Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Flagstaff, Arizona

We took our toddler to play in the snow in Flagstaff this January. Flagstaff is only a two hour drive from Phoenix. Our toddler slept most of the drive up. While he was up, we played music for him and I kept describing everything outside our windows. He did very well on the drive.

We spent a night in Flagstaff at a budget hotel. There are many hotels when you are driving in from Phoenix. After booking our hotel, we headed out to Wing Mountain (a snow play area with sledding hills). It was only $12 to park our car. 

We had a lot of fun sledding and playing in the snow. Here are some of our pictures.




 
After our snow play time, we ate a Chinese Buffet restaurant. We took a drive around downtown Flagstaff because it was too cold to walk. We slept at our hotel and then headed back to Phoenix the next day. Happy snow travels!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

1st Carnival Cruise: Miami, Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos

Hanging out in Turks and Caicos
I once read something online about how difficult it is to vacation with a young child. The article said that parents can travel with young children but they won’t be able to vacation with young children. The difference between travel and vacation is that with travel you are sightseeing and experiencing a new culture. Vacationing involves pure relaxation- no need to see anything- just relaxing. I completely agree with the article especially after my experience on our first cruise to the Caribbean.

Getting some sun
I had always wanted to go to the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos. My husband and I spent our honeymoon in Cancun, Mexico and we fell in love with the Caribbean. It was the best honeymoon ever. We relaxed, laid-out, had delicious meals and did a little bit of sight-seeing. Some days we mostly relaxed in our room and hung around the pool.We had no worries. The ocean was beautiful, the sand was super soft, and the weather was beautifully warm- truly paradise. Not to mention the hotel staff treated us like royalty and even upgraded us to the honeymoon suite.  Well, our honeymoon ended, we had a baby, I enrolled in a master’s degree program and paradise seemed nowhere near. My husband and I were having marital conflicts and so I came up with the "bright idea" to go on a cruise to the Caribbean. I convinced my mom to come along. My husband had to work and wouldn’t be able to watch our baby. Part of the reason he didn’t come was because he didn’t have any days off.  I couldn't and didn’t want to leave our son for 8 days. So he came along. I thought how hard can it be? We’re going to be in Paradise? Besides, I had read that cruising is one of the most baby-friendly vacations.

The 3 of us
We flew into Miami which was a 4 hour flight. The flight went okay. My son was a little fussy but I was able to calm him down with a technique I often used. My technique was this: when he was little (less than two years old) and he would get fussy on the plane, I would hold him tight around my arms and let him cry and he would eventually fall asleep or just sit quietly in my arms. I surprised my mom with this technique. When we were on the plane, my mom was very anxious about my son crying and when she heard him cry- she panicked! But I told her not to worry that I knew how to soothe him. When we got off the plane, she said “Wow, he just sat on the plane quietly.” I glowed with pride :)

At the Turks and Caicos port
We were pressed with time to make it to the cruise terminal on time. The shuttle to the terminal seemed to take forever and to make matters worse; we didn’t have a car seat for the cab. We convinced a cab driver to take us to the port without a car seat (I don't recommend). We arrived at the port, dropped of us our luggage and then approached the kiosk to get our keys. The check-in staff didn’t have our keys and they were being very unfriendly. They were taking forever and didn’t seem to care that we needed our keys to board the ship. My mom and I were panicked because we didn't want to miss the boat. My mom became inpatient and tried to look for our keys herself and then out of nowhere the lady responsible for getting our keys, who previously was just chit chatting and ignoring us, ran up to the security guard and asked him to escort us of the cruise! The security guard ignored her but did warn us that we couldn’t touch anything and that we needed to wait to get our keys. The lady finally gave us our keys and we boarded the cruise.

Inside our room
The rest of the trip went okay. However, my mom is not a good traveler. She dislikes adventure and novelty and prefers comfort and luxury (mostly vacationing). She also hasn’t taken care of young children in recent years. She isn’t used to getting up early to give milk to a baby and to change his diaper. She is no longer used to rushing herself to get up or when taking a shower. She is definitely not used to carrying a “million things” when going out- the diaper bag, Sippy cup, stroller, sun block… the never ending list of things to bring with a young child. Needless to say, she had some adjusting to do on the trip. 

