Summer Travel Series: The Ergo, Saving us in Seattle--Twice!

When we found out that my cousin would be getting married in Seattle in May 2012, we decided to take a few extra days off and make it into a fun family vacation.  High in priority on our packing list for any trip is our Ergobaby Carrier.  Back when we had a two year old and a new baby, we bought a second Ergo.  Now that our children are older (5 ½ years, 3 ½ years, and 5 months old), we are only using the Ergo with our newest baby.  Don’t get me wrong, having two Ergobaby Carriers still comes in quite handy!  We are able to keep one in the car and one in the house at all times.  But, traveling is an exception!  There are too many variables when traveling with young children.  You never know what will happen, so always take both of the Ergobaby Carriers!

As has been our experience, the Ergobaby Carrier made traveling by plane much simpler.  No surprise there!  Once we arrived in Seattle, we decided to buy a City Pass  in order to see all of the best attractions at half the price.  This meant we were busy exploring all of the sights and going from one place to another.  With our older boys being very active and on the move, this meant there was no time for Mama to sit down and nurse baby brother.  Luckily, baby Gabriel was happy to nurse frequently and conveniently all while being carried in the Ergo.  Since we were in town for the wedding, we did some sightseeing with various relatives who were totally unaware that Gabriel was nursing in the carrier.  I often got comments like, “He’s sleeping again?”  I would smile and say, “No, he’s not sleeping…”  Then they realized what he was really doing. The time change, our full schedule, and a runny nose took its toll on 3 ½ year old Augustine.  Though he hadn’t ridden in the Ergobaby Carrier in many months, he started requesting rides.  He would even tell us he wanted to take a nap in it and ask that we put the hood up.  This was quite amusing as he was no longer napping at home and had previously disliked having the hood up while awake!  To our surprise, he took multiple naps in the Ergo during our adventures there.  My husband would carry Augustine and I would carry Gabriel.  Ignatius, our oldest, was able to walk on his own and we frequently had another adult relative with us who would help by carrying our back pack style diaper bag.  No stroller meant we were not limited at all.

There was no concern about finding elevators and escalators at any of the tourist attractions we visited.  We were able to easily maneuver among the crowds of people at the Pacific Science Center, the Space Needle, a harbor cruise, and The Museum of Flight.

On our last day in the city, we visited the Seattle Aquarium.  After enjoying our time there, we decided to eat at a restaurant on one of the piers.  It was a beautiful sunny day and we were able to eat outside and watch a cruise ship embark on its voyage right in front of us!  Not surprisingly, the kids finished their food first while the adults were still visiting and enjoying a relaxed meal.  Since we were so close to the end of the pier, we allowed Ignatius and Augustine to leave the table and look out at what was beyond.  They were holding onto the bars of the safety fencing that went around the edge of the pier when suddenly Augustine shrieked, “Oh no, ‘Natius, your shoe, your shoe!!”  With a quick glance, I realized that Ignatius was suddenly missing one shoe!  It turned out that he had put his foot between the bars.  When he had pulled his foot back through, his shoe caught on the bars and slid off, falling onto the rocks below.  In fact, it had bounced into a rock crevice somewhere and we couldn’t even see it.  There was no access to the area where his shoe had fallen, so we now had a 5 year old boy with only one shoe!  And, as frequently happens when sightseeing, we were parked a mile away, literally!!  Ergobaby Carrier to the rescue, one more time!  Luckily, Ignatius is fairly small as far as 5 year olds are concerned and weighs about 39 lbs.  So, up went Ignatius on Daddy’s back in the Ergobaby Carrier.  On our long walk back to the car, we even meandered through Pike Place Market as it was closing.  Daddy definitely got a workout that day, as we climbed many stairs and hills ascending from the pier to our parking spot! The following day, we said good bye to Seattle and flew home.  When I had packed for our trip, there was a split second where I had considered bringing only one Ergo.  How thankful I was to have them both at hand when we needed them for our baby, our 3 year old, and even our 5 year old! This post was submitted by Ergobaby reader Angela Vogel, as part of our Summer Travel Series.   Angela Vogel is a Catholic, full time mama to three Lego obsessed boys and wife to one helpful husband.  She can frequently be found at Costco partaking in the free samples, especially those of the chocolate variety!  She enjoys helping new moms learn about breastfeeding, babywearing, and cloth diapering.