Vacation Shmaycation- try a STAYCATION!

I don't know about you guys, but once summer hits, it seems I start to need weekends for my weekends!  Every year, the hubby and I lament how it seems we never have a free weekend; between BBQ's, family time, birthday parties, beach and pool dates, and this summer, trying to get ready for our little fellow, we're already booked up until I'm due!

We've been talking endlessly (since January...YES, JANUARY!) about doing a family vacation.  Unfortunately, a little thing called life got in the way.  Some unexpected busy-ness at the hub's job staved off an almost booked trip to Disney World in Feb/March.  Deciding to have our bathroom remodeled put off a much looked into beach vacation in April/May, and our family road trip to Michigan squashed all thought of a week in Wildwood in mid-June.  Now that it's juuuuust about July, and I'm almost 35 weeks pregnant, any promise of traveling before the little dude arrives is out of the question.  At first I was bummed (we travel a lot, so going 8 months without packing the big suitcase for a week is a decent stretch for us); but after an overnight at my mom's house last week I realized that traveling with the nug is getting hard.  Like, really hard.  Like packing a duffel bag for me, a mini suitcase for her, a pool bag, a beach bag, all supplies for both activities (blankets, toys, floaties, enough suits, regular diapers, swim diapers, sunscreen, sun hats...), toiletries for both of us and other miscellaneous items, for a ONE NIGHT stay, just felt crazy.  And that's the easiest kind of stay considering I didn't have to supply beach chairs, umbrellas or house toys (since my mom has all of that for us at her house).

That's when we decided to finally  jump on this trend of staycations.  There's a lot of reasons people take them these days (rising costs of flying, gas prices, the economy, and so on),  but for some reason we never thought to try it ourselves.  Considering we live in an area FILLED with tourist destinations, it's pretty silly that we haven't!  So, what does one do on a staycation?  Apparently, just about ANYTHING except chores or work- sounds like fun, to me!  I've been doing a lot of research on them for an upcoming article on staycations for Miss A (due out next week), and it seems you can do anything from host a cocktail party to a family decathlon in the back yard.

As for us, with so much in our area (central NJ, about 45 minutes out of Manhattan and 30 minutes to the best local non-BENNY beach- BENNY's being folks who are from out of town- say Northern NJ or some area of NY who don't stay but clog up the parkways and parking lots every.single.weekend in the summer), narrowing the list was tough.  Of course, toddler friendly is an absolute must (it drives me batty when people take small kids to events inappropriate for their ages and don't understand why the poor, bored kids are misbehaving).  So here's what we've got so far:

* The beach/boardwalk/aquarium:  This is a no-brainer in NJ, especially for beach lovers like ourselves.  We especially enjoy getting to the beach early in the morning (around 7 am, when you still need a sweatshirt and can enjoy a cup of hot coffee and a bagel while the sand heats up), and leaving before the real heat sets in...and crowds!  Our favorite local beach also has a swing set; so when we take the nug for a beach walk, she gets a little play break in the middle of our shell collecting.  Pt.Pleasant Boardwalk (about 10 minutes further from said favorite local beach) is the family version of the one you see on Jersey Shore- lots of kiddie rides, games and family attractions.  The boardwalk is also home to a wonderful little aquarium with a touch tank and lots of colorful fish, sharks, penguins, sea lions and alligators.

* 4th of July fireworks:  Since this is the first year that the nug could really appreciate them, I was so bummed that the Red Bank fireworks (a HUGE display run by the same company that does the Macy's fireworks in NYC) were canceled.  Sadly, many of the local fireworks have been put off for 2012 in light of increasing costs and diminishing donations; leaving our options a little bit limited for a first time fireworks outing. Luckily, the above mentioned favorite beach still has theirs, making for a fun night out with dinner, evening beach snuggles and a sky lit up with colorful explosions.

*The pool: Since we already belong to a pool club, it wouldn't make sense not to utilize it during our down time on our staycation.  Not to mention, the nug has a few little friends there she loves seeing!

