Alexa PenaVega Says She and Husband Carlos Always Put Their 'Marriage at the Forefront': 'We Keep a Tight-Knit Family'

Alexa and Carlos PenaVega have been together for almost a decade, and their relationship has only gotten stronger.

"We always knew we would have seasons. We'd go through seasons where it was a little harder to make that time for ourselves, but we knew that we had to fight for it. We love cruising. We're water people, so our escape is getting on a cruise ship, locking ourselves in a room and talking uninterrupted. We hang out, we enjoy each other, we soak up the sun, and it really goes back to having that connection," the 35-year-old, who visited the Los Angeles Dream Center to hand out toys and meet with children in need as part of her work with the humanitarian nonprofit organization, World Vision, on November 14, exclusively told OK!.

"We all want connection, and it's very easy to miss one another when you're chasing kids around," the Spy Kids alum, who shares Kingston, Ocean and Rio with her musician hubby, added. "We have to make room for that. We've seen way too many people put these different things first and say, 'They know I love them, but it's fine.' When you put your relationship on the back burner like that, distance can get between you two. We keep it nice and tight-knit in our family, and we make sure we put our marriage at the forefront."

As for what date night looks like, the actress admitted she and the Nickelodeon alum, 34, are "not romantic people."

"We're working on that!" she shared. "We're working on that romantic evening out. We really want out alone time, so if that means giving the kids a ridiculous early bedtime, then we will! Once they're down, we'll have the rest of the evening to play and have fun. One of the silly things we do is game together. We'll play Call of Duty together and we'll be on the same team getting rid of the bad guys. It's so silly, but it's something that brings us so much joy. We're able to flirt and have fun, so it's awesome."

Since uprooting their lives, Alexa said she and Carlos feel "at peace" with where they are. "But we live the most chaotic life. If you look at what we do and how we travel, it's insane. It doesn't make sense. We went from living on a tour bus and then we shot two movies back-to-back and now we're living on a boat in Florida. It's just kooky yet peaceful. We found a really cool rhythm for our family," she said.

"We're the ones who are raising our kids, and not everybody has that luxury. But since we do have that luxury, we are keeping them close. We're trying to keep them cultured and just have fun," she added.

This upcoming holiday season, the pair are going to be sailing on their catamaran. "For Christmas, we'll be in the middle of the ocean!" the star revealed. "It's going to be incredible."

"You have all this freedom to move anywhere," she said of their latest adventure. "My husband and I started sailing a long time ago, and we knew this was something we wanted to bring our kids into because you visit and all these different places and learn so much. Having these experiences helps you develop when you're younger and they can see how different people live. I think we can all benefit from that. We kind of get stuck in a bubble and we forgot how amazing we have it in the U.S. When you start traveling to other parts of the world, it opens your heart up a little more."

"I've been a part of the World Vision family for years. I've been donating to them for a really long time, and I had a friend who happened to be working with the organization, and he reached out to me. He said, 'Would you ever want to dive a little deeper into World Vision and jump into their Gift Catalog?' I was like, 'Are you kidding me? I've been giving to them for years, I would love to!' So, I am Colombian and most of my family is from Bogotá. There are these artisans over in Columbia who make this beautiful jewelry. It's this bracelet I am wearing that is made out of melon seeds, and what I love about World Vision is their heart behind everything. Yes, we want to give and help families, but the goal is to empower them so they can learn how to be self-sustaining, create an opportunity for them so they can grow and understand what World Vision is bringing to them. I love the empowerment aspect behind what they do. It's a great way to give back and help," she explained.

Alexa also got the chance to visit the Los Angeles Dream Center to hand out toys and meet with children. "Something our family loves is working with different charitable organizations," she said. "We tell people, 'Giving is awesome, but to be able to help others is great.' There's nothing like that feeling, and we try to get our kids involved as much as possible, especially now that they truly understand the joys of giving to other kids. Every time they have a toy, they look at other kids to try and give it away, which is really sweet," she added. "Everything we have is such a gift and a blessing, it would be weird to store all these things up for ourselves. Giving should be limitless, especially in today's world."

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