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Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Kid Travel: Chicago

October 15, 2022 by Kristin

The summer of 2022 has been one of the hottest ever in Austin, TX, and a hot Austin with a toddler has been pretty much… unbearable. We’ve made the most of dining out, water play, and indoor activities, but half way through the summer I had a major urge to plan a cool weather vacation. I came up with a simple list of criteria (direct Southwest flight, good public transit system, walkable, NO CAR SEAT REQ!) and all signs pointed to Chicago (Midway).

Let’s touch a bit on the no car seat thing. Toddler travel can be tough because toddlers are toddlers, but lugging around a beast of a convertible car seat is an underlying pain almost anywhere you visit. A convertible car seat *almost* makes a rental car mandatory. And outrageous rental car prices and paying for hotel parking just aren’t where I want to spend my dollars. 

Back to Chicago! We flew out on a Thursday morning and curb checked two suitcases and the travel stroller. I prefer to curb check, especially when flying without Kody, because there usually isn’t a line and it allows me to get rid of the heavy stuff ASAP. When we landed, Kody handled the suitcases and I took care of the stroller and navigation. I didn’t really put much thought into how we’d get to the train, but I remember it being pretty easy during my last visit in 2014.

The train station was a decent walk from baggage claim, but the signage was great and all walkways were enclosed. We purchased our Ventra tickets and, within minutes, we were on the Orange line. After 25-ish minutes on the train, we hopped off at State/Lake. And this would be our biggest challenge of the trip – not all train stops have elevators! We acted quickly and I carried Ez and the folded stroller. Kody was a champ and lugged our luggage with ease. From there, we walked another 15 minutes to the Sheraton Grand on the Riverwalk. The walk was pleasant: sidewalks were great, pedestrian crossings were timely, and the weather was perrrfeccctt! Side note: the elevator thing wasn’t a big deal the rest of the trip, it was merely an unanticipated challenge with luggage.

The hotel checked us in early and honored our request for a high floor away from the elevator (win!). Ventra tickets work on the bus, which was the best way to get to our first stop: The Lincoln Park Zoo. The vibration of the bus lulled Ez to sleep and we found ourselves at the zoo with a peacefully sleeping toddler. A quick change of plans led us to a quaint Italian restaurant where we casually sipped on very large dirty martinis and warm (warm!!!) calamari and prawns. Ez continued to sleep, so we continued to dine. It was a super peaceful impromptu date night that couldn’t have been better timed.

We set the theme of the trip: public transit to and walking home from our destination. We soaked up about two miles of city life, stopped at Whole Foods to grab a pizza dinner for Ez, and settled back at the hotel after a seemingly full day stuffed into a half day. I noticed the hotel had an indoor pool before we left, which was the perfect way for our late napper to burn off some energy and sleep soundly in a new city. 

Saturday was be our best day, a day where we’d clock over 20,000 steps! I packed a bunch of non-perishable snacks and Ez had fun working his way through the snack smorgasbord for breakfast while Kody and I did a little unintentional intermittent fasting before lunch. We hopped back on the bus for a do over of the zoo where I learned that 3-½ might just be the most perfect zoo age. Seeing giraffes, rhinoceroses, and polar bears was special for all of us! Ez snuck in a train ride and convinced us that he needed a pumpkin bubble machine glow stick before lunch. I hadn’t made lunch plans other than “find hot dogs nearby with a decent rating” and was pleasantly surprised when Google maps led us to hip Chicago’s Dog House on our way to the train. 

After we loaded up on hot dog goodness, we took the train south to Summer of George for an architectural boat tour. It was just as awesome as I remember it. Kody’s brain was filled with architectural facts by the time we finished and I loved how it super-charged his Chicago experience from that point forward. My big tips here are to buy boat tour tickets on Groupon (half the price!) and to plan this early in your trip so you have a greater appreciation during your city strolls for the remainder of your visit. 

After the tour we ditched public transit and walked to Buckingham Fountain and Play Garden. Ez was obsessed with the playscapes at Play Garden and could have spent an entire day there! I loved seeing him turn into a super climber and could tell he was feeling confident and independent. This park is a must if you have preschool/elementary school aged kids.

Kody’s only restaurant request was something that felt like the Sopranos would eat there. A quick Google search led me to La Scala and it was a perfect vibe match and wonderful for classic Italian.

Sunday came with a super slow start. In the moment, it didn’t feel like we accomplished much. But looking back, the few hours we spent at the Navy Pier checked a ton of boxes. As soon as we arrived, someone pulled us aside to let us know that Blue Man Group would be performing in a couple minutes. They pointed us toward a lake front stage where we sat in the grass and watched a short and sweet performance. Afterward, we encountered several other stage setups with live performances. There was so much happy energy at every turn! We worked our way to the Centennial Wheel and experienced the city from a birds eye view. And that was about the time all of us hit a tired tourist wall.