* A local ball game:  For us this is the Lakewood Blue Claws.  First Energy Park in Lakewood is one of the  most family/kid friendly venues I've ever been to- with a large playground right above the seating stands, fun characters running around and a host of on-field, in-between innings games (like hula hoop contests or races).  They also have a post-game fireworks display every weekend!

* The NJ Fair:  Okay, I'll admit it, this has been one of my favorite -alright, my absolute favorite- thing to do to kick off summer every year.  Well before the nug came along, I've loved going to this fair since they have kind of everything a regular fair has, but tenfold.  Rides, games, food, and attractions- you definitely get your money's worth. Amongst their many attractions, they have a hypnotist show that is great, a BMX bike show, a petting zoo, a big cat show, shark show, racing pigs and if you want you can pay to ride in the original Batcopter (as in the Batman helicopter).  They also have carnival like attractions (a small circus, the world's smallest woman and horse, psychics and caricature artists), and my personal favorite, the candy tent.  It's basically a pay per pound candy store with all of my childhood favorites!  It's a can't miss for me, and definitely fits in well with our "vacation at home" theme.

*The Liberty State Science Center:  With Saturday being the kick off of 4th of July week, southbound any highway is no place I want to go (which means no beach or local attractions anywhere NEAR a beach).  That in mind, we wanted to pick someplace to go that was indoors, and north of where we live.  While we could always head into NYC, the city in summer heat is no vacation in my book.  The Liberty State Science Center, known for it's hands on exhibits, is a great place for the nug to get a little introduction science.  While it *might* not keep her attention the whole day, it will be a fun segue into going to museums.

*Monmouth Park:  On Sunday we'll be having a day at the races!  We have invited our friends and family to meet us at the track for a day of betting on horses and hanging out.  I know I've mentioned this before, but this particular track (on Sundays especially) is extremely family friendly.  With a playground, free face painting, pony rides, bounce houses and live music, there's not a chance your kids will get bored.  Not to mention, it's wallet friendly, too!  At $3.00 an adult (kids under 12 are free), and the ability to bring in your own coolers of food/drinks (alcohol included), you can choose to spend as much or as little as you want.

Alternates/down time extras:

* The zoo: While we do have the Bronx Zoo well within driving distance, we have a couple of terrific zoos even closer.  If we find we have some extra time, we'll definitely be heading to one of them since the nug is a HUGE lover of animals.

* All day movie fest: In case of inclement weather, I'll be stocking up on family movies and snacks so we can have an all day movie/play/snuggle fest in our basement.

* Family dinner night: experimenting with some new recipes in the kitchen where we can all get involved!

*BIRTHDAY CAKE! Yup- my 31st birthday has quickly approached with my barely noticing.  It feels like weeks ago I was writing about how anxious I was on the eve of my 30th birthday; and here we are already, a year later.  While last year the hubs sprung for an amazing, long 4th of July weekend at a beach house on LBI with sand, friends, family and lots of tasty drinks to ring in my 30th, my 31st will be decidedly more low key.  Almost full term with nuggest #2 (God willing and the creek don't rise), I'll be happy to be able to waddle around on our staycation!  We might spring for a dinner sans original nug, but other than that, no big plans in the works.

I have to say, it's been an absolute WHIRLWIND of a first year in my 30's.  Fun with friends, a couple of trips, and a baby on the way, I definitely can't complain (yet).  Hopefully it's not just beginner's luck; if the rest of my 30's go as well as my first year, I might even be happy to hit 40 just to see what happens next (I said *might*).

Since we have this fun staycation planned for next weekend, I have a lot to get done (who wants to do chores on vacation???).  Keep a look out for my article on Miss A next week for a ton more staycation ideas and tips for making it successful! Happy Tuesday!

