Category: family

Top 10 Travel Tips

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For the past 30 some years, Adam and I have both had the opportunity to travel many places, all over the world. 
We are almost travel pros.   
For some, traveling can be extremely stressful… especially with kids.  The thought of traveling with small children is close to having a root canal. 
BUT. You should GO!
Kids shouldn’t hold you back from traveling…Even as we were backpacking in Europe before we had our wee babs, we spent much of our time dreaming about one day traveling with our children.


Now, it is time to share our “Top 10 Travel Tips” for successful travel with children and adults, taken from our trip to Oregon last month.

1. Be prepared to wear a diaper.  
Ladies – sometimes you won’t know when “aunt flow” is gonna visit… if it happens at 10:30pm in a small Oregonian town with every store closed and no 24-hour Walmart handy, you’re gonna need an alternative… thankfully, I had a diaper handy when ‘flow’ visited me…and a wonderful husband who went out the next morning to buy me some necessities. Until then, the diaper worked brilliantly. and… they were pretty much the same size as the pads my hubby came home with. 
2. Be prepared for temper tantrums. from your children. and from yourselves. be prepared to handle them creatively.

Travel isn’t always easy.  Sometimes children and adults can get irritable.  Selah was throwing a fit on our way to Portland and nothing was settling her down…until she discovered mommy’s vaseline tube. she squirted it all over herself. I let her go with it. my brilliant idea worked.

3. Be prepared to take a nap. whenever. wherever. 
Sometimes tantrums break out as a result of being tired.  and when your child finally falls asleep, don’t move them.  even if they look uncomfortable.  it will be better for everyone involved, especially the old lady squished up next to you like a sardine on the airplane… trust me. let them sleep in whatever position they fall asleep in. and *bonus* if you get a nap in too. 

4. Be prepared to eat the same thing almost every day.
it’s easier. it’s cheaper. it takes up less brain space not thinking about what you’re going to eat. if you have a refrigerator handy, buy your food at the local market and pack it. 
we packed lunches nearly every day. sandwiches. fruit. veggies. chips. water.
it’s better for your body and for your kids if you have homemade food handy that everyone enjoys.  some restaurants can be nasty.
and don’t spend your whole travel experience at restaurants. be adventurous. 
discover an unexpected picnic spot.
Silver Falls State Park
Sitting outside of Whole Foods

5. Be prepared to find restaurants with toys.
When you do need to eat out, be prepared to find restaurants with toys. or places that are family friendly.  we prefer non-fast-food places which takes a little extra work on our part. with the help of the app Yelp it usually works out just fine.

We had a nice time when Grandma took the girls out to lunch at a tea shop, complete with gummy worms for the kids.
We also went to The Laughing Planet cafe. complete with dinosaurs on every table to enjoy.
lots of laughter at the Laughing Planet Cafe
After we finished eating, we used Yelp to help us find a nearby park
6. Be Prepared to embrace both the similarities and differences of each traveller. 
Our family enjoys most of the same things. playing. being outdoors. being silly. being together. eating the same things…
our kids are not picky about what they eat. they are pretty good at sharing too – a chicken salad with chips & salsa.
We are also very unique personalities. we need a break from one another. all of us need space at some point during travel. space while traveling with others can be hard to find – sometimes that “alone” time is available during a car ride… 
Salem asleep. Soleil “talking” to her friend on a toy cell phone.  Selah getting over a tantrum. 
7. Be prepared to embrace other cultures. and their ice cream. 
We went to Woodburn, Oregon and ate at a well known family owned Mexican restaurant one evening.  Woodburn has a large Hispanic population and is a very family friendly area.  We enjoyed and embraced every moment at the restaurant and the ice cream shop.

We also enjoyed the smiles we got from the window shopping we did.  In all my life and travels and shopping, I have never seen boots such as these… these boots were definitely made for walkin’.
8. Be prepared to wear the same thing during your travels and live out of your suitcase.
I don’t have any specific pictures to capture this point.  But if you look back at the pictures from the last few [Oregon travel] blog posts, you will see we pretty much wore the same outfits on our trip.
it’s easier to pack. it’s very freeing. just bring your 5 fav outfits. and a scarf! just do laundry.
it’s totally worth the less crap you have to cart around. especially when you also are carting 3 small children around.
9. Be prepared for all things random.
Life is too short to not. have. fun. Sometimes the random things you end up doing while traveling, end up making some of the most precious memories. 
You let your kids play on Grandpa’s treadmill with their cousins.

