home again home again

We're back! (Did you even notice we were gone?) ;)

After ten days of life on the road, we made it home and can say the kids were (mostly) awesome little travelers. Arley is up to 5/50 states now (8 if you count last summer's trips). (B didn't add any new states this time around so he's still at 12/50.)

I did a horrible job of taking pictures. Mostly because our adventures weren't really conducive to packing around a big camera (plus a baby while chasing a three year old).

We attempted a group shot (but even failed at that as not everyone was ever ready for a shot at the same time). So here's most of the crew. (My sister got that sweet cabin. We're trying to talk mom into buying a similar one on a lake somewhere… You can rent this one here: vrbo)

The quick overview of the trip:
Leon. We had to head down early for a funeral so we stayed in town for the Fourth of July where B took in his first Leon Rodeo. We also watched the parade and then later headed to great-grandma's for the fireworks (her driveway may be the best seat in town for them). B loved the sparklers but may have been a little too excited about setting them on fire…
Table Rock lake. It rained most of the time we were there but the one day it was (mostly) nice my mom rented a boat and it was maybe the highlight of the trip for us. B chose not to tube and was worried about my safety when I was. ;) After witnessing his cousin take a turn (and finding her way underwater), it might be awhile before he hops on one. Related to the rain- the kids didn't get a chance to do s'mores in the fire pit so we found a campfire on youtube and they sat around the iPad campfire while eating microwave s'mores and telling stories with the flashlight. It's definitely an activity worth adding to your summer bucket list. :)
Branson. See above on the rain. We attempted some fun stuff but had a hard time finding things for B in the rain. (We had planned on bumper boats, mini golf and go karts so those all got crossed off the list pretty quick.) We did take a nice little walk down the boardwalk by the landing which was great until we walked straight into a cold front and couldn't see through the fog. We also did the fish hatchery (in the rain). And our best meal in town was Steak N Shake. Ripley's was a bust but B loved riding the Ducks (and even got to drive once the duck hit the water).
Arkansas. We literally drove across the state line to sit on the square of Blue Eye and feed the kids just so we could cross Arkansas off Arley's list. (Hey, it's one of 50 and at least now she won't have to go back and my brother in law pointed out she's too young to remember so double bonus. No offense to anyone from Arkansas...) ;) It felt a lot like being in Lineville. I'm sure there are nicer places in Arkansas to visit. Maybe someday…
Tulsa. We took a little detour on the way home to visit the Oklahoma cousins. It was a last minute, unplanned leg of the trip but was a fun one! We met up with them at the children's museum where B went down the packing tape slide no less than 1,452,872 times (or so). We had the best meal of the week with Hideaway Pizza and B had the highlight of his week at the Kiddie Park (a mini amusement park of sorts). The weather was iffy so we basically had the park to ourselves and it was a blast. The kids ran from ride to ride and B LOVED it. He talks about this more than anything else from vacation (even Legoland). I did manage to take the camera along this night.
Kansas City. Our plan was to head into town for Legoland and then spend the night and do some watermark time or shopping the next day. B loved Legoland but was ready to go to grandma's by the end so we passed on the $400/night water park room and drove to grandma's for the night before heading home.

Both kids had a pretty good week... though B really wanted to stay at a hotel with an elevator. :)

(A few kiddie park pics… Like I said.. B LOVED it. He was literally the last kid off the last ride of the night. These kiddos shut the place down! One of his favorite rides was the tiny cars and he always picked the cop car. When we had to leave the next day his cousin gave him The Sheriff (from Cars) for him to take home. He didn't let go of it the whole way to KC and really wanted to take it inside with him but we talked him out of it. His favorite (okay and only) souvenir from the trip.)

Summer '14 Road Trip (part 2)

After leaving the city (see part 1 for more on that)… we headed towards the beach! There's something about the sand and the water that speaks to my soul. I can't get enough. And yet I live smack dab in the middle of the US. Go figure. That said, the lake isn't too far of a drive and if you don't think too much about it, it totally feels like you're at the ocean. I'll for sure be back.

