One of the hardest things about traveling with kids? When they get tired. You want to take them to all the cool touristy spots and see all the things, but their little legs just can’t keep up. Walking two miles in the hot son with a 30-pound toddler on your back wasn’t fun for me — but the beach trip before it made the experience all worth it. So when former Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson revealed that her and her husband Andrew East had to carry their three kids up 1,665 steps (!!) for a special reason, I could immediately relate. Can you imagine the back pain after that? Their new video proves that parents are superheroes (in case you didn’t already know that).
“who needs a workout when you can do this @shawnjohnson #paris #family #travel #kids” the former NFL player captioned a joint post on Instagram. The cute clip begins with Johnson, East, and their kids Drew, 4, Jett, 3, and Bear, 7 months, looking at the Eiffel Tower on a boat.
“Fun fact: the Eiffel Tower is 1,083 feet tall,” is written over the video. “and there are 1,665 steps.”
From there, it cuts to the family on the tower, where East has baby Bear strapped in a carrier to his chest, his daughter Drew on his shoulders, and Jett on his hip. “And we carried our kids up every one of them,” he added. Oof! That’s impressive.
Later, Johnson walked ahead with Jett slung over her shoulder as she trekked up the steps to the top. My back hurts just watching this video! I know seeing the top of the Eiffel Tower with your family is so special, but man, that would be so hard to hike up all that way carrying your kids with you. Parents work just as hard as Olympic athletes, that’s for sure!
“I went up the elevator.. walked down. My legs were wobbly from walking down for days. ????” one person wrote. “Who needs an exercise program when you have kids ????” another said. “You two are the most relatable parents ????????????????” someone else praised.
The Johnson-East family is currently in Paris for the 2024 Olympics, but it hasn’t been smooth sailing this whole time. On Tuesday, Johnson opened up about a health scare she experienced with her son Jett. “Behind the scenes the past week has been a rollercoaster,” she wrote on her Instagram story, per PEOPLE. “Jett got a severe case of croup and woke up in the middle of the night (5 nights ago) unable to breathe ????.”
“It was our scariest incident yet filled with panicked mama calls in a foreign country. He’s now on the mend and thriving but then it hit little man,” she continued, referring to her son Bear. “Grateful for Team USA house doctors and locals who have helped us find the care they needed.”
Poor mama! That sounds like a nightmare! So glad everything is OK, and they are both feeling better. One thing’s for sure: traveling with kids will keep you on your toes!
Before you go, check out these celebrity kiddos who love sports.
