Practical family travel from a Kansas City family of five: national parks, ballparks, and the trips in between, with what worked for us so you can plan your own.
Featured guide: Washington’s three national parks
Three Washington national parks with kids: our nine-night route and what worked. Our nine-night loop from Seattle through Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades — where we stayed, what worked, and why we’re going back.
Who we are
We’re a Kansas City family of five who take the trips we can fit around real life: national parks when the calendar opens up, a ballpark when we’re nearby, and the ordinary stops in between.
We go straight to the visitor center, pick up the Junior Ranger books, and figure out the day from there. Then we write down what worked, what didn’t, and what we’d do again — so other parents can borrow the parts that fit their crew.
Wild places won’t stay wild forever, and neither will these years with our kids. We want them to see both while they can.
What you’ll find here
- Trip guides and itineraries we actually took — ages, timing, lodging notes, real photos, and the mistakes we made so you don’t have to.
- A National Parks hub with family overviews, NPS Junior Ranger activity books, and official brochures and maps for 337 park sites.
- Ballpark kids guides: a map of MLB parks with official team kids clubs and family pages.
- Photos from the road: trails, overlooks, and the small moments between the big ones.
- A shop with national park tees we designed for the trips we love.
Tap any of those to jump in, or use the menu up top. Below are another route we took and a few frames from recent miles.
Another route we took: Colorado
Colorado: Rocky Mountain and Coors Field. Timed entry, Junior Rangers, where we stayed, and the Costco stop. From a trip we actually took.
From the road