Because we traveled mostly by foot, it was a vacation that celebrated the journey while being rewarded with the destination. 

Filed Under: lifestyle Tagged With: no car seat, toddler, travel, travel from austin, travel with toddler, vacation

DIY GENDER NEUTRAL DOLLHOUSE

September 12, 2021 by Kristin

DIY Gender Neutral Dollhouse

LBH… I do not have the capacity to post regularly enough to have a true niche. But! If I had more time for DIY, I’m almost certain my niche would be “future proof” kid stuff. In construction (my day job), we think a lot about how a space could be used for the next 10/20 years. And as a mom, I’m noticing first hand how the life of toys/decor is very… short! So here goes, my first DIY post, the DIY Dollhouse.

DIY Dollhouse Kitchen

The inspo behind this DIY dollhouse came from trying to find the best wall mounted gender neutral dollhouse for a narrow space. As I was working through a solution, I came up with using a regular bookshelf that can be used for displaying or storing toys/books/decor when the kids are over playing with a dollhouse.

DIY Dollhouse Bathroom

Below are links to for a complete dollhouse set up as well as optional hardware if you’d like to mount yours to the wall. All in, the DIY dollhouse components were about $75 and mounting hardware was another $15 or so. Not bad considering many dollhouse room set ups can range between $28-$30!

“Dollhouse”/Future Bookshelf

Furniture for Five Rooms

Doll Family

Potted Plants (haven’t arrived yet, so not in pics)

Z-clips (for mounting on wall)

Molly Anchors (for mounting on wall)

Filed Under: lifestyle Tagged With: diy dollhouse, diy gender neutral dollhouse, gender neutral dollhouse, modern dollhouse, wooden dollhouse furniture

Day Trip From Austin – Bob Wentz Park

August 15, 2021 by Kristin

If ever there was a time to explore natural areas your city has to offer, it’s during a pandemic with a toddler. Today we ventured to Bob Wentz Park, about 30 minutes from our home in Central Austin. We seem to finally have all the gear for a successful “beach” day and leave most of it in the car for max efficiency with weekend exploring (links below). Between perfect weather, short travel time, having the right gear, and a well laid out park – we had such a wonderful day! We arrived around 10:30am, but I’d love to shoot for before 10am next time so we can get a parking spot closer to the Point.

As a native Floridian, Texas lakes and beaches can’t compare. But when it comes to kids, you don’t need the best of the best, any water and sand will do. We have to make the most of what we have! With that said, we really liked the “beach” at Bob Wentz Park. I thought about it all day and I actually think I like this lake spot better than Galveston. I loved the shallow pools on the rocks so that Ezra could play with water without being IN the water. And he loves rocks so much, having rocks, shells, and coarse sand were just as perfect for loading up his trash truck as they were for making pretend ice cream.

Kid Friendly Swimming Holes Austin TX

I had a mini fail with lunch packing. I stopped for sandwiches, but the water got through the plastic wrap the sandwiches came in and the sandwiches were soaked. But I had plenty of other snacks to fill us up until we got home. Harvest Snaps, Hippeas, grapes, blueberries, and some un-pictured hummus. We also brought a few Electric Jellyfish, which made up for the fail :).

Ez and I were super covered up in SPF gear. I’ve really been loving long sleeved and legging UPF gear for him. And I finally bit the bullet and ordered a long sleeved suit for myself after a recent pre-cancer freezing at the derm (!!!). When we’re both all covered up, it makes sunscreen application so much easier.

Here’s a list of all of our tried and true products for the beach. All of these items were purchased (none gifted or sponsored), but I am utilizing affiliate links for some of these items when possible.

