Family Adventure: Traveling Internationally with Kids

Our next big adventure is to Australia! We'll be going during Winter Break (which will be smack dab in the middle of summer there, which I'm excited about because I am way more a warm weather person than a cold weather one). We'll be heading to an old coffee plantation that has been renovated into a home in the hinterlands of Byron Bay. Then we'll be heading down to Brisbane. 

We are all so incredibly excited! 

I purchased some books to help us prepare for our adventure. 

• Australia and Oceana
• If You Were Me and Lived in Australia
• This Is Australia
• Australia ABCs
• Over in Australia
• National Geographic Readers: Koalas
• Australia Rookie Reader
• Living in...Australia

As we read through them, we are going to make a list of everything we want to see there (kind of like a scavenger hunt that we can check off as we go). 

I've been trying to keep an ongoing list to double-check when we are packing. I'll have to modify it a bit for our first international trip with the boys! 

For updates in between blog posts, check out Instagram! 

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I Went to Bulgaria--WHAT?!?

So, yes, I had the opportunity to go to Bulgaria last week. I couldn't believe it! Montessori For All was invited to present at the Teach For All international conference entitled, "Reimagining Learning." It's embarrassing to admit that I had to look up where Bulgaria was (it's near Greece). 

We flew from Austin to Toronto to Munich to Sofia and then took a shuttle another two hours to Blagoevgrad. On the way back, we left Blagoevgrad at 2:15am and flew from Sofia to Frankfurt to Houston to Austin. Something I unintentionally realized about international travel: it helps so much to plan your flights to arrive in the evening so you can arrive, get settled, and go to bed around 8pm. I accidentally scheduled my flights that way in both directions, and I experienced zero jet lag! 

The only issue we ran into was that one of our suitcases didn't make it to Bulgaria with us. It had 25% of the Montessori materials we brought for our session (we were supposed to create a hands-on learning experience for the participants), so we had to hurry and improvise at the last-minute. It seemed to work out okay, though. 

On one of the days, we connected with a friend of a friend who was born in Blagoevgrad and volunteered to give us a tour of her city. It was a delightful experience to drink freshly-squeezed fruit juice at one of the highest points in the city, shop for souvenirs at a little place off the beaten path along the river, stumble upon a prolific artist in the historic district who wanted to show us all her paintings, trek around the lake to see reindeers, rabbits, and deer, walk into a hand-built church from the 1800s, and hear stories about the rise and fall of communism in Bulgaria. Our tour guide's family had to be evacuated out of Bulgaria in the middle of the night in the late eighties to seek political asylum in the United States. 

I had never been to Eastern Europe before. Observing the remnants of communism was fascinating. And of course international travel is such a profound way to step out of one's daily experience and widen our sense of the world. 

I'm so grateful to be part of the Montessori movement, which is truly "education for peace." We need better educational opportunities for our children all across the world. As Maria Montessori says, "If help and salvation are to come, they can only come from the children, for the children are the makers of men [and women]."

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Date Weekend: Things to Do in Steamboat Springs, CO

Matt and I got to sneak away for a whole glorious weekend to attend a wedding while my mother-in-law watched the boys.

We flew into Denver and drove approximately three hours to Steamboat Springs. On the first day, we went for a hike at Fish Creek Trail, enjoyed salads on the patio of Freshies, and got pedicures together. That night we went to the rehearsal dinner.

The next day, we enjoyed the Strawberry Park Hot Springs. Normally, I find hot springs to be pretty un-enticing and sometimes downright gross, but this place was beautiful. It had lots of different pools with varying temperatures, the architecture was beautiful, and we got to lounge on chairs high above the hot springs while I finished my book (which, by the way, was completely engrossing and sort of left me feeling like an addict because I couldn’t put it down and wanted to spend large amounts of our vacation weekend reading).

The trip was pretty fast but definitely fun. The good news is that I really missed being around our boys! I was eager to get home to them. 

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Anniversary Traditions

 

I love how traditions create a rhythm to the year.

 

Matt and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on Friday (half a decade!), and we're still implementing the tradition we started on our 1st anniversary. Every year, we take turns--one person writes a letter to the other person about our year together, and the other person plans an experience.

 

We opted for a ritual devoid of presents because, frankly, we already feel enough pressure to buy each other creative and interesting presents year after year for birthdays and Christmases.

 

This year, it was my turn to plan the experience. Before Tate's arrival, I spent some time brainstorming ideas. I decided that we really needed to get out of town. I turned to my new best friend--airbnb.com--to find a small cabin in the Texas Hill Country. It has hammocks and a hot tub and acres of uninterrupted land. And we can bring Hoss!

