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Greek Island Hopping with the Family | Cyclades

Planning a trip to Greece?

Want to move around and visit more than one location with the kids in tow?

Welcome to the ‘Our Tribe Travels’ family guide to Greek island hopping.

Planning you Greek island hopping route:

The first decision you have to make is which area to focus on. We prefer to travel in areas that have a more authentic, local feel, so we chose to travel around the CycLades, a stunning and diverse set of islands located East of Athens and the mainland.

It’s also worth thinking about your flights to and from the country. We chose to book an inbound flight to Mykonos and an outbound flight from Athens. This gave us the freedom to explore more islands without having to double back on ourselves.

Cost considerations for Greece:

We are budget travellers and our ballpark figure for accommodation is 35 to 50 euros per night. In the height of summer you can expect to pay 30% more for rooms, so factor this in.

Average prices for food are:

  • Fresh cafe coffee – 2.5 euros
  • Local style coffee – 1 euro
  • Greek Salad – 5.5 euros
  • Main fish dish – 14 euros
  • Side dishes – 3 – 6 euros
  • Ice cream on the beach – 2.5 euros

Booking Flights to Greece:

If you are planning to visit during the European summer holidays then start looking at flights 9 months beforehand. Greece is a popular family destination, so the closer you get to the summer holiday, the harder it is to secure a good deal.

To plan or not to plan:

We LOVE to keep things free and easy when we travel, not booking accommodation in advance and finding home-stays and bed and local breakfast establishments as we move from place to place. As we were heading to Greece at the end of July / early August this was a risky strategy, but we decided to see what would happen.

Accommodation on the Greek islands:

Greece has an abundance of small apartments, studio apartments and bed and breakfasts, as well as the more conventional big hotels. We always choose the smaller, privately owned places as we prefer the personal touch.

Family accommodation in Greece – what we learnt:

  • The majority of rooms come with small kitchenettes (a cooker, fridge, small hob and cooking utensils)
  • Breakfast is NOT included in the majority of smaller establishments.
  • Owners will gladly pick you up, and drop you back to the ferry ports free of charge – this is fantastic when you’re traveling as a family as you don’t have to fathom out the local transport system on arrival.
  • The local bed and breakfasts and home-stays can be booked through booking.com or Airbnb.
  • During July we would find an available room online and then visit it and negotiate the rate in person. In some cases we saved 50% off the online rate.
  • Touts do welcome you off the boats to try and sell you their available rooms, but from what we saw, during he peak of summer these were the rooms with poor review and ratings. There was a reason that they weren’t at full capacity.

Travelling in Greece during August:

During the summer months the majority of families will book their accommodation in advance. In August 95-100% of the booking.com inventory was booked, but we found that Airbnb had a larger number of available properties that suited our needs.

If you are a family that requires more than one room it’s imperative to secure your accommodation in advance as you may struggle to find anything suitable.

Top tips for the Greek island ferry services.

Plan your route in advance
Some Greek islands have limited services that only run a couple of times a week.

Book the ferry tickets in advance
We booked our tickets online using www.directferries.com, but we found that tickets were cheaper the earlier you secured them.
Please note than when you book tickets online you still have to collect printed tickets from a local travel office near the port. Factor this into your time planning.

Check the ferry routes and journey times
Don’t assume that the closer the destination, the shorter the ferry journey. Some ferries make huge detours around neighbouring islands before double backing on themselves. We learnt this the hard way when we booked to go from Paros to Syros. The journey took 7 hours, despite it only being a short hop away!

Get accurate ferry data using live gps tracking
We used a gps tracking app to accurately see when our boat was coming in to dock. We found the easier than trying to track down the ferry port advisors. It was also handy to use when we were on the boats as we could accurately track our journey.
https://www.ferriesingreece.com/live-boat-traffic.htm

Exiting the boat last is a more pleasant experience.
The ferries have one exit for both foot and vehicular traffic. As the ferry comes into doc the basement car park is opened and passengers can get into their vehicles. We found that the lower deck gets very smokey from the car / lorry exhausts and it is better to wait until the vehicles are moving, before trying to exit.


Limited ferry seats.

