As I’ve said, we’ve just returned from my parents cabin in Canada where we’ve been on vacation for the week. When you have a cabin by a lake in the woods, the surroundings give you LOTS to do.  But it helps when you can “help” your Littles jump start that fun.  Because my parents drove up, I sent up a bag of “goodies” to pull out with the kids throughout the week.

Washable paint was one of those good times!

The girls and I went on a walk one…

I’ve mentioned it before. My favorite place.  The cabin on the lake where we spent our childhood summers.

It was and is an amazing place.

It’s in the middle of NO WHERE (which I say with all affection, no where is a PERFECT place for the cabin to be).

Addie & Hay visited with me last May, but this was the first time to take all 3 kids and to be there together with the other kids we grew up with…

As I’m working on getting the family packed up for the next big adventure, thought I would point out a couple travel ESSENTIAL favorites!! I don’t think I could ever travel without either of these.

Aquaphor is a booty saver! The first time we traveled with Addie in a car, we drove to and from Tahoe, that’s 9 hours each way.  She was 9 months old and she got the worst…

So I took a road trip this past Saturday to see family and friends in the Bay Area.  The drive took me about 7 hours, which is what I had guessed it would with the kids.  I pretty much thought I had lost my mind to even think doing a drive like that with a 2 year old, 1 year old and 4 month old was a good idea.  My husband thought so too, but he didn’t do a very good job of convincing me NOT to do it.

(He…

Having little helpful reminders are good.  Goodness knows with each pregnancy I clearly lost more brain cells than I ever started with, so now I pretty much know nothing, and remember nothing.

Case in point, packing for my trip with the girls I made a quick dash out to the car to get something. My running shoes were also outside by the stroller.  I put them on the front doormat so that I wouldn’t forget to bring them inside to pack.  When I got back to the house from the…

I took a little adventure on Saturday and drove 7 hours with the babes to see friends & family.

Yes. Drove. In the car. Just me.  And 3 babes, 2 years old and under.

Fun.

In all honesty, not that bad…I had pretty much thought out how the drive needed to play out and had a few contingency plans, but all in all, it went off without a hitch!

But I think I really have Dora and all her friends to thank for that.

Now I’m not a big DVD in the car…

Get your kids their passport.

I think the current (normal) quoted time is 6-8 weeks.

Piper’s came in 3 weeks.

I have gotten each Little their passport within a few months of birth.

It’s EASY!

Make an appointment (or walk in) at your local post office.

Or check here for local places for your area.

You will need your husband, your babes birth certificate & Social Security #, both parents IDs (drivers licenses) and a…

I’ve been asked by many about my travel tips for upcoming summer vacations.  This is definitely an area I can help with.  Well, I guess what I mean is, it’s something I’ve done A LOT of with our Littles!  Last year in total we were on 17 planes in 3 time zones.  Not yet with all 3 children, but we started last year when Hayden was 5 weeks old and Addie was a year.  Stay tuned for a full post next week, but until then, here’s a few tips to chew on……

Last week I had the privilege and pleasure of attending “laundry training” with Bosch in Arizona…seriously, how awesome is that!  Bosch hosted a “Hampers to Hangers” event to offer laundry tips as well as organizational tips from The Container Store.  Sounds so silly to WANT to learn better tips for doing your laundry, but that is exactly what we did and it was amazing!  Not only was Bosch an exceptional host, but we stayed at a beautiful resort in Scottsdale.  So this week, I…

Heather of Theta Mom has become an amazing online friend!  She is clear across the country from me, but I feel like she is my next door neighbor.  Her blog is awesome!  Great products and great insite into being a mom in today’s busy life, but also being very real in her day to day moments with her cute kids!

“We are Theta Moms, The True, Authentic Moms. [The-T-A] We are authentic because we live authentic lives. Life isn’t perfect and neither are our kids.” Heather, Theta Mom…

Who doesn’t need a little closet organizing and packing  help?  Pretty sure we all do…I have yet to meet this fabulous lady, but am very much looking forward to the opportunity as she has worked wonders on a number of friends wardrobes and closets.  I think after #3 arrives in March…

(HELLO, doctor told me today welcome to your 3RD TRIMESTER!
HOW did that happen so quickly!!!)

Anyway, back to the point, once #3 is here and I’m ready to burn…

Not only is Sally Bartz, the ever so chic and fabulous wonder woman behind Halsea good at designing fabulous luggage and bags, she is a genius with packing and traveling!  Trust me on this, I have traveled with her…it is truly amazing to see someone carry the smallest bags and end up looking amazing for every event with the PERFECT outfit, shoes and accessories!  Honestly, she always looks like she stepped out from a magazine shoot!

“Sally’s intent in creating Halsea is to develop a women’s line that is truly Californian, inspired not by…

We travel, oh yes we do! This past year has been CRAZY. We are not jet setters by any stretch of the imagination (but imagine the fun jet setting could be! I’m sure everyone else is envisioning glamorous and exotic locations, while I’m just dreaming of a private plane with no security lines or small public bathrooms to change diapers. Oh the joy!!!)

OK, back to real life…

We’ve had quite a few family events and obligations that we needed to attend in the past 8 months…enter A LOT of airplanes. I think we are somewhere around 17 or 18 planes now…