 

We'll probably go when Tate is around three months old. The small town has an antique fair the first Saturday of every month, which sounds so fun. Other than that, we'll probably just hang out and relax. We might even invite another family along, since there are two cabins on the property. Maybe we could take turns cooking communal meals. Or perhaps we'll just go by ourselves.

 

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Beach Vacation!

Oh, I'm so excited! We are going on a real vacation! 

Matt and I used to go on all sorts of real vacations. For our honeymoon, we trekked to Paris and then the Greek Isles (for a boat tour from island to island!), and have taken road trips up the California coast to Canada. Before Matt, I went on trips to Guatemala and Ecuador and Costa Rica and India. 

Our recent budget restrictions have nearly ended our fun vacations (although we have visited family and gone to weddings). 

That's why I'm particularly excited about our upcoming beach vacation to Galveston. Matt has a connection to a free condo for three nights (right on the beach!). And we get to bring Hoss, which means our only expenses will be gas for the four-hour drive and eating dinner out (we can cook breakfast and lunch on site). I seriously could not be more excited about this chance to get away. Plus, Henry loves the ocean. 

My main intentions for this vacation are to relax and connect with my family. My big charter application deadline will have come and gone, and I'll be in the middle of several months of enjoying our time together as a family of three humans before the baby makes his grand entrance at the end of June (or beginning of July if he's anywhere near 13 days late like Henry was). I want to spend my days:

1. Playing with Henry and Matt in the ocean.
2. Playing with Henry and Matt in the pool.
3. Building sandcastles and digging with Henry and Matt. 
4. Sitting in the shade and reading fiction books. 
5. Napping.
6. Taking long walks on the beach for exercise.
7. Watching home improvement shows on HGTV.

I spent about two minutes dreaming about making a beach tent (inspired by the one I saw featured on Lovely Morning) and even found a tutorial at Lowe's. Then I came to my senses and realized that I should just borrow a shade structure from a friend because we do not need one very often. We can also try to borrow beach chairs and even beach toys, since our trips to the beach are basically non-existent (as is the storage space in our new house). 

I'll definitely need to return to my list of books to read this year and stock up for the trip. As a side note, I'm reading From Here to April right now, and it is so, so good!

I feel so rejuvenated and excited when I think about this trip, and it's a good reminder that I need to keep my needs in mind as I plan out how to spend my days, weeks, months, and years. The lack of vacations has been less about the introduction of Motherhood into my life and more about our budget restrictions.

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REMINDER: The next Purposeful Conception Course: Preparing Your Mind, Body, and Life for Pregnancy starts March 3. Register today! We'd love to have you join us!

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Holiday Guests

I'm so excited about the impending holidays. We're staying here for Thanksgiving, and my best friend and his sister (who is also our good friend) are flying in from Florida. They'll arrive on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. On Thursday, we'll trek to Houston for the most delicious dinner at our friend's house. She is the most exquisite vegetarian cook, and we always have the best time with the friends she assembles.

I asked my best friend how he wanted to spend his time during his visit in Austin, and he said he didn't have any preferences. Although I don't want to plan the whole visit myself, I do think it's worth thinking through what our days might look like and creating a list of possibilities to choose from. Otherwise, I can see all of us sitting around indecisively saying, "I'm up for anything. What do you want to do?" 

Henry will basically dictate the general structure of our day since he wakes up at approximately 7am, naps from 12-2pm, and goes to bed at 6:30pm. We'll have the following chunks to fill:

• Tuesday afternoon/evening
• Wednesday morning
• Wednesday afternoon/evening
• Thursday morning
• Friday morning

Here are some ideas of fun things to do:

• Walk around the lake
• Hike on the greenbelt
• Go up to the top of Mt. Bonnell
• Walk to the little farm in our neighborhood to see the llama and goats
• Make pancakes on an electric griddle outside
• Browse the vintage shops on South Congress and eat at the food trucks
• Make dinner together
• Prepare our contributions for Thanksgiving dinner
• Go to a local farm for a Christmas tree (are we getting a Christmas tree this year or will we purchase a live one and replant it?)
• Go to the Alamo Draft House for dinner and a movie (maybe in the evening if we can get a babysitter through the co-op?)
• Play board games
• Make some kind of holiday craft? Like make-your-own-stamp and then write notes to friends on little cards? Or origami paper crane Christmas tree ornaments that we write wishes on?
• Visit the Austin Zoo Sanctuary
• Visit the Boggy Creek Farm stand

If we eat out, some fun experiences might be:

• Chuy's for Tex-Mex on the patio
• Abel's on the Lake for a beautiful view of Lake Travis
• Mandola's for delicious bread and bocce ball
• Eastside Cafe for healthy food and a visit to the garden/chickens
• Kirby Lane for a classic breakfast experience

What kind of food should we have on hand for breakfasts? Maybe ingredients for one or two of the following:

• Oatmeal (with dried cherries and pumpkin seeds)
• Green smoothies (yogurt + spinach + frozen mango + banana)
• Egg sandwiches on whole wheat English muffins with cheese (you can cook an egg in the microwave by cracking it into a bowl that's been sprayed with a little oil, covering it with a dishtowel or papertowel, and cooking it for 1 minute)

It's interesting to see how are traditions are changing over time. Andy and I used to travel to exotic locations during our Thanksgiving Break (like Costa Rica!). Although I miss those kind of adventures, I also look forward to more grounded and calm time with friends. I look forward to good company and conversations!

