Somehow, we've managed to take two trips to the Grand Canyon since Lucy's birth. The first time, she was completely asleep the whole time, and this second time, she screamed for about 75% of the time we were visiting the different viewpoints. This time, we brought the kids, the dogs, and my sister in law and in all that wrangling (and there was much wrangling -- I had the baby and the chihuahua and B had Mia and the lab mix), I managed not to snap a single picture with my Phone! I am a big disappointment to my blog.
It was both incredibly pleasant and incredibly stressful. It was a 4 hour drive either way, during which I was stuffed in the backseat with two carseats and two dogs, but we listened to Serial the whole drive (and finished just as we were pulling into our neighborhood!). The first trip (right around Christmas time) we went to the West Rim, which is an Indian reservation with an organized bus tour and limited stops. This time, we took the longer drive down to the South Rim, where the actual National Park is and it was so very very nice. The weather was perfect, it was sunny and warmish the whole time. We only spent one night (we considered doing 2 nights, but now that we're back I'm glad we stuck to one) at the only pet-friendly lodge in town, which we were once again stuffed into like sardines (had it been just us, without the SIL, it would have STILL been cramped), but we were all together and that was nice.
We very much intended on doing some actual hiking, but in the end we just did the paved walk around the rim, and I'm quite proud of us for managing even that. I had to stop (twice! and covered) to nurse while sitting on a boulder with basically the most spectacular view while pretending I was completely comfortable so as not to draw too much attention to myself. I'm all for breastfeeding and everything, but I still have a hard time nursing without being behind closed doors. Despite the paved terrain, it was still the most exercise I've gotten in a long time -- especially since I was pushing a double stroller up and down inclines.
On the second day, did the 25-mile drive, with various lookout points and stops along the way. It ended in a lookout tower, and Mia was very disappointed that Rapunzel was not there. I took 2 days off work to bookend the weekend, and B took a while week to hang out with his sister while she visited, while giving me some alone time at work. Today, we're all back to our regular schedule, until my other sister in law visits in 3 weeks!!
Showing posts with label travel with toddler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel with toddler. Show all posts
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Air Travel with a 2 year old.
This trip involved 4 separate flights, three of which I did with Mia on my own. To be frank, this is the part of my vacation I was dreading the most. I would have panic attacks at the thought of running out of snacks, running out of batteries on the various entertainment devices I packed, or worst of all, having a potty accident, juggling carseats, checked luggage, carry on luggage, strollers, etc. I was nervous about the whole thing, and honestly, things went pretty well with very few minor hiccups. Mia is almost three years old, so she had her own seat. I've flown (solo and accompanied) with her before 2, as well, but those were different times. If you want my input on flying with an under 2 year old, I'm happy to give my input on that as well, just comment below!
I had a little backpack for Mia, and a large shoulder bag for myself. I packed:
-Pulls ups
-Mia's LeapPad
-Coloring Book: I used the Color Wonder ones, just to be safe.
-Children's earphones: I had bought these a while ago, when Mia was starting to watch TV. I didn't think she would tolerate the earbuds that I already had, but at this age, Mia used the ones provided on the international flight (for no reason other than wanting to WEAR THE BLUE ONES) and they went in and stayed in her ears just fine.
-iPhone with several movies loaded onto it: If you have an iPad, obviously, that's better, but the iPhone very much did the trick.
-Snacks: I skipped the apple sauce pouch, because the last time I flew with some, they had to take us through the additional security area to wipe them down for explosive residue. I was eventually allowed to bring them with, but I honestly just didn't want to deal with the hassle. I packed loose Goldfish in a container, and then bought Chex Mix at the airport. I also let her choose her own snack at the airport.
-Empty children's water bottle: I filled it at the water fountain once we passed security, and then asked the flight attendant to put a splash of juice in it from the drink cart.
-Change of clothing for her; change of shirt for myself: I didn't end up needing either of these, but I was still glad to have them.
-One burp cloth: This ended up being incredibly useful. Not for burping, but for cleaning up and wiping down anything and everything.
-Travel pack of wipes: noses, butts, hands.
-Blanket: Most international flights give you a blanket and a pillow, but I thought that Mia would settle down better if she had her own blanket. I stuck with the airline pillow, though.
