Thanks to the internet, the world is now becoming more open and accessible than it has ever been before. And while we fret about the bad people online and the ubiquitous “trash” content, whether it be LOLcats or celebrity gossip, the truth is that the internet is an absolutely amazing resource filled with so much useful information that it would probably take a person longer to view it all than it would be to travel to every place in the world and see it all.

So, let’s take a journey…

My first resource for wanting to explore the world is the absolutely fantastic piece of software known as Google Earth. With it, you can explore every corner of the earth via satellite imagery. Of course, this is just the beginning…At first, you’re many miles above the earth, but you can zoom in to just about everywhere, and get a very clear picture of what a place looks like as if you were flying over the place. Seeing it from above is one thing, but as you zoom in closer and closer, you begin to notice icons in Google Earth. These icons trigger all sorts of other media and information. Some icons represent pictures, some represent videos, some even pop up Wikipedia articles.

It’s so easy (and rewarding) to get sucked in too. One time I was checking out Google Earth, looking for the other Hawaiian islands. We all know about Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, etc. but there are actually 137 ‘islands’ that are part of Hawaii. I was checking out the tiny ones that are mostly uninhabited. Before I knew it, I was looking at satellite pictures of the South Pacific and French Polynesia.

One tiny tiny island caught my attention, however. I saw all of these tiny black dots around the island, and I was curious. I zoomed in, and discovered that I was looking at Bora Bora, and the tiny dots were those famous over-water bungalow hotel rooms. Fascinated by this tiny island, I couldn’t resist looking at the hundreds of pictures that people had taken (and posted to Panoramio, which shows up in Google Earth), and all of the Wikipedia articles I could find about not only the island of Bora Bora, but its more famous island neighbor, Tahiti. As my interest continued, I read about how the French came to be involved with Polynesia, then about Polynesian culture in general. In just a short period of time, I had read so much and looked at so many pictures (and checked out airfares and hotel prices), that I had begun to feel connected to the place and the people.

With these tools at our disposal, it is so easy to see the world and learn more about it. The knowledge we absorb can stimulate our minds and imaginations, and even help us get that impossible ‘Final Jeopardy!’ question right. The most exciting thing is that I can explore various places around the world in detail, probably forever. So, where do you want to go today? Addis Ababa? Pyongyang? Sao Paolo? They’re all waiting for you in Google Earth and on Wikipedia. Why not take some time to explore the world with your children and families? Happy travels!

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Eyjafjallajokull

We have come to England to enjoy Spring Break this year. We have had a really nice time visiting with family and enjoying all that Warwickshire has to offer. We were due to travel home on Saturday but because of the Volcano in Iceland we can first get home on Wednesday…as long as Eyjafjallajokull doesn’t blow again. Still, as everyone keeps saying, its nice that we are with family and not stuck in an airport or a hotel somewhere.

One of the things that has been special about being home with the girls is relearning the history of where I come from. We spent a day at the Herbert Art Gallery in Coventry, where we learned the story of Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom

Painting of Lady Godiva, by John Collier 1898

The girls being 'Peeping Tom's'

What the 'Peeping Tom's' saw

We’ve had time to enjoy some lovely food.

Ariana eyeing my 'Giant Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding'

Get the recipe here

We learned a little about the Inland Waterways System that runs through England. Hatton Locks

The Girls with Nanny Opening a Lock

We also visited: The Butterfly Farm, The Think Tank, saw Alice in Wonderland IMAX 3D (I highly recommend it – though I have to see it again because I fell asleep during the Mad Hatters Tea Party – jet lag caught up with me!) and Coventry Cathedral

If we can get home on Wednesday, I’m going to start talking to Ronnie about a beach vacation – I’m pooped!

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My husband Jason and I were headed to New York for the weekend. We were leaving our 2-year-old son and 5-month-old nursing daughter in the capable hands of Susie, our life-saving baby sitter. I packed all the cute clothes I could fit into and headed for the airport. I felt so relaxed, sitting in the terminal, reading a magazine. We boarded our plane and took our seats. Then I remembered.

“Oh no! Jason, I forgot the pump.” Not just my pump. THE pump. The miraculous little machine that gathers those drops of gold to be frozen for baby. The pump that let mommy go out with her friends last Thursday night. The pump that gives a few extra hours of sleep when early-rising Dad takes a feeding. The pump that enables a nursing mom to take a weekend getaway to New York. THE pump. And we had just begun our six-hour flight.

I was more than mildly uncomfortable by the time we reached the eastern seaboard. I informed Jason that our first order of business was to find a breast pump. He dropped our luggage and me at the hotel and took off in a taxi. I raced to our room and jumped in the shower, seeking relief. When I began to prune, I got out and waited.

And waited. And waited. After about an hour and a half, my very visibly frazzled husband returned.

“Did you get the pump?”

“Not exactly.”

He opened a brown paper bag, inside which was a manual pump. As I frantically fumbled with the pump, he relayed his adventure of multiple taxi rides to three different “grocery/drug” stores, all with vendors amused by his predicament, but none of whom actually carried a breast pump. He found this manual pump on his fourth try.

