A Tent-Home Away from Home

Traveling as much as we do can take a lot on adults let alone children and dogs.  The one question we seem to get over and over again from friends and family is simply, "how do we do it?"  I could write an entire book on answering that very question because it depends on if your asking how we doing this emotionally, physically, financially, etc.  There is no simple answer for how my husband and I continue to bounce around and explore the world around us, but I can say we must make a pretty good team otherwise we would have crumbled within the first two weeks.  And this especially takes a toll on our toddler and dog.

Little Doodles is our almost six year old Schnoodle and she loves to run!  The first two houses we have rented didn't exactly have a back yard where she had any space to run so we always had to take her for walks or to a park for some fun time.  She is constantly anxious, acting as if we will abandon her at any moment and it's so sad to watch her when she shivers, shakes and pants uncontrollably.  She has unfortunately shown some serious medical issues caused by her anxiety in the beginning of wintertime and we have needed to take her to a veterinarian twice now to keep her healthy (luckily we think we've figured out the problem and she's now doing great!)  Believe it or not, she still seems to love long car rides so the traveling part isn't the problem, it's the constant new environments for her that are making her uncomfortable.  The best answer we have had yet is giving her her own consistent 'home': a portable tent!  Tents are the greatest and she has always had one since she was a little pup to lessen her anxiety and make her feel cozy and safe.  We call it her happy place!  She had two tents in our home in Massachusetts, one upstairs and one down and because they were getting torn and tattered through the years, we decided not to keep them when we sold our house to move.  But living in vacation rentals has taken it's toll on her and we've realized just how depressed she is without her tent.  So we splurged on a really sturdy one and she's acting like a pig in mud lately!  Talk about clearing the rain cloud over this cute lovable pup and replacing it with a home sweet home!

Our two year old is also having transition difficulties.  Most toddlers at this age are working hard on potty training and sleeping in a big girl bed.  Not having a stable environment makes those difficult tasks seem impossible.  Sleeping on a regular schedule is also become hard as well because she has to adjust to a new bedroom each month, accompanied with whatever blinds are on the rental windows, or if neighbors let their dogs out to bark before 6am (yes, we find it pretty obnoxious as well.)  I think our biggest savings grace has been daylight savings time because we didn't transition Keiki to the new time change.  Now she wakes up an hour later around 6:30/7am, takes nap at a more reasonable hour around 1pm, and then goes to bed about 7:30/8pm which gives us more time for bath and reading books in the evening and overall it's a more delightful schedule to all of us! But even though we have a better sleep schedule under control for this tiny tot, she still is more clingy, whiny, tantrum,   mood-swing prone then a typical toddler because of always moving around to what she loves to exclaim with excitement, a "new house!"  With the constant changing environments we thought maybe she would like a tent like our dog has so she could have a designated space to call her own.  And a tent is great too because it can collapse and just move from place to place with us as we continue our adventures.  Instead of the hyped, overly-expensive marketed ones out there, I simply went to the outdoor department at Walmart and bought an actual kids camping tent for $17.44.  Although it's pretty huge, it's perfect for creating an area for pillows and blankets for what Keiki likes to call her "cozy home," as well as give her space to spread out to play with puzzles, read books, jump around, and play with dolls, stuffed animals, and cars too.

Happy Easter from Our Family to Yours!

Happy Easter to all!  This Holy Week has been incredibly busy for us, which even included an unexpected trip to Virginia to see family.  Keeping family a priority during our adventures these past months has been truly a blessing!  Easter season is a great opportunity for renewal and gathering with those you love to celebrate all the gifts that have been provided to us.  What an amazing reason to celebrate today, and everyday!

Our Keiki has always been scared of meeting Santa and the Easter Bunny, but this weekend an egg hunt was hosted in Liberty Village in Flemington, NJ and we decided to give it a try.  For those living in New Jersey, I found a website njfamily.com which seems to list good events around each county.  Although she didn't get a chance to collect any eggs (big kids are much faster!), she was super excited about the sticker and coloring station.  There was also a small playground where she made new friends, and unexpectedly stood in line for 10minutes to give the Easter Bunny a hug!  Toddler's will always surprise you with their love and wonder!  On our way back to the car, we were greeted with a train switching tracks.  Aren't trains just the coolest?!

Tinicum and Tohickon Valley Park

The amount of park and conservation land in this area is incredible!  Everywhere you look there is another playground, boat ramp or park.  This week we visited two parks close to our rental house.

Tinicum Park has a playground, hiking, boating, fishing, and camping.  There is even wide open fields for polo and playing frisbee golf (a game I had never heard of before!).  The park spans between the Delaware River and the Del. Canal State Park Tow Path which is great for jogging or walking the dog.