The larger ferries (Blue Star) have very few free seats. If you want to secure a seat arrive at the ferry doc 1 hour before departure. (The larger boats arrive into the dock 30 minutes before the departure time as the boarding takes 20-30 minutes).

Our Greek Island hopping route:

  • Day one: London to Mykonos (we jumped on the first boat out to Naxos as Mykonos is SUPER expensive. A very basic room was circa £180 per night)
  • Day two Naxos – town
  • Day 3 Naxos – Prokopios beach
  • Day 4 Naxos – Prokopios beach
  • Day 5 Paros – Alikis
  • Day 6 – Paros Alikis
  • Day 7 Paros Santa Maria
  • Day 8 Paros Santa Maria
  • Day 9 Paros to Syros (Kini)
  • Day 10 Syros Kini
  • Day 11 Syros Kini
  • Day 12 Syros to Athens
  • Day 13 Athens
  • Day 14 Athens to London

Naxos:

Naxos is the largest of the Cyclades island group. Its fertile landscape spans mountain villages, ancient ruins and long stretches of beach. The port town is really pretty and has whitewashed, cube-shaped houses surrounding an old fort.

The port waterfront has many restaurants running parallel to the water and is a great people watching spot as the boats and yachts sail in to doc.

Why we loved Naxos:

The town beach, called George beach is superb for little kids. The clear water remains shallow for circa 30 metres. It’s very popular with families and there are many small bed and breakfasts in the surrounding cobbled streets.

There’s a local bus that takes you down the coastline, stopping at the main beaches. Bus tickets need to be purchased prior to boarding and can be bought at the local tourist offices.

Naxos offers a variety of water sports and has windsurfing schools that cater for kids. The shallow, calm water in some of the beaches are perfect for inexperienced windsurfers.

The island is easy to drive around and car hire is from £35 per day.  Child car seats are readily available and we were not charged an additional fee for using it. One day is enough to see the key sights on the island.

The beaches are stunning and the water is very clear. Expect to pay 10 euros per day for the hire of a 2 x sun-beds and an umbrella.

Paros:

Paros is located 8 miles West of Naxos and is best known for traditional whitewashed villages and efficient local bus network.

Paros is a popular holiday destination for the locals and accommodation does get books up in advance.

Alikis is a very pretty area with many seafood restaurants lining the waterfront. The beach here is a little small and although there is a bigger stretch of sand around the headland, we preferred Santa Maria in the North of the island.

Why we loved Paros

Our send stop in Paros was Santa Maria surf school. This was a gem of a find as the majority of places were fully booked. Essentially it is a huge camp, 5 kilometres outside the Naousa, with a range of accommodation. You can bring your own tent, hire an existing tent, stay in a basic hut or rent a family bungalow.

There’s an outdoor pool that has a lifeguard, a pool bar, cafe and shop on site and a surf school down on the beach. It’s a great location for older kids as there are plenty of outdoor sport options.

Top tip – the only ATM machines on the island are at the airport, port and in Naousa town.

Syros:

Syros is the capital island of the Cyclades and therefore has an abundance of cultural things to do – theatre, museums and historic buildings.

The island is very hilly and the roads cutting across the island are winding with fantastic views over the coastline.

Why we loved Syros:

Our 3 days in Syros was all about the rest and relaxation. We found a fantastic little apartment, set back a few hundred metres from the beech, with a lovely big balcony which was perfect for star spotting in the evenings.

Accommodation recommendations (40 – 75 euros per room per night)

Sanoudas, Naxos centre 

A small, white washed guest house a few streets back from St George’s beach. The rooms are bright and clean and some come with small balconies overlooking the cobbled street below.

Our room had a double bed and single and had an en suite bathroom with a handy fridge for storing drinks.


Tasia Studios, Prokopios, Naxos

Set back from the beach, these studio apartments are perfect for families. Our room was very spacious, came with a single and double bed, en suite and kitchenette. We loved the little veranda out the front of the room. A perfect spot for breakfast.


Santa Maria, Paros

A surf camp that is great for families. The camp itself is a stand alone destination, but they offer a free bus into the nearby town every night. Accommodation ranges from camping up to the comfortable bungalows.

Our little chalet in Santa Maria, Paros.

Kini, Syros

This was a great little find. A lovely little apartment that was spotlessly clean. We had a kitchenette with a single bed/sofa, a double bedroom, a bathroom and a large balcony.

