Traveling North, part 2

So day 2 of the journey to Indiana we got a good start with breakfast at the hotel after a restful night. We were loaded by around 8am and headed north for what we expected to be the other 'half' of the journey to West Lafayette, totaling 4 more hours. Wrong assumption. We made it about an hour and just outside of Xenia, Ohio the brakes in our Altima went out.

We were traveling on a stretch of highway that had a few stoplights and after slowing down for one of these lights, Jonathan made a jerky move of the wheel to the left and hit the e-brake. I said 'what happened?!' He said, 'I just lost the brakes.' There were a few cars stopped in front of us and a few behind us. Thankfully Jonathan's reaction after he tap, tap, tapped the brakes and no response was to merge over into a center median to avoid hitting someone or getting hit. After the cars passed us at the green light, we made our way across two lanes and turned right at the light to pull over where we could see a little more shoulder on that side of the road.

Jonathan called his dad. I called our insurance for a tow. The kids sat in the backseat entertaining themselves. We had some locals stop and see if we needed any help. After we arranged for the tow, we noticed there was a parking lot across from us at the entrance of a park so we got the kids out and waited over there safely. Another local stopped to see if we needed any help. Jonathan called the repair show that insurance told us they would tow us to and they unfortunately said the could not work on it today if we came there, it would be at least until tomorrow, but they recommended another shop. J called there and they shared the same. Then we googled.

When the tow truck showed up, Heath was beyond excited for the experience of watching our car get lifted onto the bed. Our driver said the shop we googled would not be his first choice, but that he'd call shop #2. We said they were full. He said, I'll call. And he did, and they told him to come on over. During this time, another local stopped to see if we needed any help and offered a ride for us. Heath was determined to ride in the tow truck as already promised, but Reese and I opted for the back seat of these strangers, Jackie and Jack. They had just come back from breakfast at Cracker Barrell and were headed out for a drive, they *happened* to have a car seat in their back seat that is usually occupied by their 2 year old grandson. So Reese got to enjoy her first forward facing car seat experience on this 8 minute drive to the shop.

The repair shop was able to offer a quick assessment when they got the wheel off and see that our brake line had come loose from the front and then caught in the wheel, puncturing it and draining all of the brake fluid. They called around to find the tube part needing replacement from the left side and a shop within an hour *happened* to have one left side tube remaining (no right sides in). They said it'd be a couple hours. Jackie and Jack said they would take us to a shopping area north of town that had a water fountain the kids could play in and plenty of places to walk around and eat. They offered us their stroller from the trunk. They gave us their phone numbers to call them when we needed a ride back to the shop. They *happened* to have Thomas the Train books from the library in the back seat of their car so as the 4 of us crammed back there tried to entertain the kids we had material! It was closer to 20 minutes to the shopping place, but well worth it.

Heath loved exploring the fountain!

We grabbed lunch at Chipotle, Reese took a nap on me in the carrier, we looked at a bookstore and then the shop called that all was ready to go! So we called our new friends Jackie and Jack who promptly came to shuttle us around town again. They said they drove by us on the side of the road and noticed our out of state license plates and thought 'they probably don't have anyone local they can call' so they did a u-turn about a mile passed us to come back around and see if we needed anything. And they were persistent helpers! We got them a gift card to the fro-yo place at the shopping center where they said they loved to take their grandson. Small thank you for a BIG blessing.

Have mama, will nap.

So after 5 extra hours in Ohio, we set back on the road with a functioning car to take us the remaining 3 hours to Purdue's campus, getting in close to 5pm. We ordered pizza for dinner (it was Friday night after all- a weekly Manz fam tradition). And we all crashed shortly after that in our temporary apartment here until we close on our house next month (8/20). We are grateful for the prayers of safety covering us on our journey and the traveling mercies we experienced. For your brakes to go out on a highway, we know this was the best possible provision where our whole family was safe and the damage to the car and our pocketbook was minimal. It was all part of the adventure and only took a bit more time, something we had plenty of as we entered this week of stay-cation time in our new hometown!

As we crossed the border, Heath chants "Indiana, Indiana, Indiana.... COOOOOOORRRRRRNNNNNNNN!"

