tips & tricks

I am a huge planner, especially for vacations. I like to plan them at least 3+ months out - planning our daily routines and starting my packing list. This was the first vacation I haven't had a checklist by my side when packing. Yes I started one, but then I said scratch that. This vacation, I had just under a month to get ready for so with a toddler turning 20 months I used pinterest to help me find activities to keep him busy. Mind you his first time flying he did AMAZING! 4 different planes and only cried at take off and landing - BUT - he was 12 months old, he is way more active now! Here are some of the things that I packed in our bag! 

1. board book - this specific board book has different animal textures to keep Mason busy - he absolutely loves this book at home - so I put it in his bag, however there was no need for this book, it never came out of our bag.

2. quiet book -  my plan was to make a 10 page quiet book but when my attempt at cutting felt with a cricut failed miserably the book ended up being 6 pages(velcro shapes to match, counting beads, zippers, a road to drive a car on, and mr. potato head) - this was a big hit for Mason, actually the only toy he played with, it kept him busy for over an hour!

3. new toy - I got him a new coloring set from Target's Dollar Isle, he loves to color so I thought this would be a huge hit, even if he doesn't stay in the lines he loves anything to do with TMNT! - this did not make it out of the bag though.

4. Melrose/Young Living Essential Oil - I was told by my dear friend Katie that his would help with flying, however with our short trip I wasn't able to order it so she let me borrow hers. This works amazing, I put it on myself and Mason so that it would help with our ears, let me tell you - this oil works!!

5. Velcro Popsicle Sticks - This idea I also got from my dear friend Katie, a great-easy activity for Mason to do on the plane that would be quiet. I was had so much fun getting this ready I knew he would love it. - however this as well did not make it out of the bag. He has had fun playing with them since we got home!

6. Lavender/Young Living Essential Oil - This is what we put on every night when we go to bed to help us sleep. The first flight we sat next to a flight attendant going to visit her mom, my thoughts - great, this lady already deals with screaming kids and now she may have to sit next to one. My thoughts were wrong, We had a 630pm flight which didn't leave until 720pm Mason had been up since 7am with only an hour nap so at about 830pm we rubbed some lavender on his feet, he cried a total of 7 minutes while trying to fall asleep- yes I timed it to see how long his crying would last. When we got off the plane that lady next to me said how amazing he did -coming from a flight attendant this would make any mom happy! On the flight home, he cried for a total of 12 minutes again trying to fall asleep. I'd say Mason is like his mom and loves to fly!

7.I-Spy Bag - This was a bag that I already had from years ago. I thought great quiet toy, but again Mason never even saw this toy!

8. Zantac - This is the only prescription that we still "use" - Matt has a huge fear of flying - he gets sick for days/weeks before a trip, has night mares and  just doesn't rest. He only takes this an hr before our flight departs but without this we would not be able to take vacations. We are working on testing some Young Living Essential Oils that will be just as effective but until then we keep this in the cupboard until our next trip.

9. Water Bottles -Not Pictured- Must have, empty your water bottle and put it in your bag to keep you and baby/toddler hydrated - water fountains all over the airport and they give you water on-board the plane!

10. Snacks -Not Pictured- although not all toys were played with, all snacks were gone by the time we got home! our snacks we packed were:
--> GoGo Squeez - applesauce on the go - Mason had never had these, he had applesauce before but he thought these were so awesome! - Big hit!
--> Mott's All Natural Fruit Snacks -  Mason loves fruit snacks and they were small and easy to deal with, no mess!
-->Veggie Straws - Mason also loves these and they were also something easy to pack, store and deal with!

Although I didn't have a plan for each day I knew three things we wanted to do and we were able to cross them all off our "list" - visit to the zoo, visit to the beach(aka.giant sand box) and a visit to a children's museum. Mason loved them all! We also all loved the 50degree weather on their "cold days" and the high 70degree weather on the nice days! 

Hope our 10 tricks and tips that helped us help you in your future travel!

Lots of "first"

As many of you know we went to PA to visit family a few weeks ago. Mason had his FIRST plane ride and did amazing! They only time he cried was when we were landing in Atlanta for our 25 min "layover". I quote it because our plane was late getting in, the stroller wasn't ready, and we had to RUN to get to our next gate(down a long hallway, down an elevator, on a tram and to our next gate, our only breathing point was on the tram!)

A little glimpse of what it looked like when we arrived at my parents house. In case you aren't sure what the first picture is, it's a light switch. Yes very old house but it is homey feeling. My parents were so excited they got all these toys out for Mason to play with! 

I have been to PA almost every year since I was born however I wanted to check out some new things! I pinterest some ideas before we left and came across this beautiful park "Ohiopyle State Park" Little did we know that our first point I wanted to see was over a mile hike..if you know PA it's NOT flat! Everyone was drenched with sweat by the time we got done(sorry too much info??) It was well worth it && so beautiful!! 

The next day we went to my cousins pool, and this was Mason's FIRST time swimming! He loved it! It was also great to see my dad in the pool with him having fun! That really put a smile on my face!! 

Mason is ONE! Where has the year gone!!?? Seem's like just yesterday we were going in for our 41 week ultra sound! 

He woke up with balloons(thanks to Auntie Nola for the idea!) We then all had our FIRST train ride to go around Horseshoe Curve! He also had his FIRST piece of cake at Hoss's and then back home for a birthday party at Nana & Papa -- he had his FIRST Gob(I will include the ingredients at the bottom of the blog post!) So grateful to be with our PA family for his birthday! 

We woke up on 4th of July and wanted to take Mason to meet the family that wasn't going to be with us. It was very emotion for myself as I had never seen where my grandpa was laid to rest, I never got closure with my grandma as I didn't get to go to her funeral and my aunt's life was cut short unexpectedly just months before our wedding. But after Mason had got to see them I spent some time alone talking(more like crying) with them. I know they were listening and they are watching down every day on us. Watching our family grow and we will have so many stories to share with Mason(and our future kids) about them! :)

Then we went to the Blough Family Reunion! It was awesome to see a lot of the Blough family! It has been years since I have been to a reunion and Mason sure did enjoy the attention! 

My Grandpa Saylor's birthday is also on the 4th so we celebrated that and then went to the fireworks in Johnstown! It was a great way to end our vacation! :)