pack a lunch and bike around, taking as many stops as you would want. This was a favorite spot of ours.
2. Hike to Mt. Bonnell. This is more of a walk up 115 (or so) stairs. Once you reach the top you’ll see a breathtaking view of the river and also the city of Austin. This is the highest point in Austin which makes the view great. We were able to see it at sunset which made it even more spectacular.
3. Zilker Park. This park is close to the lake/river too. There is a cute train that takes you on a tour of the park. It’s a good 25 minute train ride, so you’ll be able to see a lot of the park. Our kids love trains, so this was definitely a highlight. Be sure to check out their hours and prices before you get there. This park is HUGE and a good one to bring a ball and go play.
4. See the Austin Bats. Did you know this was a thing? Apparently around 1.5 million bats live under the Congress Avenue Bridge. At dusk during certain times of the year, you can see them fly all around you from that bridge. If you think that’s cool, then for sure go enjoy this unique experience.
5. Eat Yummy Food. It’s true this isn’t just one stop, but whenever we visit a new city we like to try unique places to eat. When in Austin, you’ll want to eat some Texas BBQ, Torchy’s Tacos and try out the delicious donuts at Gordough’s. You can always check out Yelp and see what everyone is loving in the city.