I can’t believe it, but it is true…Justin found my blankie at his Mom’s house!

Will be a very relaxing drift off to sleep tonight…I’ve never felt more relieved!

For those who know me well or have ever lived with me know that I have a “blankie”…or rather had a “blankie.”

I’ve had my blankie since I was born.

I was brought home from the hospital with it.

I’ve slept with it every night minus the months I’ve gone traveling for extensive periods of time. And it never went away with me for a weekend or a week long trip (minus college where in some cases I had to take it with me to be protected from my roommates-you know who you are – Heather and Alison- who found it funny to “torture” blankie by hanging it outside and other bizarre things!).

But generally speaking, I’ve slept with it every night of my life.

It’s comforted me on the worst days of my life and relaxed me on the longest days. And all the days in between it just made me feel “good.”

Well blankie is gone. Vanished. Lost on our trip to San Diego…I’m heart broken. I’ve called every hotel we stayed. Justin’s Mom has searched her guest room countless times. I’m actually impressed at how understanding and thoughtful some of the hotels have been…even when I tell them, well, actually “it doesn’t really look like a blankie…it’s just some shreds of material…”

It’s been like losing someone close to you. I feel lost. I’m embarrassed to admit this but it is true.

My blankie held a ton of sentimental value to me. It wasn’t much more than a piece of tied together string (what was left of both my blankie and my mother’s blankie’s soft edges–I “inherited” my mother’s when she passed away five years ago–more on the shreds later)- Or better said by my good friend Katina when we were living together one college summer and it went missing after a big party…and I quote, “oh that, I thought it was something the cats drug in and threw it away.” Several hours later and after much digging in the apartment complex dumpster and trashbags, blankie was found and given a very good bath.

Blankie, to my knowledge only went missing one other time. It was several months after Justin and I had been dating. He used to think it was funny and would throw it around my room playing games at seeing what he could hit with it…ummm, not so understanding of my attachment. It went missing one day and I blamed him for months. It finally turned up when I moved out of my place. It had been wedged between my bed frame and the wall.

Now that it’s gone and after having to describe it to countless hotel staff, it got me thinking, why was blankie in shreds? Why was it merely a bunch of tied together edge pieces? What happened to the rest of it? Now that I’m a mother with a daughter who has a blankie and a “blankie attached little boy in training” I think I know why…my mother must have cut the blankie up so that if it went missing she had a spare bit to give me (I vividly remember stories being told of when I was 2 or so and had to have my tonsils removed and she got all the way to my grandmother’s to drop my brother off to be watched and then had to go all the way back home (45 mins) to get my blannkie). So eventually all the pieces must have gotten so worn out that she had to tie them together. I’m not sure about this theory but I’m guessing it’s a pretty good one.

So what does all this have to do with a blog about traveling with children? A lot.

You see when you travel (child or not) part of the excitement (or not) is being in an unknown place with unfamiliar tastes, sounds, sites, smells, etc. For an adult this can be very exhilarating (or unnerving for those who don’t like change or different things). For a 2 year old it can be quite disturbing. Bring a child’s blankie (or any “lovey” for that matter) along and that sense of comfort of home and familiarity is maintained. While we don’t let the children take their blankies out on everyday adventures (for fear of losing them), they are always with us on overnight trips anywhere.

Travel tip: if your child has a blankie or a lovey, don’t leave home without it if you are traveling. And I guess if you think it might get lost have a spare just in case. Or cut up the blankie into pieces so there’s several spares…

I’m fearful that blankie is in a landfill somewhere in California but hoping that maybe blankie will still turn up.

But for now R.I.P. BLANKIE, you will be missed…

We are finally here! After a very long 60+ days of moving, packing, unpacking, traveling, driving, flying and countless hotels and gracious family and friends who provided us a bed and a “place to call home” if even for a night, we are finally in our new house in San Diego.

We left Vancouver on December 31st with one goal in mind, don’t crumble and buy the portable DVD player…

We did it! It was sort of a personal thing for Justin and me. Everyone said, “you have to get a DVD player for Stella,” but for multiple reasons we didn’t want to do it. We agreed that if it got bad we’d pull over at the first Wal-Mart we could find along I-5 and buy a Dora Box Set along with a portable DVD player!

Even the fights over the radio (Stella wanting Dora or her “Music Together” CD’s and Justin wanting to listen to all things sports or 70′/80’s rock…I was happy with my magazine) weren’t so bad.