Florida Vacation

Back in the fall the Manz family began to talk about a spring vacation in Florida. Jonathan's grandpa lives in Port St. Lucie and is 92. J's dad has always made a trip each spring to visit him, and we thought we should join in while we are still living in this vicinity and he is still well enough to appreciate visitors. As the timeline developed it worked out that all of J's siblings and their wives would be able to join in!

So just as Blacksburg was getting hit with more snow and multiple days of temperatures in the single digits, we busted out of town late February for a warmer climate! We drove to the inlaws on a Friday night, staying in Georgia for the weekend. The folks then rented a minivan that we could all fit in and took off Monday morning for the ~8 hour drive south. The kids did pretty well in the van. Reese is still not a lover of the road trips, but comparatively, 7/8ths of the time was spent not screaming, so I call that a win!

Enjoying the Dodge Grand Caravan!

Our first full day in Florida we visited the beach as it was the sunniest day of the week. Reese LOVED the sand. She rolled in it, snuggled her head and cheek on it, ate it, ran her fingers and toes through it- just loved it! Here is a brief clip of the first moments there.

We also took advantage of the hotel pool while we were there and it was Reese's first time swimming. Her big brother Heath who is in lessons right now showed her all the ways to kick and jump and blow bubbles.

One day we all drove 90 minutes south to visit Jonathan's great aunt, Mil who will turn 102 next month. She was wonderful to be with and Heath enjoyed reconnecting; she reviewed with him how to spell his full name and it finally 'clicked' for him on this trip. The family all enjoyed having the kids around.

Heath, 4.5, Aunt Mil 101, Reese 1

I think we tallied about 30+ hours in the car for the week experience, but the vacation was well enjoyed! We now have the minivan drive experience that helped us to consider a future model for our family (you know, when we have two incomes again). We returned to snow on the ground, but some good vitamin D in our body that will hopefully get us through the last of this Virginia winter.

If you want to know how my minimalism plays into packing, feel free to journey back to 2012 for this post and read my tips!

End of Summer/ Fall Kickoff Recap

My work commitments in August are at full steam with new students arriving and our orientation responsibilities to ensure they transition well. We were so blessed to have J's parents with us for a week to ensure the house stood, we were all fed, and Heath was well loved. While J took his written exams, Heath and I flew to California for my cousin Eli's wedding. Here is a quick camera roll of what we've been up to in the last 30 days!

My travel guy- 17 hours there and only 14 on the return home- such a trooper!

Me and my cousin Eli, the groom! Day-after wedding brunch. 

Eli and Cecilia's Wedding in Santa Barbara, beautiful location right across from the Pacific hosted by the Four Seasons who milked and dined Heath-the only kid- with all kinds of treats, Oma & Heath 

Church of God Softball Tournament in Modesto, CA where we got to spend time with Great Oma, Uncle Dietmar and Aunt Dania. Heath is in the neon green shirt on stage with Opa singing Amazing Grace with the men and on the field after the Championship win with the trophy tshirts!

Heath REALLY enjoyed playing with his older cousin Beka (top photos) including lots of wrestling hugs. He also enjoyed his friend Violet at the ballfield and playing at restaurants we went to.

Travel Diapers

When we decided to cloth diaper there were a few reasons driving us to do so, namely environmental and cost. When we thought about the chemicals that go into making disposable diapers and the images of landfills still holding them decades later, it made me feel responsible to not dump an additional few thousand to the pile. This picture was shared with me on facebook this week and was a great visual reminder of how using cloth can help to prevent that landfill pile up. 

Courtesy of http://the-giggling-green-bean.com/ Facebook page- a Denver, CO based cloth diaper store.

Now that being said, I also live in a reality where cloth is not always convenient or best. Since Heath was maybe 6 months old and a heavy overnight wetter, we chose to use a disposable as a night time diaper and Target has been a great brand for us to keep the wetness away from his skin when he has great stretches of sleep.

When we travel is another time where we look to have alternative options that work for our itinerary. Sometimes we will not have access to a washer/dryer where we are staying. On a travel day where we could be in transit 3-11 hours, it is not ideal to carry a wetbag with you that could be filled with poopy diapers (airplane toilets are not an option for rinsing). So we usually rely on our trusty Target disposables for those travel days.

