Ricketts on the Go: Road tripping to the Midwest

We are just weeks away from our first official family road trip *queue confetti* we are really excited (except the 1-year-old but he just rolls with it). I have discovered that with this family of 5 it’s very easy to forget things {just leaving the house for a moment} so we want to make sure we are prepared.

I want to thank blogger The Art of Being Fabulous for the Make your trip smoother by doing these things before you go, (the post was geared towards traveling abroad by air but much of the things can be applied to our travel). Here is my checklist for our upcoming travel.

Ready

What’s the weather? ever since friends of ours took their family on a road trip and said it rained most of their long drive, my husband(Doc) has been worried about driving in torrential downpours the whole way {that would sSUCK} but what can we do… the dates are set but this checklist is about preparation, at least we will know what to prepare for.

Documents good to go? its domestic travel so we don’t need passports but there are a few things we can’t leave home without like Drivers license (can’t drive across 5 states without it), up to date insurance card and registration (just in case my lead foot causes that awkward conversation “do you know why I pulled you over”), {must get}AAA membership, as well as, health insurance cards for all.

Performed a thorough vehicle safety check? {super} important, probably more important than did I pack toothbrushes for everyone. This is the hubs department and he takes extra care in it. Making sure oil is changed and fluids topped off, new wiper blades, brakes are checked, and that there is a full size spare [ no donut in the car unless edible]…oh and how could I forget E-Zpass {greatest travel item since TomTom}.(not a paid spokesperson for TomTom or any GPS device, though we love Waze)

Set

Checked accounts? well, I mean definitely have to make sure there is plenty of money in there for travel but I mean calling the bank and letting them know we will be traveling across several states. There is nothing worst{embarrassing} than having money and your card is declined — because the back flagged it as fraudulent activity. While we appreciate the bank’s due diligence to prevent a disaster can’t have us stalled; no seriously can’t be at the gas station unable to get gas{gasp}.

Laws? some states have different laws but one stands across most ‘Click it or Ticket’ but there are some that are unfamiliar to other’s like noise violations (playing music too loud), obstruction of view (i.e. in Illinois its illegal to have any obstruction hanging from your rear view mirror), headlights on when wipers are on, headlights on in construction zone, change lanes when a cop is pulled over on the shoulder of the road, etc.

Best way to travel over 22 hours is to break it up with stops.

Itinerary? have to have a plan and a bit of a schedule, yes, it’s family vacation but aside from heading west we have to have direction. Even if we don’t stick to it we can use it as a guideline and help with time management. Especially when trying to get to a certain state, city, or destination.

Where to stay? we are blessed to have family that we will be staying with majority of our trip but there may be a couples nights we will crash in Chicago so we will need to find a crash pad –be it couch surfing with friends, Airbnb, or a hotel [Lifestyle Blogger/Travelista Simply Sheena suggests Priceline – express deals or an app called Hotel Tonight to find great deals on hotel stays.]

Go!

Once we have the itinerary up and running we will share. Please feel free to share places or spaces we should visit on our trip from Eastern, PA to Kansas City, MO.

Traveling with Babe(s): Part 2

We are doing it…we are taking the plunge and traveling as a family of 5 well technically 11 but our Rickettedly Awesome crew will be gracing the friendly skies with our presence!

WE ARE…doing DISNEY!

Back in part 1 of Traveling with Baby we had a tender infant he ate, smiled, pooped and held tight to his favorite stuffed toy…now we have a mobile 9 almost 10 month old who enjoys putting everything in his mouth, pulling any hair he can get a hold of and flinging things as hard and as far as he can <HELP> well thank goodness it’s a straight 2 hour flight and he still loves the milk from tap. But the struggle is what to pack and I can’t lie it arouses a bit of anxiety so here is my list so far…

NECESSITIES

1. Bought a new baby carrier by Brighter Elements with a toddler seat. Now we know I love my k’tan but it doesn’t provide enough comfort for me in the neck and shoulder region so this carrier is a little more for longer wear and also anyone can connect and carry babe, so I can truly be hands-off free!(click product name to go to site)

2. Double stroller (we decided to buy a Kolcraft Cloud Double Umbrella Stroller folds up for easier handling during travel click product name to be taken to the site)

3. Since we can’t bring the highchair we have purchased a Chair Belt Baby Chair Harness– such a nifty invention that I’m sure some wonderful mom (or dad) invented spur of moment with like a shirt or fabric in order to get their little one to sit safely in a chair–well I thank them. This folds right up and fits in the bag and fits almost any chair. (Click product name to be taken to the site)

4. Car seats we have decided that since the airline doesn’t charge us to check carseat we will just bag them and bring them along instead of paying $50-$100 to rent with our rental car.