You take lots of pictures…of random things you find hilarious.
we told the kids these were “marsh-mellow farms”

You give your kids the extra leg room… they deserve it.
10. Be prepared to be thankful… in all circumstances. 
even in an hour of traffic because of the beauty around you.

even in the difficult moments flying home… remain thankful. 
home sweet home. with a monkey in the background.
Don’t expect perfection. just be prepared to be Thankful. 
Take your kids [or just yourselves] and Go.

We have taken our kids pretty much everywhere we go.  Here we are on our mission trip to India in 2007.  Since having the wee babs, we have been on the road, in airplanes, biking, boating, running, and walking everywhere with Soleil, Salem & Selah.  Soleil (8) has been flying since she was 6 weeks old.  She has flown several times and been on countless road trips in her short life.
This picture is from their first nap in India-Soleil (3) & Salem 9 mos).

Live out of your suitcase. 
Eat the same thing everyday. 
Let yourself have a tantrum. and a nap. and be prepared…




Be prepared to Embrace. Experience. and Enjoy. every. crazy. pointless. ridiculous. random. silly. moment.

God’s Sandbox

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Ahhh…the Beach!
God’s sandbox.
Get there if you can. Really.

The Northwest Pacific Ocean…
It’s sandy, rocky, windy, sometimes cold, sometimes sunny and always beautiful.
The waves crashing against the shore is the most somber sound.
The openness of the ocean is overwhelming.
The vastness of the view is incredible.
The sands by the seashore are innumerable.
Here are some pictures from our trip to Oregon… 
where we had some really great times playing in God’s sandbox.

we thought the flying nun was chasing us, but it was just Grandma 🙂

Soleil & cousin Noelle

Selah and Noelle

Adam and the three wee Babs with cousin Micah
Salem wore daddy’s sweatshirt when it started turning chilly
Soleil kept warm with her sand blanket

Grandma had to take drastic measures to stay warm

Then the sun came out again on our way home

It didn’t matter that we were caught in traffic for an hour; I was driving and couldn’t stop smiling, after a beautiful beach day in God’s sandbox!
The Pacific northwest coast is more often a sweatshirt beach, than a swimsuit beach.
And there is always the option of wearing a wet suit.
If you’re okay with this, and you prepare by bringing different layers of clothing, you will LOVE it!
On our last trip to the beach, the last day of our trip, we had the chance to go boogie boarding.
Adam jumped at the opportunity and ran to rent his wet suit and board as soon as we got there. 
But I was more hesitant.
I debated for about 30 minutes, worrying about the kids…would they get bored, tired or cranky sitting on the sand with Grandma & Grandpa?  Worrying about myself…would I have enough energy to withstand the ocean waves tossing me around?  I’m not a good swimmer, what if I drowned?  Worrying about the money…was it worth the $35 cost of renting the wet suit and board for 24 hours, knowing I might only use it for 30 minutes if I hated it???
Then, God slapped me upside the head and said, 
“You’ll regret it if you don’t.”
So, I ran over to the surf shop to rent my wet suit.
Have you ever worn a wet suit? 
They are extremely difficult to put on… and get out of.
But it was worth it. Every penny of the $35. Every ounce of energy it took for me to get in. and out. of that wet suit. so worth it!
We boogie boarded for about 3.5 hours and still weren’t ready to go.
The breakdown of the cost ended up at $10/hour… so worth it.
I could spend $35 on so many other things, but nothing can replace that experience.
And of course, the kids were never bored hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa, playing in God’s sandbox.

Any chance you get, get to a beach, any beach!
For your kids, for yourselves, for your friends, get there!

Who wants store bought sand shoved into a plastic turtle which ends up being used for cat litter box when the lid is left off accidentally??
We need the Beach…
We need to spend time in God’s Sandbox.