This past Christmas break we traveled to California and while in years past we have packed up our cloth diapering system with us, I wanted to try out some hybrid options. I dislike that taking our cloth with us means checking another bag, and we were also going to be traveling a bit more throughout the trip and not staying at one house location. So I explored the disposable inserts to use with our cloth covers. In our last minute packing I was limited to what our (one) natural store in town had in stock which was a package of gDiapers disposable insert. One package had 32 inserts for ~$18.

gRefill on the right. 

gDiapers biodegradable gRefills
Pros:
- They were large and filled in the cover well.
- They were highly absorbent and I felt worked very similar in the way to Target disposables as far as how much it would hold.
- They provide the option of composting or flushing as they advertise as biodegradable, though their website says this: * Disposable inserts are biodegradable in home composts per ASTM standards by a third party independent lab (wet ones only please). Nothing truly biodegrades in a landfill. But gDiapers gives you options for disposal. Flush, compost or toss. The choice is yours.When referring to the top picture here, this made me feel somehow better that these could break down more than a common disposable. I did not try flushing any of them because I was concerned about putting such a large piece down the toilet and since we were traveling, we did not have access to our compost.

Cons:
- When compared with the flip they were not as soft, but before I knew any different I thought they were fine to have against Heath's skin.
- More expensive (partially because of our in town purchase, didn't shop around online) Diapers.com sells a pack of 32 for $15.59
More info at their website here: http://www.gdiapers.com/shop/diaper-inserts/biodegradable-grefills-case

Flip Disposable Insert

Flip Disposable Diaper Inserts
Pros:
- They were softer to the touch
- They were better priced (we ordered online at diapers.com for $5.99, package of 18)

Cons:
- I found these less absorbent than the g's and had to change wet diapers more quickly, but also went through more covers because of dampness penetrating.
- While they were longer than the g's they were not as wide and I think for Heath's body type at least this size of Flips were not as good of a fit.
- Not biodegradable nor flushable
More info at their website here: http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?products_id=2160
Takeaway:
This was a great hybrid option for us to pack only our covers and then had free shipping directly send the inserts to our travel destination, reducing the need to pack them. It became more of a vacation for us when we were not obligated to do diaper laundry every two days and just used a sink to hand wash the covers as needed. I like that we have some extra on hand that we can try out for other scenarios (church nursery, car rides, maybe night doubler?). For people wanting to dabble into the cloth diaper world, this may be a great full time option for you, especially if you don't have immediate access to a washer/dryer in your home.

Want to read more reviews? I found these interesting:

• On using the gDiaper system http://mrandmrswright.com/2010/10/g-what-gdiapers/

• Flip system and their insert change in 2010 http://everythingbirth.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/flip-disposable-inserts-are-on-their-way/

• A nice comparison of Grovia and Flip  http://www.iloveclothdiapers.com/2010/11/grovia-vs-flip-are-they-same.html

Travel Season: Packing Light

I've always been intrigued by the life of minimalists. There is something refreshing to me about moving day when all of my things are confined to one tight van/truck/pod. After college there was a two week period I floated around couches and kept my belongings in my civic. I loved that time; saying all I needed, fit in that small space. Well adding a kid to your life definitely has challenges to keeping this minimalist perspective. Any parent can tell you how difficult it is to keep people from buying your child a plethora of stuff for birthdays and holidays. And after a few short months it can feel like their stuff exploded all of over your house.

Growing up in my family's household my dad (in an urge to leave for a trip) would repeatedly say, well if we don't have it packed, we can always buy a new one when we get there. If you know my dad the penny-pincher this sounds like an uncanny statement to throw your money at something you already own at home. So here's the catch- he just wanted to leave. He wanted us in the car, seats buckled and ready to get out of town. But guess what? I have trouble remembering a time when we actually forgot something that we thought we needed so desperately that we had to buy a new one when we got there. It's just stuff. And I think that mantra has stuck with me.

