Travel
Family & Parenting
Travel
December 10, 2013
Traveling with children can be a fairly daunting task, a friend once told me it could be compared to swimming in a pool of sand. You just don't get very far, very quickly. Just like so many other things in life change when you become a mom, so does the way you travel. Gone were the days of one carry on, you now have to pack spare outfits, bottles, toys and so much more. My son Atticus and I make a pretty nice travel duo. We have flown around the country together, and in under 2 years racked up 87,000 miles together. Not too shabby for a tot that up until recently did not know how to zip his sweater. I'd love to say we have traveled to foreign lands, but MommyCon keeps us pretty busy domestically, and we have kept our travel to seventeen contiguous US states. When we travel I try to keep things concise and efficient. I learned long ago that some comforts of home should just be left behind, and in hopes of
Family & Parenting
Travel
November 22, 2013
We're walking through a tunnel of coastal tea trees. The end of the tunnel is black, until sunlight pokes through, leaving the silhouette of a big wallaby, furiously jumping straight towards me. A second passes as both the wallaby and I realise what the two-headed creature we're facing is. When I do, I grab my camera out of my Ergo pocket, but it's already too late: the wallaby and her joey have jumped off our hiking path, into the bush.
We are spending a month in Australia, where my husband is working. The children and I are enjoying all of Melbourne's wildlife, zoos and child-friendly museums, the superb coffee, cakes and ethnic vegetarian food, and meeting up with friends from various places and phases in our lives. I feel right
Family & Parenting
Travel
July 18, 2013
For years, I have dreamed of visiting Chicago and spending the day in The Shedd Aquarium. I never really thought it would come to fruition but I continued to dream. This summer my dream came true when our family drove through Chicago on our way to a preacher's conference in the Detroit area. It was just as amazing as I thought it would be and even though we spent 6 hours there, I could go back again.
The Shedd Aquarium is located on the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan. It is the largest indoor aquarium in the world, with more than 8000 aquatic animals. Depending on when you go, there are always special exhibits. Our family had the opportunity to see the Jellies and to participate in the new Stingray Touch.
When you decide to visit the Aquarium, the first thing I recommend doing is deciding what times you would like to be there and which exhibits you want to see. Our family decided to
Family & Parenting
Travel
July 18, 2013
We're thinking of taking a day trip to the beach. I wanted to go longer, but my husband thinks it will be a big hassle with the baby. I've been trying to think of everything we'll need to make the trip go smoothly:
1. I'm thinking some sort of sun shade is in order. Although there are some really amazing sunscreens out there, I've read that you shouldn't use sunscreen on babies younger than six months. So an umbrella or
Family & Parenting
Travel
July 09, 2013
When my husband and I were on a recent trip to Italy we visited Castello di Ama and did their winery tour. The winery has an amazing Chianti Classico, Olive Oil and an amazing art exhibit.
Before planning the trip we had to plan how we would carry our one-year-old daughter, Ava around. It was Ava’s first trip to Europe and the terrain at the winery was not ideal for a stroller.
We found the perfect solution to our problem, the Ergobaby Organic Baby Carrier. The Ergobaby is easy to put on and it fits to your size. The fabric is high quality. The Ergobaby holds your baby in an ergonomic, natural sitting position. Not only was it great for my daughter, my husband managed to carry Ava through the vineyard tour without getting a sore back.
Family & Parenting
Travel
May 29, 2013
If you decide to vacation at Walt Disney World or Disneyland with baby in tow, rest assured that Disney does a phenomenal job of making even the smallest guests feel welcome. Here are my top 10 tips to help ensure that you and your little one make magical memories at the Happiest Place on Earth.
1. Make use of the Baby Care Centers
Disney offers baby care centers in all 4 theme parks at Disney World and in both theme parks at Disneyland Resort.
Open during regular park hours, each facility is complimentary to use and includes a private nursing room with rocking chairs, changing room with tables, feeding area with highchairs, plus a mini kitchen with microwave. Some even offer "miniature" toilets and sinks.
There is also a little room with a TV, some picture books, and kid-sized chairs. A nice place to unwind or get cool for a few minutes.
Baby food, diapers, wipes, sunscreen, over-the-counter medications, and clothing are also available for purchase.
Here are the
Family & Parenting
Travel
March 13, 2013
From: Babble, Ergobaby Travel Collection: Best Yet?
"It sounds ideal: same adjustable padded shoulder straps (it fits both my 6’8” husband and 5’6” me), same waist belt, and same zipped pocket in front, but it can fold into itself to become as small as a wrist-clutch. Frankly, that’s good news to me whether it’s for stowing in my suitcase or carry-on or whether it’s for storing in my spare closet."
Ergobaby Travel Collection
Family & Parenting
Travel
August 28, 2012
Editor's note: Written from the point of view of the Ergobaby Original Carrier - Black/Green, a retired color:
Hi there. I know this is not your typical blog post, but I heard that Ergobaby wanted to hear some great travel stories…and boy, have I got a ton to tell you! You see, I’ve been around the block a few times after being given to a wonderful family. I’m an Ergobaby Original Carrier - Black/Green. They don’t even make my color anymore, that’s how long I’ve been around. Before I met my family, I sat in a warehouse with all of the other Ergobaby Carriers wondering what type of family I’d be going to – and I was thrilled to be pulled off the shelf one day and my journey started in a nice brown cardboard box.
When I arrived at my final destination, central Maryland, I was shocked to find out that my family
Family & Parenting
Travel
August 12, 2012
After a week of sunshine and warm weather this past July, the typical gray skies of Western Washington returned, along with 60 degree temperatures. It turns out though that 60 degrees and gray skies is perfect weather for blueberry picking! My summer bucket list just received another check mark.
Bergen and I met Nina and her two kids (ages 1 & nearly 5) at Larsen Lake in Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, to see just how many blueberries we could gather in our buckets. We both strapped the babies into their ergos on our backs, and with Maya in the lead we started down the main path. Hundreds of blueberry bushes line this greenbelt area in the middle of suburbia allowing us to have our choice of spots to start from.
As we started picking away, Maya and I took Nina's advice:
Pay attention to the color of the berry. The darker the better. If the blueberry isn't blue, it's not ready to be picked!
If the berry just seems to fall right off the stem,
Family & Parenting
Travel
August 09, 2012
I think one of the biggest gifts we can give our kids is the gift of travel. Not only does travel expose children to amazing locations, but also it teaches about other cultures, develops situational flexibility, encourages imaginative thinking, and helps illustrate a sense of world scale.
When my first son, Alexander, was only 5 months old, we had the amazing opportunity to pack our bags (and our house!) and head to England for 3 years. While some might find the thought terrifying, we were so excited about the opportunities it was going to give us to go, do, and see!
While in England, our family grew with the birth of our second son, Edward. But even