East Coast Drive (Part 2): What to Pack for Bringing a Toddler

So what has worked for us and what has not? The car-top carrier has been so helpful to create space in the car! I would highly recommend using it to families going on road trips. We were smart packers believe it or not and even though this is a month&ha half vacation, we tried really hard to ONLY pack a duffel bag for each one of us and a back pack for the dog because we are renting a house with laundry ability. This freed us up to only need to pack 7days (or less!) of clothes in one bag and call it a day. But we found we had a lot of extra things we needed once we arrived in Florida so I dedicated one medium sized suitcase for all of our extra things (think diapers and bathing suits!) that was stored in the car-top carrier since it wouldn't be needed until our second week.

The car-top also gave space for us to bring our favorite adventure tool with a toddler: her carrier pack! Keiki hates strollers and we typically go hiking in places where it's unsafe for her to climb or be a slow walker, or as we call it, using her "slow toes!" The Osprey Pack has been our best purchase to allow us all to go on bigger adventures together as a family and not leave anyone behind.

Ok, let's talk toys! Most parents worry about toys or entertainment for tiny tots. I am grateful that I did not overpack a boat load of books and small toys because we have not needed them so far. My advice at this point is to leave most of them at home. All we have used have been books that prompt sing-along tunes (like Old McDonald had a Farm & Wheels on the Bus), some healthy snacks from the cooler, and the WaterWow magic color with water books (my favorite are made by Melissa&Doug because it can be colored and the dry to color again).

What does your family use for car entertainment? What works for you and what doesn't? Suggestions welcome!

Drive the East Coast: part 1

Our family has been on the road officially for three day now and we have only traveled about 400miles. I feel like we started off our exciting "trip" by hosting my cousins family from Maryland on Sunday Aug 23, and then after squeezing packing& errands on Monday, we saw friends an hour further up north in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Aug25, a day prior to our epic family travel event! Even though Sunday wasn't the official start date for our trip, it definitely felt like we squeezed in our last hugs with friends for a while!

Wednesday morning, my husband and I finished packing our long-term storage in out car-top carrier, and put our short-term duffle bags in the back of the car. I only choose a very select few toys for our little Keiki like books and coloring books and placed them in a basket in front of her feet. Also made sure we had extra water, travel dog bowl, leash, &spotty bags for the dog too. Our goal was to get on the road by 9am so we aimed for a half hour prior to get out the door... Only to finally leave at 9:45! It finally got to a point where we said that if we didn't pack it then we either didn't need it or could buy it, ha!

With us packed into our car along with our daughter and dog, we were finally off!!  We started our trip from Massachusetts and after two stops in Connecticut to see family on Thursday, we are now waking up at my parents home in New Jersey. Lucky for us all the driving has been broken down into such small sections and having great visits (that are a bonus entertainment for a toddler and a dog to run around!) I don't actually think we feel like we are on an east coast driving trip yet. In fact it's been so easy that I think we are getting spoiled and fear having a big wake-up call for when we have longer spurts of driving, but we will conquer that hurdle when we get there.

Bringing Your Pet to Hawaii: Part3

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Poor Doodles needs to get her blood taken again because it was too lipemic.  Kansas State University (KSU) requires the blood serum sample to be clear so last night was her last meal and she couldn't eat this morning so the vet could take a fasting blood sample.  Fasting helped the centrifuged sample to turn from her prior sample looking like strawberry yogurt, to this sample now looking more like strawberry milk.  (Sample in picture isn't her's, I found a good example online.)

Luckily our veterinarian was able to contact someone at KSU who said they will accept the "dirty" sample.  Turns out it's an inherited problem with the breed of our dog - who knew!?  Doodles is a mix breed of miniture schnauzer and mini poodle.  Turns out that both mini schnauzers (dog) and Himalayan (cats) have a genetic predisposition for hyperlipidemia, which is causing the "cloudy" serum sample.  KSU said they would accept her sample (yippie, thank you!) so if you have this problem, you should have your vet work with KSU because they were very helpful.