Catching the waves
Part of me became upset with her because she wasn’t keeping up like my husband did. Part of her became upset because this was supposed to be a vacation, not so demanding on her.  To make matters worse, my mom became physically ill and said that she was very sea sick and that the rooms were too crowded. Not to mention, she  complained about how the room smelled bad every time my little guy went poop. As I said, she is not a good traveler. My son started feeding off the tension and started crying on a regular basis- like screaming crying. He also missed his dad because at times he would cry out “Dada.” So much for paradise, right?

Nassau
Our trip itinerary included a day at sea, Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay (Carnival’s private island), Nassau, and Miami. The islands had the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. They were like baby pools- baby blue clear, soft, and beautiful. My son was able to run into the small waves. My most memorable memory was walking him back and forth on beach and him falling asleep in my arms. The ocean was soothing and calm. We had a lot of fun in Nassau. We did a local tour instead of booking a tour through Carnival lines. Carnival's tours were about double the cost of the local tour we took. Nevertheless, our tour was very affordable and we were able to see most of Nassau and Paradise Island. The tour guide was a Bahamas native and had so much pride in his country. He gave us local fruits to try, took us to a Nassau market, and even showed us where the locals lived. He thanked us for visiting his beautiful country and told us that he wanted to give us a taste of his paradise. My toddler did very well on the tour. Our tour companions were very nice to my son as well. Our last day was spent in South Beach. I wouldn’t describe South Beach as child-friendly. People on the South Beach tour were not friendly to us and kept making glances as if we were ruining their tour. Miami was also very hot and I didn’t really see many families- the city mostly caters to young, attractive, singles. 

Eating inside the ship
It was fun being on the cruise overall. The food was pretty good. I really enjoyed the dinners. The staff inside the cruise was the nicest. They were so thoughtful and accommodating. My son was teething during the trip so he struggled to eat anything and would throw huge fits during dinner. Our waitress (who was an angel in disguise) was very kind about it and would bring different meals for him. She would also try to comfort him and make him laugh. I loved the way she pronounced my son's name.

Nassau
Looking back, even if the trip was not the paradise I had imagined, I have great memories of it. I also learned the difference between traveling and vacationing. I have accepted that I won't be able to vacation with my little guy for awhile. I learned that it’s better to travel with my spouse and it is actually difficult traveling without him. I am more appreciative/grateful that I have a partner that takes time to travel with his family. I also learned to accept this: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” You can go to paradise but it doesn't mean that you will be in paradise. Happy travels!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Why travel with a young child?

Critics of us traveling with my little one will often say, “Why do you travel with your son? He won’t even remember it."

They are right. My son won’t remember going to Hawaii, won’t remember going to Paris or Italy or London. My son can’t even remember that he has ever played in the snow! BUT, I believe that my son will remember and will have memories of something more.

I am a big believer of developmental psychology and theories about our subconscious/unconsciousness. Developmental researchers believe that 95% of what we know/learn is obtained by the time we are 5 years old. I was skeptical when the developmental specialist told me this. How can the average person live 77 years and learn 95% of what he or she needs to know by the age of 5? Seems like very disproportionate learning. However, if you have ever been around a child who is under 1 year old, you will notice that most of his or her days involve sleeping, eating and OBSERVING. Yes, observing, they are trying to get a sense of what this world is all about. This explains why by the time we are 5 years old, we already know most of what he need to know about life. We have learned whether the world is safe, or not. We have learned whether we can trust those who are responsible for our well being, or not. We have learned what we need to know about survival in this world. Moreover, these worldviews that we develop at an early age will become part of who we are and later manifest in us. I have been around people with distorted world views that have no concept of how they became so distorted. But when you dig into their past, it’s no wonder why they think the way they do. Unfortunately, many of us live our lives without knowing what has made us the way we are.

