Moms of Toddlers, Save Your Back!

As most of you know by now from earlier posts, I am a Mom, but my kids are way past the toddler phase...13 years old and 9 years old...wow, how the years fly...

Also, you may remember that I take care of a little one that just turned one year old this month, which puts me back into the "Toddler World" very quickly!

Mary Jane is her name and she has just gotten into the stage of wanting to walk around furniture, walk pushing her cart, and walk holding my fingers...but not ready to walk solo.

I may only be 5 foot tall, but that still means hunching over and letting this adorable one year old hold onto my fingers and walk endlessly around the house...we do laps, and my back hates me for it!

Ok, then I find this new product called Walking Wings!

You can find them at Babies R Us or purchase online. It's awesome!

This is how it works...
The child is basically placed in a very cushioned and comfortable harness that has straps above the shoulders that YOU can ADJUST to your own height and comfort.

You then hold the straps, instead of the little ones hands, and assist them in walking while YOU are in an upright position!

She loves it! Her hands are free to balance and explore and I am free from back pain!
A true win - win!

Blogging For Charity! Shrinkx Is In!

I came across this website called Hotels Combined that will donate $20 to one of the following charities if you make a mention in one of your blogs! Here is some good information as to who they are and how it works....

"Hotels Combined is a leading price comparison system used by over 25 million people every year. We aggregate and compare accommodation prices from all major sources such as Hotels.com, Travelocity.com, Priceline.com and many more. We are a free research tool helping users find the best priced accommodation option. If required, the reservation is made directly on the compared websites (Hotels.com, Travelocity.com, Priceline etc..)"

"Every time a new blogger mentions us we donate $20 to one of the selected charities (WWF, World Vision or Make-A-Wish Foundation). This way while promoting our service we help those truly in need."

To participate, and why not, just takes a couple minutes, just do the following: "Make a post or a comment about HotelsCombined.com on your blog. There are no rules or format of how to mention us – it’s absolutely up to you. We will donate funds as long as you’ve mentioned HotelsCombined.com on any page of your blog."

For final details:
check out http://www.hotelscombined.com/Charity.aspx and on your next post, blog for charity!

The Family Road Trip...A Must Try For All!

Every year we embark on a summer road trip with the kids to Vail, Colorado! The drive is a total of 17 hours. We cover 12 hours the first day and then tackle the last 5 hours on day two...piece of cake on day two!

When we first started taking this trip 5 years ago we didn't know what was in store for us. The kids were 9 and 4 1/2 and it was uncharted territory for us.

What was so shocking...and still is, is that both kids still say that this is their favorite trip of every year, and that the DRIVE is a big part of that! Wow! Who knew that could even be possible!

It doesn't hurt that we stay with the cousins when we get there, which always means HUGE fun all the time!! They just love being together.

We raft, we hike, ride bikes, rock climb...you name it and the kids are up for it. They don't really seem to care what we end up doing, just that we all do it together. Priceless memories.

And for the driving part of the adventure, we have established little traditions along the way. Traditions that though they are small, we can never deviate from now...they are in stone!

For example, on day one we make camp in Trinidad, CO, and have dinner at an Italian Restaurant that not only has fabulous food, but the entire staff sings....even the buss boys! It's awesome! On the way back home we always stop at the Big Texan in Amarillo for dinner, completely different atmosphere but another warm fuzzy because of the familiarity....another must each year.

I guess what it all comes down to is the slower pace, the long stretch of time together without interruption, and more family to greet us once we arrive.

For us, it's a little slice of heaven in a sometimes chaotic world.

And I think all of us could probably use a dose of "simpler times," a slower pace, and more importantly the opportunity to create priceless time together.

Road trips a family must. Or at least, a must try!