So we decided to take our first trip now that we are now 4…

Top of Whistler Mountain

We started with something easy.  A 2 – 2 1/2 hour drive up to Whistler, a place we know well.  We headed up on a Friday (3 weeks ago mind you) and made our usual stop in West Van at the Whole Foods for lunch.  The one thing I miss — well used to miss about living in the US–we have 2 now here in Vancouver.

Stella and Sebby slept for a good portion of the ride up there which was nice.  We hit the pool and then went for burgers that night and then came back to the hotel for dessert and a drink. Stella was wired until about 11 pm after a very large scoop of ice cream and fudge brownie…she rarely gets sweets/sugar and usually never at night…it was actually quite funny as it was like she was on drugs!

We had upgraded to a one-bedroom suite in hopes that we all got some sleep.  It was likely a wise choice but I’m thinking we might have been able to do it the old fashioned way with us all piled into one room.

Saturday we hit some open houses to check out what we could afford in Whistler as we always have this little dream when we are there that maybe we could live in Whistler some day.  It’s just so nice up there and the children would really have a nice life being outdoors all the time.  We hit a BBQ festival and had dinner with some friends who were also up in Whistler that evening.

Sunday we went up Whistler mountain and checked out the new Peak to Peak chair lift over to Blackcomb; hit the weekly farmer’s market (if you are in Whistler in the summer I highly recommend it, it’s huge and very good…but pricey); the BBQ festival again and then a late lunch and patio drinks…after that we were off for a long nap followed by a dip in the pool and pizza in our rooms.

Hanging out on Our Porch

Justin headed out to hear a Led Zeppelin cover band with a friend…

On Monday we took a nice long walk around Lost Lake and drove up the Callaghan Valley to see the site of the Nordic events for the 2010 Olympics.  Very cool!

Overall a nice first get away.

Some hotel reviews:

We stayed at the Westin Whistler.  It was a nice property (although the room keys KEPT getting erased and we had to have them re-keyed at least 4 times…a pain with 2 children and a stroller).  It is a great location but there seemed to be too many “rules” for the “deal” we got for staying there. 

On to some other updates…we have our house on the market and hopefully will get an offer soon.  Plans are TBD but a lot of options at this point…could be another “skidaddle” coming up soon if we can muster the courage to do it with 2 now.

It’s been 5 long days of non-stop information overload and learning at the Dan Kennedy Information Summit.  A room full of 900+ information marketers.  We learned a ton but now to really try to find the time to do something with it.

I continue to struggle to be a good mom, wife and entrepreneur… times like these (that is, incredible learning and networking opportunities) I realize how hard it really is to balance it all and do them all well.

Thankfully, my ever social husband, handled all of the networking for us.  Being pregnant did not really allow me much energy for socializing after the events ended each night around 8/9 pm.  And, Stella needed a little mommy time (and mommy needed a little Stella time) each night.

Granddad and Stella

We were blessed to have Justin’s Dad here to help us out.  His girlfriend Teresa also came for a few days and helped spoil Stella rotten.  They made her fresh hand squeezed orange juice each day…need I say more.

I have been to St. Louis several times when I worked for Senator Bond from Missouri but this time I actually got to see the Arch, it was beautiful and we were lucky to have gorgeous and warm weather the day we checked it out.  The downtown area continues to be a ghost town which is quite sad considering that it seems to hold a lot of potential.

The St. Louis Arch

The travel is beginning to wear on us a bit but we were lucky and had a suite for the week here in St. Louis – which is one of my baby travel tips I’ll share with all you families out there.  When you check into your hotel, ALWAYS ask if they have a bigger room.  Quite often you will get a free upgrade.  We actually didn’t even ask in England and got a bigger room as they said we’d be more comfortable with the crib if we had a bigger room.  It never hurts to ask.

If I’ve learned one thing while traveling, overall, you get a lot of free upgrades, pass the line, etc. when you have a baby.  It’s a nice perk given how exhausting travel can be sometimes, especially with children.

Another tip is during cold weather months, is to be sure to bring a large carry-on bag to put all your coats in.  On our flight over from England, the bag I had only had room enough for Justin’s light coat and Stella’s so I just put mine in the overhead.  Well, 8 hours later and exhausted, I left mine on the plane…never to be seen again.  And it was new…nothing special but a bit chilly without it.  I’d actually recommend tucking a lightweight collapsible bag inside of your carry on that you can pull out after you get through security, etc. to store all the coats.

We are off to Pittsburgh in the morning to visit Seth and Jen Holst and their 2 little boys as well as Chris and Stacy Dee and their 2 boys.  We haven’t seen them in ages and we are looking forward to our visit!