-Stuffed animal: Mia has a bunny that she sleeps with, and has slept with for as long as I can remember. This was a no-brainer carry on item.
-several dollar store items that she had never played with before, to use as bribery: If you take a nap, you can have a prize when you wake up! If you eat your dinner, you can have a prize!
At this point, Mia was old enough for me to explain to her that we were going on an airplane, and that we would be on this airplane for so long that we would be sleeping on it. I explained to her that we'd have to stay in our seats, that we could get up and go potty, and I showed her the fasten seat belt sign, explaining to her that if the light was on, we had to stay in our seats.
I was surprised to learn that American Airlines doesn't including persons travelling with small children in their priority boarding, so we didn't have the benefit of settling in before everyone else crowded around. This would have been incredibly helpful -- on our first flight, I took Mia to the lavatory as soon as we found our seats, and we were stuck in the back while everyone else boarded. We managed to get seats on our own, though. The two seats on the side of the airplane, the window seat, and the aisle for myself. I realize that most airplanes flown domestically have a 3/3 split now, but we got lucky. And if you're going to be flying on our own with your kid, I highly recommend lobbying the check in agent to get you that kind of seating arrangement (or pre-selecting your seats). If you're flying with your spouse (or another adult), you'll want the row to yourself, too. I'm honestly not sure how Mia would have reacted to having a stranger on her other side, but I was glad to have avoided it.
For the first flight, I left Mia in her underwear. I figured, three and half hours was long enough for her to hold it, and I slipped a pull up on her (right in the seat) when she started looking like she might take a nap. On the long flight, I had her in a pull up straight away -- but she still went to the potty in the lavatory just fine. It's a tight fit, but we both managed to squeeze ourselves in there several times.
I held off on giving Mia her entertainment devices until after we'd taken off. During the taxi, and the actual take off, I pointed everything out to Mia. Like: Look out the window, we're moving! Here we go, up up up! We're flying! Look at the ground, look at the trees! Etc. I figured the more "exciting" portions of the flight would be entertainment enough, and I saved the precious battery time until she started looking for things to do. This is true for any "exciting" portion, like when the drink cart came around, I put away whatever she was doing and we had our snack together. When she seemed to be getting bored, she'd first watch a movie on my phone, then, I'd pull out my other tricks. Snacks, leappad, coloring book, skymall, etc.
Since I had already warned her that she would have to sleep on the longer flights, she was totally prepared. On the International Flights, once they pick up the meal, the lights are dimmed, and it was a clear enough sign that it was time for sleep. At home, I usually give her some time to transition to bedtime, so I tried to stick to the same thing here. I told her that as soon as her movie was over, she'd have to go to sleep. I'd pull out her blanket, her stuffed animal, and she would lay down and go to sleep. On the Chicago to Paris flight, she slept for about three hours. I honestly expected her to sleep more, but she woke herself up because she got a bit tangled in her seatbelt and blanket and got herself upset. This was probably the only time I started getting really anxious that she was disturbing the passengers. But honestly, she didn't cry much, mostly whimpered, and this was muted by the airplane noise. (Plus, there was an older girl a few rows ahead of us who was airsick and was crying much more than my toddler). Since we were halfway through our flight, I snuggled her up and she calmed back down (though she didn't go back to sleep).
What is challenging, though, is the in-flight meal. I usually love the meal! Ever since I was a kid, I would get excited about what they were serving, eating the little portions of mostly not great food. I really thought Mia would get a kick out of it, but she was not into it. This is when the bribing was most effective, and while the meal itself was totally something she would eat, it was a struggle to manage the tray, the drinks, and the tray table without spilling everywhere (BURP CLOTH!). I also wasn't able to eat my own meal until the flight attendants came around to collect the trays. And then I had to keep my tray for a REALLY long time before they would come back around and actually collect mine. But this is where those adorable wine bottles help also help. This was also a lot easier on the return trip, because I already knew that Mia would have to be force fed, and that I would have to wait to eat my own. It's all about expectations.
So! In conclusion! The thing to do is to pack mindfully - don't bring anything that won't be used, don't waste precious bag space on something that might not be needed. I can honestly say that we used everything I brought, except the change of clothes. I also think that explaining the whole thing to Mia ahead of time helped - next time, I might even go a step further and pack pajamas to change into to make it really feel like bedtime. It really did go quite smoothly, and Mia was left completely charmed with air travel. She's asked to go back on an airplane every day since our return!
