Public Service Announcement: Stay Away From the Squirrels

Don't think that squirrel isn't sneaking up on her...

To the lady in this most-unflattering rearview shot, I apologize, but a public service announcement needs to be made and you were unfortunate enough to be in my way...

Let be known that the Cape Meares, Oregon, squirrels are psychotic and crazy!  To all who with plans to every visit there, I plead with you to heed this warning.  They will not be afraid of you.  No amount of shooing or pretend-cawing or stamping or running away is going to deter them.  They want your food and your sandal-clad toes and aren't going to stop at any cost.

Don't bring a picnic lunch with the idyllic dream of sitting on this beautiful bench overlooking the most beautiful ocean view you've ever seen.  They will jump up behind you and stick their paws straight into your yogurt.

Don't give your kids anything.  Period. No food.  What kid have you ever met that doesn't drop their food on the ground while they're eating.  Let them eat and you're guaranteed to have rodents crawling over their own sandal-clad feet trying to get what's underneath.  Which leads us to my next advice...

Forget all notions you have of teaching your children that all God's creations need  love.  You need to share every horrible story you know about rabies and scabies and squirrels having babies.  Put the fear in them before they reach down and try to pet the very creature that's giving you clinical anxiety.

Do not think you'll be safe in the car.  Think about it.  Vacation, children, fast food addiction.  Your car is a ticking time bomb for squirrels with erratic behavior.  Open a door even a smidgen and you've invited in the entire crazy squirrel family.

And last but not least,

Leave your non-thinking, sleep-deprived, fairy tale tourist brain at home!  (This may also be loosely translated as your elderly)  Would you run out in your backyard shaking Ho-Ho's and peanut butter sandwich crumbs at the animals creeping through your trees?  If they were fat enough to carry away your youngest child (or grandchild), does it really seem like they need to have any more?  And if you see a frazzled mother running away from something with 4 kids in arms, could you maybe stop to see what's stalking her, rather than calling out, "Honey, Dear, KARL, here it comes, take my picture!"

Maybe I  write with too much emotion.  I didn't have any warning of the danger and peril I would be putting my family in on an innocent side trip to the sea.  There were no signs posted and no kind strangers giving the signal to beware.  Take it as my duty, to warn you, that the Cape Meares squirrels are not to be reckoned with.  This is my testimony:  If you get to close, they WILL try to carry you away!

Letter to Fellow Traveling Parents

Dear mother and father in the airport who I have to assume are homeless and so need to bring all your material possessions with you,

You are STRESSING me out!  Not because you're physically bothering me in any way, but because I see you bogged down with your deluxe mega-strollers and overstuffed diaper bags and stuffed-to-the-brim luggage for each of your kids and car seats and gear for all 4 seasons and it starts to give me anxiety.

You see, I am a travel minimalist.  The less I bring with me from home, the more I can focus on the exciting new place I'm going.  It doesn't take me an extra half-hour to sort out what I'm checking and what I'm not.  I don't get a headache (well, not much of one) from figuring out how to fold down the pram and jam it through the x-ray machine.  And I don't feel the most stress at the end of the jet bridge because the line is backing up while I figure out how to unload  the same mobile contraption of it's accumulated coats and shoes and snacks and children so I can check it at the gate.  

Please know that I am not judging you.  Every person has to do what makes a situation best for them.  I just wonder if I might be able to suggest something you hadn't thought of before...

Leave it at home!

Or at least check it, please.  I know sometimes you'll need the carseat and stroller on the other end, but if you could make the stress of flying a little easier, wouldn't you want that?  Here are a few of the ways my family makes getting through the airport a breeze...

Carry the Baby:  There is a lot going on in an airport, especially if you have kids in tow.  You need to have your hands free.  Put the baby in your front or back carrier of choice instead of strapping them in a stroller.  Wearing them means never having to worry about where they are, and while you do still have to take them out to go through security, it's a much smaller and less questionable piece of equipment to send through the screening machine. With baby attached, there's no figuring out how to safely leave them in the main flow of traffic while you grab a water and magazine from the cramped gate-side kiosk.  And if you're clever, you can stash your i.d. and boarding pass in next to baby instead of shoving them in your bag and looking frantically for them later.  

Don't Carry Your Kid's Things:  At age 2, B & P started carrying their own backpacks, which they pack (with a little supervision).  If they want it with them, they keep it with them.  Toys or coloring books and sometimes even the snacks go on their backs and they LOVE it!  It's gotten to the point in our house that if they see the backpacks out of the closet they instantly know it means we're going on a trip.  Once we're at the airport, they feel grown-up having their own items to be responsible for.  The adventure starts for them long before we leave the ground as they jump on and off the moving walkways, watch for jets taking off or landing, and try to guess where everyone is going.  

