Universal Studios

After D awoke from her post-Disney World nap, we headed over to Universal Studios' City Walk for dinner. The Universal Studios theme park was closed, but the restaurants around it were lit like Christmas. City Walk is a nice area because there aren't any cars. It was made to be touristy, so it was well thought-out.

This plane is another dramatic set to attract tourists. I think it was Jimmy Buffets Cheeseburger in Paradise Bar.

Palm trees and the sunset at City Walk.

B has to go to every hard Rock Cafe in every city he's in (he's one of those people) and so we did. His food was cold. Fortunately, I ordered a salad. To be fair, the service was pretty good.

Sunset at the Hard Rock Cafe, Orlando

D is a very independent eater these days, so our table was totally trashed by the time we finished. At least she ate, we drank (I had a Bahama Mama) and we had a good time. D is also very good at making friends.

Disney World

Like I tend to do with most things, I mapped and planned our route to and through Disney World.

In order to make the most of our precious three hours of happy toddler time, I pinpointed the exact rides that Dahlia could go on. The list was short, but with the lines, the ice cream stop and the insane heat, it all worked out. (This is me patting myself on the back and sighing in relief.)

Disney World... the land of Disney in Florida, is vast. I don't have the patience now, but I want to compare it to the state of Rhode Island. There are tons of Disney attractions on the Disney World property which are separated by highways. They have miles and miles of land in every direction. Disney knows how to direct the masses.

So we "entered" Disney World and then drove for another 20 minutes at 60mph, following signs to our park of choice, "Magic Kingdom". Then we parked the car and rode a tram to a monorail. Then we got on the monorail, which took us to the front gate of Magic Kingdom.

(Please excuse my minuscule photos. I have a hunch that Blogger's new Picasa has something to do with it. It's making all my photos the same, tiny size. Boo!)

Magic Kingdom decorated for Halloween

"Main Street USA" with Cinderella's Castle in the background

We walked directly through the castle and found the carousel. The line was super short and we only had to wait for the ride to go 3-4 times before it was our turn; Dahlia's first ride!

Standing in line for D's first ride.

Whee!

The ride spins three times and then it's over, just before everyone gets dizzy and falls off their horses. D figured the ride out quickly and was smiling in no time. It didn't hurt to have a nice breeze flowing through her angel-mullet.

Dumbo was next door to the carousel, so we hopped onto everyone's favorite flying elephant. D immediately reached for the knob that makes the car ascend and descend, but we left the aeronautics to Daddy.

Dumbo!

Did I mention the heat? Dang, it was hot. We stumbled over to an ice cream shop after skipping on $4 bottled water. If we're spending money, let's make the most of it!

Next, we hopped onto Winnie the Pooh's ride. It's a typical car ride, with the bar over the lap. It took us through a Pooh story and herky-jerkied us around on the track. Between the narrator, the moving car and the unfamiliar experience, Dahlia became scared toward the end, during the rainstorm. She looked at us for reassurance and we held her close. She didn't cry.

Winnie the Pooh is scary!

Pooh's toddler playground was nearby (20 steps away), so Dahlia ran around and played in the fountains. Dahlia also played in the fountains in Ariel's Grotto before she, Dahlia that is, (I would hate to mix up my Disney princesses and confuse you) turned into a pumpkin. Suddenly, D was just standing there watching all the other kids and I knew it was time to bolt.

Imagine the odds; a kid pulled the fire alarm in the women's bathroom, so I had to change D outside. With the fire alarm going off, me taking off D's beloved swimming suit and all the excitement, she had the inevitable Too Much Fun meltdown. Given the circumstances, I let her get away with only wearing a shirt, which I had to wrestle her to the ground to put on.

On our way out, we declined buying a ton of Disney paraphernalia and just got her an embroidered Minnie Mouse hat. Then we took the monorail, the tram and the car, back to our lodging.

It took around 45 seconds for her to conk out in the car on the way home.

Dahlia is a fun kid. She is getting very smart and I'll be darned if she's not already learning how to manipulate us... .
Here's her new, fake mug for the camera. Can you believe it? Momarazzi whips out the camera and she's ready! Sheesh!

Family Vacation, Visiting Cocoa Beach

Brett Higgins took us to Cracker Barrell this morning for breakfast.