P.S. Today's post on 2000 Dollar Wedding is a reflection on creating our own lives on our own terms. 

Photo of my best friend and me during our adventures in Costa Rica six years ago (ziplining!)

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P.S.: Purposeful Conception: Preparing Your Mind, Body, and Life for Pregnancy started today. There's still time to join us. Register today! We'd love to get to know you better!

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Dear Houston:

You are one of the most underrated cities in America. Yes, you are full of ozone warnings, concrete, traffic, oil people, inordinate wealth juxtaposed with abject poverty, and aggressive drivers, but you have been an amazing home to me for nine years of my life.

And what a nine years those have been. I moved here to be part of the educational reform movement for economically disadvantaged children at KIPP, I met my husband at the Astrodome while we were tutoring evacuees from Hurricane Katrina, we bought our first home in the historic Heights just north of downtown, we harbored chickens illegally in our backyard, and we welcomed little Henry into the world.

And throughout those nine years, you have proven to be a magically eclectic and interesting city. You are an international city that welcomes people from all over the world (and you have the food to prove it). You are the city that has an international quilting festival one weekend and the international tatoo convention the next. You build eco-friendly parks and host free yoga classes, films on the lawn, and concerts on the hill. You have a burgeoning food truck culture, providing delicious and creative fare at random places. You have a country store store smack dab in the middle of the city that is part petting zoo, part garden, and part feed store. You have no zoning laws, which makes for an incredibly unpredictable and exciting landscape. There's an elementary school; there's Zone d'Erotica.

You host events like arts fundraisers that require everyone to dress up like clowns. You offer inexpensive boats to rent for parties on the bayou. Down there, you can't even tell you're in the city of concrete and traffic. You just see the banks of the bayou and bats. You also offer segway tours along the bayou paths and into downtown.

You provide year-round sunshine, and I can run around the 3-mile, tree-lined path at Memorial Park in shorts even in January. I can pretend I'm in the middle of the forest at the Arboretum. The museums are all free on Thursday nights, and I can always find an amazing place to eat.

I can easily get out of Houston on a non-stop flight or in a car-ride to the Hill Country, Galveston, or Louisiana.

You even have public Montessori options in your school district.

You are a glorious city, dear Houston. I will continue to be your enthusiastic advocate and supporter.

With gratitude,






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Today on 2000 Dollar Wedding: Coming up with the budget for Henry's 1st birthday.

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Birthday Planning

My birthday's coming up on February 9! (Just in case you're curious, I'm turning 34.)

It's time to start planning my birthday party. This year, I want to be one-step ahead in the planning department (hello Halloween costume designing in August...). Besides, before I know it, it's going to be time to start planning Henry's birthday (February 28).

So, this year poses a bit of a challenge. We are probably moving to Austin at the end of January. I have a couple friends in Austin, but the thought of throwing myself a birthday party and inviting a couple friends doesn't sound appealing (mainly because that's what I did last year).

We could plan a weekend getaway, but we're in money-conservation mode as we save up to build our dream house.

Hm...maybe we could all go to Portland so I could attend professional development for Montessori administrators? (Thanks for telling me about it, Carrie!) Perhaps I could convince Matt to let me use the revenue from the most recent Purposeful Conception class (which started yesterday, so you're welcome to join us!) to shlep everyone to Oregon (instead of putting the money into our general fund like I usually do).

Does anyone have a guest room in Portland for my little family of three so we could save on hotel costs?

Hmm...I'm thinking, thinking.

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Vacation! (Or Putting This Blog to Sleep for a Short Nap)

Actually, that's a misnomer. It will feel like I'm vacation to those of you who frequent this here blog, but I'm actually going to be too busy to post. My book deadline (about how to plan a meaningful and memorable wedding without losing your savings or sanity) is January 1. Although I wrote 55,000+ words a couple years ago while I was looking for an agent, I still have to devote massive time and energy toward finishing the last 10,000 words and revising and reorganizing the whole thing.