Trust the Airplane Seat:  I have never taken a car seat on the airplane with me.  I honestly don't even know what the requirements and rules are for doing that.  In all my years of flying I have never been on a flight where the turbulence was so bad that the regulation airplane seatbelt would not have been enough to keep my child safe. Knowing that until age 2 most small children ride on their parents' lap with no belt makes me even more confident that the odds are very small something catastrophic is going to happen to throw my older child out of his seat.  And while I'm on the topic of seats, trust the lavatory seat as well.  I was on a 3-hour flight once with a family that took their young son to the bathroom every 15 minutes, carrying his dirty portable potty seat up and down the aisle.  No one in close quarters with recirculated air wants to see and smell that while trapped at 32,000 feet.  

Consolidate, Consolidate, Consolidate:  Flying with children comes with an automatic stigma.  Any person who sits down next to you is going to have a moment of dread and regret as they imagine your unruly kids behaving badly.   If the two hours  in the airport leading up to a flight are full of juggling bags along with those kids, the stress level is going to be close to overflowing.  Why feed into the stereotype by also needing 3 overhead bins to cram in what you could quite possibly have left at home?  If at all possible, I implore you to only bring on the plane, what you're going to need on the plane.  Snacks, diapers, one emergency change of clothes?  Great.  Your Sunday clothes, swim rafts, business ledgers, cooking utensils?  Not going to need them for quite awhile.  And if you can, be considerate of your fellow travelers-keep your bags at your feet; because no matter how good we all know our own kids are, they might actually be a little annoying.  If you can avoid adding to that by not getting up over and over again, it'll only benefit you in the end.  

Please, moms and dads out there traveling beside me, know that I am so happy to see you out exploring the world with your family!  I don't sit in my seat at the gate mocking you or snickering at your method of packing.   But if there's a way to make your next trip to the airport a little less hectic, I hope you'll try it!

What are your tricks for flying stress-free with children?

Spend the Day at Discovery Gateway

Sponsored post via US Family Guide.

I received product in exchange for my honest review.

I have a love/hate relationship with children's museums that stems mostly from me getting impatient when the kids are having so much fun and just want to stay all day.  Seems like a twisted thing to get annoyed with, doesn't it?  I pushed aside my selfishness and suffered through it last week so that my kids could play all they wanted to at Discovery Gateway in Salt Lake City.

My kids LOVED the Discovery Gateway!  I appreciate the focus on imagination and pretend play.  In each area there are costumes the kids can put on to really fit the part of the activity they are doing...

Construction vests for the builders, protective gear for the water engineers,
and a work shirt for the mechanics.

My favorite part was the house midcentury-era house complete with reading area and mouse house...

Getting upstairs to the second floor at Discovery Gateway brings me a little less finger-drumming.  The stations are much more science and education related, with lots of building blocks, an earthquake simulator, a pseudo news desk, and a really impressive exhibit that walks kids through the stages a child goes through at Primary Children's Hospital.  

In addition to the regular activities, Discovery Gateway regularly brings in special exhibits. There are also classes offered everyday included in the price of admission.

As far as children's museum experiences go, the day we spent at Discovery Gateway was pretty good. Some of the station accessories are showing some wear, but nothing that affected how well the kids could play.  We rode Frontrunner and Trax to get there easily and the kids thought that was just part of the fun.  We will go back later this summer and let them have fun playing and learning all over again.

Salt Lake Like the Pioneers Did It: This Is the Place Trail Rides

This is a sponsored post.

I received a product in exchange for an honest review.

Living in Utah, we talk a lot about the "pioneers."  It was their tenacity and faith that brought about the blooming of the Salt Lake & Utah Valleys.  During our recent visit to This Is the Place Heritage Park it was exciting to step back through time and see what the area would have been like when they were first here working and praying.  The park offers so many different hands-on activities that bring history to life and perhaps the most realistic of all is a trail ride in the park's outer hills.

Here is when I tell you that my niece, who came prepared for the day with pink cowboy hat, sparkly belt, and cowboy boots, decided at the last minute she did not want to go.  So, she and I had a nice time walking around Brigham's Forest Farmhouse while my husband and B went out on the trail. Since he went, and I didn't, I'm turning the reigns (Yep, terrible pun) over to him today as my first A Local Wander contributor...

The Joy of a Horse-riding Father

Growing up I had a horse. She was an ornery horse, spoiled, lazy, and slightly homicidal. She almost sent me to the spirit world seven different times and I'm sure she knew it.  We fought through a lot of stubbornness (on both our parts).  After breaking both our family saddles, she and I came to an agreement that I would ride bareback and she would accept me as her rider.

The horses at This is the Place Heritage Park are the exact opposite of my horse! It was refreshing to learn that horseback riding can be effortless and pleasant. The welcoming committee (a very friendly toddler) greeted us and welcomed us in to meet his Dad, the real McCoy of western cowboy fantasies. Our trail guide introduced 8-yr-old B to his horse and explained how to help her stop and go. Right from the start B was in charge of making sure Classy was walking and not always stopping to eat.