So what will my son learn from traveling with us? For one, he will learn that no matter where in the world we are, he can feel safe and he can trust that I will be there for him. I will do anything in my power to make sure of that. I hope to teach him that we are a family and that family members sometimes have to sacrifice their individual desires for their family. I hope he learns that happiness and joy comes at a cost- whether that be sitting in a plane for 4 hours or waiting in line to get on a ride. He will learn about teamwork. What better way to teach my son about working with others than to show him how his mom and dad worked together while traveling. My husband carried the luggage while I waited in line at the airport. My husband took a nap on the plane while I played with our son on our trip to New Orleans. My husband took our son out for breakfast while I showered when we were in Italy. I will also show my son that yes, I could have left him at home with his grandma (it would have been “easier” and more affordable) but I didn’t. We chose adventure, novelty and we were able to see the world through our son's eyes. As Robert Frost says in his famous poem,"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."

What do you hope to teach your children through your decisions and actions?

Friday, May 20, 2011

10 commandments for traveling


I recently finished reading the book The Happiness Project where the author Gretchen Rubin talks about her 10 commandments on life. I decided to come up with my own 10 commandments on traveling. I think these "commandments" capture my goals in traveling with my son. Enjoy!
  1. Make it a family affair
  2. Be mindful during the trip
  3. Be grateful during the trip
  4. Budget! Budget! Budget!
  5. When possible, go somewhere new or do something different
  6. Your allegiance is to your family not to disgruntled travelers who complain
  7. It’s your money, spend it wisely on making you and those you love happy
  8. Travel is a luxury not a necessity, don’t travel if it brings you pain
  9. Remember, “the days are long but the years are short” (Gretchen Rubin)
  10. Strengthen bonds, love and trust with your family by creating beautiful memories

Anaheim (and Disneyland too)


Our trip to Paris was the trip that kept on giving. When we returned from Paris, Expedia.com gave us a $200 coupon for some of the inconveniences we experienced on our Paris trip. I did not want to get hooked into booking a more expensive vacation than we could afford. Southern California, Las Vegas and Rocky Point are popular family vacations for Arizonans. After talking to a few people about how fun Disneyland is for toddlers- we headed to Anaheim, California.

Southern California is truly a great place to visit. It is a very laid back, beach-like environment with great weather. I was born in Orange, CA so I am very familiar with Southern California. I have visited Disneyland many times. I have great memories of visiting Disneyland with my parents and sister as a child. I thought how neat it would be to extend my childhood memories of Disneyland on to my son’s childhood memories.

Playing inside Disneyland
Being that this trip was a budget getaway trip, I booked us a 2 star hotel near Disneyland. The hotel had a shuttle that dropped us off at Disneyland in the morning and picked us up at night. The hotel was decent for the price. Our hotel stay ended up being $10 (we just had to pay the taxes). The average nightly rate was below $60. It was a great bargain.

We didn’t do much the day we arrived. It was a six hour drive from Phoenix, Arizona. Our toddler did very well on the car ride. At times, he would get fussy and start crying about being in his seat but then would fall asleep. He slept a good amount of the drive. We arrived late, checked in, and rested. There was an Angels’ game going on so traffic was very slow when we arrived in Anaheim. The next day we headed over to Disneyland.

Inside Toontown play area
Disneyland was a blast. We only purchased tickets for the Disneyland theme park, not the California Adventure theme park. The cost of adding the additional theme park was significantly more and there were only a few rides that our toddler would be able to ride, according to the ticket sales lady. We walked around Disneyland’s Mainstreet and then went to Fantasyland. I know how packed Fantasyland can get so I wanted to get those rides out of the way before the park became full. Our toddler was able to get on all of the rides in Fantasyland. It was a blast seeing him get on rides for the first time. He got a little scared on the Peter Pan ride and grabbed us tightly but other than that he was little champion on the rides. Our son is very adventurous and loves getting on rides. He also loves stimulation and new experiences. He did very well waiting in line, although at times he would try to cut the lines and would look at us as though he was a lot more efficient in getting on the rides than us. His looked said, “Come on guys, why are you waiting back? I know how to get on the ride.” He absolutely loved Small World. He was mesmerized by those singing dolls. After Fantasyland, we headed to Toontown. He had fun playing in the little play area inside Toontown and getting on Who Framed Roger Rabbit ride. We took a picture with Goofy (who surprisingly, did not scare him).