Plus, we'll be traveling to see both families this year. We'll drive to Florida to see my family (in the Tampa and Orlando/DeLand area) and then fly to Indiana (Bloomington area) to see Matt's family.

I will try to pop in here and there to say hello and share interesting ideas, but I can't make any promises!

I do know that I'll be filling out my New Year's Reflection Form to reflect on the past year and set my intentions for the upcoming year.

I hope your next couple weeks are filled with joy, connection, rest, rejuvenation, and delicious food! I feel so thankful to have this community and this space in my life. Thank you for being here!

Be well,

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Traveling with an Infant

My brother Dustin and I in 2005

Henry and I are heading to Florida for my brother's graduation!

Although little Henry traveled to more than 20 states in utero, this plane trip will be his first as a "big boy." Matt won't be going because tickets are simply too expensive and the timing is awkward.

I'm a little nervous about how it's all going to go down, but I'm excited. Here's how I plan to make the process as smooth as possible:

• I booked only non-stop flights. Since it's only a 2-hour trip from Houston to Tampa, I figured it would be easier not to change planes.
• I plan to minimize the amount of stuff I bring. I will only carry one traveler's backpack for our luggage, one diaper bag as my carry-on, and our car seat. We'll have Matt park at the airport and bring us in, so he can carry the car seat and my backpack and check them at the counter. We'll have to pay to check the bag, but the car seat is free. Then I will carry Henry in the Moby, with my diaper bag on my arm.
• I will try to ask for a pat-down to get through security, so I can leave Henry in the Moby wrap (fingers crossed!).
  
• To help save space in our luggage and to make the process easier, I will ask my mom to buy diapers for us, instead of using our cloth diapers.
• When we arrive in Florida, my family can carry the car seat and my luggage, while I carry Henry in the Moby and my diaper bag.

Easier said than done!

Here's what I need to pack:

• 10 outfits for Henry (we'll be gone 5 days; I can always do laundry if I need to)
• Henry's swim diaper and rash guard
• Our natural sunscreen
• Henry's hat
• A small but thick blanket for Henry to lay on when he's not being held
• Clothes for me
• My swimsuit
• My sunglasses
• Phone charger (I guess I'll leave my computer at home--hopefully I won't go into withdrawal!)
• Soap/shampoo/conditioner/face wash/razor/comb/toothbrush/toothpaste/floss
• Vitamins
• Phone
• Books to read
• Shoes
• Wallet
• Diapers and wipes for the trip
• Our portable changing pad cloth
• My breast feeding cover
• Henry's special soap
• Pacifiers
• Henry's nail clippers (yes, they will need to be cut during a 5-day span)
• Henry's birth certificate (luckily I ordered a wallet-sized one in addition to the regular one)
  

I'll keep adding to this list until we depart!

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How to Get a Baby Passport

Yes, we are getting Henry a baby passport. No, we don't actually have an out-of-country trip on the horizon.

Then why the passport? Well, they can take so long to get. By the time we actually plan a trip, we might not have enough time to get one.

Here's how to do it:

1. Find a place that will take baby passport photos: Definitely call ahead! I called ahead and still had problems. When I called the Walgreens photo department, they confirmed that they do take babies' passport photos. When I actually showed up to hold them to their promise, it was another story. The teenage photo clerk took one look at Henry and said, "Oh, no, he's too young." Since I am a struggling new mother and getting my baby out and about is an accomplishment all by itself, I was not going to leave without the photos. It turned into quite the ordeal. I had to kneel on the tile ground in my skirt and hold my massively dense baby (remember he was 9.4 at birth!) above my head, which--of course--caused him to look down at me rather than straight ahead at the camera. I kept asking the clerk to talk to him to get him to look at the camera, but the clerk apparently didn't want to talk to my baby. He just kept saying, "This isn't working." I kept saying, "We're going to make it work!" Two female clerks got involved and started coaching the guy, "Click it now! He's looking!" And of course the dude's camera battery ran out, right when Henry decided to look at him. Once the batteries got changed, I asked the female clerk to hold Henry so I could talk to Henry. Then I started taking the photos myself. When we finally got one stinkin' photo uploaded into the computer, the clerk said, "Oh, this won't work. Your hands are showing in the picture." Argh! We had to go through the whole ordeal again. I recommend that you dress your baby in a shirt or a dress--rather than a onesie, so that your hands can slide under their clothes and out of sight.
2. Find a place that accepts passport applications and make an appointment, if necessary: You can go to this website and enter in your zipcode to find locations nearest you. Also, some of these places actually take passport photos, too (although, in my experience, they were more expensive than Walgreens). Keep in mind that both parents have to be present.
   
3. Drop off your application: Bring your photos, drivers' licenses, and the baby's birth certificate. Voila!
   

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