Something about travel (specifically air travel) brings me back to that peaceful space of keeping it to just the basics. I get excited for the challenge of seeing how little I can get by with and thrilled when we can save money on less baggage fees because of it. I recognize that I may be crazy unique in this perspective, and so I give you my origin of thoughts first to decide whether you may just dismiss this post altogether and keep with your sufficiently packed ways. I'm ok with that.

So when we are flying somewhere, I first ask myself 'what I can borrow, buy or do without when we get there?' Here are a few things that have made the short list (specific to the tot):
Borrow: pack-n-play/crib, blankets and bedding, stroller, car seat, high chair, toddler plates/utensils, bibs, toys
Buy there: disposable diapers (when we won't have access to washer/dryer to cd), food for Heath, medicine as needed
Do Without: 'his' toys, multiple stuffed animals (we take one)

It's been a huge blessing that when we fly to CA, my parents have a set of everything-baby since they've been official grandparents for coming up on five years now and have my niece and nephew in the same town who've had sleepovers. I realize not everyone has a grandparent pick them up at the airport and have a car seat preloaded for them to buckle right into. For us, in the infant carrier stage this was huge to not have to lug ours around on a few flights or check it and let who-knows-what happen. We've traveled to Oregon twice now with Heath and while I don't have immediate family with extra sets of things, I do have great college friends. And I've just learned to ask. And it has been wonderful to receive borrowed items for the week (thank you Lisa and Erika!). If you start to think about the items you personally own and don't use every day (like maybe it is your pack-n-play), wouldn't you loan it to a visiting friend rather than have it sit in a closet? So think about people you might ask for a loaner. We even asked my best friend Kaylee for her car this past OR trip and she said yes! (thanks KK)

When it comes to my personal belongings in packing, I also think about what I can use where we are going. Do we have access to a washer/dryer? If so, we usually pack half the amount of clothing and do laundry halfway through our trip. I've never heard my friends or family complain that I wore the same shirt twice in my visit when it was smelling fresh and clean. My morning routine is minimal and I'm not one to be attached to certain products, so also on the list of using what is already there is shampoo/conditioner and sometimes a hairdryer too. When we are visiting my parents this is made even easier because I feel comfortable making myself at home in my mom's bathroom and closets. Wearing the same size shoe has even lead me to pack less footwear, seriously.

So as we prepare to get on a plane this coming Wednesday, I will begin my packing. For our family of three for fourteen days we will check one bag (large garment bag size), and carry on one diaper bag, one backpack with laptop and potentially one small roller bag if we decide to take our cloth diapers. If we forget something, we'll borrow or buy it when we get there.

Travel Season: Up in the Sky

When we tell Heath we are going to ride on an airplane he quickly tells us "outside, up in the sky". I wonder if he thinks we are pulling his leg and wants confirmation this is a real legit flight, not any of that pretend airplane noises you make inside the house while we play. In his 30 month life he has probably flown more times than the average adult, totaling 7 round trips (too many legs to count individual flights). He'll complete his eighth trip next week as we head to California for Christmas with the Henkelmanns. Here are a few things that help to make our flights smooth with toddler Heath: (most of our air travel days have been 7-13 hours of travel time, so this is our prep list for those long hauls)

• Clothing: When he was a baby people told me to pack an extra set of clothes for him. I quickly learned that additionally Mamma needs an extra shirt at least when traveling. He will keep himself clean but inevitably drool (or back then spit up) or drop food or run dirty hands all on me! It was nice to change into a fresh shirt as we landed before greeting family. Also the type of clothing we both wear for the day is key. Something comfortable and a light sweater layer for cool planes (that also doubled up as some nursing privacy in early travels). For Heath having clothes that allow for an easy access diaper change is paramount.

• Essentials: every kid has their thing, whether it is a blanket or stuffed animal, pacifier. Air travel days are the first day of vacation and should be treated as such. Rules go out the window and whatever you may have been trying to wean them from, now is not the day. Heath used to be attached to his Scout for nap times and bedtimes with the music it plays. So although Scout was not compact, we prioritized it on our carry on pack list. These days 'puppy' is the essential for bedtimes so by all means he is squeezed into the diaper bag and comes aboard for setting the mood to sleep when needed.