Maybe, I overreacted…

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On Saturday, we flew back to Ohio after spending time in the beautiful state of Oregon visiting P.A.’s family.  
We were supposed to fly back on Friday, but our first flight was delayed, causing us to miss the connection to our next flight home. 
Shocker. 
Thankfully, we were able to find out about our delayed flight well before we got to the airport, and re-book to fly out the next day.
Airline travel for adults can be stressful.  

You pay an exorbitant amount of money to be scanned, questioned and stand in long lines for check-in and security, run thru large buildings, carrying several pounds of luggage, shuffling thru crowds of people, in and out of public restrooms, over-paying for any food you might need to purchase, only to most likely also have to deal with flight delays and cancellations, and end up squished into a seat like a sardine next to someone you do not know, who might even smell like a sardine or have some other weird habit you now have to deal with for the next three hours, while needing to use the bathroom within the first 30 minutes of the flight, but being denied access to the tiny port-o-potty because the seat belt sign is “still on” and you didn’t “plan” for the delay and drank too much water, so next time you “plan” to wear a diaper.
It can be even more stressful when you add three wee Bab’s. 
For our flight out to Portland a few weeks ago, our seats from ORD-PDX were all mixed up and the five of us were spread around the plane.  We purchased our tickets and chose our seats a few months ago, but the seats for our Chicago to Portland flight could not be chosen ahead of time online. I spoke with a customer service rep on the phone who told me we would need to take care of it at the airport.  When we arrived at the airport, after rushing thru check-in and security, we got to the gate to find out the flight from CMH-ORD had been grounded. All the flights were delayed, so whew, we still made our connection.  
In Chicago, the customer service rep was very helpful to try and find us seats together, while also dealing with other problems caused by the delays and other travelers on stand-by, who needed to be re-routed because of the delays.  She was able to find us 3 seats and 2 seats together, barring on the fact that we had to ask 1 of the passengers next to us if they would be willing to switch seats. It was confusing but she was very helpful and understanding. We were met with more help on the plane when the flight attendants gave us some *free* food to compensate for Adam having to wait on the plane for over 30 minutes carrying Selah in the backpack, while the rest of the passengers boarded, before he could ask if the passenger next to him would switch seats to his original seat, so he and Selah could sit together.  In the end, it worked out fine with Adam and Selah in the back of the plane, while Soleil and Salem and I were about 10 rows ahead. 
Usually I can keep it together when I’m traveling in stressful situations.  Flying out to Portland, we were patient thru all of the travel issues and thankful to be met with helpful desk agents and flight attendants… 
but flying back to Ohio was a different story…

