Sasha's First Road Trip!

We just got back from an 8 day trip with 3 days driving with our little 3 month old. Let me tell you....it is not easy traveling with a little one, and being that I am exclusively pumping, that adds an extra layer of complication to the whole ordeal. But, it was a lot of fun.

The TLDR version:

- 5 days in Houston
- big party for Sasha
- didn't pack enough diapers
- bottle sterilizer broke
- super fun getting to meet up with friends and new babies
- 3 days in Austin
- baby's first wedding (and of course she woke up crying right when it started....sorry Nick and Tiffany!)
- one sleepy (but really good) baby

For the details and pictures, read on.

We took my little Corolla on this road trip because hubby's car is still "new" to us and we're keeping the mileage low in case we ever do want to sell it/trade for a minivan or something bigger. Believe it or not, we fit everything into my little car: a bouncer, a pack and play, a baby bathtub, bottle sterilizer, drying rack, her suitcase, my duffel, hubby's duffel and backpack, stroller caddy, diaper bag, extra diapers and wipes, boppy, and a small bottle of laundry detergent. I may have left off a few small things.

We are really good at tetris.

And of course, 30 minutes into the drive, I realize I'm missing the second bottle bag with the extra milk in it, so we turn around to go home and spend about 10 minutes looking for it. Because what actually happened was we were getting her ready (and trying to get her to finish a big bottle before driving) and it took forever so I had the milk packed in the bottle bag. Well, I put the bottle bag back into the fridge to keep it colder longer and then in the chaos of getting her and everything else loaded up, forgot to get it out of the fridge to bring. So of course when hubby did our "final walkthrough".... he didn't see it. Oops.

We still made it to Houston in good time which included a pitstop at Buc-ee's! Perfect timing because she pooped and needed to be changed. Usually we were able to both use the restroom and both finish about the same time. Not so with a baby. Hubby held baby and changing supplies while I went. Then I went back in with her to change while he went. We always thought the stuffed beavers were cute before, but they're even cuter when you have a little one!

Fist Bump

Fist bump?

Sasha was really good during her big party. There were tons of people and she got passed around pretty much the whole time she was awake. It really helped her nap schedule because she would go to sleep, wake up and eat, and then be passed around again for an hour. This happened about 3 times until the party ended and it was time for her to get ready for bed.

The star of the show also happens to be the tiniest.

This trip was extra special because it was also when we got to see some of our close friends for the first time in over a year! Since the last time we saw them, they had their baby boy who is now almost 10 months old and we had Sasha (who didn't even exist in cells yet!) It was so nice to be able to spend time with them, see their cute baby, Judah, and hang out together. Of course it was different than the last time we were able to see each other sans babies, but this is our new normal, and it's much cuter, more fun, and so worth it to be able to share the joys of raising babies even when we're many many states apart.

Mix and match mommies and babies.

To be honest we didn't do a whole lot in Houston. Besides the party and seeing our friends, we mostly spent our time staying at home with minimal trips out just to run quick errands or go shopping, like when Mommy doesn't pack enough diapers and we need to get some and pay twice what we normally do for diapers (oh well...). Hubby's parents moved across town recently, and I can totally see why. Getting to wake up in the morning to quiet breakfasts before baby woke up and winding down our days after she went to sleep to this view was so worth it:

After leaving Houston, we went to Austin for a wedding. Before the wedding, we had some time during the day and decided to explore UT campus with her. I don't think I'd ever enjoyed campus as much as I did walking through it pushing Sasha in her stroller. I did have to find all the wheelchair friendly entrances to push her easily, and when we didn't, we lifted the stroller over small flights of stairs. I have serious respect for those students who require wheelchairs to get around campus. Although the wheelchair accessibility is there, it is not easy to find!

The original plan was to have her awake during this visit so we could take some pictures while carrying her. We even put her in her UT onesie. Of course, she woke up later than usual, took a little longer to eat, and then fell asleep right when we got ready to leave. So you can't really see her pink UT onesie at all. Babies...I think they're much more keen than we give them credit for and know how to ruin all their parents plans, don't you think?

I think with the exception of my extra defined eye-baggies, I could totally pass for a college kid with a baby. I'm pretty sure I have a picture with a near identical expression from 6 years ago.

My oldest burnt orange tee with the youngest longhorn.

We visited my favorite (aka: most frequented) building on campus. Guess where!

Mommy used to live there, pre-renovation and all!

We were going to visit the SAC as well because I remember them putting in the filtered water fountains that you could refill water bottles with. Unfortunately, we visited on a Saturday morning and the SAC did not open until 12 during its summer hours on Saturdays. Fortunately, there was a water refill station outside the building...along with lots of new fountains. At least, I think they're new. If they're not, please humor me and let me think they're new.

Of course, when traveling with a baby (and scheduling everything around my pumping schedule), sometimes you just end up sitting in your expensive hotel for the afternoon and letting baby roll around on the bed. Which results in some pretty cute pictures:

Seriously. Where did you get all this cuteness from?