I had a little backpack for Mia, and a large shoulder bag for myself. I packed:
-Pulls ups
-Mia's LeapPad
-Coloring Book: I used the Color Wonder ones, just to be safe.
-Children's earphones: I had bought these a while ago, when Mia was starting to watch TV. I didn't think she would tolerate the earbuds that I already had, but at this age, Mia used the ones provided on the international flight (for no reason other than wanting to WEAR THE BLUE ONES) and they went in and stayed in her ears just fine.
-iPhone with several movies loaded onto it: If you have an iPad, obviously, that's better, but the iPhone very much did the trick.
-Snacks: I skipped the apple sauce pouch, because the last time I flew with some, they had to take us through the additional security area to wipe them down for explosive residue. I was eventually allowed to bring them with, but I honestly just didn't want to deal with the hassle. I packed loose Goldfish in a container, and then bought Chex Mix at the airport. I also let her choose her own snack at the airport.
-Empty children's water bottle: I filled it at the water fountain once we passed security, and then asked the flight attendant to put a splash of juice in it from the drink cart.
-Change of clothing for her; change of shirt for myself: I didn't end up needing either of these, but I was still glad to have them.
-One burp cloth: This ended up being incredibly useful. Not for burping, but for cleaning up and wiping down anything and everything.
-Travel pack of wipes: noses, butts, hands.
-Blanket: Most international flights give you a blanket and a pillow, but I thought that Mia would settle down better if she had her own blanket. I stuck with the airline pillow, though.
-Stuffed animal: Mia has a bunny that she sleeps with, and has slept with for as long as I can remember. This was a no-brainer carry on item.
-several dollar store items that she had never played with before, to use as bribery: If you take a nap, you can have a prize when you wake up! If you eat your dinner, you can have a prize!
At this point, Mia was old enough for me to explain to her that we were going on an airplane, and that we would be on this airplane for so long that we would be sleeping on it. I explained to her that we'd have to stay in our seats, that we could get up and go potty, and I showed her the fasten seat belt sign, explaining to her that if the light was on, we had to stay in our seats.
I was surprised to learn that American Airlines doesn't including persons travelling with small children in their priority boarding, so we didn't have the benefit of settling in before everyone else crowded around. This would have been incredibly helpful -- on our first flight, I took Mia to the lavatory as soon as we found our seats, and we were stuck in the back while everyone else boarded. We managed to get seats on our own, though. The two seats on the side of the airplane, the window seat, and the aisle for myself. I realize that most airplanes flown domestically have a 3/3 split now, but we got lucky. And if you're going to be flying on our own with your kid, I highly recommend lobbying the check in agent to get you that kind of seating arrangement (or pre-selecting your seats). If you're flying with your spouse (or another adult), you'll want the row to yourself, too. I'm honestly not sure how Mia would have reacted to having a stranger on her other side, but I was glad to have avoided it.
For the first flight, I left Mia in her underwear. I figured, three and half hours was long enough for her to hold it, and I slipped a pull up on her (right in the seat) when she started looking like she might take a nap. On the long flight, I had her in a pull up straight away -- but she still went to the potty in the lavatory just fine. It's a tight fit, but we both managed to squeeze ourselves in there several times.
I held off on giving Mia her entertainment devices until after we'd taken off. During the taxi, and the actual take off, I pointed everything out to Mia. Like: Look out the window, we're moving! Here we go, up up up! We're flying! Look at the ground, look at the trees! Etc. I figured the more "exciting" portions of the flight would be entertainment enough, and I saved the precious battery time until she started looking for things to do. This is true for any "exciting" portion, like when the drink cart came around, I put away whatever she was doing and we had our snack together. When she seemed to be getting bored, she'd first watch a movie on my phone, then, I'd pull out my other tricks. Snacks, leappad, coloring book, skymall, etc.
