Browsing Tag

traveling with kids

Daily Life

Solo Trip to Catalina Island with the Kids

Posted on March 8, 2018
12 hours after leaving this morning, we are home from Catalina Island! I had been wanting to go lately so I thought we should take the opportunity to do it before K turns 3 and we have to pay for her. It was weird packing up to be on an island!
For some reason I felt like we needed way more stuff being a ferry-ride away from home instead of a car ride
For some reason I felt like we needed way more stuff being a ferry-ride away from home instead of a car ride, but I also didn’t want to have to carry 50 lbs of stuff all day in addition to carrying Isabelle – especially because we wanted to hike. So I stressed about it a little bit, but in the end it all worked out, as it always does.
We had an amazing time, we spent too much money, we saw a pod of dolphins on the boat ride there, we hiked our longest hike together, the kids fell apart (like, so bad), we played at the beach, we watched the fish, the kids fell apart again…
Everyone was staring at me and I totally wanted to cry.
Actually on the boat ride back K was losing it so bad the ferry staff went and got the stroller so I could strap her in to keep her from going into the roped off area. Everyone was staring at me and I totally wanted to cry. When we were getting off the boat a few people stopped me and told me they’ve been there… And then on the ride home, K couldn’t stop talking about how much fun she had and how bad she wants to go back. Not anytime soon, kiddo. I am exhausted!
Of course now I’m telling myself it wasn’t as bad as I thought.
She went to bed as soon as we got back and of course now I’m telling myself it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Denial! Overall, the good outweighed the bad. We had a great time and it was a nice little getaway for the day ❤.

 

Daily Life

Home for 2 days and then Hawaii bound!

Posted on January 4, 2018
Home sweet home! At least for the next 40 hours or so until we leave for Hawaii! We are already missing the snow and my family but it feels good to be back. And before I started unpacking and repacking, we headed out for a short hike. We really needed to get out and connect with nature and do a mental reset because traveling yesterday was rough!
        We were stuck on the runway for an hour and a half while they deiced the plane, the kids were exhausted because it was nap time, and then we arrived in LA to find our stroller in pieces… so we are awaiting a call from Delta about reimbursement and will hopefully hear back this week. I got a couple groceries this morning to get us through today and tomorrow and am starting to feel a little bit settled in (for now!) Kids are napping so I’m taking the opportunity to eat a salad (first healthy food I’ve had in weeks and my body feels confused ) and get organized before I finalize my packing list!

 

Daily Life

Christmas Michigan Trip – airport drama and our potty training solutions

Posted on December 16, 2017

11 hours after first arriving at the airport, we made it to our destination. There were quite a few tears (mostly from me ?), and we were very fortunate that my inlaws came to the airport and were able to get gate passes to help with the girls for a few while I relaxed and ate a sandwich (and had a beer?!) After multiple delays, we got on the plane 6 hours after getting to the airport (and an hour after nap time.)

By some terrible miracle, neither of the girls napped on the plane ?. Not even for a minute. Isabelle has never completely skipped an afternoon nap before so needless to say, she was pretty miserable. As was I, and probably everyone around us. In addition, her congestion was causing her to have trouble nursing so she was hungry (and not excited about the pb sandwich I brought her which is normally her fav!) So, she cried on and off most of the flight.

K held my hand a lot during the flight, which looks adorable, but made it pretty hard to bounce Belles at the same time. K was actually really well-behaved considering, just bored and over tired. And of course she only wore the brand new Minnie Mouse headphones that SHE picked out to watch maybe 8 minutes of Moana on the tv in the headrest ?.

Most of the time I love that she doesn’t really like tv… yesterday was not one of those times. The good news is she pooped in both the airport potty and the airplane potty so we are making with that! It turns out K having the stomach flu earlier this week was actually a blessing in disguise. Apparently pooping 8 times a day for 3 days really helps you get used to the potty. And now that everything is said and done, we made it to Michigan and are so excited to spend Christmas with my family!! 

Even though I know being stuck at an airport with kids because we have the good fortune of being able to travel to see my family for the holidays is the ultimate first world problem, it was a hard day for us all.

Opinion Pieces

7 Must Haves for Flying With Kids (And none of them is a tablet!)

Posted on November 11, 2017

There is no way around it, flying with kids sucks. SUCKS. 

Yes, I love my kids.  They are wonderful humans and are a blast to be around.  On the ground.  Put us in a tiny aircraft and strap us in and all of a sudden I’m wondering if the flight attendant will let me change seats.  My kids are 6 months old and a 2.5 years old.  I have taken them alone on 2 flights so far this year and will be taking 4 more in the next 3 months. 

I’m going to keep this short and sweet: here is my must-have list of things to bring to make it suck (a little) less.

1) A couple plastic bags for trash.  The flight attendants only come by once every hour or so.  Holding onto your kid’s sticky candy wrapper or half drank milk carton (that is guaranteed to spill) for an hour is the worst.  Bring your own trash bags and give them to the flight attendants once they fill up.  You will be shocked at the amount of trash your kids can generate in such a short span of time.

2) A non-spill water cup.  For younger babies (that are old enough to drink water), think something like this. Because even sippy cups can spill (trust me.) For toddlers, any water bottle with a folding straw is fine.

3) A non-spill snack cup.  You can buy a 2 pack on amazon for $6.  Best investment ever.

4) Presents!  This was an idea my mother-in-law gave me.  Go to the dollar store and buy a bunch of little presents and wrap them individually in wrapping paper.  Give one to your kid every half hour or so.  No, they will not all be winners but unwrapping takes a couple minutes and they will be in a better mood because of the excitement over getting presents.  *Keep an eye out for my upcoming post on what some of the winners were from my last trip.*

5) Paper towels/napkins/wipes.  The flight attendants give you 1 tiny napkin with each drink.  You WILL need more (even if you have 3 drinks – not that I would know…)  And don’t forget to keep your paper products somewhere they are easily accessible in case of an emergency (think below the seat in front of you versus stowed overhead.)

6) Spare clothes.  Even with spill proof snack containers, spill proof cups, and napkins, someone will get messy.

7) A lot of luck. You’ll need it.