We stopped at Indiana Dunes before making our way up to Michigan. We stopped along several little Michigan spots and parks and stayed at the Grand Marina in New Buffalo. The loft was awesome and I kinda wanted to live there. It was definitely bigger than any apartment we've ever lived in.

Anyway…. the beach pics kinda speak for themselves. Sorry for the overload of pics here. ;)

Summer '14 Road Trip (part 1)

This post may be a bit overdue…. Our summer road trip… Part 1: Chicago….


R is a city boy. Sure he grew up in smallish town Iowa but he feeds off the city's energy. Chicago is his jam. He's been several times but this was our first family trip there. I loved watching him show B the city. And as much as B is like me, he LOVED the city like his daddy.

Some Chicago highlights:

-Navy Pier (probably my favorite Chicago spot). The people watching is top notch here. And there's all kinds of little parks nearby for the (then) two year old to explore. We rode the ferris wheel (even though it says not to if pregnant, sorry A!). It was way too high up there for my liking. :| B's favorite part was maybe the fire station we visited on the way back… they let him get in and 'drive' the truck and learn all about how very different a Chicago fire fighter's life is than an Iowa fire fighter's (and how very different it is from what we see on tv). ;)

-Shedd Aquarium. B asked about a million times last year if he could go to a shark aquarium. So Shedd had to be on the list. He was a little tired/cranky that day and didn't seem to be a huge fan of most of it but he STILL talks about it so it must have been a hit anyway. I'll never forget the bird that attacked us at lunch (it literally landed on B's head and started pecking away- in a mom of the year moment, I froze! Sorry, B!). :( Or the 4D show we tried to watch… He freaked when the animals 'spit' water on us. He literally ran out of the theater with me right behind him. He ripped off the 3D shades and started telling the patrons waiting, "Don't go in there! It's scary! It's a bad trick!!!" I wasn't sure if it was an appropriate time to laugh or not but we definitely do now.. (Again, sorry B!) ;)

-City Walking. Giordianos Pizza. The Bean. All the big highlights crossed off the list. It was a lot of walking for this tired mama but was glad to see some of the must see sights on the list. B was a huge fan of all the fountains in the city.

-Cubs game. This was for R's birthday. He loves Wrigley. It was my first trip and I'm glad I got to go. Unfortunately B didn't last too long and he, mom and I ended up taking a cab ride back to the hotel a little early. R and Max stayed forever (about a million overtimes… uhhh… extra innings? later I think Chicago ended up winning).

-United Center. Because R and B HAD to see Michael Jordan while we were in town.

As we bid farewell to the city, we asked B what his favorite part of this leg of our trip was. His answer: "The race car ride!" I was confused and asked him what he meant. "You know, the race car ride back to the hotel." Apparently the Chicago taxi cabs made quite the impression on him. Also, it did feel like a race car ride. :)

Dear Chicago, You're fun. And even though I much prefer a beach (more on that soon) to you, I'm sure we'll be back someday if R has anything to say about it. :) XOXO, H

beach life

In case you missed my over gramming all week.... we spent the week at Lake Michigan. First in Chicago, followed by a pit stop at Indiana Dunes and ending in Michigan at the ocean (I mean lake).

If you ask B his favorite part of vacation he will tell you 'driving the firetruck' (thanks Chicago FD) and 'the racer car drive' (thanks fast taxi cab dude). R will just tell you 'Chicago' (he totally feeds off the energy of the city) and I'd tell you the beach (because, duh).

First off- how have I lived 5 1/2 hours from this place and never known about it?! It seriously feels like being at the ocean. The sand is amazing, the dunes are gorgeous and the waves are so peaceful. I'd love to spend all of my summers there. :)

Second- I have a ton of work to catch up on but I'm letting myself edit one vacation picture for every 25 work pictures.... clearly I haven't gotten very far yet. ;)

Hopefully I'll be back with a proper vacation update soon. It was a great week!