The apartment was a 10 minute walk to the beach (a few hundred metres).
The owner was lovely and even organised a taxi to meet us at the ferry port at 3am!


Packing Tips:

When you’re island hopping, and moving from place to place, the less you pack the better. As most apartments have a kitchenette it’s very easy to hand wash clothes and a clothes drying rack is standard in most places.

Pack hat clips. The ports and boats can get very windy. Attach your hats to clips to avoid losing them!

Enjoy…

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✨Once upon a time... a girl had a dream. ✨⁣
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A dream to do a multi day trek with her 9 year old son. And off they went to the Andes of Ecuador... 🏔⁣
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I don’t often think of myself as strong or brave, but for a total scaredy cat I have been on some epic adventures! ⁣
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👣 One of the most amazing things I’ve done was earlier this year when Cian and I and my friend hiknmeg and her two girls set off on an amazing South American adventure. ⁣
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Two moms, on our own, with kids. ⁣
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💫 I’m grateful a person I had only met a few times trusted me with a trip of a lifetime. ⁣
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💪 And I’m glad to know I CAN do hard things. ⁣
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🌍 Now we wait.. & plan for our next multi-day trek somewhere else in the world!⁣
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❄️ We got tons of snow here over the weekend and it inspired me to write about our trip to Rovaniemi, Finland 🇫🇮 this past fall. ⁠
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I had every intention of keeping it short and sweet—I even started off talking about my son's super cute reindeer stuffy that he got while we were out there. ⁠
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One minute I was talking about stuffed animals and the next thing I know is that I'm doing a deep dive into our trip and spilling it all.⁠
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✅ Where we stayed⁠
✅ What we ate⁠
✅ What we wore⁠
✅ Where we went⁠
✅ What we did⁠
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You name it; I wrote about it. Check it out now—🔗 in bio, then look for this pic. ⁠
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As always, I hope you find the blog post helpful. Feel free to ask questions, just in case I missed something! ⁠
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⫸ ⫸ Is Lapland on your list yet or have you had the pleasure of visiting already? ⁠
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✈️ SAVE NOW, TRAVEL LATER⁠
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follow jesstagirl for more fun around Europe. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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One of those days you won't forget 🇲🇽. .
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Nov 9

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"You make travelling with kids look easy".

This is something I hear a lot.

And you know what? Yes, we do find travelling with our kids easy.

Our boys are 9 and 7 years old now and we've travelled with them since they were born. So we've had 9 years of training 😜. We've learned how to pace our days and itineraries, we know our limits, we know the tantrum triggers for everyone (parents included), and we still always have snacks handy (to mitigate tantrum). That's not to say that things don't go wrong. They do. But just don't seem to bother us. 

In fact, I find travelling with our kids much easier than home life 😂. We eat out more when we travel (less meal prep and cleaning up), we don't have to clean rooms and make beds, we travel with the only clothes we need and so there's less washing, there are no school / club runs, and we generally switch off from life's responsibilities 😂. Life is much simpler and time is on our side.

So to anyone just starting out travelling with their kids and finding it all a tad daunting... Trust me, it really does get easier 😘. "Practice makes perfect".

The difficult thing travelling with our boys these days? They're now a lot more vocal about when / how / where we travel. Gone are the days that where they just went along with whatever we say 😂🤪.
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Nov 30