Maybe, I overreacted. 
After our flight was changed from Friday to Saturday, we were even more anxious to get on the plane and come home.  We arrived early Saturday morning at PDX and were met with extra long lines, but made our flight with just enough time to grab our coffee and scones.  The flight was smooth and the 3 1/2 hours we spent squished in the very back row of the plane flew by. 
Whew.
After arriving in Chicago, we ate our over-priced but very tasty lunch, then made our way to the gate to discover that 4 of our seats on this flight were together, with 1 seat 6 rows behind the others.  *side note* I still don’t understand why when we pay over $500 a ticket for 2 adults and 3 small children to sit together (previously declared on the passenger information and seats selected together online) we then find our seats to be apart. 
So, I went up to the gate and waited on the agent while chatting with another passenger who was on stand-by. Because of delays and flight problems on Friday, the Saturday flights were over-booked and people were at an all-time stress level.  
Including the gate agent.
I approached the counter to ask if the 1 seat could be changed to be closer to the other 4 seats.
“No, the flight is full” he responded in a robotic tone.
That still didn’t answer my question, so I politely asked again.
“No, you will have to change seats with someone on the plane.”
“Okay…” and I just walked away, feeling agitated with his short tone and unhelpful attitude; compared the other agent who shifted our seats around on our flight into Portland on that over-booked, delayed, messed up flying day.
As we waited to board, P.A. and I discussed how it would be fine to sit apart, in case no one wanted to change seats with him. I would sit with Selah and the older 2 kids would be right in front of us, with P.A. 6 rows back…
A few minutes later, the gate agent started boarding groups 1 & 2.  We walked up and without thinking of our “group number” handed him our boarding passes.  Again I was met with a robotic tone, “I’ve only called groups 1 & 2. You’re in group 5.” 
“Oh, I’m sorry I thought it was okay to board early since we have small children.”
“No, you’ll have to wait until I call group 5.”
So I backed out of the line, pulling Salem and Soleil out of the way and moving our luggage to make way for groups 3 & 4. Then I said to the agent, calmly but firmly. 
“You know, you don’t have to be so rude.”
Okay now I’m willing to admit that maybe… perhaps… possibly, I overreacted. 
I didn’t have to say anything, but I was thinking, every other flight we’ve taken this time and in previous years, the agent would call for those with small children or those who need additional time boarding to board with the earlier groups, even if your group number was later.
The gate agent proceeded to ignore my comment and checked in 2 people from groups 3 & 4 and then called group 5. So I moved all our crap and 2 of our kids out of the way so that within a matter of 60 seconds 2 more people could board before us. Wow.
I was so irritated at this point, and we were losing our patience.  We just wanted to get on the plane, get home and be done with it.  P.A. was behind me with Selah in the backpack and his luggage. As he handed the gate agent his boarding pass to check in, he asked “Sir, what’s your name?”  The agent would not give his name and proceeded to check a few more people in.  After I started walking down the ramp with Soleil and Salem to board, I turned back to find P.A. still calmly, but firmly persisting on asking the agent his name.  The agent still refused. 
*side note here* 
Both P.A. and I have spent our adult lives working with people and several years in Customer Service positions.  We realize that everyone has a bad day and stress levels can be at the max. Regardless, we always had to give our name when a customer would ask.
Regardless, Maybe… P.A. overreacted in persisting to ask for the agents name.  
After a few more times of asking, he would not give his name and P.A. proceeded to board and headed for the ramp. The agent then said, “You need to stay here, you can not board until I call group 7.” 
P.A. responded, “You’re saying I can’t board now with my family?”
The agent responded, “No, you’ll board in group 7 or I will call the TSA.”
All of this went down in less than 2 minutes, and when I turned back to see P.A. still at the entrance I said, “What’s going on?”
P.A. explained the situation and told us to go ahead.
Are you kidding me???  The TSA???  The Transportation Security Administration???
Really?? Is a man, asking for a name, while carrying a 2 1/2 year old on his back, really a security threat?
I continued down the ramp to go ahead board with Soleil and Salem (who were worried about leaving daddy behind), feeling extremely flustered and angry.  About 5 minutes later, P.A. and Selah boarded the plane. Everyone got settled in and I noticed and empty seat across the row from Soleil and Salem. I asked the flight attendant if my husband could move up, once everyone had boarded, if the seat was still available. He said “No.” I could feel myself getting upset again, not understanding, so I just asked, “So, there’s just gonna be an empty seat here?”. He replied and explained that the flight attendant he was training would be sitting there part of the time. AND, that it would be considered an “upgrade” to move anyone from the back to this seat, since these seats had up to 5 extra inches of leg room and people paid extra to sit in them. I thought to myself, really?? I didn’t pay any extra to be less of a sardine.  These seats were just randomly assigned to us after we were re-booked from our flight delay yesterday. So, lucky us, I guess.  
At least the kids got to enjoy some extra leg room.



Really, I appreciated the flight attendant explaining to me the *reason* why Adam couldn’t move up and talking to me slightly above a robotic tone of voice.  
The flight was fine, and I had time to check myself and pray about my attitude toward the gate agent. Selah and Salem took naps, so I also had time to analyze why flying first class, business first, regular business class and now the *new* extra leg room class is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of.  You can pay way more money to be slightly less of a sardine and get served your juice first, or pay an additional $49 and get 5 extra inches of leg room.  That equals just about $10 per extra inch. wow.
Aside from the cast system in India, I’ve really never heard of anything so ridiculous. 
I am no longer a “frequent flyer” or on a “gold program” like I used to be when I worked for Women of Faith and traveled to their conferences…  I am just a mom, with 3 wee Babs trying to visit their Grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins once a year who wants to sit squished like a sardine next to her husband, instead of 6 rows away from him.
Maybe I overreacted… but perhaps not?
And maybe next time, we will just forgot the stress of airports, airplanes and gate agents and trade that stress for the family-fun of driving the 40 hours and 2,500 miles to travel to Oregon. 
Sure, there will still be stress… but we will enjoy the journey and try not to overreact.