I tried grits for the first time and think that they taste like my least favorite food in the universe, creamed corn. Cracker Barrell had the perfect breakfast, one of everything, ham, egg, sausage, baked & sugared apples, tasty bread and grits. We also drank a ton of sweet tea. Mmmm!

We stopped by the souvenir shops by Universal in search of some Grinch pajamas for Brett's niece. Since all the shops carry the exact same merchandise, they have HUGE Storefront displays to attract children that have a saved up allowance burning a hole in their pocket.

Junk Shop with Alien Display

Junk Shop with a Space Shuttle

After nap time, we drove 45 minutes east to Cocoa Beach.

On the boardwalk

Walking to the surf

Playing in the water!!

The water was very warm and the sand was sooo soft. Ahhh.

Surf Expo in Orlando 2008

After all the hullabaloo and my detailed trip preparations, I am relieved and happy to say that Dahlia did darn well on the flight from Seattle to Orlando.

Dahlia, Ready for Take-Off!

She didn't cry during take-off and she only got fussy when she was board after being confined to our two seats for four hours. I wanted to cry too. Thanks to a small library of new books and our new, much-loved DVD player, we survived. I want to kiss Elmo and smother him at the same time.

I ended up checking the car seat all the way through to Orlando instead of having D sit in it on the flight because:

1. The baggage guys don't take car seats to the gate which means that
2. I would have had to carry the heavy-ass car seat across SeaTac- no thank you
3. Despite all my research, I discovered that even if you purchase a ticket, kids under two are not required to be strapped down in a car seat. Ok, whatever, so good-bye car seat.

We arrived in Orlando and were BLASTED with temperatures in the 90's and crazy humidity. As a native Seattleite, I can tell you now, that I would melt if I lived here.

Dahlia just Cruisin'

We're staying in a condo in a residential development. It's very nice to have a home with bedrooms, a full kitchen a washer and dryer, a network cable (!) and soft carpeting. It's also directly adjacent to the convention center. It's what we call a "Vegas block" so it's a mile from door to door, but the're neighboring.

Since the condo is so light, we ended up putting D's pack and play (crib) in the master bathroom. It's dark in there, we're on Seattle time, and she's close to her favorite thing ever, the bathtub. The crib is from the condo rental managers. It's a little small, so it didn't take D much time to throw her leg over the side. Damn! She hasn't figured out that she can get out, but she would if she wanted to go "bye-bye".

We went to the last day of Surf Expo this morning. There was a little snafu with the badges for entering the trade show and while I could borrow a badge, D also needed a badge and so we couldn't get her in!!! Can you believe that? As Auntie Em just said on the phone, "What's she going to do? Smuggle in her binky?" And a guy in the Ronix booth said that maybe she'd drop bombs... in her diaper... Sigh.

We came to Orlando, to sit outside Surf Expo when everything B has been doing for the last year is on display inside.

I went in with B's longtime friend Brett Higgins and we walked around a while looking at all the booths for wakeboards, water skis, surfboards, kite boards, surf apparel, skull candy... anything surf or watersport related. Once we hit the Ronix booth, I said hi to Ashley and she asked about D and I asked... okay I begged her to go out and wrangle our active toddler, so B could show me his stuff. Thank you Ashley!!

So B showed me around and I took some shots.

Indoor Skate Ramp. The Orange Blob is a skater.

Ronix Wakeboard Badge with "Preston" on it. Preston is where the Ronix office is. Preston is a tiny, old logging town 45 minutes east of Seattle, WA. I thought it was funny that they made a badge out of it, but it totally works.

Here is the J Star pro team. They are either mad at me for taking their picture, or this is a picture of a picture.

Brett Higgins is in the center. The other two guys are from Denbol in The Netherlands. They distribute J Star wakeboards to stores in Europe. Hans is on the left and Sven is striking a pose.

This is what they do to kids who don't have badges.

Here is B in front of his Ronix "Dahlia" wakeboard.

NO, the name is not a coincidence and YES, the kid came first. (I wouldn't name my kid after sports equipment!)

Here is a shot of me with Emily Copeland

Emily is one of the top two female riders in wakeboarding in my humble.... She is also gorgeous and super nice. My other favorite female pro is Dallas Friday because she kills it and she has a cool name.