• Snacks: You can refer to car travel here for reference on Heath and Mamma's need for snacks. Air travel is no different, except that I do get vertigo when flying many times still and so try to combat that with eating oranges and ginger snaps in addition to ginger pills before resorting to Dramamine which takes me out of commission and leaves J to single parent.

On a layover in ATL. Elmo was a new to him toy given that day on the plane. A 50 cent find at a thrift store! While he is sitting still here, we try to run him like crazy on a layover- get the energy and loudness out before we get confined.

Packaging toys/activities: One of the best tips my friend Leslie M. shared was utilizing pencil pouches for sectioning off toys in their travel bag. I picked up five different colored pouches from Dollar Tree the first time and they were golden for not loosing little pieces of things in such a big diaper/travel bag. One color held snacks, another had coloring supplies, another cars, another had small dollar tree toys that were new to him, another stickers and a roll of masking tape (pack this!). Breaking up the trip by showcasing a new pouch helped the time to go by and Heath to remain entertained.

• Movies: We have downloaded a few of our Baby Einstein videos onto the iPad and sometimes also travel with the laptop where we will bring DVDs along. This past trip we tested out the headphones on Heath and he kept them in place well, allowing us to have him actually hear the show and not annoy our neighbors. Where videos are back up for car trips, they are essential for us to time well and use during our long flight days. They break up a 4.5 hour CLT to PHX well. And I've also noticed that the movies they are showing on the plane are not appropriate for H to watch, even without sound, so I'm thankful to distract him from watching the other screen.

Next Up- How I could probably be diagnosed because of my obsession with packing light- and maybe some tips you could learn from my disease.  :)

Travel Season: Car Trips

We have begun our travel season for the holidays. For Thanksgiving we drove down to Georgia to be with Jonathan's family for a few days off. The trip takes them 5.5-6 hours without a toddler, for us we usually end up in the 6-7 hour range, unless you count the terrible trip into our average where we got a flat tire and had to sleep in a hotel making it 14 hours then coming back with traffic and melt downs (Heath's) it was 8.5. We are making the same drive in another week as we go back to Georgia to celebrate graduation with our sister-in-law Master Whitney from GA Southern! Then we will turn around and three days later begin our travel west for Christmas in California. 

Our October drive to Knoxville- 3.5 hrs.

With Heath now 2.5 years old (today!) he is in a new season of travel too. His active body has the potential to work against him with such confined spaces of sitting still. But that's where our many trips have turned experience into a skill of knowing how to keep him occupied and keep our family sane and even enjoying the trip, not just waiting for the vacation to begin when we arrive. 

Car Trips:

• Music- Jonathan is our resident DJ, mixing up play lists before we go. He will ask for requests earlier in the week so that my tastes are taken into account. Our family loves music and when there is good music on, we all are just in a better mood. This last trip to GA Heath was really rocking out and singing with music- including playing the instruments in the air. When we ask him what was that? He'll explain- that was my guitar (sadly he has moved on from calling it tar-tar). 
• Snacks- It's key that I have access to food at all times, a trait that my son has inherited. As Heath has gotten older we now share a lot of snack foods. Trip favorites are: fruit leathers, goldfish, almonds, nut thin crackers, string cheese. And of course a bottle of water for mamma and Heath each. 
• Books- Heath enjoys reading books and he has just begun to memorize some of the stories so that he can 'read' to himself. We have some holiday books that have been put away since last season so he was excited to see those again. He loves pop up books, but we aren't at a point where he can be gentle enough with them to handle it on his own in the backseat solo. A good book for mamma is helpful for the ride too. And when we are flying- a good magazine/book for dad.
• Toys- Giving Heath something new to play with that he has never seen may be the biggest key in our travel tool belt. This last trip it was a finger skateboard that came in a happy meal. Anything with wheels can give him something to roll along his carseat, the window, his head. 
• Distractions- I'm convinced that at least 90% of parenting is the art of distraction. To keep Heath engaged with the trip and not thinking about how he is sitting strapped in to his seat, we talk. Talk about what he did that day, what his friends names are, how many numbers he can count, what do you see out your window, what is inside that truck, what will we do when we get there, name all the people we will see, what do you see out your window, names of body parts, alphabet, multiple rounds of Old Macdonald, tickling games, what do you see out your window, and on and on and on until we get there or bedtime :)
• Computer/DVD player- When we are in the car we usually travel with both the iPad and the laptop. We don't pull out a show right away, rather save it for the cranky time or transition to bed time as a way of calming him down. This last trip he was so wired from singing and talking to all the trucks on the highway ("Happy Thanksgiving Truck") that when it got to his bed time and it was dark outside and his pj's were on, I needed the show to distract him. We mostly use Netflix at home so for trips I will check out some dvd's from the public library, whatever his flavor of the month is- lately Thomas or Bob the Builder. 
• Bedtime Routine- Even though we are in a car and not in his bedroom, traveling late at night still requires this kid to get some sleep. We are usually more flexible and he tends to fall asleep 40 min - 1 hr later than usual. But when we can tell he is ready to snooze we put on some bedtime music (U2 lullaby from Uncle Adam is one of our favs). Then because I have read certain stories 100x over, in the dark of the car I begin 'reading' to Heath. We follow that with a few staple songs we sing nightly and then some hushing. This is usually where he will whine for a bit, but in reality it is probably only 5 minutes before he is out.