What stressful situations have you overreacted in?  
And if you’re perfect and never overreact, no worries, you don’t have to answer the question.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words…

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June has gone by way. too. quickly.
If it was the wonderful winter months of January, February or March, I wouldn’t mind the pace.
But slow down, June.

So much happened in June. 
Soleil finished the second grade and performed in her first ballet recital. Salem finished pre-school and Selah stopped sleeping well. 
P.A.’s car broke down. We spent $500 on that good time.
We had a garage sale, got rid of some crap and made some money to pay off P.A.’s car.
We also raised money for our church’s upcoming mission trip to Haiti. 
We spent a lot of time outside enjoying the sunshine.
We experienced God in amazing ways with our church peeps and during our services.
And last but not least, my amazing parents (The Grand Rowley’s) came to visit us from Oklahoma.
I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it all.
I am thankful I took a lot of pictures. 

Sometimes P.A. teases me for taking so many pictures. 
Sure. I want my computer to run slow. So I take lots of pictures and then download all of them without sorting thru them and deleting the not-as-great pics. 
Sure. I’ll do that one day. Never.
Now I take all my pics on my phone because I want my phone to run slow. 
And, I take lots of different shots of the same picture to capture the memory perfectly.
I have to keep them all because, after all, there is really no such thing as bad pics of the wee babs. in my humble opinion.
After all, A Picture really is Worth a Thousand Words.

So here are a Thousand Pictures (actually only 29) – with a few descriptive words and a sweet story at the end – to catch you up on our life in June… Enjoy 🙂

P.A. has been working hard in our backyard, updating the play set, fixing the pond and planting our first berry bushes.

Salem showing off a “berry smoothie mustache”. Smoothies are a summer fav!

The girls dipping the baby doll in our pond

A rare moment of stillness and cuddles, captured

Selah enjoying the water slide
Our home-made water slide – they love it!

Selah and mommy swinging 
Selah asleep mid-lunch after outdoor fun
Two squirts on a turtle…nuff said 🙂

Soleil’s last day of second grade

milk bubbles

Soleil and Daddy – chess face off

My dad and I making a home-made pizza

Adam and my dad discussing the blood type diet

Selah pretending she is asleep with Grammy

Our attempt to get a picture of the seven of us after Soleil’s recital. Failed.  

the girls 🙂

Papa and Salem

Papa and Selah

We celebrated my dad’s 60th Birthday during their visit. Salem painted his shirt – it is a picture of Grandpa

A great pic of the Grand Rowley’s with the wee Bab’s 🙂

Swinging with Grammy

bird watcher

more swinging ~ at Chestnut Ridge

Not sure how much they could see with their old fashion binoculars, lol 🙂

little monkey’s 

teaching 🙂

Salem saying good bye ~ he calls my dad “Silly Grandpa”
Last, but certainly not least, my favorite picture.  
This picture was a miracle. 
One shot. Everyone looking at the camera. Everyone smiling. A miracle people.
This was taken at Five bean~our favorite local coffee shop~just before my parents were preparing to get on the road again and drive back to Oklahoma. We snagged Tracy, the owner to snap a quick pic after we had our coffee and bagels.  During my parents visit, we kept hoping and trying to get a picture taken of all of us.  We tried different times, then at the last moment, it happened. Click!
Then another unexpected miracle.
Another regular Five Bean customer was there, an older man, wearing an OU hat (University of Oklahoma-Sooners). Turns out his kids live in Oklahoma. What a small world. 
He runs outside and grabs his super nice camera, comes back in and click. click. click. He snaps a few more shots of the seven of us. 
Miracle.
The next day, P.A. goes into Five Bean for his daily visit and Tracy gives him 3 copies of the beautiful photo our friend took with his super nice camera.  
WOW.
Not only did we have an amazing picture taken of all of us, but we now had THREE printed copies.  We kept one, gave one to the Grand Rowley’s and one to the Great-Grand Rowley’s in Oklahoma. 
I was so touched by this priceless gift. I almost didn’t know what to do with myself. We rarely print out photos anymore. We keep them on our computer, so our computer will run slowly. Printing photos seems so “two years ago”.
This picture says more than a Thousand Words… 
I am so thankful for it.

