Get Your Motor Runnin'
After literally weeks of planning and time calculations slightly more complicated than the ridiculous Ptolemaic celestial calendars we took Isaac on something of a road trip. Yesterday we went to Kittery, Maine, a tourist trap, but also home of the best stocked outdoor store on the planet: Kittery Trading Post.
Our plan was to drive up, fortunately a perfect 1 hour and 30 minutes away (exactly Isaac's nap time), go to the Trading Post, trying on some baby backpacks, grab an Audubon Field Guide to New England, let Dad peruse to the pocket knives and flashlights, and then go to the nearby outlets (see, tourist trap, I told you) for Mom. After that we'd head over to one of our favorite New England towns, Portsmouth New Hampshire, for some delicious brick oven pizza at a local chain of hippy run, all natural, local food only pizza places: Flatbread Pizza Company. We'd also feed Sir Isaac twice while out. While it was definitely a trip, it was also a test run for longer trips (such as to Ohio). It was the first time that we were taking him out for more than three hours that did not involve going to a relative's house.
All in all, things worked out very well. Kittery Trading Post was beebopping. It is a HUGE store (they have, onsite, over 3,000 used fire arms, twice that many new firearms, and over 500 kayaks...it is huge). We tried out a few baby backpacks and determined that we want one with a bit more lumbar support than just a modified regular backpack with a sling. We have some time to do more research, as Isaac needs to have head control first, but this is one of those things you can't learn from Internet research. We struck out with the Field Guide though, as the lady who works at the Trading Post said they sell something like half a dozen a day. Finally Dad snagged a cool, cheap, little pocket knife.
After the Trading Post we headed over to the J.Crew outlet for Mom. She tried on clothes all the while Dad held a sleeping Isaac. Quite frankly, he is a babe magnet. If Brad Pitt would have walked in shirtless he would have played second fiddle to Isaac. In the hour we were there I counted 25 ladies coming up to Mr. Poo Poos and making comments. The funny thing is that the J.Crew demographic is perfect for babies. They are older than the Hollister/Abercrombie demographic and can hear the faint tick of their biological clocks for the first time.
Once we were done there we headed across the border and river to the pizza place. Downtown Portsmouth is really quite nice--lots of restaurants, lots to do, and plenty to see. The pizza was so sublimely good--the all natural, locally grown sausage (or pigs that provide the sausage) was sweet and delicious. Even their plain pizzas are extraordinary.
The whole time, all 6 hours Isaac cried twice. Once at the Trading Post, but that was because he was getting bored in the Baby Bjorn while Dad was standing stationary. He cried again on the way home in a traffic jam on 495. Unfortunately he can see us and hear us better now so his cry was much more indignant. After what seemed like a day or two, but was actually less than 20 minutes (more like 10) Isaac fell asleep and slept until we arrived at 53 Hancock St.
Our little test trip was quite nice, but I think realistically it is the outer limit of what Dad and Mom can do right now. Isaac could probably go a little longer, but Mom and Dad were thoroughly pooped out when they got home. We also know now that when pushed by Motherly Instinct, Bianca can get into the back seat of the Subaru (to retrieve a fallen pacifier) while the car is moving without getting out of the car. Isaac was great.
Isaac has been in five states now, before his two month birthday. Can you guess which ones?
Our plan was to drive up, fortunately a perfect 1 hour and 30 minutes away (exactly Isaac's nap time), go to the Trading Post, trying on some baby backpacks, grab an Audubon Field Guide to New England, let Dad peruse to the pocket knives and flashlights, and then go to the nearby outlets (see, tourist trap, I told you) for Mom. After that we'd head over to one of our favorite New England towns, Portsmouth New Hampshire, for some delicious brick oven pizza at a local chain of hippy run, all natural, local food only pizza places: Flatbread Pizza Company. We'd also feed Sir Isaac twice while out. While it was definitely a trip, it was also a test run for longer trips (such as to Ohio). It was the first time that we were taking him out for more than three hours that did not involve going to a relative's house.
All in all, things worked out very well. Kittery Trading Post was beebopping. It is a HUGE store (they have, onsite, over 3,000 used fire arms, twice that many new firearms, and over 500 kayaks...it is huge). We tried out a few baby backpacks and determined that we want one with a bit more lumbar support than just a modified regular backpack with a sling. We have some time to do more research, as Isaac needs to have head control first, but this is one of those things you can't learn from Internet research. We struck out with the Field Guide though, as the lady who works at the Trading Post said they sell something like half a dozen a day. Finally Dad snagged a cool, cheap, little pocket knife.
After the Trading Post we headed over to the J.Crew outlet for Mom. She tried on clothes all the while Dad held a sleeping Isaac. Quite frankly, he is a babe magnet. If Brad Pitt would have walked in shirtless he would have played second fiddle to Isaac. In the hour we were there I counted 25 ladies coming up to Mr. Poo Poos and making comments. The funny thing is that the J.Crew demographic is perfect for babies. They are older than the Hollister/Abercrombie demographic and can hear the faint tick of their biological clocks for the first time.
Once we were done there we headed across the border and river to the pizza place. Downtown Portsmouth is really quite nice--lots of restaurants, lots to do, and plenty to see. The pizza was so sublimely good--the all natural, locally grown sausage (or pigs that provide the sausage) was sweet and delicious. Even their plain pizzas are extraordinary.
The whole time, all 6 hours Isaac cried twice. Once at the Trading Post, but that was because he was getting bored in the Baby Bjorn while Dad was standing stationary. He cried again on the way home in a traffic jam on 495. Unfortunately he can see us and hear us better now so his cry was much more indignant. After what seemed like a day or two, but was actually less than 20 minutes (more like 10) Isaac fell asleep and slept until we arrived at 53 Hancock St.
Our little test trip was quite nice, but I think realistically it is the outer limit of what Dad and Mom can do right now. Isaac could probably go a little longer, but Mom and Dad were thoroughly pooped out when they got home. We also know now that when pushed by Motherly Instinct, Bianca can get into the back seat of the Subaru (to retrieve a fallen pacifier) while the car is moving without getting out of the car. Isaac was great.
Isaac has been in five states now, before his two month birthday. Can you guess which ones?