Flying With a Toddler

After I posted our Spring Break pictures, a friend asked me about flying with a toddler. They wanted my tips. HA. Truthfully, I don't have many tips- we just lucked out with a great kid- but I'll share with you what did work for B (though I can't guarantee it will work with him next time).

1. Pack plenty of snacks. Snacks are B's love language. I try not to offer them very often at home but when we're out and about it's a great way to keep him happy.

2. Pack some new toys and books. I hit up the dollar spot at Target. I think they may be the only toys we've ever purchased him. Not many of them were a big hit but a few were. He loved his Captain America keychain. We also got him a little Leap Pad lap top. He loved pushing the buttons and playing on it. It wasn't all that cheap (it was maybe $17) but it did occupy him for a LONG time so it was worth the price. Also, he could read "Brown Bear Brown Bear" a hundred times in a row so it was the perfect book to bring along.

3. Pack more clothes, diapers, and WIPES (don't forget the extra wipes!) than you think you'll need. Those wipes work wonders on pretty much everything.

4. Bring a movie or other game/entertainment. We hate to let B have too much screen time but lately he is LOVING the iPad. He hadn't ever got to watch a show on it but we downloaded the Toy Story Toons for the trip and he loves them. (We actually pulled out Toy Story 3 tonight and he sat completely still for 45 minutes watching it before he had to go to bed. Yikes.) I debated long and hard about getting him headphones for the trip and ultimately I didn't. He didn't seem to mind but he also hadn't ever seen a movie on it so he may not have known it was supposed to talk as well. I think next year I'll definitely get him some kid headphones for it.

5. Offer drinks and snacks during take off and landing. I've heard a lot of stories about kids ears popping on airplanes but B didn't seem to notice. We kept him chewing, drinking and swallowing and he did a great job.

6. Let them run some energy off during layovers or while waiting. We did several laps at each of the airports we visited. There's also kid play areas at a lot of airports- B loved finding those. When it was nap time we put the canopy on the (reclined) stroller and covered it with blankets. I walked laps around the water fountain (for some white noise) and he was asleep after two laps.

7. Take a decent stroller. I know a lot of people advise against this for fear that it may get broken. I was leery too but everything I read online said it was safe to take the nicer one. We took a chance and in the end we are so glad we had it (B wouldn't have likely gotten a nap otherwise). I think when he's a little older we could have gotten away with an umbrella stroller but it was nice to have the nice one this time.

8. Be the last to board. And if you can choose your seats, sit as close to the front as possible for a quick escape after landing. The less time you're on the plane, the better. :)

8.b. Keep in mind if you are the last to board, you may have to check your carryon. Make sure you have what you need in the carryon you actually get to take on board. We had to gate check our small suitcase last minute and it had the extra diapers and our boarding passes for our next flight. Thankfully I had some extra diapers stashed in my purse and we were able to make our connecting flight in time for new boarding passes but it would have been nice to not have to worry about it.

9. Ask your friends that travel with kids for some tips. I asked several people ahead of time and got some really great ideas (especially for when B is a bit older)- I especially like the idea of bringing window clings for him to play with on the plane window. Busy books and other project activities are some other great ideas I found.

10. Check out other online resources for tips. I found a free e-book on the subject and it gave tons of great tips.  Jessica at the Mom Creative offers some tips that work for her. I think we'll be using the carseat on wheels trick next year when we'll have to buy his own plane seat. (And looking back, he would have probably actually napped on the plane this time if we had brought it along.)

And a bonus tip- Travel with shoes that stay on their feet well so you don't have to worry about losing them. I put Toms on him thinking they'd be easy to get on and off at security but neither security points wanted us to take his shoes off. Also related to security- Desitin (diaper cream) is considered a liquid so pack it accordingly. (Unlike I did.... oops.)


Do you have tips for traveling with a little one? Is your little one a great traveler?