Fathers, be good to your daughters

Last Sunday was Father's day, and as such, I tried my best to show my hubs my massive amounts of appreciation for his being a rock-star Dad.  Of course, I try to do this all the time (I believe that if you're only good to your spouses on holidays and birthdays, you probably need some relationship re-tooling), but since it was a holiday, I did try to spoil him (as best a 33 week pregnant, waddley woman, can).  I spent the morning whipping up challah french toast and bacon (a fan favorite in our house), and spent the afternoon at the track with the in-laws.  While I'm sure this conjures up some picture of bored kids while Dad cheers on horses with a cigar in his mouth, rest assured the track here is beyond family friendly with playgrounds, face painting, pony rides, and bounce houses...and my husband doesn't smoke cigars ;)  I also went in cahoots with MILly to coordinate a golf weekend getaway for FIL and the hubs later in the fall in the hopes that he'd enjoy the mini-break from work and the hectic-ness that will (likely) come with two kids;  or, at the very least, catch up on some sleep.

I know I often mention what a great dad I think the hubs is, but in all seriousness, he really is a terrific father.  While I could always say something like, "there's so many deadbeats out there and he's not one," I think the comparison is insulting.   He's not trying to not be a deadbeat, and frankly, it isn't him to be a deadbeat (at being a father or anything else in life).  He's just being him...a good guy, good husband, good daddy.  My appreciation for his efforts have little to do with the fact that there seems to be an increase of absentee fathers, but more because I didn't have such a great relationship with my own dad.

I've thought a lot lately about how my life might have been different had my relationship been different with my father.  My daughter has a lot of my childhood personality in her...she's pushy, she's vivacious, she's extremely strong willed and very energetic (sleep is a 4 letter word to this kid).  I was met with a lot of anger and frustration on my father's part...he couldn't quite handle me, and said a lot of terrible things (I can only hope he regretted them, since "I'm sorry" were not words that were big in his vocabulary).  Sure, kids are resilient, they can rebound from tough situations, but when it comes to their parents, they'll never forget.  I've written a lot about how I forgive my dad for the things he said and did over the years, but I'll always remember being a pint sized 6 year old being told he wished I'd never been born.  I'll never forget being told that if he and my mom divorced, it'd be my fault (and being me, I wished it were true, since it meant he'd be moving out...), and I'll always feel sad for the little nug that I was, being constantly thrust into the middle of my parent's marital spouts.  When I didn't agree with my dad (which was pretty much always), the put downs were inevitable.  Somehow, he never quite bullied me into submission, but I eventually lost the confidence I exuded as a child; convinced no one liked me (who could, if my own father didn't?), feeling low, it took me a very long time to learn to be "me" again.  And even now, I struggle with it.

A girl's relationship with her father is paramount in her life. While every girl who isn't loved by her father isn't destined to work a pole (obviously), there have been recent studies that even links horseplay with fathers to a girl's confidence through her life.  To be truthful, I didn't quite realize how important it was until I had my own daughter.  I always knew I was missing out in the Daddy/daughter relationship arena; I envied girls who had dads who doted on them, who encouraged them to do better in life than they had, who enjoyed them.  I never quite grasped what a difference it could make on a girl's life to have that connection; but once I saw my daughter's face light up at the sight of her father, it clicked.  He'll be the first man in her life to show her how a man should treat a woman.  He'll demonstrate not only how she should be treated, but how they should conduct themselves.  He'll be the first man to tell her he loves her, kiss her tears away, and support and encourage her through any of her endeavors.  That's why I'm so grateful my daughter has my husband for a father; not because he's such a great daddy (although he is), but because he's so much more.  He's a great husband- the kind who is my best friend.  The kind where it feels weird to not talk to him a hundred times a day about anything and everything, who let's me know he appreciates me as much as I do, him.  He's a hard worker, he's close with his family, he holds doors for strangers every.single.time he walks in or out of a building, and he's smart, to boot (brains are kind of my "thing").  

