Monterey Bay Aquarium

Alexi and his best friend went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium this week. The kids had a blast exploring and seeing all the fish and aquatic animals. The splash zone was a huge hit with the under 3 crowd. There were tons of things to touch and feel. Alexi liked dressing up as a fish, and in the end, ran himself to exhaustion. He fell asleep on the way out...perfect trip!

Why you have to have a Mac when you travel...

Alexi and I are currently in Pennsylvania visiting family. Math and The Hubs stayed behind since they both had school and work. I took my MacBook with built in iSight with us, and we were able to use iChat video conferencing to talk about our day and say our goodnights. Alexi's favorite part was when his dad and brother superimposed themselves into an aquarium and did a bunch of other zany special effects for his benefit :0)

We Made It!!!

I'm going on a trip, and with me I'm takin'...

• 1 toddler (2.4 year old, 36-pound body of pure obstinate bliss)
• 1 stuffed panda
  
• 1 ultra-light FAA approved booster carseat with restraint system (I checked out the CARES restraint but it's not 5 point)
  
• 1 Cheeky Monkey Pac Back
• 1 fully loaded 64 GB, 6 hour run time iPod Touch with protective cover and headphones
  
• 1 Silver Cross Mini pushchair (to be checked at gate)
  
• 1 Patemm pad (airplane bathrooms are gross)
  
• 1 spill proof sippy cup
• 1 backpack stuffed to the hilt with wrapped, inexpensive treats, toys, and distractions.
• 2 Pre-filled Children's Benadryl packets (don't judge, it works for us), and a pack of Hyland's Calms Forte.
  
• 1 mini first aid kit (band aids, Tylenol, a few horse tranquilizers for myself)
• 2 plastic bags (vomit happens)
  
• 2 change of clothes (again, vomit happens)
• 3 magazines for me (it might happen, or at the very least he can rip them to shreds...might provide 10 minutes of fun)
  
• 5 organic lollipops
  
• 10 diapers and full pack of wipes (because you never know how many you'll need)
• Various snacks and pre-packaged favorite foods
• Cash

SuiteTrip.com

It's on! I'm lucky enough to count myself as one of the Trekaroo contributors for SuiteTrip.com. Fellow Treakroo writer, Esther Lee, and I join an awesome group of writers: Beth Blair, Jennifer Miner, and Kara Williams (The Vacation Gals), Grant Martin and Scott Carmichael (Gadling), Lisa McElroy (Suite Living), and fellow Bay Area Mom, Jamie Pearson of (Travel Savvy Mom).

Today SuiteTrip launched their site for all the world to see. Under the umbrella of Homewood Suites Hilton, the site allows you to check out awesome travel tips like budget vacations, family friendly destination spots, and what to pack!

Oregon Shakespeare Festival

We went to Ashland, Oregon last weekend for our annual meet up with family, and to catch a few plays. If you've got yourself a budding thespian (and we do), don't miss an opportunity to partake in some incredible shows! Ashland is located about 6 hours north of here in a tiny hamlet town that's reminiscent of an Old World society full of scholars and poets (and there are troubadours!). It's also worth mentioning the killer coffee shops, the great dining options, fantasy stores, hiking trails, and parks.

Lilith Park

OSF plays 9 months of the year, and boasts one of the largest repertories in the country. They bring in notable actors and artists from all around, and were even written up in NY Times this year!

There are several different theaters including an outdoor venue. It's so wonderful to drink mulled wine under the stars listening to iambic pentameter lilt away. Insanely enough, the kids pick up on it pretty quickly, and the actors are typically very physical with lots of gestures and body language. The minimum age to see a play is 6. Every year there are several family friendly plays and musicals both by Shakespeare and other notable writers. This year we saw Much Ado about Nothing, Don Quixote, and Music Man. If you have other younger ones and no one to watch the kids there are reputable daycare providers available (and pet sitters that will massage and walk fido, too, go figure).

The nicest thing about OSF is most of the actors in the company are down to earth, friendly, and typically live in town. Last year, we took the backstage tour and were guided by one of the leads from the show we saw the previous night! Matthew thought that was totally cool! We learned about how sets were designed, and how costumes are made. We even hung out in the green room, and learned more about life as a new actor!

Mark Bredard, our tour guide and principle actor

Can't make it up to Oregon? Arrange for OSF to come to your child's school! The company has a visit program that will work directly with your curriculum and teacher to bring Shakespeare to your young ones in a fun and dynamic way.

We're on Vacation!

Check out our current adventures on my personal blog :0)

Vintage Finds!

While down in Los Angeles I scored some really cool looking sake cups while perusing inside a vintage clothing store. What's weirder is they were found and purchased from a vintage wholesaler in Oakland! Since we don't actually drink sake I figured they'll make great egg cups, or shot glasses, or maybe a nifty spot to put all Math's microscopic Lego bits...

Haven't Disappeared...

Thing have been busy and haven't been able to give the blog proper attention of late! I will get back to being a faithful blogger in the near future, hopefully as soon as things settle down a bit.

Preparing for a trip to LA starting tomorrow! Dinner at Bazaar, Disney delirium, Sister in Law's graduation, and then chillaxin' with the family! Good times, good times :0) Updates when I return!

Trekaroo I Love You Too!

I got named Review of the Day (for a Pittsburgh location, no less...fams will be proud)!

I stumbled across this great up-and-coming website the other day and got hooked. If Yelp and CitySearch got together and had a baby Trekaroo would be it. It's Yelp-Search for parents! What's not to like about that? I love Yelp, don't get my wrong, but this new site is where it's gonna be for the traveling moms and dads of the world. It's got a great, easily navigated website, and a boat load of great Yelp-like features (ratings, comments, photos, votes). Once they add the restaurant guide there's not going to be a parent activity/travel site that can touch it.

Plane Pains...

So I'm kindof addicted to Facebook and recently saw this defense comment response to a status complaint about children on planes:

"My kids have flown all over the place in both coach and first class, including Hawaii 3x and have been complete angels. It is all in parenting. You must have things to keep them occupied and entertained. Sorry you have had bad experiences, but it's not all children."

I've gotta say I totally relate to the complainer, not the defender. Having fulfilled both roles as a parent and innocent patron (who's had her seat kicked for 5 straight hours), I believe when it all boils down; traveling with kids via air is pretty awful. There's the packing of all necessities for the flight, the prepping to the airport, the crazy security lines, the medicate vs don't medicate battle, the actual flight, the lack of services to help parents with small children. I mean the list goes on and on.

Here in the Bay Area, with parents flying all over the place both internationally and domestically, would you take offense to this? Does bad behavior on a flight really equate to bad parenting? How could the airline industry help accommodate parents and non-parents alike?