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Oh, Lapland, what a beautiful and magical place you are! ⁠
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We just came back from yet another place I never thought I'd ever visit: Finland.⁠
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And it was magical. Like, an actual ❄️ winter❄️ wonderland. ⁠
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Apparently, there are a lot of tour groups that put packages together for a trip like this, but we did it all DIY.⁠
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We flew out (via Ryanair from Brussels to Rovaniemi, Finland) on a Friday morning and came back on Monday afternoon, so it was a short and sweet vacay, but we did all the things in that short amount of time, and even found time to rest and relax a bit, too.⁠
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On this trip we: ⁠
❄️ crossed over and under the Arctic Circle ⁠
🎅🏻 MET (THE) SANTA! ⁠
🎄 and went to Elf school at santaparkfin ⁠
🐟 ate the best salmon of my life ⁠
🍽 also ate reindeer 🦌 and bear 🐻...oh my!)⁠
🛷 went on a reindeer sleigh ride ⁠
😍 saw the northern lights ⁠
 🥾  walked/played on a frozen lake⁠
😇 made snow angels⁠
🧖‍♀️ relaxed in a sauna ⁠
🔥 made and ate s’mores ⁠
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The cherry on top was that my mom came along for the trip. She's been out here visiting and jumped at the chance to go when I found tickets months ago. ⁠
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We didn't stay in the city or at the ever-popular Santa Claus Village; instead, we stayed about 45 minutes north in a fantastic (but remote) AirBnB nestled next to a lake—complete with a rotating 365º hut, a sunroom, a sauna, and reindeer 🦌  for neighbors! ⁠
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⫸⫸ Have you been to Lapland, or is this a bucket list destination for you?! ⁠
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Like always, a blog post is coming and I'm sharing more in my stories/highlights. Happy to answer any questions you might have in the meantime! ⁠
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✈️ SAVE NOW, TRAVEL LATER⁠
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follow jesstagirl for more fun around Europe. 🔗 in bio for blog posts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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#jesstagirlinFinland #rovaniemi #Visitrovaniemi #laplandfinland #familytravelblogger #travelingfamily #travelwithkids #travelmama #kidswhotravel #travelfamily #familieswhotravel #momswhotravel #familytravel #parentswhowander #takeyourkidseverywhere #ourtribetravels #showthemtheworld #awesometravelkids #havekidswilltravel #raisingtravelers #familytraveltribe #santapark #theofficialsantaclausoffinland
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Jul 3

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Ad. Our cruise with royalcaribbeaneurope was absolutely fantastic for families. There was so much to do with a huge amount of kid friendly food options too.

I’ve written all about it over on my blog, so you can decide if it’s a cruise you would like to try! Link is in my bio. I’ve also got a great offer to share with you from cruisecircleuk.

If you quote the discount code Monkey&Mouse to Cruise Circle you will get a $25 on board credit per stateroom if you book an Inside or Oceanview cabin and $50 on board credit per stateroom if you book a balcony cabin, mini-suite, or suite.
 
This is applicable on all sailings of 7-nights or more, book by 31 July. If you include flights or a pre/post-stay, we will double the amount. 😊
 
Also, as another bonus, if you want to sign up for the cruisecircleuk cruise newsletters and offers, they are doing a draw for whoever signs up before 31st July to win a £200 cruise voucher, redeemable on any cruise:
https://email.cruisecircle.co.uk/p/7LCN-D3/symphony-sign-up
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Jan 19

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We've been trapped in a freezing snow globe lately, and it's making me miss sunny and colorful Portugal big time. ⁠
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🌞...thankfully we have a trip planned for Morocco next month, so I just need to make it a few more weeks until we see can bask in that sunshine again. ⁠
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We're also heading to Scotland this spring, but I'm packing our rain jackets and umbrellas ☔️ for that trip 😂. ⁠
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⫸⫸⫸ Do you have any future sunny destinations for your vacation plans? ⁠
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Want a 2-week Spain and Portugal itinerary? Find the 🔗 in my bio then look for this pic!⁠
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📍potteryportugal (Ceramica Paraiso | google tells me that they're closed until sometime in Feb. 2023 🤷🏻‍♀️) ⁠
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☀️ SAVE NOW, TRAVEL LATER⁠
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follow jesstagirl for more fun around Europe. ⁠⁠⁠⁠
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#jesstagirlinPortugal #visitportugal #turismodeportugal #portugaltourism #portugaltravel #europeanroadtrip #discovereurope #havekidswilltravel #travelfam #travelwithkids #familytravel #familieswhotravel #travelingwithkids #takeyourkidseverywhere #kidswhoexplore #parentswhowander #ourtribetravels #familytrips #americanineurope #europewithkids #parentswhotravel
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Jun 4

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We kicked off a new month with some amazing adventures and some pretty epic views too! 
We managed to cram in a visit to ntenglishriviera at Coleton Fishacre and trekked up to the scenic viewpoint which was totally worth it! 
We’ve been super lucky with this amazing wall to wall sunshine on the English Riviera. 
It’s definitely put us in the summer mood. 