As far as good examples go, my daughter has it made.  I could be jealous, I suppose, but the truth is, while it's not the same relationship, he was the first to do all those things for me, too.  I guess you could say she and I both got pretty lucky.  That's not to say that all my issues magically disappeared because I lucked out with a great husband; but that fact alone goes to show that even in the best of outcomes, lacking a good father figure could affect you for life.  That's why I would urge any man out there to not stop at being a good father, but being a good person.  No one is perfect; we all have our moments where we lose our cool, but remember this: while they may forgive you for things you say and do in the heat of anger or frustration, they probably won't ever forget.  I know I never did.

Road Trippin'

Last weekend was a crazy, fast weekend for us C's (as apparently this week was, since it's already Friday)!  On Thursday morning, bright and early, I had a 32 week ultrasound on the little man (he's still an adorable, chubby cheeked clone of my hubby), and immediately from there left for a road trip to Michigan to visit the hubby's cousins.  The ride out wasn't so bad- the novelty of having snacks and toys thrown her way every 10 minutes kept the nug happy.   We even stopped about 4 hours short of our destination to spend the night at a hotel with an indoor pool  (which the nug thought was pretty much the coolest thing ever).  Since we made it out there in good spirits and unscathed, we thought we had it made...

But a funny thing happened last weekend in the magical land of Michigan.  My daughter...my sweet, snuggly, tender daughter, seemingly turned into a teenager overnight.  Now, I know she's really not a teenager, but I'm pretty sure it's considered teen aged behavior to yell "STOP TALKING!" when your father is reprimanding you.  You read that right.  As my husband was explaining to her why she shouldn't be putting her feet up on the iPad, she copped an attitude.  That tude she dished out was 100% vintage Megan.  On one hand, it's a little unnerving having proved my mother right (she always warned me that I'd have a daughter like me someday), on the other, I'm kind of finding it hilarious.  In that moment, jaws dropped, I had to give my husband the "don't you DARE laugh right now" look of death, and bite into my own lip to keep from smiling myself in order to tell her it wasn't nice to talk to Mommy and Daddy (or anyone) like that.  I'm sure it was the first of many times we'll have to turn our faces away so she can't see our amusement at her emerging vivacity.  On the bright side, she was mostly fabulous sharing attention with her new baby cousin; we realized the problem we'll likely have when little man comes is that she'll want to help TOO much.  I'm not really expecting her enthusiasm to stick around very long once she realizes that our new little C won't be gone after 48 hours, but I'm happy to see that she at least didn't seem to find the prospect of Mommy paying attention to another baby as problematic.

While the actual road trip was uneventful (and the weekend awesome), sitting in the car for a total of 22-23 hours over the course of 4 days didn't bode well for my big bellied body.  Since the little guy is pretty much spread eagle all over my short torso, sitting for long periods can be extremely uncomfortable.  Not to mention, while we thought we were totally prepared, loading 6, 24 minute episodes of her favorite TV shows on the iPad proved to be more trouble than it was worth (as in the giant preggo having to lean back into the back seat every 24 minutes to start a new show).  While I might try this road trip thing again in a few years, it definitely won't be happening again any time soon.

In other news, the school year is officially over.  At first I was really looking forward to this; her afternoon classes made for late naps (and even later bedtimes), so I figured once school was done I could get the nug on a better sleep schedule.  Except I forgot how much I reaaaaallly look forward to those four hours a week.  They gave me time to write, tidy up after one of her morning tornados through the living room, or, most important, get a mani/pedi!  Although, it's kind of nice that for the next few weeks (as in the last few weeks we have together as a trio- GULP!), we won't be on anyone's schedule but our own.  Even though it's getting much harder for me to get around, I am determined to make this next month or two amazing (yes...I *could* have a baby in as few as 4 weeks, although I'm anticipating more like 6, 7 if he's stubborn). I refuse to let my big, waddling, hobbily behind sit around while there are beaches to visit, pools to swim in, and fun to be had!  It might take me longer to do it (seriously, I think a snail would beat me in a race at the moment), but I am going to do it ;)

As for my Pinterest challenge, it begins TODAY!  I've spent a bit of time scouring the site and although I really still don't get the hype, I'm going to do my best to utilize it.  I'll let you know how it's going!  It should be interesting to give it a go now that the nug's spring activities are all over  AND she's been refusing to nap.  In the mean time, feel free to check out my latest article on Miss A about keeping your family's skin safe in the summer!