  • Pop Up Canopy – We’ve had this pop up beach tent since Ez was a baby and it’s held up super well for the past three summers. I love that it folds into a thin disc that we can keep in the trunk. It’s currently out of stock but here are a couple similar pop up tents: tent 1, tent 2.
  • Beach Toys – We bought this beach toy set for our trip to Galveston. At such a low price point, my expectations were pretty low. But they’re a pretty thick plastic and provide everything baby needs to form, pour, spin, and roll.
  • Beach Toy Bags – These bags remind me of going to the beach with my Gramma when I was little, which is initially what led me to purchase them. But they’re really great for beach toys because they hold everything together, they’re easy to stuff full, water and sand can be shaken out of the toys while they’re in the bag, and it’s easy to carry several of them.
  • Ezra’s UPF Shirt – We have these shirts in several colors for both kids. We bought these in addition to rashguard type shirts we have from Target/Gap because they aren’t made for just water play so they don’t get as hot if we’re going to the park or playing in the yard without water.
  • Ezra’s UPF Leggings – A few weeks ago, Ez’s legs got pink when we played in the yard with sprinklers. I bought these leggings for going to the park and playing in the yard, but they quickly turned into our fav bathing suit bottoms too.
  • Ezra’s Hat – Ezra has been using this hat since last summer. It has an adjustable head strap as well as neck strap, so it grows with baby. I like that it stays on well and that it’s easy to toss in the wash while still keeping its form.
  • Puddle Jumper – We kept Haven’s puddle jumper for Ezra, but Ez is really narrow and it would fall off easily. If your baby is on the tall/narrow/skinny side, this puddle jumper is where it’s at because the straps tighten more than others and it also has a vest that keeps the float in place.
  • My Swimsuit – This suit… I wish I had it sooner. I love it partly because it’s so flattering and stylish, but mostly because it allows me not to have to reapply sunscreen. There are few things I enjoy less than putting sunscreen on a wet and sandy body.
  • My Hat – I am not a hat person (or maybe I should say I wasn’t a hat person until this hat). When I bought this hat, I had expensive Anthro and Gap hats sitting in my closet. It was an impulse $9.99 buy during a trip to Costco last year and I ended up wearing it ALL THE TIME.
  • Family Sunscreen – We started using ThinkBaby/ThinkSport mineral sunscreen for Ezra when he was old enough to wear sunscreen and then ended up using it for the entire fam. It ranks highly on EWG.com.
  • My Face Sunscreen – I stopped wearing make-up early in quarantine. But I do wear this CC Cream when I go out in the sun as my face sunscreen. It’s ranked highly on EWG.com and provides the perfect amount of light coverage.
  • Reusable Storage Bags – We’ve pretty much kicked our plastic bag habit thanks to these and glass storage containers.

Filed Under: Day Trips, lifestyle Tagged With: austin lakes, austin swimming holes, day trips from austin, kid friendly austin, toddler activities

Nutrient Dense Banana Pancakes

August 10, 2021 by Kristin

Oh hey! Starting this out with… It feels really wonderful to be creating content again. Fancy meals are rarely a thing over here, so I’ve struggled to find my place over the past year. But after surviving over a year with the most toddler-y toddler, it’s been brought to my attention that I have some valid content to share (thanks supportive family and friends!). So here goes! And a few recent pics of Ez fun 🙂


I’ll touch briefly on where Ezra is at in his food journey as it’s easy for things to look extra perfect on the ‘gram. Ez is a much stronger personality than Haven was at this age and thrives when he feels in control and is given notice when transitioning from one activity to the next (especially when the current activity is fun and the following activity is… not). The kid is a breakfast monster and loves pancakes, french toast, steel cut oats, yogurt, and fruit. He definitely front loads his calories! Lunch gets a little trickier, but is still fairly easy. We’ve found that the earlier the lunch, the lower the potential for hangry, and the best chance of a pleasant meal. He’s pretty open to whatever we serve, but he def has a strong presence for cucumbers or fry shaped veggies during this time. Or soup… he lives for soup! Dinner has been difficult. Remember that calorie front load blip? Between breakfast, lunch, snack, and nursing on demand, he’s front loaded his calories pretty well. Dinner brings new challenges as activities are winding down and, it’s becoming clearer by the day, that bedtime is near. 


Our solution for this has been low pressure dinner, which falls in line with both the Feeding Littles and Big Little Feelings courses that we love. It is not a big deal for us if Ez doesn’t want to sit at the dining table the minute we sit in the dining table. Often we’ll leave his high chair pulled out and he’ll climb up a few min after we start eating (see where that control thing comes into play?). We apply the “always provide a safe food” rule, especially when serving new foods. And that’s where this pancake recipe comes in. Pancakes are devoured over here 100% of the time (by both kids)! And we will often serve him what we are having as well as some fruit and a green smoothie to drink. Sometimes he works his way through the plate, but sometimes he doesn’t. But since we are low pressure, we don’t sweat the food waste that comes with not forcing foods. The important thing is exposure – providing food and letting Ez decide (“You provide, they decide” per Feeding Littles).


But in addition to exposure to foods, it’s important to me that our safe food feel relatively complete from a nutrient standpoint. I loved the idea of the Feeding Littles pancake recipe, but they were a little flat for my taste and had so much potential. Adding almond flour and hemp hearts really helps fluff up the pancakes as well as add a ton of good fat and protein. And zucchini adds fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin B-6, among several other nutrients. Serving a more complete safe food ensures that Ezra is fuller longer, getting the nutrients he needs, and feels in control of his meal. They’re not a bad “complete” snack for mama either!


What are some of your toddler’s safe foods?

Are meal times more challenging than you anticipated during these toddler years?

Filed Under: Breakfast Recipes, lifestyle Tagged With: banana pancakes, dairy free, easy breakfast, gluten free, make ahead breakfast, protein pancakes, toddler breakfast, veggie filled pancakes

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Kid Travel: Chicago

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