It's nap time. Shhh! Don't wake D up! It's the only way I get to write.

Now I'm going to chart our course to the grocery store for lunch. It's almost 2pm at home and almost 5pm here on the east coast. Then I'm going to map out this condo complex in search of a swimming pool for my little, angelfish and then I'm going to chart my course to Sea World for tomorrow's adventure. I should also check out the best way to get to Disney World. We're heading to see Mickey on Tuesday.

I'll post photos when I can!

Woo-hoo! It's sooooo nice to be away from home!!!!!!!

Preparing for Vacation

With all the shenanigans that the terrorists are pulling these days, as well as the flat-lined economy, the restrictions of air travel are increasingly obnoxious.

I can't take liquids out of Seatac Airport. I can't bring milk or water on the plane for my kid. Powdered milk it is.

My airline has cancelled complimentary meals, but they can be purchased on-board. Do I dare take the risk? Today I planned out Dahlia's three, flight friendly meals which means that they don't include liquid, they aren't sticky and they aren't going to leave crumbs all over the place.

I opted to make her a turkey sandwich with cheddar cheese on white. We had them for lunch today to give them a test run. I had to add tons of relish and Dijon to mine since it was so bland.

I also broke down and bought a hand held DVD player. It was around $130, but holds a charge for 6 hours. Since we have another 1 hour flight to the Bahamas and back to Orlando and our return flight from Orlando to Seattle and I'll be flying with D again in October, I'm looking at it as an investment. I got her a couple DVDs she hasn't seen before; Baby Einstein (cringe away, I previewed it this morning and it's mind-numbing) and Because of Winn-Dixie, a kid's book- turned-film about a dog that befriends people and brings them together.

I bought some $1 light weight, picture heavy books for D that she hasn't seen before, so that should keep her occupied too. I'm also crossing my fingers that she'll take a 2 hour nap.

Enough obsessing! I'm off!

Flying with a Toddler

We are preparing to embark on our first family vacation with our 18-month-old daughter, which includes a six hour flight from Seattle to Orlando.

I whined to all my friends who are parents, about the lack of information with regards to flying with a kid and from what I gleaned, it's "live and learn".

Today, I just started researching the best way to fly with Dahlia and found a great website, written by flight attendants and frequent travelers.

It's called, Flying with Kids, who knew?

Here are the Best Travel Tips from the flight attendant. She is very straight forward about the fact that the crew is too busy to help and waiting for a flight attendant to heat water or milk for a bottle is unrealistic. Parents must bring everything they need onto the flight and when things get crazy, "keep a lid on the blender".

Flying with Kids recommends a secured flight vest for children who do not have a ticket or seat. It costs $30. Despite One Step Ahead's product description which states that the vest "exceeds FAA standards" there seems to be some controversy. A child is not permitted to wear the vest during taxi, take off and landing. The vest received very positive product reviews, but overall, it was not recommended because no toddler is going to just sit on an airplane seat.

Children's Flight Vest

Since I'm traveling alone with Dahlia and we're meeting B in Orlando, we opted to buy her a seat. According to the airline, a child with a purchased seat, under age two is required to sit in a car seat. There should be some sort of air travel information on the bottom of our Britax car seat, but I couldn't find one on ours... Okaaay, now I suppose I'll figure out exactly what car seat I'm supposed to have.

Everyone is trying to sell me things, so it's tough to tell what's required and what's preying on my paranoia.

Here is another child restraint seat belt called C.A.R.E.S. It costs $75.

The Sunshine Kids Radian 80 Car Seat at Baby Earth has a 17 inch base and their brilliant marketing department points out that their seat "has a 17" base, which is smaller than most, and will fit most airplane seats. FAA approved for use in aircraft."

Our Britax base is 14 inches wide, so I guess it would fit, but I can't take the chance.

Let's check and see if United Airlines has anything to say on the subject. I could have, should have checked with them first, but why make things easy on myself?

Booking a seat for an infant on United Airlines

• One child less than 24 months of age may travel free within the U.S. when accompanied by an adult and not occupying a separate seat.


• You may use an approved infant car seat on board the aircraft when you purchase a seat for your child. The seat must be an FAA-approved child safety seat device.


