This is what happens when Mama gets sick…

Our kitchen full of dirty dishes

I did a stupid thing last week.  I ate meat that looked more than questionable just because I didn’t want to be “wasteful”.  Boy, did I learn my lesson.  I was sick.  For days.  It was HORRIBLE.  Not only did my body suffer but the house did, too.  It was a complete mess.

Piles and piles of dirty laundry

To make things worse, my poor daughter caught a 24-hour stomach bug.   We’re both better now but a few days ago my poor husband caught that terrible virus that’s been going around.  He’s been miserable.  Since my daughter and I know what he’s going through, we decided to let him have the bedroom and we built a “fort” out in the living room.  It’s awesome!  We took all of the couch cushions off of the sofa, laid them on floor and covered them with throws and blankets.  We’re so sorry Papa Bear isn’t feeling well but we’re having so much fun in our little “fort”.

Our awesome “fort”

Wine (and soda) tasting in Paso Robles

Wine (left) and Root Beer (right)

While Santa Barbara is a favorite vacation destination for wine tasting in our family, Paso Robles has quickly become equally adored by my husband and I.  The town is wonderfully quaint and features a number of great wineries.

This December we stumbled upon an amazing discovery in the downtown area of the city.  Pithy Little Wine Company is a tasting room for both wine and soda!  While my husband tasted wine, I tried delicious natural sodas made in the area.  Another unique aspect of the Pithy Little Wine Co. experience is that they provide guests with food pairings.  My husband tasted local cured meats and cheeses with his wine while I enjoyed artisanal popcorn with my sodas.

We had a great time in Paso Robles and we plan on returning soon to explore more of the city.

Our hotel room

Baby Bear exploring a favorite winery of Papa Bear

Pithy Little Wine Company

One of the wines Papa Bear tasted

The first of my three soda tastings

Lake Tahoe

I have been to Lake Tahoe many times but this December’s trip was my husband and daughter’s first visit.  They loved it!  My husband loved the beauty and relaxed atmosphere and my daughter fell in love with the snow.

The gorgeous lake

The ride Mama Bear was too scared to take…

The wonderful kitchen in our timeshare

Baby Bear digging her gloved fingers into the snow

Napa Valley

As mentioned here, over the holidays my family took an impromptu road trip and Napa Valley was among the cities we visited.  My husband and I had been once before on a tour but this was the first time we went on our own and stayed overnight.  We had an amazing time visiting Napa and the nearby areas of Calistoga and St. Helena.

Wine tasting at Castello di Amorosa

The AMAZING cookies at our hotel

Delicious dinner and wine at a popular Downtown Napa restaurant

I don’t give a sh*t! She’s quiet.

Excuse my language.  Really.  I don’t normally curse in public.  But honestly, there was no substitute.  Sh*t is exactly the right word for how I was feeling tonight.

I was trying to make this recipe but, as has been the case as of late, my daughter was on the kitchen floor alternating between playing quietly at my feet and pulling at my legs pleading “Up! Up!”. That’s her second favorite word after “No!”.

I looked down to check on her during a noticeably quiet period and saw why she was so suspiciously silent.  I won’t get into specifics but they involve markers.  Lots of them.  And my clothes.  And the floor.  And certain large kitchen appliances.

Before anyone gets upset, she wasn’t doing anything dangerous.  Things were just unnecessarily messy to put it mildly.  But she was quiet.  She wasn’t crying or yelling or doing both of those awful things simultaneously while also pulling at my sweatpants.

Yes, fashionistas.  Please don’t hate me but I’m one of those moms that wear sweats.  Ill-fitting sweats.  Cheap, ill-fitting, faded and oh so comfortable sweats.  I’ll post on that shameful issue another day.

Sometimes she pulls so hard on my sweats that they fall to the floor and I’m standing there pants-less, in my underwear, powerless to do anything because my hands are covered in raw meat juices.  And if you’ve seen this list, you can only imagine what that image looks like.

When I saw the mess I couldn’t help but slowly turn back around and continue cooking.  No matter how much messier things were going to get from that point, I could not have given less of a sh*t.  She was happy.  She was busy.  She was quiet.

I’d like to end this story with a content child and a delicious dinner but then I wouldn’t be telling the truth.  The quiet didn’t last long.  Soon the tears came, the screams erupted and my sweatpants came down.

At least the meatballs were good.

Spontaneous travel with a toddler

My husband and I have always loved to take road trips.  We’ve yet to take the plunge and go on a cross-country trip but we’ve taken tons of short road trips over the years.  From Palm Springs to San Francisco, we take advantage of every 3-day weekend or extended vacation we can.

Fortunately for us our daughter loves to travel so our road trips haven’t had to stop and we can still be spontaneous.  This past holiday, our family set out on a 7-day road trip leaving our destinations to chance.  We knew we wanted to go north but we decided on our specific destinations as we drove on the highway.  At the end of our vacation, we had visited 2 states and four cities.

Based on our experiences so far, I’ve put together a few tips to make taking an impromptu road trip a little easier with a toddler:

• Try to coordinate driving time with your child’s sleep schedule

There is no need to be too stringent but being cognizant of your child’s sleep schedule as you plan your drive can make a big difference.  Baby Bear will lasts a maximum of 4 -5 hours in her car seat before she has to be set free.  Therefore, we tried to leave around the time of her first nap of the day so she could sleep a little while we drove and not exhaust her car seat time limit.

• Pack efficiently

It’s easy to over-pack on road trips because you’re so happy not to have to deal with airplane baggage restrictions and fees.  While we take advantage of that fact, we still try to pack smartly.  My husband and I share one bag and my daughter gets her own bag.  I try to be very organized and neat when packing her bag because of Tip #4…

• Be ready for messes

Our daughter threw up at the ATM before we even left Los Angeles so I had to change her outfit and clean up her brand new car seat before our adventure even began.  Luckily, I put an extra sweat suit within easy reach in her luggage.  I also had plenty of baby wipes to clean her up and Lysol wipes and paper towels handy to clean the car seat.

Baby Bear’s new car seat pre-vomit…

• Pack snacks

This saves money and time on the road.  I didn’t make an extra stop to the grocery store – I just looked around the house and picked things we already had.  A few sodas, water, potato chips and baby snacks for our little one did the trick.

• Be resourceful

Since it’s December, I packed a few cold weather items for our little one but being California natives, we definitely don’t have “real” winter clothes.  When we decided to head up to Lake Tahoe, we didn’t let the snow and cold temperature deter us.  We assessed Baby Bear’s wardrobe and we were able to bundle her up perfectly by layering what we already packed.

Baby Bear warm and cozy in three layers of clothing

• Don’t limit yourself

Even though we were traveling with a toddler we were still able to do all of the things we like to do when we travel.  We went wine tasting and ate at wonderful restaurants.  Helpful hotel staff members suggested child-friendly wineries and we found that even very upscale restaurants did what they could to make eating with our daughter comfortable.

That’s what we’ve learned so far on our travels with our little one.  Do you have any tips for traveling with toddlers?

Happy New Year!

I spent the past few weeks spending time with my family and enjoying my favorite time of year.  We traveled, ate well and spent a lot of time just relaxing.  Over the next few weeks I’ll fill you in on all of the details but in the meantime, here are a few pictures from the holidays.

Baby Bear opening her presents

Wine tasting in Napa Valley

Baby Bear, in Lake Tahoe, seeing snow for the first time

My husband treating us to his famous Beer Can Chicken