Medela Manual Breast Pump

For those of you who have not used a manual breast pump, it is not quite the experience of an electric. The comparison in Barbie’s “The Princess and the Pauper” movie comes to mind: Princess Anneliese has her breakfast brought to her on a silver platter in bed, while her look-alike Erika must retrieve the eggs from the chicken coop for herself. On the upside, I was building strong biceps.

I somehow survived New York City with my manual pump. And when I returned home, I immediately purchased the Medella Pump In Style Advanced, upgrading from my single handheld electic to the double-pumping pump with two phase expression. Although it is primarily advertised as the pump for the working mother, I’d argue that it is the pump for every mother. We are all working, and at least at this one thing, it would be nice to be able to work a little less.

Medella Pump In Style Advanced

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Fireworks over Copenhagen

The sky was crisp and clear in Copenhagen last night and the moon was as full as could be. At 12 o’clock the tradition is to go out into the streets and celebrate the beginning of a new year with fireworks. If you take fireworks as a measurement of a Country’s economy; Denmark is not in crisis. They went on for over an hour and were absolutely all around us. This was the first year that our girls managed to stay awake and see the New Year in with us, so it was a special night.

This picture was taken with my iphone, so its not the best, but you get the general idea. Moon, fireworks…the only thing missing was the sound of teeth chattering, at -8 degrees celcius…it was a little colder than our usual Californian climate!

We hope you enjoyed your New Year celebrations. May it be a very special year for you and your loved ones!

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It occurred to me that there are some devices that do make parenting and family-life easier and that I rely on them more than I realized. Take the iPhone which is now loaded with five Apps for pre-schoolers that I use to keep them occupied when we have an especially long wait somewhere and I need them in one spot. My other favorite is Skype. We live many states away from our family and friends but use Skype Video Chat to check in with them at least once a week. We even opened Christmas presents to the kidlets over Skype Video so my parents could see them open their gifts. It meant a lot to all of us and made the holidays more holiday-like even though we weren’t actually in the same room with our families.

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Nordstrom Soft Pleated Tote, 50% right now=$173

The 10 Things You Need in Your Diaper “Bag”

Coach VARICK NYLON DRAFTING TOTE, $298

Handle any situation! Be ready for the unexpected! But don’t tote around a heavy, over-burdened diaper bag that weighs you down.

Forget the expensive mad dash to a store for items you left at home. Instead, focus on these ten essentials that meet your needs by doing double duty or packed in just the right amount. 

1. Key word: Tote. Gone are the days of the diaper bag. Use one great tote that you like to carry and keep only the essentials inside. Works later on as a carry-all for the plane, laptop bag, purse etc.

2. Multi-purpose Bebe au Lait breastfeeding cover–nursing, pumping, privacy on-the-go. Doubles as a sunshade over a stroller or front-carrier + as a lightweight blanket + as a “staring stranger” shield around town or on a plane + a changing mat. Machine washable, over and over, 

3. Baby wipes. For Baby, you, seats, tables…the list goes on. Be sure they’re in a re-closable and refillable container so you’re never without.

4. Diapers. 3 per baby per 4 hour period of time.

5. Ointment or diaper cream in a small tube.

5. Two small toys, preferably favorites OR ones Baby hasn’t seen in a while.

6. Ibuprofen &/or acetominophen (check with your Doctor for dosage and appropriate uses)

7. 2 small, plastic bags (preferably re-used from the grocery store) for stinky trash or wet clothes.

8. One extra outfit.

9. Natural, unscented lip balm–great for your lips, cuticles, sore nipples, and to quickly force your eyebrows into shape as well as provide a pretty bit of light on top of your cheekbones when you haven’t had time to do makeup!

10. Hand sanitizer. 

Mom-to-Mom tip: After every trip with your tote, be sure to re-stock and re-organize so you’re always ready to go.

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For those parents out there who are getting ready for a flight, Bebe au Lait offers our list of considerations and tips for a low-stress trip.

Well Before the Flight:
Visit your airline’s web page, and read about their policies for traveling with young children. Be sure you know what to expect from the airline and the flight staff before showing up at the terminal.

Read and tell stories to your kids about traveling by air. Also, tell them about the destination, and what makes it special and unique.

Plan For Comfort:

Flying causes a lot of anxiety for children who have little (or no) idea what is going on. In order to soothe some of this anxiety, smart parents bring along plenty of toys, goodies, food, drinks, activities, etc. to get the kid’s mind off the flight, and onto something less stressful. In the case of babies, think comfort. Physical contact, rocking, bouncing, breastfeeding, and shiny objects will all calm the little one down making your life much easier.

Airports:

Airports are very stressful places. Children (adults too!) are highly anxious in this environment.

First, cut out the stress of time. Leave for the airport allowing plenty of time for bad traffic, parking, checking bags, waiting in line, etc. Absolutely nothing is worse than feeling rushed at an airport. The tension is thick, and kids pick up on that from you, then broadcast it to everyone else at the airport.

