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Flying off to Colombia to film the third season of MTV's Teen Mom: Family Reunion,Maci Bookout and husband Taylor McKinney had visions ofa*guardiente co*cktails dancing in their heads.
"Truth be told, walking into it, I was like, Oh, great, we get to be away from the kids, be with each other and hang out with our friends," Maci admitted to E! News in an exclusive interview. "Like, it's a vacation. I'm not sure we were expecting all of the work we were going to have to do when we got there."
Because while their time in South America did include a few tipples and time spent with castmatesCatelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra, Jade Cline and husbandSean AustinplusCheyenne Floyd and her husbandZach Davis, it also came with a healthy serving of homework.
And12 years after theTexasmotocross racer, 34, connected with the strong AF single mom from Tennessee (the 32-year-old shares 15-year-old son Bentley with her high school ex Ryan Edwards),they're still trying to ace the same tough subject.
"I think the main thing was communication, for sure," admitted Maci of their top struggle. "And honestly, it still is.I feel like we're still working on what a healthy communication routine looks like. And who's to say we ever solve it? Because we're both hustlers, we're go-getters, we're stubborn, we're competitive, we're strong-minded. So that might be something that is just there forever. But I think as long as we're continuously trying to figure out the best way to do it, that's a win."
Maci Bookout/Instagram
More than seven years into their marriage, the pair have drawn up the right plays to navigate parenting Bentley, plus their daughter Jayde, 8, and son Maverick, 7.
"Wework really well together as a team especially with three different kids going in three different directions all the time," explained Taylor. "We just make it work. And then we get a little bit of alone time when they go to bed where we get to sit down on the couch and watch TV."
But when it comes to discussing anything deeper than their latest binge-watch, they're still a bit of a work in progress.
"You change so much as you grow up," noted Maci. "So just because we figured something out this year doesn't mean in four years as we're evolving that we're not going to hit that again.So as long as we're just doing something every day and working on the same team, not against each other, I think we'll be just fine."
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One sound strategy they've developed is celebrating every play, not just the small victories.
With three school-aged kids at home, "We're just doing the best that we can," explained Maci. "And I think we both understand that a lot of each of us has to go toward more of the family than each other. But I've also realized that you've got to take advantage of the small wins. And the small windows, too."
Which means that a night on the couch can feel just as romantic as a fancy AF dinner.
Even taking 10 minutes to reconnect "you can gain the same thing that you can in a date night," insisted Maci. "So it's small wins, small windows go a very, very long way."
And no matter what happens, they always remember that they share a dugout, so to speak.
"We have this thing we say, it's like, we root for the home team," said Maci. "So even sometimes when we do feel like we're opponents, it's no, we root for the home team."
And whenever they feel all the carpooling, homework-overseeing and the millions of other things it takes to successfully run a family has them hitting a boiling point, agreed Taylor, "I think we do a good job of taking a step back and being like, 'Hey, we're on the same team.'"
Instagram / Maci Bookout
But, also, date nights are pretty clutch.
Filming in Colombia, for instance, "really helped us reset," said Taylor. "That gave us the time to reconnect."
And also to remember that their 2016rustic Florida vows happened for a reason.
"I was like, 'Man, we haven't spent time just the two of us together in a long time, are we still going to like each other when there's no distraction? When there's no place to be or thing to do?'" admitted Maci of getting so much unfettered alone time. "And I feel like that was the reset button because I was like, 'Hell yeah, I'd hang out with this guy every day, he's great!' So for me, it was like, we're definitely still there. I really like him, not just as a dad or just as a husband, I just like hanging out with him."
She considers it a souvenir from the experience.
"When I came home, I'm like, 'He's cool as s--t.I'd hang out with him all the time, kids or no kids,'" shared Maci. "I felt like that's what I gained from it, even though that I didn't necessarily know that's what I was looking for."
And she's not the only Teen Mom cast member to have found what she didn't know she was seeking. Check out the rest of the MTV stars who have settled down with their perfect person.
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