• If manufactured after February 1985, the car seat should also be certified for use in aircraft. You should seat your child in the child safety seat for takeoff, landing and during turbulence.


• The FAA has approved the use of a child safety restraint system for travel. The system, named “CARES”, uses an additional belt and shoulder harness that goes around the back of the seat and attaches to the lap belt. Children weighing between 22 and 44lbs may use this device. More information is available at http://www.kidsflysafe.com/.


• The following child restraint devices may not be used on board the aircraft: booster seats, belly belts which attach to adult seat belts only, and vests or harnesses which hold the infant to the chest of the adult.

Strollers

• Strollers may be checked to your final destination without a fee, in addition to your free baggage allowance.


• Children can be transported in their stroller throughout the airport. However, strollers must be checked at the gate. The stroller will be delivered to you at the aircraft door upon request at your connecting city or destination.


• United highly recommends using an umbrella stroller when traveling. Umbrella strollers may be accommodated on board the aircraft when space permits in place of your carry-on bag.

My husband just informed me that we're not flying United, we're flying Alaska... so let's try this again!

Alaska Airlines on Traveling with Infants and Toddlers

Car Seats

• Infants traveling on a regular fare are strongly recommended to be secured in an appropriate child restraint system.


• Infants traveling as a lap infant (sharing seat with parent) may bring a child restraint seat on board if: 1) there is an empty seat available for the infant and 2) the car seat bears the following two required labels:

This restraint system conforms to all applicable federal motor vehicle safety conditions.
This restraint is certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft. (NOTE: Labels that indicate U.S. or Foreign Government approval or show the seat was manufactured under the standards of the United nations are also valid.)

• In addition to the standard CRS mentioned above, children between 22 to 44 pounds and 40 inches or less may use an Aircraft Safety Device for added security. Currently the CARES Restraint is an approved ACSD if it bears a label that reads: FAA APPROVED IN ACCORDANCE WITH14 CFR 21.302(d)


• Any other child booster seats and other types of child restraints may not be used during take-off, landing, and surface movements regardless of what stamp/seal of approval these booster or harness devices carry.

So, for me this means that I need to buy a car seat with the approved flight label.
I called the overpriced baby boutique that sold us the Britax, believing that they wouldn't carry or sell a car seat that wasn't FAA approved. Finally, success!

Amidst the fine print on the various labels behind the seat, one states, "This restraint is certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft." Aww man! I just noticed that it's in bright red too! Duh!

I'm feeling sheepish because the answer seemed so obvious and available, but when it comes to wasting time on my kid's safety, I'll waste away.

Now onto packing.

Dahlia will have her own carry on backpack. It's the Hello Kitty backpack that I used when I was a kid. It's made of canvas and somehow made it through all these years. I was saving it for my kid and here we are.

I'm packing it with lightweight and very tiny toys for D. Stickers, new books, finger puppets...

Flying with Kids also recommended the following;

• A DVD player if it's in the budget (I'm going to research it and consider it an investment since we'll hopefully be taking more trips from now on)


• Dry milk packets for Dahlia's bottle (Dry milk tastes gross! I can't imagine she would drink it, so I'll buy some today and try it out on her.)


• Food and snacks with eating utensils and a bowl


• Earplugs


• A Ziploc bag for dirty diapers (Hallelujah)


• An umbrella stroller (Our umbrella-ella-ella stroller seems flimsy, but I'll have to deal with it this trip.)


• Leash (They recommend this on almost every page of their site and I always swore I'd never leash my child. A creative friend of mine has her 2 year old wear a cute dog backpack and the "dog" on the backpack has a leash. Hello Kitty is getting a tether, let's just hope I don't have to use it much.

Here is a list of the stuff I have to pack:
My 1 suitcase (checked)
Baby's bag- will be inside my suitcase (checked)
The car seat (checked at the curb and transported to the Jetway for me, I desperately hope.)
The Stroller
The kid- hopefully in the stroller
My laptop bag (carry on)
The kid's carry on/ diaper bag- in the stroller
The kid's Hello Kitty backpack of toys and diversions- on the kid, or in the diaper bag

It's time to pack!

I'll blog my way to Orlando and then to Atlantis in the Bahamas. We'll be dodging hurricanes Ike and Hanna. Thunderstorms are predicted next week.

I love adverse weather conditions!