National Parks Passport

The US National Parks Service has provided our family with innumerable adventures, activities, pit stops and learning experiences during our time here. They truly do a fantastic job preserving natural areas (e.g. Shenandoah, Catoctin, Cape Cod), historical sites (forts, monuments, battle sites, buildings) and culture (e.g. Jazz in New Orleans, American Impressionists at Weir Farm), and we are at the point where we (hubby) tends to plan trips around National Parks he'd like to visit, or at least check out the National Parks on the way to, or at, the locations we're visiting (and he would say it always works out!). One part of the fun is to satisfy the inner nerd by purchasing a National Parks Passport and collecting dated cancellation stamps from the sites one visits. Hubby's book is getting quite full. Some parks will have one stamp. Other parks will have different stamps for different locations within the park. We hope it will be a nice way of remembering where we have been.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

Things to do in a five hour layover:

• Eat dinner (beware the enormous servings)
• Travel on the monorail circuit (about 20 mins for a full route) three times
• Go to terminal E (other side of airport) for tea at Starbucks, only to realise there was a Starbucks just around the corner from where you are waiting
• Let children run in art installation for atleast 20 mins. Only realise that this might not be socially acceptable when you hear another mum giving her child a lecture on not running. I thought tag was fine...
• Change into pjs
• Watch them fuel and load your aeroplane

Ice Dispensers

Lovely thing about American hotels is that they all seem to have ice dispensers, which is very handy to know when travelling with a small water cooler to refill water bottles on the road. Good job for children when trying to pack too.

Reusable breakfast crockery and cutlery!

The small sign that you can't read, says, "disposable diningware available upon request". This is the first hotel breakfast that I have been to that doesn't require you to use disposable stuff, and I was ecstatic!

Grand Central Station, NYC

This would have to be travel architecture at its best. I would feel like buying one of those super expensive leather travel bags and packing some super compact (and cool) pack that fits in a super expensive travel bag to go on a holiday that started here ($450 Nordstrum. I've seen it). But no, just full of tourist, normal looking travellers running for connections, wedding photos, a fashion shoot, and security guards. There were US army people, NYPD, state police (ie, NY state police) and Metro Police all circling and looking wary.
Thanks to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who successfully campaigned to save the building from developers.

Katz Deli

This is an interesting one - a deli in  that has managed to survive about three generations, and has become a tourist destination in its own right. Hence, every lunch time, they are overrun with tourists, and have to hire a security guard to ensure everyone behaves themselves. I'm not entirely sure this is the comfortable quiet life that the original owners intended.
The thing I love about this, and about Chick and Ruths back home, is that they serve pickles - not the polite little slices that you put on crackers with cheese in the 70s for an hors d'oeuvre,  but a whole plate of big chunks of them. They're called dill spears, and we now have a jar in our fridge. They're the perfect accompaniment to a Ruben made with not so good corn meat (I think next time we should ask for the pastrami).
Photo is of  half a sandwich. Tip - this is enough for one person, esp with a common plate of chips for the table (fries, ask for fries. don't say chips).

Hersheys, M&Ms and Lego

Took the unusual step of visiting some stores this time - we normally avoid the plethora of opportunities to spend money while already spending money on holidays.

• Hersheys Store (Times Square)- do not visit, unless you want to see all the different things they can stuff the Hershey's kisses with. Or buy a Hersheys mug, tshirt, etc. Store is one level, and is crowded with merchandise, and then they let the people in!!
• M&M's store (Times Square) - is a bit better, as the only confectionery they are pushing is M&M's, and they fit on a wall. The rest of the three level store is merchandise - cups, tshirts, pj's, fluffy toys, oven mits, etc.
• Lego Store (Rockefeller Building) - their Flagship store. We had high hopes for something special, but no, apart from a few larger models, it was simply a very crowded lego shop.

We were underwhelmed by all of it.

NYC take 2

Visited New York City again, this time late March. Lessons learned:
1. Late March is probably the earliest you want to visit NYC. Take your snow jackets, it is that cold, especially on the Brooklyn Bridge, or visiting the Statue of Liberty
2. Always book a ticket up the Rockefeller Centre Building - because although we strolled in and got tickets last time, I think we can safetly put that down to beginners luck. This time, we had to go home, and come again the next day, as the earliest tickets available at 5pm were for 9.40pm
3. Always take children to the toilet when passing one. Don't take their word that they don't need one.
5. Always have a park up your sleeve for when the kids get sick of things
6. Union Square farmers markets have the biggest brownie - we estimate about 3 x 4 inches, for $2.50. However, although the baby can eat a brownie this big, and enjoy it, he won't eat anything else for the rest of the day...
And the big one -
7. Hotel room that we got the first time - diplomat suite. Ask for that  next time, or you get a normal suite, which doesn't really have a separate bedroom, just more a partition. Which means we spent most evenings quietly reading in the dark on our side of the partition while the kids went to sleep on the other side.