Fried Chix, Ribs, Cornbread, Collard Greens...and more YUM

As we finish up our last full day here in Atlanta thought I’d give a shout out to the South.

We’ve had quite a weekend of intensive working and networking…and eatin’ of some yummy southern food.  Now I realize why I was a bit “chubby” when I lived in the South…

The conference has been really educational and we’ve met some great people.

Stephanie Bacak hosts Women's Luncheon at Marketing Madness

Matt’s wife Stephanie even put on a special luncheon for the women at the conference.  As in almost all other industries, Internet Marketing is full of men.  It was a nice networking opportunity for just the ladies.

Stella has been well looked after the last few days.  Her Paw-Paw has really enjoyed spending time with her and we have been fortunate to know she’s in good hands.  I even got back home last night from a networking dinner to find that he had put her down sound asleep and she’d finally eating a full meal.

Stella and Paw Paw in the ATL

My father “the male Mary Poppins!”

Many people have asked how to deal with jet-lag and a tired baby when you travel.  I think it’s time to share some of my Hotel Tips and techniques as they play a big part into dealing with the tired cranky baby.  (Note:  Stella was not affected by the 3 hour time change until Day 3.  She seems to have recovered and it only really lasted for one day).

So now onto why “y’all need to listen up!”

Hotel Tips:

First, you don’t need to bring “everything but the kitchen sink” to a hotel when you bring your baby.  (Contrary to some other’s recommendations you may find on the internet…thanks Kat for forwarding this on… http://mightyjunior.com/features/traveling-with-kids).

Things You DON’T Need to Bring

1.  Pack and Play (travel cot, etc.)
All hotels (at least the ones I’ve been to) provide a crib.  Now I know some of you worried parents are going to say, but is it safe?  In my opinion the cribs are fine.  These days with all the news about recalls, etc. can we really be sure anything is safe?  I usually check that the crib is secure, clean and no sharp edges.  And of course no broken slats or bolts.  But what hotel would even give you a crib that wasn’t safe?  There are way too many lawsuits these days for a hotel to give you a faulty product.

The cribs aren’t beautiful but they are standard issue hotel cribs.  The one you will get will look like this one

Standard Issue Hotel Crib

that we recently used at the Sheraton Gateway Airport Hotel in Atlanta.  Some hotels provide fitted sheets but most will have a crib cover and provide you with hotel sheets to cover the mattress yourself.

2.  High Chair

Hotel High Chair

Every hotel has a restaurant and therefore has a high chair (even in the most boutique of hotels catering to singles ex.  W Hotel in Seattle…more on that in my Hotel Reviews).  If you need to feed baby while you are at the hotel these work just fine.

3.  Blankets, pillow, etc.  If your baby is small then you will want to bring along an appropriate blanket but once your baby is past the SIDs scare time then a hotel blanket will likley suffice.  Of course Stella has her blankies so they come along with us.

NOTE:  Be sure to ask and reserve a high chair and crib when you book your hotel.

What to Bring (that you may not have thought of):

1.  Dish detergent to wash out sippy cups, snack cups, bottles, breast pumps, etc.

2.  Ziplock bags for leftovers that you can feed baby the next day

3.  Swiss Army Knife:  for anything and everything but useful to cut up fruit, etc. for baby

TIPS:

1.  Ever wondered how to keep your baby asleep while you are in the hotel room?  I came up with this little trick when we were recently staying in a hotel with Stella.

When I check in to the hotel and reconfirm my crib and high chair I also ask for an extra flat sheet.

How To Keep Baby Asleep in a Hotel Romo

Once I get Stella down to sleep in her crib I drape the sheet over the crib to keep light, drafts and sound from waking her.  It seems to work quite well (especially if I can get her almost asleep before I put her down).  But as she’s getting older she’s learned how to pull it down when she’s awake…So we’ll see how long this works but it’s great for small babies.

2.  Once baby is asleep then what do you do?  You can’t really watch TV unless you have a deep sleeper.  If you have a lap top it’s a great distractor.  Also, you can download movies and watch them with headphones.

For Reading in the Dark

One of my favorites is a book owl that my Dad gave me.  We are able to read and not disturb Stella while she sleeps.

These are just a few of my tips for making life easier when staying in a hotel with a baby.  Stay tuned for more.

Tomorrow we are off to England.  We fly out of Atlanta at 2pm and have a long lay-over in Philadelphia so we are going for dinner with our friends Chad and Kathy and meet their new little girl Addy.  We are very excited to see them as we only get to see them a few times a year (if that) and of course meet their new baby.