Sooo… click. click. click. and document your own half written records with priceless pictures…


Bedtime Battles

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This is Selah.

Sure. She’s cute enough…

This is Selah on drugs no sleep.

This is Selah sleeping. the ONE night she fell asleep without mommy holding her (or screaming/crying herself to sleep) in the last two months.

This is Selah sleeping with her sibs for a sleep over. in her own room. we were hoping the other two wee babs sleeping beside her would minimize the screaming.  it helped a little.
This is Selah sleeping at nap time. this is after she would not stay in her bed and go to sleep. so i put her in the pack-n-play. she screamed for over 30 minutes and finally passed out. she now knows how to climb out of the pack-n-play.  

This is Selah sleeping at bedtime. on the floor. in her room. in the living room. in the hallway. 
anywhere but her bed.

She is a stubborn child. 
so… the last two months have been slightly very difficult with Selah…
there have been many tears, screaming, yelling, and not sleeping… from me.
It all began when we got rid of her plug.

Nope. she doesn’t ask for her binky anymore.  She screams for me instead.

A few weeks ago, we had an exceptionally eventful day…  it all went down at nap time. she would not go to sleep. then she and her brother started playing together. i knew she had a stinky diaper and i was getting ready to change it when she took out all of the crayons and started dumping them all. over. the. kitchen. floor. so we mostly mommy began picking them up and in the meantime, she and her brother start play fighting. she is now lying on the floor of the kitchen. and so is her poop.

ugh. clean up on the kitchen floor. 

Before bedtime, I called Grammy (my mom) to chat while the kids were watching a cartoon. don’t worry. i’m not one of “those” moms who let their kids watch t.v. all day long. well, maybe somedays.  as soon as i got on the phone, Selah decided to begin “potty training”. she went into the bathroom, sat on the “big one” and said “pee pee”, got off the toilet, flushed the toilet and washed her hands. she did this four times in a row.  before she could waste water flushing the toilet for a fifth time, i locked the bathroom door to keep her out.  she screamed and cried.

I said, “Hold on, Mom” about 50 times to deal with selah’s potty antics during our conversation. then i had a bright idea. “Selah, do you want to put on underwear?”  She was so excited and ran into the living room to show her sibs her undies.

this was the result…

“Mom, Selah just took a sh*t on the floor, I gotta go.”  
Ugh. clean up on living room rug.
At bedtime, I nanny 911-d her.  i put her back in bed 20 times in a matter of 20 minutes, then P.A. came home from his meeting. it was impecable timing, let. me. tell. ya.
She heard the garage door go up, and became a ball of energy.  I sat at the edge of her bed and cried, until finally ~ she fell asleep.
Selah is stubborn. but Mom is creative. I will resort to lulling her to sleep with jogs in the stroller and “nap drives” – when we drive around – usually for about 10 minutes, until she falls asleep then I transfer her to her bed and she takes her nap. sound complicated? it is. but it’s worth it.
So, when the bedtime battles begin… I remind myself that in the end, Mom will Win.

Sure, there are days when i feel like i’m going to lose my mind… again. there are days i wish P.A. and I didn’t produce such stubborn children who fight sleep and poop on the floor. but we are not poop snobs.

There is peace amidst the poop.

When I am weak ~ like every single day of my life ~ God is strong.

I can’t do this anymore crossed my mind several times that day a few weeks ago, and still crosses my mind when the bedtime battles begin. some might think it’s no big deal, you’re just a mom. can’t you just take a nap the next day? your not the CEO of a large company, the head chef of a posh NYC restaurant or a General fighting in a war.

Nope. I’m not. But I AM the CEO of our household. The head CHEF of our kitchen. And a General in the spiritual war that wages around our family. 

As mom, often I set the spiritual temperature in our home.  Much of the time, the peace in our home depends on me.  I must be connected to the Peace-Giver, or the stress levels at home can sky rocket.

Stress levels and the stress triggers for human beings depends on who you are and your circumstances.  These past few months I have come to the end of myself several times. my “handling things well”. my “having it all together” went out the window.  but that’s okay. Regardless of our circumstances or who we are. Peace is Possible.


My job is to stay close to Him. Matthew 11:28-30.


How is the Spiritual Temperature in your home? What can you do to change it?