Staying at a hotel for the first time with a baby made me realize that to keep some of my sanity and to keep life relatively easy, I had to break the majority of the rules I learned growing up. As a child traveling with my family, my mother always told me, when staying at a hotel:

- First thing you do is to check the bedsheets to make sure they're clean.
- Don't ever walk around barefoot in the room.
- Try to minimize the number of things on the floor - keep them on chairs, tables, bed as much as possible.

Sorry mom, I definitely forgot to check the bedsheets until after we were all moved in and getting ready to sleep. (They were clean, thankfully.) I definitely walked around barefoot because when your baby is waking up 2x more than normal due to new surroundings and messed up schedules, it's just easier not to fumble with shoes, even slip ons. And we definitely put things all over the floor (except the baby!) because things are just better when you're not carrying them in your arms.

The wedding was fun. It definitely wasn't what we're used to - go to the wedding, sit and enjoy ceremony, socialize during cocktail hour, enjoy a four-course meal, dance, etc.

We still clean up pretty well.

It went something more like: go to the wedding, hope baby doesn't wake up, baby wakes up right when ceremony begins, whisk crying baby away, come back and sit while bouncing baby on shoulder for 15 minutes, feed baby, push baby around stroller to fall asleep during cocktail hour, baby falls asleep so you go in for the reception, baby wakes up immediately during reception because sudden loud noises like the microphone wake her up, baby stays up all through dinner, hubby cuts wifey's tenderloin so she can use one hand to hold pacifier in baby's mouth so it doesn't keep falling out and cause her to cry, take a few photos at the photobooth with friends you see once a year, stay as long as possible to finish dinner, leave and go home so baby can sleep because she's been awake for almost 4 hours straight which is 2.5 hours too long, drive home hoping baby falls asleep, baby doesn't fall asleep, starts wailing in the last 10 minutes of car ride (but thankfully stayed quiet for 25), baby falls asleep finally when you get back to hotel room.



I guess one perk of having a wide-awake baby at the end of the night was to snap a cute photo for their guest book:

Our family representative.

Am I glad we were able to get away for a week? Yes, most definitely yes. It was a great change of scenery for us compared to the simple day to day. And it was so nice not to worry about cooking or meal prepping. Would I do this again? Um...not any time soon. And if you're a mom and have breastfed before, you'll understand that exclusive pumping is almost harder than being able to breastfeed your baby and/or a mix of both. We definitely want to travel and take her places, but I think we'll wait until after she's one :)

The Perks of a Costco Membership - Part 2

I'm continuing my mini-series on Hawaii. If you missed the first part, you can read it here.

Now you might be thinking, what is the significance of Costco in Hawaii? Honestly, and generally speaking, nothing. However, in our specific case, it was huge.

Costco was our first stop in Maui after landing and getting our rental car. To our surprise (and glee), Costco and the airport are practically neighbors! We found a parking spot and our first stop was the food court.

Everything is infamously more expensive in Hawaii, but the food court prices at Costco are the same!

After grabbing our first meal in Maui, we proceeded to do some shopping at Costco to prep for our week long trip: a case of water (which we completely finished by the time we left!), a 5 lb bag of Cuties, and a pineapple. We weren't sure if Hawaii Costco was going to sell beef jerky at higher prices so we bought two bags in Plano and brought them over. Turns out the ones in Hawaii were slightly cheaper I think. Oh well, we didn't know. 

After buying pineapple in Hawaii, I don't think I can ever buy another pineapple elsewhere anymore. I had talked with one of my student's mom before we left and she had told me to beware of the fruit stands in Hawaii who try to rip you off. Her mother had taken a trip to Hawaii and paid $10 for a pineapple. When asked if it was any better than the pineapple in the continental U.S., she said it wasn't that different! I knew this going in and was prepared to forego my Hawaiian pineapple until I came across them at Costco: $2.50 for the most golden, ripe pineapple I've ever seen in my life.

Look at that golden color evenly distributed across the pineapple. I didn't even have to be picky - the ones in the pile all look like this! They're quite large, too. Probably twice the size of the ones I see in our local grocery stores.

In addition to being convenient to prep for a week in Hawaii with some 15+ miles of hiking across two days, our Costco membership saved us about $20 dollars. How did we do this? Costco gas.

We rented a car for the entire time were in Maui and did some preplanning. In my notes, I estimated that we were going to be driving 500 miles total. Assuming that our rental car had an 18 gallon tank and we'd get an average of 25 mpg, we would be using approximately a tank and a half of gas. Using $3.50 as the average gas price in Maui, we were projected to spend about $100 on gas for the week. I hope all my math teachers out there are proud of me for remembering how to apply my simple algebra skills into real life. :D 

It turned out that we drove about 580 miles for the week. We also did not average 25 mpg for the first 3-4 days because driving the Road to Hana only allows you to go a maximum of about 30 mph in certain places because of the tight hairpin turns. The majority of the road I think we were driving between 20-25. Luckily, we had a Costco membership, and gas was only $2.67! That's nearly a dollar savings per gallon compared to every single other gas station on the island. Our rental car ended up having an 18.5 tank capacity so that was a great estimate on my part. In the end, we spent less than $60.00 on gas for the entire week driving around the island. Huge savings for our entire trip!