Next up- Air Travel!

We are 16 days away from this veteran toddler traveler having his next flight.

Traveling with Heath

At 21 months, this is the most mobile and independent Heath has been on an air trip. I was concerned, but of course he proved it was for not when he was a stellar kid throughout the travel day. Thanks to all who shared tips with me! A few that worked really well for us included packing new trinket toys and stickers, tape, coloring stuff into pencil pouches in the diaper bag. (Thanks Leslie M!) I had planned a new bag to open each hour of the 4 hour flight and I only needed to get to one. Heath napped for two hours on that leg of the flight going out and 90 minutes of it coming back.

Checking out the Roanoke airport before we boarded. Letting Heath run around and do whatever he wanted prior to boarding was really helpful.

One of the best dollar store buys for the trip was a package of glow in the dark bracelets. We opened those on the last leg coming home which was a 40 minute prop plane flight after the sun had set, but nowhere close to Arizona bed time. Heath loved them!

Heath really enjoyed this mobile at the Charlotte airport, and the rocking chairs, and the moving sidewalk, and the little Chinese boy who shared his toy car with him.

When we were waiting at our gate to board the next flight Heath found this little boxed in monitor area that we will call his stage. He fully believed all these people were looking over his way to watch him! So he gave a bit of a show.

Waves and smiles were offered to all of the travelers,

even his gymnastic flexibilities were shared.

And then the excitement of seeing Oma and Opa and Uncle Adam grew as we got closer to landing in Phoenix!

Traveling with a Tot!

We are embarking on another family NASPA trip this upcoming weekend! Technically Heath's first family NASPA trip was when he was 6 months in the womb to Chicago. Then last year, at 9 months old he flew with me to Philadelphia where we met up with dad and Opa for a week of hotel fun. This Saturday Heath will come with us to Phoenix, AZ where we will meet up with Opa AND Oma AND Uncle Adam! Seriously, this kid is not going to know what to do with the love about to pour out on him.

So at 21 months now, Heath is much more mobile and no longer nursing or taking a pacifier. It's time to talk strategy! We have a short 1 hour flight to Charlotte at 9am then 2.5 hour break in the airport followed by a 4.5 hour flight into Phoenix which will span lunch and nap time. This will be our longest leg of a flight with Heath yet (thank you east coast living). He did great on the flights this summer we took to Portland in June. But I want to have a few tricks up my sleeve.

What are your go-to travel tips when transporting your tot?

Any new toys you recommend to keep his attention as a surprise gift on the plane?

Would you tempt your child with a pacifier even though he ditched it months ago on his own?

Round 1 of preparing began this weekend when I pulled out all of Heath's clothes for packing. Convenient since he won't need shorts in Blacksburg this week with the snow outside today! I want to take the rest of the week to build strategy for airplane time. Please share your thoughts!

Heath's "first" NASPA in Chicago, camouflaged.

Heath and Opa at NASPA- Philly 2011