Haute Mama Mayhem

In case you missed it recently, I happily announced that I am a contributing writer for the women's e-magazine, Miss A!  Now that the cat is out of the bag, I can confess that I've been a little quieter than usual because I have been working on my first few articles.  It was one of those opportunities I kind of just stumbled upon, but was so unbelievably excited about once presented.  Everyone I've "met" (and by "met" I mean talked over e-mail with) so far seems amazing, and I am REALLY looking forward to being a part of their team.  I really hope anyone reading checks out their site,  and enjoys reading all they have to offer.  

That doesn't mean I'll be neglecting my personal blog here (at least I hope it doesn't)- it just means I'll have an awesome place to write about some different topics.  Being a sahm, 7-8 months pregnant, starting to "really" write, and toss in, say, life in general...methinks things are about to get interesting.

With all of my recent Internet research for Miss A, one thing has come up consistently that I'm just not getting: Pinterest.  I've known about this fad for a while now- people pin things they like, almost like a scrap book of recipes, how to's, and inspirational ideas; but somehow, I still just don't "get" it.  Maybe it's because I'm not a scrapbook-er of any kind.  My recipe box is filled with cards growing dust since before my wedding, and Cam's baby book, well, I'm embarrassed to admit it still has the sticker on it- totally untouched.  Maybe it's because I'm a lover of quick Internet searches via google, and enjoy mashing up 4 recipes to make up my own.  Whatever the reason, I'm just not understanding the hype.  But my question to myself is, can THAT many people be wrong about something?  Maybe I'm not getting the love for it, but it's so popular that it's hard to ignore that maybe they're seeing something I'm not.  Smell a challenge? Your nose is spot on! Next week, I am going to use Pinterest.  I mean REALLY use it...I will pin and use recipes.  I will pin and use how to's.  I will attempt to make my own pins.  Maybe, by the end of the week, I'll magically fall in love with this virtual pin board and happily retract my former misunderstandings, or maybe I still just won't get it.  Either way, I look forward to giving it a shot.  

In the mean time, writing aside, the hubs and I have been joking that we're going to be running around like chickens with our heads cut off until the little man arrives.  In the next week alone, we have 3 doctor appointments between us, I have a lunch with the school moms, we are driving to Michigan and back for a family visit, AND we have a maternity photo shoot.  Yes...all that, in the next 7 days (not to mention preparation for all of the above).  All that to do, when all I REALLY want to do is sleep.  Of course, with so much going on, I'm in the throes of the third trimester sleepies.  Not only am I simply tired because he's growing (and I'm growing), but his insistence on residing across my ribs has been causing some seriously uncomfortable sleeping (or not sleeping, I should say).  This is kind of new for me, since I didn't have quite as much discomfort with the nug- but then again, she was super pint sized.  I'm kind of convinced he might already weigh now what she did when she was born (it certainly feels that way!).  It makes for interesting sleep times...my bed looks like a pillow fortress.  I'm pretty sure by the end of the night, my poor hubs is left with half a pillow to rest his head while I have 4-5 under my head and back, and a boppy that starts out wedged under my belly but ends up, well, elsewhere.  

One thing is for sure, it's going to be a crazy couple of months.  With lots planned, lots to get done, a wacky nug along for the ride and a little boy due to arrive in FIVE to EIGHT WEEKS, it's going to be a doozy of a summer-- I can't flippin' wait!  Feel free to go to Miss A's Haute Mama section to check out my current articles and some great articles by other talented Mama's.  There are some great sections on charity, fashion, beauty and local sections, too!  Have a great week!