While I was preparing for this appointment I also called Animal Quarantine in Hawaii and spoke to a very nice woman who worked there to verify if Daisy needed a 9- or 15-digit microchip.  She said the quarantine center has scanners that read multiple numbers, so Daisy's 9-digit AVID number will scan well with their AVID scanner.  She also suggested that the vet should scan our dog to verify that her true number is written on the paperwork sent to KSU.  She said many pet owners follow the quarantine rules to a T but still end up having their pet kept in quarantine when arriving in Hawaii for the simple mistake of a transcribing error of the microchip.  I'm grateful she gave that suggestion because I would never have thought to ask our vet to double check the numbers were written down correctly.  I trust our vet, but still don't want to chance poor Doodles getting stuck in a Hawaii animal quarantine for 120days due to a written number error - that would be terrible!  So I worked with her vet and we made sure all numbers were correct.  I love our vet!

Bringing a Pet you Hawaii: Part 2

I highly recommend printing our Form AQS-39 "Summary for Veterinarians" (found here) when bringing your dog or cat to the vet for their rabies titer test.  Unfortunately, like most vets, ours was unfamiliar with the process for appropriately bringing a pet over to Hawaii and I found it very useful.  But please note I still found our Countryside Veterinary Hospital to be  the most patient, comprehensive, and helpful vet!!  We highly recomend them to all our friends with animals.
The FAVN (Fluorescent Antibody Virus Neutralization) titer testing measures the response of the animals immune system to the rabies vaccine.   $200 later for the testing alone + $60 vet visit and Doodles had officially given her blood for rabies testing.  Step one in the 120day quarantine process complete...  or so we hope!

Bringing a Pet to Hawaii: Part 1

There is so many testimonies available in regards to bringing a pet to Hawaii, but the best resource to start at is found at http://hdoa.hawaii.gov .  Click on "animal quarantine" from the tabs on the top of the website to specifically find information.  The reason there is such specifics on bringing an animal to the Hawaiian islands is because Hawaii is a rabies-free state.  According to the Hawaiian Department of Agriculture, "Hawaii’s quarantine law is designed to protect residents and pets from potentially serious health problems associated with the introduction and spread of rabies. All dogs and cats, regardless of age (puppies and kittens included) or purpose, must comply with Hawaii’s dog and cat import requirements."  There is so much information, and I recommend reading all of what they make available so that there is no mistake made while traveling or moving with your animal.  At this point we are going through the slow, yet necessary 120-day quarantine process so I will be here to share with you if we hit any bumps along the way.  At this point, let me sum up some of the research we have found to follow on this quarantine process:

• Allow for extra time, even though the waiting period is 120 days. The waiting period starts after all the shots and blood work is done and received by Kentucky State University (KSU).
• Dogs and cats will need original records of vaccinations signed by a veterinarian
• FAVN titer test blood work is sent to the lab at KSU to be checked, and the are then sent to Hawaii, paired up with the animals microchip number .  At that point you can find out online when the first day your pet is allowed into the state.
• No more than 14 days before the pets arrive in Hawaii a veterinarian must apply a certain flea/tick preparation to the animals, and no more than 10 days before the vets must prepare a health certificate. Note that these are for the dates you are actually traveling.
• Pets must arrive by 3:30 pm in order for them to be released directly, otherwise they are transferred to the quarantine site and held up to 5 days (for the “five days or less” option, which costs $225).

So since our dog is already vaccinated for her rabies booster and already has her 9-digit AVID microchip, we have made an appointment to see our veterinarian for her FAVN test for mid-April.  Wish us luck bringing our adorable and energetic Schnoodle (miniature schnauzer, miniature poodle mix breed) over to Hawaii with us! (fingers-crossed that we still go and make this dream a reality!) This is officially the start of Doodle's Hawaiian life adventure!!