Since I had already warned her that she would have to sleep on the longer flights, she was totally prepared. On the International Flights, once they pick up the meal, the lights are dimmed, and it was a clear enough sign that it was time for sleep. At home, I usually give her some time to transition to bedtime, so I tried to stick to the same thing here. I told her that as soon as her movie was over, she'd have to go to sleep. I'd pull out her blanket, her stuffed animal, and she would lay down and go to sleep. On the Chicago to Paris flight, she slept for about three hours. I honestly expected her to sleep more, but she woke herself up because she got a bit tangled in her seatbelt and blanket and got herself upset. This was probably the only time I started getting really anxious that she was disturbing the passengers. But honestly, she didn't cry much, mostly whimpered, and this was muted by the airplane noise. (Plus, there was an older girl a few rows ahead of us who was airsick and was crying much more than my toddler). Since we were halfway through our flight, I snuggled her up and she calmed back down (though she didn't go back to sleep).
What is challenging, though, is the in-flight meal. I usually love the meal! Ever since I was a kid, I would get excited about what they were serving, eating the little portions of mostly not great food. I really thought Mia would get a kick out of it, but she was not into it. This is when the bribing was most effective, and while the meal itself was totally something she would eat, it was a struggle to manage the tray, the drinks, and the tray table without spilling everywhere (BURP CLOTH!). I also wasn't able to eat my own meal until the flight attendants came around to collect the trays. And then I had to keep my tray for a REALLY long time before they would come back around and actually collect mine. But this is where those adorable wine bottles help also help. This was also a lot easier on the return trip, because I already knew that Mia would have to be force fed, and that I would have to wait to eat my own. It's all about expectations.
So! In conclusion! The thing to do is to pack mindfully - don't bring anything that won't be used, don't waste precious bag space on something that might not be needed. I can honestly say that we used everything I brought, except the change of clothes. I also think that explaining the whole thing to Mia ahead of time helped - next time, I might even go a step further and pack pajamas to change into to make it really feel like bedtime. It really did go quite smoothly, and Mia was left completely charmed with air travel. She's asked to go back on an airplane every day since our return!
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Mia takes France
We are back! We got back into Las Vegas at 7pm on Saturday night, spent Sunday lounging and getting some errands done, and were all back to work and daycare on Monday morning, bright and (very) early.
The trip was great - we spent a lot of quality time with my family, both my immediate and extended french family. Mia learned absolutely no French, and showed that she had learned very little in my Saturday lessons, but I translated for her, and for my grandmother, so it was all fine.
We started out with a night in Chicago, and it really was nice to see quickly see B's family. While in retrospect, it was probably a lot more stressful to break up the trip and have to worry about coordinating transportation and overnight bags and etc than it may have been worth. Still, it was nice to have my brother on the flight with us, allowing me a bit of freedom to go to the tiny lavatory without sharing the space with my almost 3 year old. I'll do a separate post later this week on air travel with a toddler, but I have to say that it went pretty smoothly overall, even when I was on my own with her.
Once we arrived in Paris, we met all members of our party at the airport. My parents and my Mom's brother had just gotten in from Barcelona (where they spent a few days), my brother's girlfriend had just gotten in from NYC. We piled ourselves and our immense amounts of luggage into a Volkswagen Eurovan, and continued on the 2 hours to Rouen, a smallish city in Normandy. Much like last time, there were a lot of long lunches, pastries, cheese and wine. The whole purpose of the trip really was just for my Grandmother's 90th birthday, so most of our activities revolved around that.
Our first day, we basically just settled in, went to the French supermarket and loaded up on everything we wanted to have that we couldn't easily get elsewhere. We settled into the apartment we were staying in, visited with my Grandmother at her assisted living apartment, walked around a little and planned the rest of our trip. The next day was our only real "free day", so we took another 2 hour road trip to my uncle's country house, a restored 16th century manor (He's an Antiques dealer, so this is kind of his jam) just to visit and wander around the countryside.
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The trip was great - we spent a lot of quality time with my family, both my immediate and extended french family. Mia learned absolutely no French, and showed that she had learned very little in my Saturday lessons, but I translated for her, and for my grandmother, so it was all fine.
We started out with a night in Chicago, and it really was nice to see quickly see B's family. While in retrospect, it was probably a lot more stressful to break up the trip and have to worry about coordinating transportation and overnight bags and etc than it may have been worth. Still, it was nice to have my brother on the flight with us, allowing me a bit of freedom to go to the tiny lavatory without sharing the space with my almost 3 year old. I'll do a separate post later this week on air travel with a toddler, but I have to say that it went pretty smoothly overall, even when I was on my own with her.