Ad PR product The children have been putting their new keeneurope summer sandals to the test! They have been a huge hit! Can’t wait to show you more soon. 

Anyone else been on summer adventures this weekend?
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Apr 1

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My babies in Venice=perfection.
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Jul 31

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Ad PR invite Flying high at roarr_dinosauradventure on the new rides! 

Roarr now boasts two new rides - Raptor Contrapter where you can fly like a pterodactyl. It’s a great inclusive ride with seats for those with disabilities. 
The other being the Swing-O-Saurus, a twist on a swing boat. 

It’s a great day out and perfect for family adventures; with Valley of the Dinosaurs the home of 21 animatronic dinosaurs;  outdoor & indoor play areas, high ropes, crazy golf, dippy’s racecourse, animal farm, theatre, splash zone & more! 

We were literally here ALL day and it kept our two entertained the entire time; they wouldn’t stop talking about it all the way home. The best bit about this place is that once you’ve paid your entrances fee there are no hidden charges for other rides or experiences. 

We’ve been visiting since our two were babies and it’s great to see both the children enjoy themselves every time and see how the park has evolved & expanded. 

Top tip! 📌Leave the new rides til later. The last 2 hours my two spent the entire time on the new rides and the high ropes course with no queuing! Quite often staying on the rides for another go. I lost count how many times our boy went around the high ropes course & zip wire! 

Which area would you try first?
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Sep 19

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Four years ago we took the kids to Europe. We wanted to show them the world and make memories we could talk about for the rest of our lives. It was the best time and we decided then that we would do another trip before Hannah left for university. Covid and HSC interrupted our plans somewhat, but we are here again at last. Travelling with kids takes a lot of negotiation, planning, and patience, but it’s also the best fun ever. We are so grateful for three kids who love exploring and travelling as much as we do - they also know that doing things is better than having things. Here the kids are teaching Craig how to do a selfie atop of Calton Hill in Edinburgh🤣🥰.
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Nov 10

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Sometimes they smile for me...and sometimes I take pictures of their butts 🤣. ⁠
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I kept asking them to turn around for a nice picture, but they'd only half turn around, and only one at a time...I never got all three of them together. ⁠
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This back-and-forth went on for several minutes until I just gave up and took this picture 🤷🏻‍♀️.⁠
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There was a fellow mom standing next to me cracking up over the entire scene taking place in front of her. She didn't speak English, but she sure as heck understood what I was going through. ⁠
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We laughed and shared a knowing "oh them" mom look that transcended language 💞.⁠
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So 20 years from now when my kids ask to see pictures of all three of them together during our time overseas, I hope they don't mind that 90% of those 📸 are of their backside. ⁠
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😍 At least the background was gorgeous and totally made up for not getting to see their faces. ⁠
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 ➳ Do you have more pictures of your kids' faces...or of their butts? ⁠
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( 🦄 Getting all three looking, smiling, and eyes open AT THE SAME TIME for me is basically the same thing as spotting a unicorn riding on a 🌈. lol anyone else feel me on that?) ⁠
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📍Bruges, Belgium⁠
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follow jesstagirl for more fun around Europe. 🔗 in bio for blog posts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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#jesstagirlinBelgium #visitbruges #brugesbelgium #ilovebelgium #familytravelblog #familytraveller #kidswhotravel #travelwithkids #takeyourkidseverywhere #travelingwithkids #familytravel #parentswhowander #ourtribetravels #showthemtheworld #americanineurope⁠ #familyadventure #mamalife #howwetravel #travellingwithkids #familieswhotravel #travelingkids #familytrips⁠
#belgiumtourism #visitflanders⁠
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Jun 9

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NAPA VALLEY 

#CitySights #CityTravel #Siteseeing #ExploringTheCity #CityView 
#FamilyTravels #TravelFamily #FamilyVacay #TravelFam #FamiliesWhoTravel #ParentsWhoWander #FamilyTravelTribe #TravelMadFam #GoWithNugget #TravelBrood #LoveYourTimeTogether #TravellingWithKids #LPKids #ExploringFamilies #FearlessFamTrav #TravelMum #TravelDad #FamilyAdventure #LitteTraveler #OurTribeTravels #KidsThatTravel
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