FOOD and DRINK

3. Trusty breast pump, saver bags and bottles (2)

4. Baby Bullet- everything in me is saying just go buy baby food but that feeling in my gut is saying stick to what you know and hasn’t been recalled- homemade baby food! we are cooking while down there so he will get the same.

Hmm, am I forgetting anything?? Oh yes, I’ve decided to pack a few diapers in the diaper bag and purchase a pack of diapers when we get down there that way we are cutting down on the bulk of having to pack over 60 diapers. Thus leaving more room for clothes. 

 

Traveled with Baby pt.1

It’s was the night before travel and all through the house last minute packing was done by both me and my spouse. Our 4 month old looked on as I kept asking… “What am I forgetting?” He smiled and coo’d and gave us a great #2 all that aside I realized… this is a fun age to travel with babe. He drinks from the tap so no bottles needed and the rest is quite simple.

1. Diapers(necessary though we can buy anywhere if we didn’t pack enough)
2. Wipes (keep them handy)
3. Most important: baby wrap for baby wearing with ease K’tan is my favorite (click product name to be directed to website)
4. Onesies, sleepers, dress outfit and crib shoes
5. Receiving blanket and a couple cloth diapers for wiping drool, spit up and things like that.
6. Warm blanket
7. Couple hats
8. Pacifier and favorite stuffed animal
9. Snack with almonds(for me my fave nursing snack!)

Since I baby wear there is no need to bring a stroller and we decided to rent a carseat since we were getting a rental car– so those two things alone made for a nice weekend trip with no bulky items.

Now I’ve traveled with my two oldest before and aside from a trip out of the country requiring a passport I’ve never had to show anything for the infant on lap. During the night before preparation, my husband asked if I should bring DR3’s birth certificate and I said I never had to before (I’m so against a carrying the children’s important documents if I don’t need to) fast forward to the next morning, day of travel. Parked, strapped in baby, hopped on shuttle to the airport, arrive at the Southwest Air counter and the attendant asks us for a birth certificate, shot records or baby’s insurance card (naturally my husband gives me the look). I provided the baby’s health insurance card. Now the attendant explained the reason for asking is a regulation to help cut down on child trafficking/kidnapping. I appreciate the precaution and decided to pass the information along to my readers. My husband says walking away I told ya…I said no, you asked me. If you would have said to me bring it just in case or told me our friend who works for southwest stated we should bring it then I would have but the insurance card worked as well.

We got to our gate and our baby was just as alert as he wanted to be smiling at all he encountered getting all the attention-ooohs and awws. We boarded when they announced family boarding was a fairly empty flight so we had the row to ourselves. Before flight I was required to remove baby from carrier or detach as the flight attendant stated.

I put our little guy to boob and he nursed during takeoff (I do that to not only get baby to sleep but to also help with ears popping). He went fast to sleep and I put his paci in his mouth to be sure that his ears would equalize during the flight–I don’t know about you but my ears don’t only pop during takeoff and landing but often during flight as well. So since baby has no idea how to equalize we go with the swallowing method[it activates the muscles that open tube] Medical professionals advise not letting baby sleep during descent but I either breastfeed or tug on the Pacifier during descent and that causes baby to start sucking on the paci thus triggering the swallowing that helps equalize pressure and allows baby to stay asleep peacefully – makes for a nice quiet flight for baby, parents and those on board. He did fantastic. And received a lot of compliments on being a well behaved [quiet] baby traveler.
Repeat that for 2 more flights [yup, you read right] we had a layover and so we took another flight which had a stop we didn’t get off but other passengers got on so we flew the friendly skies and landed 3 times that day and our little guy was fantastic. No fuss, a bit of chatter, easy to change on the changing table in plane bathroom, a lot of smiling and oodles of sleep!

Recap: If traveling domestically with children bring either their Passport, Birth Certificate, Immunizations record or Health Insurance card.