Ortesei...The Best Home Base in the Dolomites with kids

The Dolomites are unreal. Truly, getting to hike and bike in the Alpine meadows is a dream come true. When my parents gifted all of us kids and grandkids a special trip to the Dolomites, we spent a lot of time researching the best place to stay with 14 people! After much research, we landed on the incredibly charming town of Ortesei...and let me tell you, it has now become one of our favorite places in all of Italy...here's why:

1) Oretesi is conveniently located at the base of multiple cable cars. This means that we did not have to use our rental cars for the entire week! We woke up in the morning and literally walked the 5 minutes straight to either cable car! We couldn't believe how convenient this was! Having 3 small children and being pregnant with my 4th, the last thing I wanted to do was load kids into a car or bus and have to drive somewhere every day! 

2) Oretsei is gorgeous. You will feel like you stepped in to an Alpine dream. The bright colored buildings, the charming architecture, the cobbled streets, and the Tyrolean vibe will transport you to another time. 

24 Hours in London with Kids

London is always a good idea, even when you have a short amount of time. As Kevin and I have previously spent time in London (want to see what a travel post in 2012 looked like? haha, blast from the past right here!), we decided that this trip we would just spend 1 day in London with the kids before we flew to Italy to meet up with my family. 

Lucky for us, some of our dear friends Matt and Esther live right in the heart of London and welcomed us into their home. We had a whirlwind few hours introducing our kids to this grand city, and here is what we did! 

We took the underground to Green Park, which is the closest stop to Buckingham Palace. We walked our double stroller right up to the gates of Buckingham Palace and let the kids peek at the guards. They thought the guards were hilarious! While it may seem insignificant, I'm really thankful my kids were able to see the Palace while the queen lived there. It feels special that they experienced her in office before she passed away. 

From Buckingham Palace we walked through St. James Park so the kids could see some of the sites we had studied in homeschool before we left...namely Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. It always takes my breath away to see such iconic sites right before my eyes. What a gift travel is, and then to see it through the eyes of my children is a double blessing! We also squeezed our entire family in to one of those iconic red telephone booths which was quite a feat, haha!  

We walked across the bridge (which is an iconic spot for a picture!) and the kids soaked in the sites of the London Eye (and asked to ride it about 100 times, in which we said "no" because it's quite expensive! haha). Right past the London eye is an incredible park and playground called Jubilee Gardens. We let the kids play there for quite a while. Wow, what a view from this playground! 

Then we took the underground back to Islington where we were staying with our friends and ended the evening with delicious food and friendship at their house! It was a short but very sweet trip! 

However, stay tuned because my mom and I are taking my kids back to London this October and we plan to do more kid related things in London:) 

As usual, if you have anymore questions on traveling with kids, don't hesitate to reach out via comment, email or IG (@hope_engaged)