You know you are a grown up when you take a family vacation. No
grandparents....no cousins for distractions...just
us....together....with our kids....in a foreign land......eeeeerrrrrr
San Diego. It wasn't technically a vacation because Mr. R was attending a
conference and we tagged along. Most of the day I was solo with my two
littles.
Preparing for our trip I wandered through
that magnificant interweb searching for the perfect "mommy blog" that
would ease all of my fears about traveling with my children. And you
know what, I didn't find anything that wasn't trying to sell me aquarium
coupons or car seat bags or whatever...
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| Balboa Park |
Flying with my children.
Certainly
I am not the only human being who has thought of this....what if
airlines offered "family friendly flights" OR "adult only" flights for
that matter. That way when you board a plane you either know you are
amongst friends OR you can order a vodka tonic. For real, let's do this.
I would have been so much more relaxed if I knew everyone on the plane
wasn't cursing my family for 3 hours. Lucky for everyone, my kids pretty
much rocked both flights. I mean I had an arsenal of distractions. For
Raleigh....stickers, lots and lots of stickers, a small little journal
for him to stick them, crayons, one small coloring book, all kinds of
snacks in the tiny plastic snack bag....landing treat was gummy bears
since he can't chew gum, and we introduced for the first time....dunnnn
dunn dunnn....the IPAD. It kept him busy for like two minutes. It took
the entire trip for him to understand how to actually play a game.
Raleigh is almost two years old and he could have sat in our lap but I
decided last minute he needed his own seat. Best decision ever. We opted
not to bring the car seat on the plane so he could sit between us. One
minor milk spill (on me) but for the most part we did just fine. I told
Mr. R we didn't have to have the best kids on the flight but they couldn't
be the worst. And thanks to Sally McEarinfection in row 15 we weren't
the worst! For Ridge....two boobs and a pacifier.
You can check your car seat or free. They will try and sell you a car seat bag for $15. Large trash bag works just as good and take up zero room in a suitcase.
Luggage carts cost $4 and you will need one...or two!
I carried on a backpack
with diapers for both boys, two extra outfits each, an emergency shirt
for me, snacks, sippy cup, etc (this acted as my diaper bag for the entre
trip).....Mr R had the rest of the luggage and TWO car seats.
I read
on a blog that when you rent a car and request a carseat they were
nasty. Let me tell you something, lugging two carseat through two
airports and in and out of shuttle buses was the worst. I'm taking my
chances with a rented carseat next time....that sucked!
You need both hands. I wore baby R in the Moby wrap and toddler R rode in the umbrella stroller which we checked at the gate.
You need birth certificates for the babes. And if you live in Dallas enjoy your morning picking that up at City Hall.
Southwest Airlines does not have milk as a drink choice.
Come on SWA....people drink milk! Like little tiny humans. I had to do
some advanced parenting and add water to my small milk bottle we brought
from home.
If your 4 month old is crying just nurse them....like
the entire flight. It's fine to pull up your shirt and show it all. No
one can really see if you are at the window anyways.
No one feels sorry for you.
Unless of course there is another mom on the flight. She will lock eyes
with you and silently encourage you with a raise of an eyebrow and half
smile as you are changing a blow out diaper in a milk soaked seat at
35,000 feet.
Plan for the worst and hope for the best. And remember you just can't be the worst!
Hotel with my babies.
I
still can't believe we didn't get kicked out. You don't realize how
much noise your children make until you are stuck sharing two walls with
strangers....at 5am. Hyatt Regency Mission Bay in San Diego ROCKED!
Free drinks for kids at the pool, which I slightly took advantage of
because my child loves milk! I was not one bad thing to say about this
hotel. Great location. Great staff. Beautiful room, pools, view, food,
landscaping, etc. Stay there!
San Diego.
I hate
to be negative about a beautiful city but your airport is poorly
designed and the homeless population is out of control. Everything
else....wonderful! Keeping doing you SD!
We got to have dinner
with one of our good friends who recently moved there. It was so nice to
catch up. Dearest Nick, please buy a very large house so next time we
visit we can stay with you...for a week!
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| YAY Nick Hurt! |
What we did.
Balboa
Park, Natural History museum, Beach, Hotel pool, lots of little
parks/play grounds on the bay, Sea Port Village, and Played LEGOS and
Little People:)
High light of Raleigh's trip....watching the city
landscaping crew aka "Mo Mow guys". For real, he is still talking about
it. Highlight of Ridges trip....sleeping in a cozy bed with his mama.
Highlight of my trip....drinking coffee on a balcony with a great view,
holding two babies. Oh wait, actually the best part was after we finally
landed, got our mountain of luggage, fought our way onto an Alamo
shuttle bus, loaded two carseats two babes and luggage mountain into a
mid sized sedan, we ate at Big Kitchen. Go there, eat there, listen to
the saxophone player and watch people walk their dogs in breezy 80
degree weather.
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| Mission Bay |
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| Pool time! |
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| Sea Port Village Pier |
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| Mow Mow! |
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| Sea Port Village |
What I wish I would have had while
"tripping" with my children. A small bottle/packet of laundry detergent.
More snacks for hotel room. Tiny bottles of wine...or liquor. This
sounds weird and I don't even know if it exists but a portable clothes
line. We couldn't hang our wet stuff on the balcony and it became a soggy
humid mess of dirty clothes.
Things I'm glad I packed.
Toys
for hotel room. Legos and Little People fit great in large zip lock
bags and can also be bath toys in a pinch. Sound machine. Extra blankies
for snuggling.
We survived and we all came home in one
piece. And now that we have done it we aren't terrified to travel
again. Our next adventure will probably be New Orleans....without
children, I need a drink!
Happy Traveling!
