Getting away with a 3 year old and a 3 month old can be daunting.  Some days I feel like I can barely bundle up everyone for the 1/2 hour round trip to preschool let alone travel 5 hours to Tofino.  But trips like this past weekend are the best reminder that as scary as venturing out with young kids can be, it is almost always worth the effort.  Mae is not the best traveller but she did great on the winding road to Tofino.  We are working through some sort of congestion issues with her so me and Mae didn't get a lot of sleep but a walk along a stormy beach was a good cure for a sleepless night.  Trevor and I promised each other before we had kids that we would continue to travel with kids, even if it was hard and the trips look different.  The trips do look different but seeing new or favourite places through the wonder-filled eyes of our 3 year old makes us so happy we kept our promise. I am reminded of our trip here with Theo (post with tips, here), so much has changed but when I read this post it feels like almost nothing has.

Seeing Theo running along the beach in the pouring rain in his raincoat dragging a 10' long piece of kelp behind him, stopping to pick up every shell made the trip for me. We still managed to have lunch at Wolf in the Fog, grab a beer at Tofino Brewing, a quick visit to Tacofino and have coffees at the new Tofitian location too. These are the same spots we loved to visit before kids but the stops may be quicker, eating with one hand while nursing or chasing a toddler. 

Though we've been to Tofino more times than I can count, this was the first trip with a 100% waterproof rain coat for me and Theo (Trevor has always owned proper gear, growing up in Prince Rupert). I can't believe I didn't get proper rain gear sooner. It made our trip much warmer and more enjoyable. In case you were curious, my coat is Rains and Theo's is Hatley.

In the end, this trip came at the perfect time to mark the end of the 4th trimester with Mae and hopefully the start of more sleep for everyone.  One of the many reasons we live small is so we can afford to travel, not every trip is easy, but I am so happy that we try. Mama tried, Mama tried, Mama tried... Or I should say Mama and Dada tried :).