Spring Break Packing

“This post is sponsored by OshKosh B’Gosh; however, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.”

We are so excited to be taking the boys to the beach next week, and I have already been getting everything packed. This is both Ford and Rhett’s first times at the beach and Ford’s first time on an airplane. I always get a little anxious before traveling, especially with the kids since there is so much gear and clothing and diapers and such involved, and if you forget something important like diapers, you might just be stuck with a stinky kid on a plane for three hours. Even though our trip isn’t for a week or so, I’ve already been trying to get all the boys clothes washed and packed that way I have one less thing to worry about, and can focus on having fun. I thought I’d share some of my packing tips for Spring break with kids and I have something else super awesome to share at the end of the post!!.

1. Always take a swimsuit. It doesn’t matter if we’re traveling to Maryland in the middle of a blizzard, I take a swim suit. My mom always taught me that growing up, because you never know when you might get the chance to go swimming and you never want to miss it. Can you tell we’re water people?

2. Coordinate, coordinate, coordinate. Have you ever seen one of those ads that has like five pieces of clothing that makes like ten outfits? That’s exactly how I try and pack for my kids. I stick to one color scheme and all of their pants/shorts and shirts should fit it. That way they can re-wear shirts with other shorts for a different outfit and if anything gets dirty, it can still be worn with something else. My four year old can grab any shirt and shorts out of his bag and they will match, no problem. Since my older two boys are so close in size that they often wear each others clothes, it’s nice when their clothes coordinate too in case someone runs out of something or gets it really messy. Being able to make lots of outfits out of less clothes means we can travel with a lot less bags. I also try to find one pair of shoes per person that work with every outfit and are appropriate for what we’ll be doing on our trip. For my boys I love little kids style buckle sandals like you can see below. They can be dressed up for nice dinners and weddings, but are casual enough for beach trips or playgrounds too. Here’s an example of some of what I’m packing for our beach trip, all of these awesome clothes are from OshKosh B’Gosh, one of my favorite go-to’s for styling my little guys. See how all of their clothes have the same color scheme and the shoes match every outfit? OshKosh makes it easy by carrying whole collections of clothing that all coordinate and having matching color schemes. It makes it so much easier for me to shop in one place and get it all!

3. Always bring (at least) one extra outfit. If your kids are anything like mine, food doesn’t always make it to their mouth, markers don’t always stay on their paper, and dirt attracts them like moths to a light. If our trip is short, just a few days, I only bring one extra outfit. If we are somewhere for a week or longer, I try to bring two, but only if space allows. If we are planning on being somewhere on a Sunday, I try and make one of the extra items a nicer outfit they can wear to church so we can go with whoever we are visiting. Bonus points if the church outfit can be dressed down for other days!

4. Light jackets are a must! Last summer we traveled to Arizona for a week. When I checked the weather, the highs were in the 90’s, so I didn’t worry about packing the boys any jackets. What I didn’t know is that Arizona is freezing in the mornings and we were up and going the next morning (thanks to a 3 hour time difference) at 4 a.m. and it was in the thirties. It was so cold that I had to keep the boys entertained in our hotel until it warmed up enough to be able to run to a store and buy them some jackets. Lesson learned- always take a jacket. It’s a good idea to take them on the plane too, since most airplanes get cold at cruising altitude.

5. Be Realistic. If your child really hates a certain shirt, don’t pack it. You want your vacation to be spent having fun, not arguing over an itchy shirt. My kids love to run and jump and play, so I try to make sure they can move and have fun in anything I pack. If they’re old enough, you can always let them help you pack- my kids love helping pick out their outfits! (Another reason #2 is such a good idea- so everything matches no matter what they pick!)

6. Be flexible. I almost always forget at least one thing when we’re traveling. It’s not very hard to find stores just about anywhere you go, or just use your momma powers to make do. I can promise your kids will still be stylin’ even with a little spot of dirt on their clothes.

I hope those help your family to have the best Spring break vacation! We cannot wait to go to the beach and to see my guys playing and having fun in their OshKosh outfits. If you’re going to be heading somewhere for Spring Break or just need some cute Easter outfits, you have got to head to your closest OshKosh store; I can guarantee you will find a ton of cute outfits for your trip, and to help you get even more for your money, here is a coupon for 25% off of your $30+ purchase, or you can shop online and use the code “SPRING16″ and because I love ya, I’m giving away a $50 gift card to OshKosh so you can get an awesome Spring Break wardobe for your little one!

$50 Oshkosh B’Gosh Gift Card