Father Of The Blog

Southwest Airlines got us to Denver twenty minutes earlier than expected, great, but what happened to family preboarding? You know, with the handicapped folks? I am one dad traveling with two ruddy wise-girl preschoolers, which could be considered a handicap. Forced to wait while the ‘A’ class boarded, I grumpily asked the mannequin-esque attendant, “What! No family preboarding! When did that change?” Unfrazzled, coolly she replied “A year or so ago” she probably had heard that complaint a billion times.
The flight was smooth, I came prepared with a feed bag of crunchy goodies, a fully charged laptop, a plethora of Barbie and Disney princess movies, (enough to last a on trip to the moon and back), dual headphones, and a half dozen fresh activity books for back up. The 737 preformed exceptional and the crew was professional.
A two hour flight plus a two hour drive somehow equals ten hours of travel with Olivia and Hailey. Although I can’t lay all the blame on my well traveled preschoolers, the travel time was extended by a small portion of my family that arrived a couple hours after our flight. In that couple hours, I rented a big blue Town and Country van, found a Subway to feed the kiddos and then we rendezvoused back at DIA’s passenger pickup with my oldest brother Sam along with his second daughter Samantha who is idolized by my dear second, we also met up with Zadie, (my dad). The six of us traveled in rush hour traffic via Big Blue (the Thrifty rental van), from DIA to our condo duplex in Breckenridge. The drive took twice as long as it should have because of an accident on highway 70 and once again my perception to sniff out potential meltdowns saved me from a most assured “are we there yet” headache. Anticipating a two hour drive (which turned into almost four), I packed a portable DVD player inside my carry-on, and installed it in Big Blue prior to our stint down 70.
Around seven thirty that evening we finally reached the 5000 square foot duplex/condo/house that my brother in law Alan had procured from an associate for the week. The condo was huge, four levels, five suites, six or so (lost count) bathrooms, a massive kitchen and three common areas. The only issue was the lack of beds. Eventually our party would hit fourteen and upon first inspection, the condo only housed seven complete bed sets. Down on the lowest level of the house was an entertaining room with a ping pong table and a basketball toss game. Also down there silently stood a pair of bunk-beds with no mattresses or covers and in a dark empty room was a broken iron bed frame without a box-spring or a mattress, very crime scenish. I made a sign for the big musty room, “Master Suite – Reserved for the Taxman Family” a little prank for my sister’s husband who had sent an email to my dad, my brothers and me stating a request for the master suite.
The lack of beds created a standoff right from the git-go. I have to rewind the story just a bit here; A few days before departure, any time the subject of our Breckenridge ski trip was brought-up, Hailey would say, “I want the blue room.” How do you explain to a four year old that, there may not be a “blue” room and I have no idea what the sleeping and bunking arrangements will be when fourteen family members crash for a week in an unknown place. So I told her that once we arrive there, she will get to pick where she wants to sleep and if there happens to be a blue room she can pick that room to sleep in. Well wouldn’t you know it, we arrived at our home away from home and of course there is a “blue room” in which my dad had just parked his bags. Hailey walked into the room, spied the blue roman shade covering the window and a blue comforter on the bed and gleefully shouted, “Daaadeee! A bluuue roooom!” She dragged her suitcase into the room, unzipped it, opened all the drawers of two humongous antiqued dressers and started unloading her clothes. My dad walks out of the bathroom and saw Hailey occupying what he thought was going to be his suite for the week and briefly attempted to stop her. “Hailey, I was going to stay in this room.”
“I said… I… get… the blue room!” she shouted over her shoulder as she feverishly emptied her suitcase.
I was standing in the doorway and my dad glanced over at me for support. Shrugging my shoulders, I sided with Hailey, “Well, she did call the blue room.” Thanks to Hailey, I didn’t get stuck on the couch or worse this annual ski trip and Olivia, Hailey and I shared a queen sized bed for the week, (‘shared’ is a stretch for a ‘family bed’ newbie) in the “blue room”.
Our first full day in Breck began early. Sam, Samantha and Zadie spent the day on the slopes, so Olivia, Hailey and I taxied them down to the lifts then parked Big Blue near Main Street. We spent the morning shopping for light weight ski apparel and to our dismay, children’s clothiers’ were scarce. The few kids’ shops we happened upon had nothing but heavy winter gear and we already had that stuff. We did find a cool toy store, Peak-A-Boo Toys that had a big ‘test the toy’ play area where we spent an hour playing and the kiddos talked me into some small stuffed animals. Then for lunch we found a great pizza place, Eric’s, with a decent video game room where we won more stuffed animals.
The town square was equipped with one of those towering bungee jumper trampoline things which Olivia and Hailey insisted upon at fifteen dollars each for a five minute jump-off. We milled around main for a couple more hours popping in and out of shops and stopped at all the sculptures for photo ops until it was time to meet-up with Zadie, Sam and Samantha.
That night I had a big surprise planed for Olivia and Hailey. Unannounced to them, cousin Mikey was in Breck on spring break. Mikey was there visiting cousins Chris and Glenda who live in Breck. (Chris is one of Aunt Linda’s sons, Glenda his wife). So we caught Mikey on his last day there and met up with him at one of Chris’s restaurants, the swanky, upscale Briar Rose. Olivia and Hailey were delighted to see Mikey and a bit confused, “we’re not in Houston, what are you doin’ in the mountains” Olivia said.