The ride wound through the park with incredible views of the Salt Lake valley and the historic pioneer buildings. It was amazing and rewarding to see my son commanding a beautiful horse and learning that even at the ripe age of 8 he was the one in control. We had a guide in front and a guide in back sharing information about the park and surrounding areas. The horses are so incredibly gentle and the guides are so confident in their abilities that any concerns I had of this ride being like those of my youth were quickly erased. I had expected them to take halter rope and lead him in a manner reflecting a circular pony ride, so when they gave him the reins and said, "Go," I was very impressed. It was a unique and relaxing way to spend some time with him..

I detest not being able to control my destiny, I like to drive my own ATV, I prefer to paddle my own boat, and I love to control my own horse.  I saw this in my son today. It was great to see the joy of accomplishment when we returned and he told his mom that he rode a horse!

The trail rides at This Is the Place Heritage Park are a great place for children and parents to take the ropes and experience the joy of riding a horse. It's a hands-on way for them to put themselves in the pioneer stories they've always been told.  This activity will enrich the great time families are already having at This is the Place Heritage Park.

Book your trail ride today at This is the Place Heritage Park!

Learning From Memory

Le Havre, France.  Not a town most people would know or remember.  Probably it's only claim to fame is being a logistically decent place for cruise ships to stop and send their passengers off for day tours of Omaha Beach and other noteworthy WWII sites.  Give me a few paragraphs, though, to convince you of it's redeeming property.

Travel back in time with me to April 2008.  My husband and I, with our 1-yr-old son B, set off on a celebratory tour of the continent of Europe.  My husband had finally finished his bachelor's degree so we packed our bags, got on a plane, and flew away!  Not until we were halfway across the Atlantic Ocean did we realize we'd left behind an important piece of equipment.

This is B:

No, he isn't what we left behind. But, at age one, you can imagine that B was an incredibly mobile child-not yet walking, but more than willing to get himself somewhere in a high-speed crawl.  Even at his best, however, we could hardly expect him to make do on his own for 6 weeks of budget traveling.

Figured out what the missing equipment was yet?  We'd left our backpack carrier in the car at home.  All of a sudden the idea of carrying a squirming, wiggly baby in our arms for hours and hours and days and days seemed daunting.  It was the first time we'd considered that traveling with a child might not be fun.

Enter Le Havre.  We happened to be there at the beginning of our journey and an angel of a tourism official directed us to a second-hand store where we might be able to find redemption.  She seemed ashamed not to be able to send us to a fancy department store.  We gave prayers of gratitude that our first unexpected purchase with euros might not break the bank.

This is the store:

Neither my husband nor I speak French and the shopkeeper of this adorable store knew very little English.  After a lot of pointing at B and then at our backs, we found ourselves following this nice lady out of her store and up three flights of stairs next door.  She unlocked a door and offered up her entire store room for us to find what we were looking for.  We were inundated with choices and she let us try on everyone.  Grateful and overwhelmed we finally settled on the pack we liked and hoped we had enough money in our pockets.  Truth is, to this day I don't know how much we paid for that backpack carrier.  What I do know is that it was worth it's weight in gold!

This is the pack: 

Honestly, it was perfect!  B slept in it, ate in it, laughed in it, played in it.  He rode on our backs through  eight countries.  It was incredibly comfortable and I carried him on my back for six of the seven miles on the Cinque Terre Trail in Italy.  That accomplishment is still a feather in my cap!  We have searched high and low and haven't found this exact backpack anywhere.  They don't exist.  But we have one.  It's our little miracle, and we've carried P and the babies in it now as well.

Why, you're asking, am I taking you on this trip down memory lane? 

These are the lessons: 

     ~It's What We Do.  People get confused and think we're being irrational to travel with our kids, but kids travel and we wouldn't think of leaving them home.

    ~Things will most certainly not go completely as planned.  Sometimes we'll forget things and there may be setbacks and delays.  That makes journeying all the more exhilarating.

    ~I love my family.  I easily get bogged down in my day-to-day.  Life doesn't magically become perfect when I hatch a new vacation plan, pack my bags and sail away.  My husband and four cute boys are always going to be there along the way.  If I can learn to make the most of the time I have with them, they'll make sure we live life to the fullest when they're out there (wherever there may be) with me. And that is all I'm hoping for.

And lastly:

    ~Don't leave the backpack carrier in the car at home!

What are the great lessons you've learned when things weren't going perfectly?

Travel Memories Saturday (Albania)

We all have those classic shots that capture travel memories without having to say one word. 

 Each Saturday morning, Sharon(from State by State Travel) and I post photos that express emotion, tell a story or make you wish you could be there. 

 Be sure to also stop by State by State Travel and see what travel memories she is sharing today!

This week's photo comes from the 6-week European backpacking trip my husband and I took after he graduated college and B was about to turn the sweet young age of 1.

These diapers from a tiny grocery in post-Cold War Albania seem to have been a little misleading...

 Do you want to hop into the picture and join in the fun? 

What's your favorite travel memory photo? We'd love to see! 

If you would like to have your travel memory photo used, 

email it to Sharon or I 

with a brief description of where it is or what is happening

 and we will schedule it

  for one of our weekly Travel Memories posts. 

If you are a blogger, 

you will get a free link back to your blog below the photo.