Neat Freak

One habit that I've picked up during our travels is organization. I'm not exactly "Suzy Homemaker" when we're at home so, for me, to make an effort to keep things super organized is a bit of a departure. However, it's something that I've found is necessary to keep things from getting lost. As all parents know, the loss of a child's special toy can make life pretty unbearable.

When it comes to Maya's toys and books, I've discovered that good ol' Trixie is actually helpful in this process in that she can actually double as a toy box when we aren't on the go. Not only is it a central place where I can tell Maya to put her toys when she's done, but if you have a list of what's in there you can easily look to make sure nothing's missing. I just keep it open in a corner of the room and put softer, lighter things like stuffed animals on the left side and heavier things like books and games on the right. It makes keeping the room clean easier and really helps to keep things from getting left behind. Believe me, doing a daily toy check is a lot easier than telling your child that their favorite book or toy is under a bed hundreds, or even thousands, of miles away. I've been there and its not pretty.

Would You Like Some Cheese With Your Whine?

When traveling with a child, you really learn the meaning of give and take. There will be whining, defiance, retaliation, and maybe even some tears. In the end though, the experiences you have while on vacation usually far outweigh any protesting you will listen to. Today was one of those days where everything we did was met with Maya's dragging feet and announcements of how she didn't want to do anything we wanted to do.

Today's schedule was pretty easy...on paper. The only thing we had planned was seeing the San Diego Padres baseball team play. Now, granted, Maya has been saying a lot lately that she doesn't like going to baseball games (much to Josh's disappointment). When she whined with every step of the three block walk from the car to the stadium, however, I knew we were in for a trying time. She ran off, she didn't listen when I told her to stop doing [insert bad behavior], and one time even squished what seemed to be half a bottle of sunscreen on her arms (yay for liking sunblock though!).

Despite her protesting and somewhat bad behavior, she really did like the game. She got a baseball shaped backpack (a giveaway for the kids today), she got to play in the sandbox the Padres have in the outfield bleacher area, and she seemed to enjoy telling her really bad knock knock jokes to the people sitting behind us. Her favorite item of the day, though, was her Padres temporary tattoo. She thought she was pretty hot stuff after I put that on her and made sure she showed it to everyone who made eye contact with her. The infamous whine wasn't gone for long though. Once she found out that it would probably come off when she took her bath, she declared that she just wouldn't take any more baths. *sigh* I'm really looking forward to bath time tonight.

It's the Little Things

So, Legoland was great! I played with Lego blocks a lot when I was a kid so, for me, it was so much fun to go to a whole park where everything was Lego. I think Maya had a good time as well. She really enjoyed riding the fairy tale boat ride with all kinds of fairy tale characters built out of Legos. For Josh and I, the highlight of the park was, of course, Miniland where Lego's master builders had built scale replicas of landmarks and cityscapes from around the world out of hundreds of thousands of Legos. The detail really was pretty incredible.

There was a giant model of the Taj Mahal that was just beautiful (Josh went to India earlier this year so we're always excited when we see anything to do with India) while the replica of Mount Rushmore wins points for "Best Cheap Joke" by having George Washington getting his ear cleaned with a giant Lego Q-Tip. The cities of Washington, New York, San Francisco and New Orleans were recreated there but the best of them all was Las Vegas. Las Vegas is pretty comical in real life anyway, but to see it made out of all those tiny little plastic blocks was even better. Later, Josh busted out with some impressive "Toss the Ball in the Cup" skills and scored Maya not one but TWO Legoland teddy bears which she promptly adopted as her "babies." Sadly, there was no 7 foot tall Darth Vader to be found.

Up, Up, and Away

We made it to California! Getting in last night was a little rough. After a long night on Thursday thanks to a summer storm that gave both Maya and our dog Indiana the willies, coupled with a long day yesterday, we were pretty exhausted when we got in. We landed in San Diego at 8 pm, which is really 11 for us with the time difference. I think we got to bed somewhere around 11 (2 am our own time. OUCH!). Maya had a few moments when she decided she was too good to listen to me in the airports, but for the most part she was great. She's old enough now that she can scoot Trixie around on her own and actually play with it more as a toy in itself than just a bag. When we were in the ticketing line, she was pretending that Trixie was a pony (completely with neighing) and that the tow strap was her reins. Too cute!

The plane ride was a lot of fun due to the "surprise" I had hidden in Trixie for the trip. Earlier this week I had gone to the book store looking for something to get with a gift card I had been given. Just for fun I went to the kids section and I found the best book, a Disney Princesses vinyl sticker dress up book. Each page has a different Disney princess on it and there are 8 sheets of reusable vinyl stickers of things like gowns, gloves, crowns, etc. It was GREAT at keeping her entertained on the flight and made the five hours go by fast. I had to be the sticker master since I didn't want her to loose any but over all, she loved it (actually, I did too which is why I bought it). We had a good time putting all kinds of ridiculous things on Raja, Princess Jasmine's tiger.

Today we're off to Legoland. Yay!

Pack It In

Well, we leave tomorrow for California which can mean only one thing. Today is “packing day.” I’m sure most people would probably be horrified to look upon the innards of my packed suitcase because I tend to pack very light for both me and Maya. This habit also extends to the toys, snacks, and other things in our carry on luggage.

Now, obviously, every child is different and everyone’s comfort level is different but I see so many people who pack what seems to be their child’s entire room for a trip. Really, in the end, you don’t need all that stuff. I find that it works well to simply pack a few toys that are both compact and can be used in different ways. Things like felt dolls with felt dress up outfits that can be rolled up (or maybe a piece of green felt with a road painted on it and little cars for boys), reusable sticker books, card games, etc. all work well to keep kids entertained while not taking up a lot of room. I’ve also found that things as simple as an airplane blanket are every bit as entertaining as any toy you might bring with you.

I usually help Maya pack Trixie with a few toys and books, snacks to last through the plane trip, and a change of clothes (always an essential). Maya loves to pack her own bag and it allows her to participate in getting ready for the trip and gets her excited about it too. Once we’re packed she knows that we’re about to be off to someplace fun and interesting. I’m personally looking forward to Legoland because, really, who doesn’t love a 7 foot tall statue of Darth Vader made out of tiny plastic blocks.