Never Forgetting

This is a sticker they gave the boys for walking through the metal detector at the airport in Texas on the way home. Not sure if it will show up in the photo, but the small writing around the outline of Texas in the middle?
*9-11-2001* Never Forget*
One of my friends commented, it is a bit like Dec 7 being a infamous day in one generations memory (Pearl Harbor). Likewise, while we have no first hand memory of Pearl Harbor, there are kids born since 2011, who didn't get first hand experience. Interesting to think about.

Severe weather areas

I thought, when first seeing this sign in an airport on the way to Aus, that someone had a sense of humour, and possibly, a collection of stickers they left behind them as they travelled. Maybe a comment on the sucking power of the American toilet, which terrified the baby for a good two months when I was trying to get him to use a toilet.
I finally put two and two together, just before the flight home, after seeing tornado shelters marked up on a mall map.
Its not someone trying to be funny about toilet habits, it is a Severe Weather [shelter] Area! Because like the school buses being yellow, the bad weather doesn't just happen in the movies....

Wait, what?

We are safely back from our trip. I hesitate to call it a holiday, or even vacation, as it was pretty tough on our family, especially the little one. The down side to the timing of our trip is that we appear to have missed the SNOW! I think we are the only ones disappointed by this. Some are suggesting some sort of genius. It was simply not thinking things through enough, we assure you, because given a choice, we wouldn't have missed this...
However. Here is a photo of the beach we stayed near. I would happily stay here again. And everytime I start feeling disappointed about the snow, I look at these pictures.
PS - for those unfamiliar with The Flags on the beach - the red and yellow one is one of a set of two that designate a safe swimming place between them. The black and white flags are set on the outside of this area, and the gap between the black and white and the red and yellow create a buffer between surfers (outside the flags) and swimmers (inside the red and yellow flags), because being hit in the head with a surfboard hurts. Small children on boogie boards are ok in the swimming zone.
This photo was taken at low tide, on a pretty flat surf. The kid in the bottom photo is not mine.

Good Packing Decisions V

I did think it was overkill, to take two strollers... Not in keeping with the effort to live a bit simply, with minimal 'stuff'. However, we were allowed one stroller per child under 5 for free, so we took both our jogging stroller, and this little simpler stroller - bought from Aldi for $50. I am very glad we took the effort! We even had an inquiry in NYC about whether it was a good travel stroller.
I think this is a good review of those strollers too - we hesitated to buy it the first time we saw it. Wanted to see what the more established stores had. But we have not regretted this decision one moment. I just regret not getting it earlier, as I lugged the other heavier stroller up three steps at childcare while very pregnant many times, all the while wishing we had a lighter version!
When using the little buses, and all, having a stroller that can be folded up and carried while also carrying the two year old is very handy. Lots of the shops and restaurants here are not sized to fit strollers, so it is nice to just fold it up in a corner out of the way. I have noticed one rivet getting a touch wonky, on one of the things that fold up, so it may be on its way out, but it has gotten solid use ever since the snow melted and I worked out the bus service. We have successfully taken it on the metro in NYC and Washington DC (and pretty soon, Philadelphia!).
Summary: Sturdy enough to take the four year old, or load down with bags. Small enough to fold up in stores and on buses. Cheap enough to not be a major investment requiring careful thought. Very handy water bottle hole and zippered pocket between the handles. Light enough to carry distances without really exerting yourself. Wheels are not hard plastic, they're not rubber either, something in between that is really sturdy and tough and quiet.
The storage is hard to get into, especially when the stroller is laid back with a child sleeping in it (but you don't lose things overboard either). The buckle strap coming up from between the legs seems a little on the short side, especially with cloth nappies.