Tohickon Valley Park has typical playground, hiking and fishing, but also offers mountain biking, a seasonal swimming pool, and cabin camping.  And even though we didn't check it out, there is rock climbing available down Tory Rd over to High Rocks

Move to New Jersey

We are officially moved into our rental house in Frenchtown, New Jersey.  It is a spitting distance from Pennsylvania so we are excited to explore both states simultaneously by crossing over a very long narrow bridge.  Although we haven't scratched up against any other cars yet on the bridge, I'm beginning to understand why folks pull their side mirrors in to cross over it - my goodness it's a tight squeeze for two Prius cars let alone SUV's and pick-up trucks!  We have rented this house for two whole months, longer then other places because my husband and I are beginning to prepare to settle down with our traveling excursions for a while.  The excitement of living carefree on the road to see family and explore more of the US east coast is starting to take it's toll and we are beginning to miss modern luxuries like having a permanent address, consistant neighbors and friends, dependable playdates for our toddler, a stable doctor as I'm in my 5th month of pregnancy... you know, normal everyday things that most people take for granted.  So we have decided to rent this house for two months to start creating some stability while we look for the next area we would like to more permanently move to.  At this point, it's still looking like we will settle down in the Bucks County, PA area but that will be job and house-hunting dependent.  In the meantime, We are excited to be in Frenchtown, NJ to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, Easter and my brother's upcoming wedding too!  Even though I grew up about 20minutes from here, I moved away 15 years ago to explore life in Boston.  Living away for so long it's amazing how much you can forget, and how much it all feels like new places to explore!!

1875 rental in Frenchtown, NJ

Frenchtown has a small town center filled with cute bakery shops, cafe's and art galleries.  The house we rented is close enough to walk into town and we can't wait for milder spring weather to walk around and poke in and out of all the shops.  The other really unusual thing for us is the history of our rental house.  We usually stay in newer or renovated places modified for high-traffic rentals.  But this place is more like staying in someone's home.  The house was built circa 1875, has 3.5 large bedrooms, a full bathroom upstairs and a half bath tucked into a basement hallway downstairs, a double stair case making for a grand entrance, an adorable updated kitchen but made to look like an antique country kitchen, large dining and living rooms, and a 4-season greenhouse window office that overlooks the backyard and the mountainside on the other side of the Delaware River - spectacular!  And being so closely located near family is going to make these next two month tons of fun!

Living Room

Master Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

Shed and tree swing

House in Summertime

*Most of these photos are sourced from the HomeAway advertisement for the rental house.  We moved our luggage in from the car before we remembered to take pictures before the chaos.

Food while Traveling

I don't typically talk about food on this blog, mostly because we don't typically eat out at restaurants. We mostly do our own grocery shopping and cook at home, whether that be our own home or a vacation rental.  This is predominantly because we actually like cooking!  But it is also so we can be more cost-effective and to better control food allergens too.

One of the hardest parts for eating while traveling is actually finding the best places to shop.  Each  state in the US seems to have slightly different stores, with slightly different brands... and would you believe even different packaging sometimes?!  In our household we currently have an egg and peanut allergy so reading labels is very important!  When buying from what I like to call the perimeter or the outside circle of a market, it is easy to avoid most allergens when purchasing fruits, vegetables, meat, and basic perishables.  But the middle isles are always take the longest if new labels need to be verified, not to mention different stores are usually laid-out differently... ok, you get my drift.  The main point is as a traveling family, not knowing if the typical purchases will be available was a fear we needed to get over quickly or the simple task of eating could stunt, or even halt our travel adventures.

To make our lives easier, we luckily enjoy eating more fresh foods and cooking from scratch.  I'm a big fan of meal planning and for entrees, we are simple three category eaters of protein, carb, and veggie for most dinners.  To be cost effective I like to have a wholesale membership to either BJ's or Costco to purchase bigger ticket items like diapers, meat, and even alcohol (where available, and back when I wasn't pregnant).    When staying at a place for longer then one week this can be a big help!  Then the next task is to scout out the local grocery stores.  Some areas have only one close by, but if you are lucky, there might even be more then two options!  Steer clear from the tourist traps markets where souvenirs are sold alongside  groceries.  If possible, ask someone local where a good grocery store is.  Use common sense to look around you when in a grocery store:  if all the cars in the parking lot are rentals and people inside are carrying their fanny-packs and cameras its pretty easy to say it's not where the locals are shopping.  Worse case scenario, use a quick internet search if you haven't already. Once you picked out your new market, go to the customer service desk for a discount card to add to your keychain while on vacation.  If you end up liking this store you are likely going to use it again.  And if you end up going to another market, just keep collecting the keychain cards so you can use these "coupons" during your vacation.

Needless to say I've probably talked more about grocery shopping then I actually intended but it's funny how many people go on vacation and forget that they are basically spending double on their market bills just because they aren't getting a keychain shopping card, and it's even more amazing to me when I hear families travel and eat out at resturants the whole time... cha-ching!  And not to mention probably an unhealthy amount of calories.  We have people ask us all the time how we afford to travel so much, and although of course this is not the only way we save money on our vacations, food can certainly be budgeted better.  I suggest that if you can save some money in your food department, you are already one step closer to saving for your next family vacation or yearly adventures!