I'm very thankful that we had our Costco membership for this trip. It was totally coincidental because we had no idea a year ago when we signed up for one that it would save us this much money. I also didn't think that Costco would be so conveniently located on the island to where driving by it is pretty easy when getting around. 

I will say this: the lines for gas are no better. Have patience. Lots of it.

Next time: Why I'm Glad This Trip Wasn't Our Honeymoon

Big Bend 2016

After Christmas this year, we were able to road trip out to West Texas and spend a few days at Big Bend National Park. It was my first time going and I had a lot of fun. I think I keep impressing Jonathan with my ability to eat saltines and pepperoni without complaining and go four days without a shower. Don't worry, I smelled wonderful and am healthy as ever. :)

Hubby planned the entire trip though since camping is his forte. I just willingly went along for the ride. I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Day One:

We woke up at 5 am and left the campsite at 5:45 am to drive all the way across the park to the other side to catch the sunrise at Santa Elena Canyon. We got there just after 7:30. I think we were close.

Santa Elena Canyon

Balanced Rock

Day Two:

The second day was our most heavily packed day. We set out for a 12 mile hike that hubby had planned. We woke up at 5 or 5:30, drove to the Basin, and then set out for our hike around 7:30 am. We reached the top around 10:50 am and got ready for lunch.

What a scenic view for lunch

After eating lunch and enjoying the view for a good hour or so, we started to go down. We realized we hiked up faster than anticipated so we thought we might add a 3 mile detour into our route and turn it into a 15 mile hike. After all, I had received hiking boots for Christmas as a gift from Jonathan, so why not put them to good use right?

Jonathan: "This jacket isn't very good for pictures."
Cathy: Well it's not the star. My shoes are. *cue pose*
Jonathan: You're awkward.
*2 minutes later*
Jonathan: Oh, that didn't turn out that bad.

Well, we got overly excited, started pushing forward, and then before we knew it, we were scrambling over giant boulders and walking next to a shallow creek of residual water. There was no trail in sight and I was pretty sure we weren't on the trail anymore. After blindly attempting to maneuver ourselves out of the now valley we got ourselves stuck in, we decided to turn around and go back the way we came to relocate the correct trail.

This took about a 10-15 minute detour for us having gotten lost, and I was not a super happy camper at this point. Secretly inside I was pretty set on just hiking the rest of the way down and not adding the extra 3 miles. Well, once we found the actual trail and were set back on it, we shortly came across a fork that connected to the longer trail on the other side of the rim. And walking down it was a young gentleman we had met at lunch named Jeff. So Jeff joined us for our hike the rest of the day. And yes, we did the extra 3 miles to hike to the highest point in the entire park, Emory Peak.

We made it! Not pictured: the steep stairs we had to climb up AND the tower of rocks we had to scramble over to get here.

If we hadn't run into Jeff on the way down, I don't think we would have done the extra 3 miles to this point, nor would we have met a pretty cool guy. We talked for about a good 3-4 hours for the rest of the afternoon hike and got to know each other pretty well for having just met as complete strangers. Actually, he probably knows us better than some of our friends we haven't talked to in 2-3 years or more.


Day Three:

The wind was horrible this day. We had a relaxing day planned and we couldn't even sit outside and relax on a bench because the wind was blowing and dirt/sand was being kicked up. We managed to get in one short hike but then drove home after, leaving a day earlier than anticipated.

People from Mexico row over in canoes and try to sell their wares. This happened all the time back in the day but since 2002 after 9/11, they are trying to limit the illegal crossings. They set them up in little places on hikes near borders in hopes that someone will leave some money and perhaps buy something. They are never physically at the site. 

The wind blew these bamboo to a 45 degree angle. Yes, bamboo is quite plentiful at Big Bend along the Rio Grande!

Across the river is Mexico!

There's a tiny colorful city in the back called Boquillas that you can actually cross over and visit. Had we prepared better, we would have probably remembered to bring our passports. ¡Estudió el español en la escuela secondaria para cuatros años! Pero, mi español is muy mal :( 

After that we headed home shortly, but not before taking a picture with the sign!



I also captured some pictures of desert flora! So unique.


On the car ride back, we exchanged stories about grade school. I think I remember as much in one grade as he remembered in all 12. I definitely remember my sixth grade history teacher who wouldn't let us use the restroom during class, ever, my eighth grade science teacher who swiped my agenda out of my hand one day in class to read what I had written without my permission, and the eleventh grade history teacher who played with my hair one day in class. I'm sure looking back these were not their brightest teacher moments, but I definitely have not forgotten.

This was a really great way to end the year. I can't imagine camping with anyone else or hiking 15 miles in one day with anyone else. Here's to more memories and explorations to come in the future :)

Happy New Year!