Good packing decisions IV

More good stuff to travel with - Tupperware Sandwich Boxes - I haven't tried any other boxes, these are the first I've owned, but they're so good and useful - firstly for sandwich, secondly for chopped up fruit, thirdly for little tables on little laps (esp when travelling in the pram?!), and fourthly for rubbish containers. Once the sandwich is eaten, you can give them their ration of biscuits, share bits of fruit, eat icecream over, etc.
The downside - the room they take up in your bag is not reduced when the sandwich/fruit is eaten. (so I use them for the kiddies lunches, and my lunch is wrapped in gladwrap and takes its chances in the front pocket of my bag).
The upside that keeps me using them (apart from their versatility), is the reduction in complex wash-up ( vs plastic sandwich bags)/landfill.
ps - for information, for Australians - I just bought the set of 5 when I bought them, which seemed a touch extravagant at the time, but I have never regretted that.
pps - I am not paid for this post :) (but if you wanted to I would not object!!! ;) )

Driving on the Jersey Turnpike

This is a left over post from New York that I remembered I wanted to write about. We drove to New Jersey and caught a ferry across to New York city, leaving the car parked in a parking garage at the ferry terminal. This was cheaper than paying for a train for the family!
Part of our drive was on the Jersey Turnpike, a toll road that is the biggest I have seen so far. Towards the end of the road (close to New Jersey), the road split into two sections each way - one for trucks and one for cars. The trucks were quite heavy, and it was a relief to get away from continually having to move around them. But the space the road took, and the infrastructure required was quite and eyeopener. We're talking four by three lanes - 12 lanes all up. Two exits and entrances - one being a sort of bridge, over the truck section onto the car section in the middle. Plus break down room and extra signage, and extra toll booths, and extra cameras.
The total toll for our drive on the Turnpike was 12.55 each way. We also paid about 12 on other roads, and drove a total of about 210 miles (about 300 km) one way. (ie, total miles - about 420, total tolls - about $50)

Catching buses

This is a bus stop. I think in some places, there is a shelter, and some seats and everything, but here, it must be frontier land, because we get a stick in the ground, beside a four lane highway. It is difficult to get to, and slightly worrisome to stand there, watching cars rush by, hoping you have impressed on your children the importance of staying against the barrier on the side of the road.
The buses are small, about five rows of two by two seats. Not pram accessible, so when we hop on, I am carrying the baby, the stroller, some money, and holding the hand of my older boy. The driver does not take money, you put the correct fare into a little box beside them. It costs $2 for a trip, or you can buy a $4 day pass. Then you shuffle on to the back of the bus, and we three all end up sitting in a row on two seats. I'm usually on the aisle, watching over the cord that is just under the window that you pull to let the driver know you want to hop off. It is very accessible, even to the baby. The pram goes in the aisle.
The buses come once an hour. The happy thing is, we are just near a bus route that is about five mins from the mall. We have not made it to the library yet, because we would have to change buses at the mall (and travel for about 3 hours to get 30 mins in the library!). With this warmer weather, I might consider trying again for the walking route.
When we travel on buses, it is a whole day excursion, and I get home exhausted. I carry a back pack with enough food for everyone, and take all the spare cash for emergencies! I never thought I'd say it, but I miss the buses back home.

Good packing decisions III

Number 3 - Masking tape. Uses - possible toy on aeroplane, though we didn't end up using it this time. We shut our food containers with it (ie, to stick cereal packets shut), and we are also using it as a fridge magnet to stick up important bits of paper, until we manage to get some fridge magnets. (Possibly, consider packing some fridge magnets next time, they wouldn't have taken up much room!) Finally, labelling the baby's drink bottle when he goes into childcare situations.

Good packing decisions II

I thought it was stupid at first, but I'm convinced now - plastics for the children. They took up a bit of space, and had we known that the little one would chuck a tantrum over being given plastic bowls and plates when everyone else had china, we may have just brought the cups, but...

Very few kitchens will ever stock plastic stuff for kids, unless they themselves have kids. So the furnished apartment provided by our employment here had none, and it wasn't expected. It is great not to be on a knife edge every time someone wants a drink!

Good packing decisions

When I think of it, I hope to communicate little things that were genius to pack. 

Number 1 - muck mat for the baby. Gives him his own little personal lino floor in a world of cream carpet. This one has a road on it, so it could be doubled as a car track, if you were energetic enough to clean it off every day and fish it out from under the table. Ours gets shaken out every week or so, and wiped down every time he spills a cup of milk (three so far).

Flying with children

Babies on aeroplanes... as good and as bad as expected. The hardest thing was having access to more movies and TV than I've seen in the last year - and not being able to watch any of it, except Peppa Pig (of which there was one episode). The easiest thing was watching a two year old entertain themselves with post-it notes.