A Weekend Away with Cloth Diapers

This past weekend we took a little trip to Chicago, well the suburbs of Chicago anyhow.   I decided I wanted to take cloth diapers with us as a trial run for our vacation this summer. I packed our Flip diaper system along with stay dry and disposable inserts.  We were only going to be gone for one night, we left at 8am Saturday and returned Sunday evening, so I figure this was our best option.

 Here's what I packed in the diaper bag:
    ---2 Flip covers
    ---6 Stay Dry Inserts
    ---6 Disposable inserts
    ---1 Geffen Baby Jersey fleece prefold (for overnight)
    ---A few emergency disposables, just in case!
    ---Two medium wetbags

Overall, it went very well.  On the car ride up, I put Jonathan in a BumGenius Freetime with two added cotton doublers.  He fell asleep for the entire 3 1/2 hour drive, including a pit stop for us to potty, so I'm glad I opted for the extra doublers! His pants were dry, but the diaper was soaked when we got to our destination.  From this point on, we used the flip system almost exclusively!

The stay dry inserts worked well for us the entire trip, except when we had a poop incident. Jonathan had a bowel movement, but no one knew he did. He crawled around, walked, fell down, etc., which meant the poop got on the cover, not just the insert. No big deal! I just hand washed the cover in the bathroom sink and hung it to dry. I rinsed the dirty insert and put in the wet bag to deal with when we got home.  We continued using the Flip system even for bedtime. I pad folded the prefold and put it in the cover and thought we were set for the night. I didn't take into account that Jonathan would wake up every 2 hours that night and drink a total of 20 oz during the night either.  At 4:30am I woke to a wet baby. When I unsnapped the cover, urine literally ran out of the cover onto my legs, bed, and hands! I forgot to add a hemp doubler like we usually do at home, so this was really my own fault.

::Enter a disposable::  I put on a disposable, until I could get this cover rinsed and dry also.

In the morning, I put the flip cover back on with the disposable inserts. I was leery of what would happen when I front carried him that day while we shopped, but there was no need for it! He stayed dry and all the messes were contained.  We used the disposables while we shopped, had lunch, and even on the way home with no problems!

The only problem I ran into was I should have packed more covers. Again, my mistake, not the diaper's fault.  I was very pleased with our weekend away with cloth, and really hope to use cloth when we are gone for 8 days this summer!

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October Vacation...Part 2!

After a fun day one and two, we decided to try somewhere new again on Saturday. Our adventure? Wet-n-Wild Waterpark.

Lil guy loves water parks. I think that child has no fear! He loved the tall "family" slides the most. There was one that we rode six times! Unfortunately I dont have any pictures from the park because it's hard to carry a camera or cell phone in a swimsuit.

After the waterpark, we went back to our hotel and ended up going down to the pool to swim. (I think my child is a fish!)

Sunday was our last full day in Florida, and per little mans request, we went back to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. We enjoyed it even more that day. Lines we super short, and the weather was nice. That evening we did something super fun and once in a lifetime (at least for us Midwest dwellers). We took our son to watch a space rocket launch at the Kennedy Space Center. I will post a whole other blog about this because it was amazing!

The next day, we got up had lunch and had to head back to cold Illinois :( We had a great time in Florida, and can't wait to go back as a family of four!

Here's some more pictures from the last couple days of our trip.

Don't feed me to Jaws daddy!

Pouting about having to leave the dino center

Our October Vacation...Part One

A couple weeks ago we took our son to his favorite place...Florida. We love taking him there and seeing how excited he gets when we go to new places or even favorite old places. Our first day there was a first for us all. After getting in our rental 2012 Ford Mustang Convertible, we went to Universal Studios Orlando.  The lines were short and C could ride almost everything there! He loved it. He was super excited and surprised whenever we rounded the first corner at the park and found Diego, Dora, Boots, and the Bobos Brothers dancing in the street!

The next day, we headed down to our favorite spot for sun, sand, and water, Cocoa Beach! We visited Ron Jon Surf Shop, Cocoa Beach Surf Company, and headed to the sand. Carson loved splashing in the waves and digging in the sand making sand castles. We also wrote a message in the sand to share our news of a new family addition :) The weather was beautiful and we all had a great time at the beach.

Here's some pictures of our first 2 days in Florida :)

Meeting Diego!

He loved the Jurassic Park Dino Discovery Center.



Laying in the waves :)



Mommy & daddy at the beach!

