Branford, CT

Thursday morning, August 27: Today's visit was with Brian's Aunt Barbara

Ledyard, CT

Our first stop was pretty close to home to visit Brian's Mom and Doug in Ledyard, CT. We pre-celebrated Keiki's 2nd birthday while visiting too!

Car-top Carrier

I was asked today, "So how does one pack for a one month vacation?" In my head it seemed easy to just answer that I was planning on packing two (maybe three) bags for our family of two adults, one toddler and a medium sized dog.  Then I opened the trunk of my GMC and chuckled at how it would never work! Even if I could find a way to pack a month of family stuff into two bags (which we all know is completely impossible!) there was no way I would be able to squeeze the bags, a pack-n-play, and anything else we would need into our SUV! Ha!

We started to look into those car-top carriers and my goodness those things can get expensive! Since we didn't want to spend $500 on a special one, we started to look into used ones but those still were reselling for more then we expected on Craigslist and online community yard sales. We thought maybe we could borrow or rent one from friends but that would be asking too much to take it for 1.5months at the peak travel season/end of summer. So we started to look harder and sure enough Kmart and Sears came through! For $130 we were able to use coupon codes and online coupons (and what I like to call my husbands magical & savvy way to making things cheaper) and sure enough we were able to get a great hard car-top carrier to make our lives easier! I'll let you know if it works well by the time we drive down the East coast, but right now we are happy with the amount of room it provides and seems sturdy enough for our needs too!

Toddler Car Traveling

It's hit me recently that we are going to actually be traveling with our toddler, like for a LONG period of time!  We are lucky to be conditioned to travel with her for 6 hours to see my parents but our autumn vacation to Florida is looming and I'm realizing that I'm not quite sure how to get her from point A to point B with minimal difficulty.  And lucky us, my husband and I not only have a toddler in the car but we are brave enough to be bringing our dog with us on the car ride too!  Yippie!

Ok, sarcasm aside, I'm less then one month away and I'll admit to being a little freaked out.  I think the biggest reason is actually because our 22 month old is showing more then just signs that she is interested in potty training.  (Yes, I know it's a bit early, but this munchkin always seems to think she's older than she is.  Does that happen with your toddler?)  As we get closer to our vacation departure I will let you know what we decide to do with potty training.  We are at a critical point where we don't want to miss a window of opportunity to do this now but to do this before we go - ugh!  Diapers in the car would just be so much easier!  So I'll keep you posted on what goes on.

The distance is also settling in as well.  We are driving 1500 MILES south along the East Coast with BOTH a toddler and a dog!!  EEK!  We have been lucky to travel with our daughter since she was 3 months old so I think we have had some significant experience so I'll let you know about any tips we have found along the way.

With that said, let's start with basics:  the car seat.  It is essential to have a good, safe car seat.  When Keiki was an infant we used the Chicco Keyfit 30 and as she got older we have been using the Recaro.  I could spend the time reviewing both, but I'm not paid to promote either one so I'll just leave it as "it worked really well for us."  Cozy cushions for head support and adjustable reclining  position/angle position is crutial for napping and sleep times is always helpful.  Sun shades, suction cup toys, sippy cup holders, etc. are all just added bonuses for a more pleasant ride.

And for those of you who are curious what I brought on the car trip that was worth it to bring, I"ll write another post once we travel onwhat worked and what didn't.