Saturday, August 06, 2011

Hannah’s Travel Tips

Last weekend was a long weekend for us so I added a vacation day on the Friday to the beginning of it and Hannah and I had 4 amazing days together filled with fun, laughter, singing, swimming, playing and time with family!

Our extended family lives a number of hours away so Hannah and I chose to drive with my parents rather than take 2 vehicles.  They picked us up and after we loaded our ton of stuff into their vehicle we were on our way.  Hannah had a couple of new things to play with on this trip and both were a huge success!  I had ordered a Star Kids Snack and Play Travel Tray for her to use in the car after hearing good things about it from a few friends and it was great! 

It gave her a flat surface to colour on, read, drive little cars and nothing rolled off it as the sides are raised. It’s made of soft materials which is important to me in case there is a need to put on the brakes quickly.  A great purchase that I’d recommend to others!   It has a little strap that goes behind her car seat and snaps into place to hold it in place while she’s using it.  Hannah loved it and had fun putting things in the little side mesh pockets too.

The second new purchase was a last minute find on Kijiji.ca. (Canada’s answer to Craig’s List).  When we were visiting M3 and her family the girls had the LeapFrog Tag reading system.  Hannah really enjoyed playing with theirs and since we’ve been home she’d take pens and similar items and press them to her story books and say in a bewildered voice ‘Not working Mom!’  

There is a Tag Junior system that is geared for her age but I wasn’t sure it would be worth the price for the short amount of time that she would use it before moving onto the older child’s Tag system.  Mom and I had looked at the Junior system when we were shopping earlier in the week and I had contemplated buying it and a couple of books for her this coming Christmas.

On a whim Thursday morning I put Tag Junior into the search field of Kijiji for our area and up popped a system in a neighbouring city that offered the Tag pen + 7 books for less than the cost of the pen alone!  I contacted the seller and quickly offered to purchase their system.  Norma and I popped over at lunch and voila….Tag Junior purchased!

I pulled the pen and books out of her activity bag during our drive Friday morning and she was thrilled!  She spent part of our drive both to and from our destination playing with her new books and reader.  It’s so cute when she turns the pen on and it refers to her by name! 

IMG_1365

A great little system.  Highly recommended for your little toddler who enjoys reading and learning!

8 comments:

  1. I bought that travel tray a few years ago after seeing them on the salsa blog. One of the best investments I ever made. Great for our 4.5 hr trips to the cottage. Not only great for books/toys but also great for when they have to eat in the car on the go.....everything can be laid out and stays on the tray....not all over them or the car seat!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have the travel tray also and Naomi loves it. She likes to set her movie player on it (which by the way is my #1 pick for car travel entertainment for a 4 year old!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I bought 2 of those for our travels after M3 raved about them. I filled them with tons of little stuff and snacks.....etc. I put them in the car before the kids saw them. It was a complete surprise for about 5 hrs. Then I took them back while we were on vaca, so that everything remained new for the LONG trip home. Thanks so much for sharing your slice of life with us. Love following your little adventures.

    ReplyDelete
  4. They have such cool things out there. Love it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You guys are traveling maniacs this summer!!! I love it!! You are creating such wonderful summer memories for Hannah. It's how summer should be!

    Stace

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great tips! I love our Leap Frog Tag system that we bought a couple of months ago. I also recommend the portable DVD players as they came in handy during the final hour of our trip (at the point when meltdowns were likely to occur).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi there! I just wanted to drop you a quick note to first say how much I love your blog! Reading your words, seeing your pictures, listening to your spirit on your journey has changed my life for the better. I have been in the process of adoption from Russia for over three years now. Reading about journeys such as your have given me hope, encouragement, and energy to keep going. You have brought me to laughter and tears as I have followed your miracle. I thank you for taking the time to share.
    I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I have a blog that I have been writing marking my journey towards my daughters. Do you have any advise on how to bring my journey to more people? My only goal is to pass on some of the blessings I have been given by families like yours. To encourage, inspire, and educate others about the miracle and challenges of adoption. I have submitted my blog to the various search engines and Facebook etc. Do you have any other ideas? I so appreciate you time and thoughts. my blog is www.adoption-thecrookedroad.blogspot.com.


    thanks so much for your time and your willingness to share,
    Stephanie Silver
    silvst@live.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for all your help Catherine! I think I got it figured out! I so appreciate your kind words....Remembering that God is in control is what keeps me going. I love that God knows every moment of this wait....Wow, I really needed to hear that as the hope of my baby girl in Russia is hard to hold onto sometimes. Your journey continues to inspire me.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...