First Overnight Trip as a Family of FOUR!

We took our first overnight trip with two kids recently. I was filled with anxiety but determined to make the best of it. We actually had a REALLY good time. We went to The Tacoma
s Children's Museum in Tacoma, WA that was outstanding! Then the next day we visited Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. The kids slept well, we got two queen beds and my husband and I each slept with a kid! My daughter was SO confused as to WHY we are all sleeping in the same room!

Liam checking out the city first thing in the morning

Budgie birds on a stick

What's better then jumping on hotel beds?

They really did such a good job that we are taking them for an overnight camping trip this weekend. I have LOST my mind...

Dry Falls in Washington State

This is called Dry Falls. It was once the largest waterfall in the world. It was fives times wider then Niagara and ten times the flow of all the current rivers in the world combined!! It is an awesome site to see if you are ever in Washington state!

After we visited dry falls we went on to see Lenore caves. This is where I truly learned to never follow my husband when we are hiking. The first time we went hiking with our daughter as a baby, we went to Mt Rainier. My husband told me to take a trail that was straight up. We saw NO ONE on this trail and about half way I realized we were on a game trail that went over the mountain instead of around. I could have killed him!

Fast forward to our first hike since our son has been born. I let him lead coming back from the caves. My feet were so unstable so I just continued to look at the ground. All of a sudden I realize we are on a ten inch ledge of river rock with a sheer drop off. At that moment my son starts swinging in the backpack and I have a complete panic attack. I manage to get back but I was shaking so bad and had a hard time stabilizing my breathing at which point I told my husband he is NEVER leading again!

This is the parking lot.  We made it back in one piece!

Don't Drink The Water

Well we are back from our vacation to Puerto Vallarta.  We spent a lovely week in a villa on the beach.  Unfortunately my baby got sick (pretty sure it was from the ice we used on the last day) and I was up at 4am this morning with her in the shower and doing loads of laundry.  That was the SECOND time in 12 hours I had to do laundry.  Poor baby.

Grandpa was a great jungle gym in the airport

The resident dog

The resident iguana

We went to La Palapa restaurant for beach time.  Nice spot in the shade to play in the sand and a waiter brings you cocktails and cervezas.  Nothing better.

 Selfies when we were bored on the patio waiting for breakfast

Our pool was so refreshing, every afternoon we would all jump in when we got back from sight seeing.

She LOVED all of the food and ate everything we did, even octopus!  We had an amazing chef at the villa so we ate dinner there every night.  She had a 4 month old girl so Lisa and I left a lot of clothes and shoes with her. 

After this trip to El Eden and beautiful river, we stopped for some food and my husband got a special treat from the owner for some "special" hot sauce.  I just love these pictures.

More pictures coming later.  I have a shit storm literally to handle...

Mountains and Mosquitos

We decided to hike up around Mount Rainier this weekend with the babe. After going the wrong direction up a mountain (the one we were suppose to hike AROUND) we got on the right path and had a nice 3 hour hike.  Baby J was waving, singing and saying hi to every person we passed.

While I was smart and wore a sweatshirt hoping not to get bit by the swarms of mosquitos, I took off my sweatshirt before getting in the car to leave... and I have at least 30 bites on my arms.  I have a pretty severe reaction to bites so I'm now covered in hives.  No, its' not pretty...

Now if you'll please excuse me, I really need to go scratch myself.

Baby Travel

Traveling with a baby can be a pretty scary and stressful thought.  I know, it absolutely consumed me before our first plane trip.  We recently flew to Dallas and had Baby J sitting on our laps.  When we left from our home airport, the plane we were flying on broke…. Yeah on top of already being stressed, now we have a broken plane and a delay… a delay that meant we had no time to eat.  No time to expend some of that energy.  No time to change a diaper.  Only enough time to catch our next flight.  It really was the worst possible situation.  But you know, it turned out just fine.

 As she gets older and we have our next flight planned this fall… I’m thinking about getting her own seat and bringing a car seat.  She rides great in the car, she has her own place to relax, she’s not stuck in our laps (which is uncomfortable for everyone).  Hopefully she’ll be more interested in videos or cartoons to keep her occupied for part of that time.

We have just been co-sleeping with her when we are on vacation.  So far that has worked out great.  I’m hoping it continues.

The best tips I can give you are these:

• Fly during the day.  Even if you think that a red-eye is the best option, its not.  They won’t sleep like you think they will.  I prefer to travel first thing in the morning when they are well rested. When it's their naptime, they’ll actually fall asleep and if they don’t, don’t stress, go with the flow.
• Go to the dollar store and stock up on a million toys.  The best item I bought was a bag of balloons.  I ended up giving them out to other kids in the airport and thankful parents.  They are the best distracter, time waster and energy expender there is.  Cheap and take no room to pack.
• Bring suckers, just in case they refuse to drink or eat anything to pop their ears for take-off and landing.  We had to do this once and it worked great.
• Bring a large bottle of water and their sippy cup.  Yes you can go thru security with it, just tell them its for your baby.  They will test it and send you on your way.
• Bring the snack pouches or pureed foods.  Baby J stopped eating them, but on the plane we ended up feeding her those.  It worked out great.  I wish I had brought more than I did.
• My favorite item we have ever purchased is our backpack.  We get stopped all the time with people asking about it.  She loves to ride in it, it’s great for getting through the airport and it travels well, you can even carry it on and stick it overhead.

Deuter Kid Comfort II

Most importantly, just go with the flow and do the best that you can.  Your schedule will be messed up, but you're on vacation, have fun.  If they can't sleep, get up and go to the pool at midnight, play games, watch TV.  It will all work itself out.  And if you can RENT BABY EQUIPMENT to save yourself time and hassle. Less things to lug around the airport is a positive in my husband's book

Also when you get home, things might be a little crazy for a week day or two while you adjust back to your normal routine.  

Any travel tips you want to add?

First Plane Trip

We just got back from our first plane trip with Baby J.  We went to Dallas with daddy for a work convention and stayed at the Gaylord Texan.  It was a busy week!

The plane ride went better than expected and actually the hotel stay did also.  We just stuck Jessy in bed with us and by the third night she was sleeping all night.

We visited the aquarium...

After a hectic first few days I rented a cabana and we stayed at the pool all day, it was very relaxing.

We met some REALLY tall people.... and had some great food.

Victoria, Canada

Our Whale Watching adventure this weekend was CRAZY an interesting thing to do with an 11 month old. Our first step was getting suited up for the cold day.  Of course they didn't have baby J's size....

Once the boat got moving, she fell asleep for the hour ride to our destination.

Then all hell broke loose when she woke up!  Just kidding.  She has to be a mover and a shaker, which means being stuffed into a stay puff marshmallow suit is not her favorite choice.  The natives were restless!

We saw TONS of ocean life including Sea Lions, Seals, Bald Eagles and of course Killer Whales!

After a 120 mile trek we headed back to the hotel to get dry and later ventured out for dinner.

It was definitely a trip we won't soon forget.

Baby J Got Her Passport Stamped!

This weekend we traveled to beautiful Victoria, Canada on the Clipper.  It was an adventure to say the least! We had a beautiful room at Inn at Laurel Point overlooking a beautiful garden and the bay beyond.  Our first day we explored and had some great food.

We woke up the next morning, went for a walk and then headed to Fisherman's Wharf to get ready to hunt some Killer Whales!  It was an exciting adventure that I'll share more about tomorrow.