Even taking time and stress into account, it’s likely that your child will still feel nervous, and make it known. Be prepared to smile at a lot of dirty looks from strangers.
Checking In:

When it comes time for you to check in, ask if the flight is full. If not, see if you can get an empty seat next to you.

If you’re traveling with really young children, you’re often allowed to board before everyone else. Ask about this when you check in. When you board, get ready to stash one bag at your feet, and the other in the overhead compartment. Have a seat, and relax as quickly as possible.

Diaper Changing:

Be sure you pack an in-flight changing kit. Put some diapers, multi-purpose burp cloths, baby wipes, diaper cream, baby powder, and hand sanitizer in a small pouch.

When you board, ask the flight attendant where the best place to change the baby is. In some planes, there will be one larger bathroom on board with a changing table.

Eating and Feeding:

Bring your own food. It’s better to be prepared with food that the child likes rather than chancing it with airplane food (or lack of it!)

If you’re with a really young child, be ready for them to make a mess. Bring at least one bib that will help keep their clothes clean, and be ready with those all-important wipes!

If your child is breastfeeding (or you’re pumping), bring a nursing cover for privacy. They are also great for creating a “cocoon” while the baby is sleeping.

If you’re bottle feeding, be sure you have plenty of milk for the child ready to go. If you need the bottle warmed up, let a flight attendant know, but also understand that it takes time, so get your bottles heated up before you actually need them.

Keeping Children Entertained:

Flights are generally pretty boring. Even sophisticated adults feel stir crazy after just a few hours on a plane. Imagine that sensation times 10, and minus certain social boundaries, and you’ve got a good idea of what is going on inside your child’s head! As you can imagine, boredom is the root of many in-flight irritants.

There are many things you can bring, but focus on the few items that are likely to distract the child for the longest time. Load up your iPods or iPhones with good programming like Sesame Street. You could also bring a laptop or portable DVD player. Some other ideas include coloring books, stories and puzzle books.

Sleeping on Board:

Bring a comfortable blanket or nursing cover. Airplane blankets tend to be scratchy and icky.

Good luck, and enjoy the trip!

Here are some fantastic resources where you can learn more:
www.flyingwithkids.com.
There is also this short pamphlet published by the FAA.
Speaking of the FAA, they also have this great resource for travelers.

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Tips on making the long haul car trip work.

(1) The preparation. I made a travel box of trip-toys (using Banker’s boxes) for each day and let them know that every morning there would be a new box of toys and a new movie for the day. At night, when we cleaned up the car, we packed up the previous day’s toys so there were fresh ones to discover when you we got in the car every morning. The boxes had some of their favorite toys from our play room before the movers packed everything and then I bought a few new ones so it would be a mix of daily treasures. As crafty as I tried to be, we definitely needed that travel DVD player too and they loved having new movies to watch. I also discovered the McDonald’s DVD rental set up. While we only stopped for their iced coffee and to let the kids play for about 30 minutes (which was fantastic since it’s hard to find parks in a foreign town on a limited schedule) it was the DVD rental that was pretty fantastic. $1 per day, drop them off at the next McDonald’s you stop at (any, it doesn’t matter) and there were appropriate choices for kids of many ages.
(2) Craft time. I got them these plastic tray/desks at Michael’s for $5 so they could color and do some sticker crafts + help me keep track of toys, sippies, etc.

(3) They love the movie Cars, still. So we played “guess the truck” — was it a Peterbilt, a Mack, Volvo etc. They actually loved this so much that they still do it when we drive around town.

(4) Travel potty. MUCH cleaner than most of the rest stops. I used my Diapees & Wipees bags to hold disposable, wet toilet paper, hand sanitizer and clean undies. We had our own restroom-on-the-go.

(5) Food. I’m not a huge fast food fan. We relied on a cooler filled with watered down juice, yogurt tubes, homemade granola, fruits, veggies, hummus, sliced cheese, sliced ham and pretzels.

(6) Sleep. These Head Pillows (Noodelhead) helped them sleep longer and better in the car and also doubled as cuddle toys at night comforting them in a new hotel every night. I found that they also helped when put under another pillow and over the “trip toys” box for keeping them semi-upright and still in their seat belts while sleeping for naps on the road.

(7) Pictures. Since I was always taking them I thought I should bring their travel digi cameras too. It was really fun to encourage them to take pics as well. Note the ketchup on my daughter’s. That’s why their kids cameras!

(8) Fresh air. We would open the windows about once an hour for fresh air and have them say “hello” to whatever landmark we were driving by. Even though we were guided by GPS the old-school Atlas came in handy for planning ahead and to figure out just what the landmarks were. Made for some extra entertainment for sure.

Are we there yet? Two 10 hour days and one 4 hour day and we made it. Pretty successfully even. I loved this sign for “Beverly Hills” in the middle of the Nevada desert, humor was a nice spice to pepper our days with. Good luck on your next trip!

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