Our annoucement :)

 Stay tuned for part 2 next week!

*Wordless Wednesday*

Paradise! Isla Pasion, Cozumel

Go Cubs Go!

Saturday was a very special day for our little man. He got to take his first trip to a Chicago Cubs game! It's like a rite of passage in my family. For as long as I can remember, my dad has been a die hard Cubs fan. He grew up in the Chicago area, so naturally he loves all Chicago teams. We live right in the middle of the state...2.5 hours from St. Louis and the Cardinals, and 3 hours from Chicago and the Cubs (or White Sox *yuck*). No way would we be Cardinal fans! I can still remember going to a game almost every summer when I was growing up. It was a special treat and was so fun! So what better for a lil man's first Cubs game than a Cubs vs. Cardinals game?!  Papa and MeMe took us to the game since daddy had to work all weekend again :( Despite the heat, we had a ball, and lil man even enjoyed the game. It was even better that the Cubs won and beat those "stinky cardinals" as C calls them. C even sang the traditional win song, "Go Cubs Go"at the end. To top off his day, he got to go to the each on Lake Michigan and play in the waves! Here's some photos from what little Cdude was calling "the best day ever".

Welcome to "the Friendly Confines" of Wrigley Field!

Yes that's nachos...in a helmet!

Peanut (shell) finger will get you!

After 5 attempts, and him being a jokester, this is the best I could get :-P

Catch me waves!

Our Saturday Fun

Yesterday we drove 3 1/2 hours, 205 miles,  to Rockford Airport. Why? For AirFest 2012...A huge airshow that my husband thought our son just HAD to go see. We got there around 10:20, which should be fine since the air displays didn't start until 11 right? Wrong! We waited 15 minutes to reach a parking lot, then waited another 30-40 in line for tickets to get in the gate, then 10 to get in the gate. Luckily, I had brought the stroller for Carson. He's 4, so he was not going to walk all day, and I sure wasn't carrying him all day either! He just chilled in his stroller while we stood on the hot asphalt, lol. Anyhow, we did see the first acts (for the most part) from the line. Once we were in, Carson was enthralled in it all. He loved the 9/11 Firetruck display, and of course, the dozens of airplanes that we could walk through. His favorite thing of the whole day was a tie between the jet powered school bus, and the Mig 17 fighter jet that "deployed bombs". He thought the bus out running a plane was hilarious. The "bomb" explosions made his eyes the widest I've ever seen them. He loved it! We stood and watched displays in the air throughout the day, then around 4pm it was time for the headliners....The US Air Force Thunderbirds.....WOW is all I can say! The things those pilots do are amazing. They are also VERY loud. I held Carson's ears for their performance and half way through it, he fell asleep! How does someone fall asleep during jets flying over at over 500mph?!? All in all, it was a great day with lots of sunshine and smiles. Enjoy our pictures from our day!

Inside a Cargo Plane

Captain Carson Preparing for Takeoff!

AirForce Thunderbirds (hard to get a good pic!)

The Bucket List

So the past few days I've been thinking a lot about the things I want to do in life. The things that aren't necessarily "common" or "usual" or "expected" to do, but the things I want to accomplish, see, or do. I decided to come up with a list of things I want to do before I am 50. That gives me ~22 years to accomplish it. So here's the list, in no particular order.

My Bucket List

1. Visit Europe
2. Travel to Hawaii
3. Get my bachelor's degree
4. Learn how to drive a motorcycle
5. Ride in a helicopter
6. Meet a celebrity
7. Go to Ground Zero in NYC
8. Become a community leader
9. Have a second child (this one is still up in the air)
10. Make a difference in a child's life (that is not my child)
11. Trace my family roots back as far as possible
12. See my son graduate high school, college, and get married
13. Compete in a triathlon
14. Run a 5k
15. Ride a "Tour for the Cure" race
16. Teach my child about his family members that have passed before his time
17. Fly in the cockpit of an airplane
18. Sky dive
19. Swim with the dolphins
20. Buy a bigger house
21. Get my master's degree
22. Become a certified CPR instructor
23. Plant my own garden (and actually have it grow!)
24. See the Grand Canyon
25. See the Las Vegas Strip
26. Visit Australia
27. Organize a community group
28. Visit Alaska
29. Travel to the Virgin Islands
30. Take my child to Walt Disney World

I will be adding to the list as more things come along, and updating as I can cross things off also.