Once we arrived in Paris, we met all members of our party at the airport. My parents and my Mom's brother had just gotten in from Barcelona (where they spent a few days), my brother's girlfriend had just gotten in from NYC. We piled ourselves and our immense amounts of luggage into a Volkswagen Eurovan, and continued on the 2 hours to Rouen, a smallish city in Normandy. Much like last time, there were a lot of long lunches, pastries, cheese and wine. The whole purpose of the trip really was just for my Grandmother's 90th birthday, so most of our activities revolved around that.
Our first day, we basically just settled in, went to the French supermarket and loaded up on everything we wanted to have that we couldn't easily get elsewhere. We settled into the apartment we were staying in, visited with my Grandmother at her assisted living apartment, walked around a little and planned the rest of our trip. The next day was our only real "free day", so we took another 2 hour road trip to my uncle's country house, a restored 16th century manor (He's an Antiques dealer, so this is kind of his jam) just to visit and wander around the countryside.
The following day, we had my Grandmother's 90th birthday celebration, with 21 attendees eating a beautiful meal at a beautiful restaurant, during which Mia ate about 5 bites of the meal (and 3 mini baguettes) and watched Frozen on my iPhone. I couldn't have expected much more from her, the lunch went from 12:30-4:30, in typical French fashion. It was great and I think my Grandmother had a great time.
The following day, my Grandmother's REAL birthday, we had another birthday lunch, though only 3 hours this time, and with only 10 attendees. This meal was at a more casual restaurant, but it was probably some of the best food I've ever had. La Petite Auberge, in Rouen, just in case anyone out there might travel out there.
On Friday, we were off to Paris for a quick afternoon of touristy activities, before heading back to the airport on Saturday morning. In Paris, Mia convinced my Dad to take her on the Eiffeel Tower carousel 3 times. We did an evening Seine cruise, had dinner and called it a night before our long day of travel back to the US.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Take off in 2 days!
LAS --> ORD 24 hour break ORD -->CDG 7 days CDG-->DFW DFW-->LAS
with an almost 3 year old
I have prepared the following devices in order to keep a semblance of sanity:
1) an iPod classic, loaded up with all the children's movies we own. I would have done this on an iPad, had we decided to purchase one. But, if there is an iPad in the room (my Mom's, B's sister's, anyone else's) Mia is completely obsessed with it. We vowed never to have one permanently in our home for this very reason. PS, yesterday, we added Frozen to the collection. We, along with the rest of the world, are totally smitten by that movie. When I was checking out at target, both of the people in line ahead of me had a copy too! I also have some children's ear phones for said iPod.
2) in lieu of said iPad, we opted for a LeapPad2. We purchased that very pink, very girly one for the same price as the regular one. While I usually like to buy more gender-neutral versions of these types of toys, there is no denying that that very model would delight and thrill Mia the most. We decided this would be her birthday gift, she is just getting it 2 months early. Plus, I am not showing it to her until we set foot on the first flight.
3) A pack of crayola color wonder paper and markers. Have you parents out there used these yet? They're actually really great, and Mia loves them. I have a brand new pack, that I intend to bring out at some point during the flights. The packs are especially handy, because they give you the colors that you would need to complete the drawings - if your kid cares about coloring everything the proper color, which... my kid does not.
4) Dollar aisle junk. This is another tool that I will bring out every few hours, to break up the very lengthy flights. In my arsenal, I have some fruit roll ups, a candy necklace and bracelet set, a Jr. Slinky, a pack of Memory Game cards.
5) Also, I bought her a spanking new backpack [packpack, in Miaspeak] from DownEast Furniture and Clothing. Now, I am not familiar with this store since a location just opened up here in Las Vegas, but if you have one in your area, go in there right now and go to the backpack section. They have PB Kids rejects for about $7.50-$10.00. They are straight up rejects, and have already been embroidered with a usually odd name, but that embroidery will come right up with a seam ripper. I managed to find a very cute polka dot one with just a 3-letter monogram on it that came up with about 15 minutes of work. You can barely see the outline, and Mia is thrilled with it! I'm thrilled with it because it seems like good enough quality to last at least a few years.
Here's hoping that'll get us through the very many hours of flying time.
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