At the Disneyland Parade
By this time, we were hungry and our toddler was tired. We ate some hamburgers at Hungry Bear and then our little guy passed out. He tried so hard to stay up but couldn’t resist any longer. This worked out in our favor as we were able to get on several rides through the single rider and baby swap lines. Disneyland is super baby/toddler friendly and very accommodating to those who travel with young children. When our toddler woke up, we finished the rides around Critterland, headed to Tomorrowland and then watched the parade. We stayed at the park until 10pm. We even watched the Fantasia show and ate some gumbo soup in New Orleans Square. Our trip to Disneyland was so much fun. The lines were not long and the staff at Disneyland was very friendly. It is a great place for toddlers. Our son was able to get on most of the rides and the atmosphere was very lighthearted. It was great being around so many families with children who were my son’s age. It was even nice to see how the restaurants inside Disneyland had toddler meals. It was great!

Sunny day at Newport Beach
The next day we headed to Newport Beach. We had a great time at the beach. We even got to see some dolphins. The next day we took a walk down Hollywood Boulevard and visited Downtown Disney. We ran into my cousin and his young family. It was nice seeing them on Hollywood Boulevard. We returned home the next morning.

The "Mickey Mouse ears"
Before booking the trip, I was hesitant to visit Disneyland because I thought that our son would be too young to enjoy it but I was wrong. He was able to get on so many of the rides. It was a great to see him get on his first ride. I love seeing his reactions on the rides. He was able to actually enjoy being there. He ran around the theme park and looked joyful. I highly recommend taking a toddler to Anaheim and to Disneyland. Happy travels!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Chicago during the Fall

Michigan Avenue
We headed to Chicago, Illinois when my son was seven months old.  We wanted to see the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Chicago Bears. We didn’t end up seeing the game because we had some problems with purchasing tickets but regardless we had an opportunity see many of the great things Chicago has to offer during the fall.

We flew from Phoenix and landed in Chicago. It was approximately a three hour flight. Our baby did very well on plane. As soon as the plane took off, he fell asleep. We had more difficult on the way back because he was so tired that it took him a little crying to fall asleep. We stayed at the Dana Hotel, a four star hotel a few blocks from Michigan Avenue.  The Dana Hotel is very trendy and targeted more towards adults than families. They have a trendy lounge and restaurant and I didn’t see many children.  The rooms are very modern and even a little “sensual.” Nevertheless, the staff was very nice and courteous to us even with baby in tow. They were very accommodating and provided us with a baby crib. It’s a great hotel with affordable rates. The location is fantastic. We were able to walk everyone, no need for a cab or public transportation (except for transportation to and from the airport).

View from our hotel
Chicago has many interesting sights and museums to visit. We visited the Art Institute of Chicago. I highly recommend that museum for those interested in modern art. They have an excellent collection. Some of their highlight include American Gothic, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Van Gogh’s Self-portrait and Bedroom in Arles. Of course we went to the Willis-Sears Tower Skydeck and visited the John Hancock Center/Observatory. We also visited Millennium Park and saw “The Bean.”  We walked around Michigan Avenue and then visited Navy Pier. That’s very fun for children. We also visited the Field Museum which I also highly recommend. It has great collections including Sue, the world’s largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex. We visited the Shedd Aquarium, the largest indoor aquarium in the world with an extensive collection of animals. I also highly recommend visiting the aquarium. Chicago offers city passes where you can visit many of their museums for a lower cost. We walked around Soldier Field because my husband is a big football fan. On our last day, we did a City Tour where we learned more about the history of Chicago. We drove by Congress Hotel, the infamous mobster hotel. We also drove by Oprah Winfrey’s loft. We visited the beautiful Michigan lakes. We ate some of the traditional Chicago food- Chicago style pizza. Not my favorite but definitely my husband’s favorite.

The Bean @ Millennium Park
Chicago is a magnificent city to visit. There is so much to do and see. It has a great history and it has done a great job at maintaining world-class museums. The people are very welcoming also- true Midwesterns. This is another great city that I recommend families to visit. It was my son’s first experience of a true city and he loved the hustle and bustle of it. He loved to see people walking down Michigan Avenue. These people were going to work, getting off work, going shopping, going out for a meal- it was a great. Besides, the architecture in Chicago is amazing. If you want your children to experience the feel of a true American city, then look no further than Chicago. Happy travels!