Moving Little Troopers

The military lexicon was often used in my house growing up; a remnant of my dad’s army days. “At ease,” he would tell the dog barking at the neighbors. Mother’s Day shopping trips were “missions” involving “recon” and herding up all of us to get to church on time involved directives such as, “move out troops,” etc. He’ll agree with you by giving an affirmative, “that’s a Rog” (pronounced with a soft “g” short for Roger).

When we arrived at my parent’s house for a visit with our 4-week-old, Dad jokingly mentioned that he had moved 40 men with less gear.

As summer travel is on the horizon, I have been doing research on traveling with small children. (See, prior post Vacation Dreaming) When in doubt, ask the experts! The best tips I found weren’t from parenting sites at all but from spouses of military personnel: http://www.military.com/spouse/fs/0,,fs_militarymama_travel,00.html
Who better to orchestrate a strategy for the movement of gear and people?

Also, for the ambitious traveler, I love the concept of this group: http://www.babyfriendlyboltholes.co.uk/
These vacation spots are kid friendly cottages with all the baby gear on site. They offer that they know it takes more than a cot and a high chair to be toddler friendly. Cottages available in England, France, Italy, Spain, & Greece.

Speaking of summer travel, I stumbled upon the Seat Chiller. It's a one-size-fits-all car seat cooler to keep the seat chilled between stops or when the car sits in the hot sun. This one is available online at http://www.babydagny.com/c/Favorites/p/Seat_Chiller.