In all fairness we didn’t do any crazy driving days. We started out with a short trip to Seattle where we spent 2 nights and then broke the bulk of the trip up into 3-4 hour driving chunks. 3-4 hours in the morning, a break for lunch and 3-4 hours in the evening for 3 straight days. With a final stop in LA the day before we arrived in San Diego on January 5th.

Both Stella and Sebby did really well. I had a lot of toys and snacks and spent a bit of time in between the two of them reading books and singing songs. We even had a fun evening of making up new words to songs. I also spent a bit of time hovered over Sebby breastfeeding while Justin was driving…no easy task and quite amusing to the trucks passing by I’m sure…

Little Sebby also cut his first tooth on the trip!

My advice for anyone planning a long road trip…
1. Don’t plan any driving distance for more than 3-4 hours with out a significant break (we didn’t do any drive-thru lunches but actually went in and sat down). Everyone needs to stretch their legs and get some fresh air.
2. If we could we tried not to stop for 3-4 hours (note my breastfeeding gymnastics above) but did have the occasional potty break (for me…). I tried to get Stella and Sebby out at each of these 1.5 hour breaks but Stella didn’t want to get out usually.
3. Have tons of healthy snacks and variety…and don’t be afraid to let your toddler have a bit of candy…it’s a nice treat…but not too much or you’ll have a wild child in the back seat.
4. GPS! We don’t travel without it. We swear it “saved our marriage” on our last cross country trip!
5. Get plenty of sleep! I didn’t sleep in the car as I was usually pretty busy with the children and then when they slept it was nice to just chat with Justin or read a magazine, however, I was in bed when the children went to bed each night.
6. If you can get a little exercise in the evening after you arrive it really helps. This is one thing we didn’t get to do much but I think it would have made me feel a lot better over all.

Outside of Sebby’s new tooth the trip was pretty uneventful which was great given the chaotic and “bad luck” we’d had in December.

For all of our friends and family who have contemplated coming out to our new place in San Diego for a visit…don’t delay, book your ticket! This place is awesome. We only have it for 4 months so we’d love to share this time with as many of you as possible.

Sorry we don’t have any pictures to share…our camera broke just as our “bad luck December” started.

Stella just reminded me as we were brushing our teeth in a small Holiday Inn in Roseburg, OR that “Mommy, we are on another big adventure!”

Yes, life has been one big adventure since we sold and moved out of our house at the end of October.

In a time that I’ve had so much that I could have blogged about in regards to travel with a baby/children, I’ve had no time or to be honest…creative inspiration to write.

Since October 30th we have:

Moved out of our townhouse in Vancouver

Lived for a little less than a week at Justin’s Dad’s house while we were in “transition” before our trip back East

A night at my friend Katina’s house in Ashburn, VA

9 nights in State College, PA (at Justin’s alma mater, Penn State) so Justin could do some networking for a new business idea, met with our PSU intern and of course attended 2 football games and visited with friends. (Stella became “officially” potty trained here).

Back to Ashburn, VA for a night at Katina’s again to break up the drive/journey to my Dad’s and help her celebrate her B-Day and visit with some friends.

Then it was to my Dad’s in Salem, VA for American Thanksgiving a lot of quality time with my family (2 weeks). Stella transitioned to a “big girl bed” and Sebby started eating solids during these 2 weeks…

Back to Vancouver on Dec. 2 – 2 nights in a hotel before we moved into our new investment condo downtown…

We spent all of December in the new condo in downtown Vancouver getting it ready to rent out furnished. We loved living downtown but a 2 bedroom didn’t really suit a family of 4! But all the hardwork paid off and we already have an Olympic rental through March 4…

So here we are on our newest adventure, driving to San Diego where we are going to live for the next year or so.

We left Vancouver on December 31st to a tearful Grandad and Teresa and I have to say I was pretty sad myself.

We spent a quiet New Year’s Eve as a family in a hotel in Seattle (we saw the ball drop on the East Coast but were asleep before 10 pm…).

New Years Day was football all day with our friends Kate and Ash and then off to Oregon today…

We’ll be in San Diego by Jan. 5 when we move into our house on the beach. We are all getting really excited for some sun and stability…

I have a lot to say on travel (planes, trains and automobiles) but it’s late and my mommy duties call.

I will address all those questions about strollers, etc. just give me some time!

We are off to Sacramento tomorrow to have dinner with our friend Randy who is a Doctor there.

So life on the road with two is definitely more juggling and lugging.

But we continue to enjoy the thrill of the adventure!

Think I got my blog/tweets/FB all talking to each other correctly…sorry for the spam!