Spring Break '13 | Phoenix

We were so lucky to get to spend spring break '13 with Aunt Mal Mal and Uncle Shawn (R's sister & soon to be bro-in-law). I have to say, traveling with a toddler is no vacation but staying with family (and having a house so B could have his own room) is the way to do it! Mal & Shawn are awesome hosts and Aunt Mal Mal spoiled B completely rotten. (He also loved her dogs!) It was a quick trip but we had a great time!

I recently posted about the highlights (or low lights, rather) of our first day of traveling, but I promise the rest of the trip gets so much better!! And to be honest, other than my sickly ending to the day our actual travel day was way better than we anticipated. B did a great job at the airports and in the air. It was a little cramped on our plane from DSM to Detroit but we made it work. B would not nap in the air but thankfully we had brought his good stroller and he was able to get a nap in it during our layover. (It looks like he's thinking in that picture- I wonder if he's trying to figure out what the heck is going on!) From Detroit to Phoenix, there were extra seats on the plane (I didn't know that even happened anymore!) and we were able to get three seats together so we had some room to stretch out. B had quite the set up and despite the long flight, did a great job.

Our first full day in town, we all met up with my friend Christa and her little guy, Andrew at the Phoenix zoo. Andrew is just a couple months older than Beckett and I was SO excited for them to meet and I'm always excited to get to see Christa! It'd been a couple years since our last visit. Extra bonus: Christa has a zoo membership and free zoo passes so we all got in free too! Zoo highlights: The squirrel monkeys that you could get up close and personal with. They were awesome!

After nap time we headed to the mall (because it had an H&M) and grabbed a couple things. Aunt Mal spoiled B-meister and got him some sweet kicks. (They actually stay on his feet SO good and as cute as his Toms are, these are his new full-time shoes! Kid is stylin') His fave part of the day? The puppy store at the mall. He went absolutely crazy, squealing at all the puppies and wanting them to play fetch with him. He ran back and forth no less than a hundred times. He loved it!



Later we checked out Rustler's Rooste for dinner and got to see where Aunt Mal Mal and Shawn will get married. The place has an amazing view and even better cotton candy. Oh and a slide! And a longhorn. And live music and dancing. And a guy that goes around making special balloons for you. And etc, etc. We cant wait to go back!



The next day we visited the Railroad park in Scottsdale where B got to ride a train and a carousal and had a blast at the park. He's so over the Iowa snow and ready to play outside!!



For lunch we ate In N Out (likely the highlight of the trip for R). I ordered mine protein style expecting to be disappointed but it was so good! I know I previously said I had never eaten a hamburger at a restaurant between junior high and pregnancy but that is a lie- I had eaten In N Out burgers during that time. They are totally worth it and that's saying a lot from someone like me who never orders burgers out!



I cant remember what we did this afternoon. I think B might have taken a four hour nap? (Okay I might have had a little nap too?) And I'm also pretty sure we soaked up some sun poolside. It was great to just relax for a bit!



That night we headed up to the mountains. B didn't notice how awesome the mountains were but he did start tugging his ears and digging in them on the way up. Had I been thinking ahead I would have had him drink from his sippy and eat some snacks (worked great on the plane!) but I didn't. We'll know better next time! I always say Iowa would be the perfect place to live and raise a family if it just had an ocean and a mountain (and shorter winters!). We LOVE the mountains! (You can check out more of the pictures we took up there over on the {cb}h blog.)

The NCAA tournament started Thursday so you know what R was doing all morning. I quickly filled out my bracket (maybe taking 30 seconds?) and hoped for the best. I spent the rest of the morning poolside soaking up the sun. I know we should have put our suits on and got in the big pool with B but we didn't. Instead, Aunt Mal set him up with his own little paradise and he LOVED it! He drug his little blue chair around everywhere he went and spent as much time with his girls (the dogs) as he could. They quickly became good buddies!



It was super sad to have to leave so I must have just put the camera away and sulked. I did find my traditional vacation Christmas ornament at the airport reminding me that Christmas '13 is just around the corner and spring break '14 will follow suit. ;) In the meantime, we will just settle for some warmer temps. Come on Iowa! Let's move on to spring now. :)