We visited with Chris for a while, unfortunately he had to work and we only hung out for a short time. Then Mikey walked us up and down Main Street trying to find Empire Burger, another restaurant operated by Chris. Oh and to throw even more relatives into the mix, my sister Rachel, her husband Alan along with Louis and Sadie had arrived in town that evening and joined us for dinner.
It was a long first day and I wanted to get to bed as soon as we got home from diner but Olivia, Hailey and Sadie had other plans. They were bouncing through the huge condo, showing off for the older cousins. I had the not so bright idea to set up the portable DVD in bed to lure them in, and calm them down, that was a mistake, because the girls expected that same routine every night thereafter. Also, the family bed thing was getting old quick, I don’t know how any parent can pull that off, arms and legs thrashing around like hungry baby pythons, finally, after the kiddos nodded off, I scooched down to the end of the bed and slept perpendicular with my feet and lower legs hanging off the edge. That is how I slept the rest of the week.
Day three (technically); Olivia, Hailey and Sadie played games and paper dolls the whole morning while Rach and I waited for the cable guy to come and hook up a modem, (don’t ask). Around noon Rach and I took the kiddos to the Stephen C West Ice Arena. Hailey’s first time on skates and she did great. It took her a while to get used to the ice but after four or five trips around the rink with the ‘walker’ thing and me holding her at the waist she ditched the support device and skated quite well just holding my hand. Olivia’s second time on skates and she did awesome. Maybe one or two laps pushing the orthopedic learning-to-skate devise and she was skating all by herself trying to keep up with Sadie who is a natural on ice. Olivia had a few falls but popped right back up and kept going without a wince. I’m not sure why, but damn that made me proud to see.
After ice skating we picked up Zadie who had S.O.S.ed us from the slopes, he had enough trying to keep up with Samantha. Rach and I dropped off the kiddos at the condo with Zadie and ran down to the convenient City Market grocery and loaded up two carts which was just in time for the arrival of Joe (my brother), Nathan (eighteen year old nephew), Shaina (Fourteen year old niece) and Danielle (Sam’s oldest daughter) completing our annual family ski trip tribe.
Day four; we actually skied. Olivia and Hailey attended the Breckenridge Ski and Ride School for the day. I got to ski with my dad, my brothers Sam and Joe, my brother in-law Alan, nephew’s Nathan and Louis, nieces Danielle, Samantha and Shaina. Rach stayed at the condo with Sadie who didn’t feel well.
Pausing the review for a quick rundown on nephew’s; Nathan, (and brother in law Alan for that matter) ya’ll didn’t stand a chance against me playing Risk. And Louis gets a gold medal for fastest hot dog eaten… in a hot dog eating contest of one. On to my nieces, Shaina forgot to pack boots… to the mountains. Samantha’s skies only point downhill… it’s sick. Danielle did something to the toilet in the teenager’s suite… Sadie…I’m not even sure where to start with her.
Day four resumed; perfect morning of skiing in Breckenridge, not too crowded, sunny, warm, groomed just right for my chump like ski style. Although toward the end of the day the warm weather caused the snow to become slushy. So before I needed to pick up the kiddos, my dad and I headed down early, to the coral, stop it, it’s not what you’re thinking, the coral is the pen where all the pre-scholars take their lessons. I was hoping for a chance to get some action photos and I was not disappointed.
That night we ordered in from Fatty’s Pizzeria and yes, I ordered way too much, but I was factoring in fourteen people and that was with four hungry teenagers and two Taxman boys (Alan and Louis). When calling in the order I asked about party catering options and Fatty’s hooked us up with a good price for an army sized scrumptious meal.
Day five; another almost five hundred dollar day of skiing. That was approximate cost per day to ski. That included lift tickets for Olivia, Hailey and Me, all our ski equipment plus helmets and lessons for kiddos. The crew was minus Alan this day, the conditions and my timid overly cautious skiing was much the same as the day before. My dad cut out after lunch and Louis and I bailed on the group early to find Olivia’s and Sadie’s ski group. I had Alan’s video recorder and wanted to get some footage of them going up a lift and skiing on the mountain for the first time. Miraculously, without GPS, or short wave radios, or walkie-talkies, or cell phones, or locator beacons we caught up with them at the bottom of the Quicksilver Lift, I’m guessing my D.A.D.A.R. was in operation that day. I got to ride up with Olivia and then recorded her, Sadie and Lou, the entire decent. I could tell that the Ski and Ride School had a good crew and did a fine job, the kiddos wanted to go another day, Louis was baited into a snow ball fight with Olivia’s and Sadie’s instigating in a playful way ski instructor and I didn’t have any problems refunding Sadie’s unused lift ticket.
Later in the afternoon the kiddos stayed at the condo with the Lord of the Flies older cousins in command, while Rach and I hit Main Street for some souvenir shopping, she had her R.A.C.H. on, finding the Mountain Sanctuary Spa within a stone’s throw of our parking space. Rach received some kinda hand rub massage thing, while I found some goodies for Kim.
Day six; opted-out on skiing and opted-in on sledding which I borrowed, stop it, I asked the neighbors If we could use their sleds. It snowed that day and it was cold. Danielle, Shaina, Olivia, Hailey and I found the designated Breck sledding hill at Carter Park. The snow was gusting hard and Hailey was fouler than the ominous storm overhead having real issues with doing anything that day particularly the steep climb to top of hill. The cold fresh powder was awesome and I couldn’t help from kicking myself for not skiing that day especially when Hailey had thrown herself face first into the frozen mess in a fit of uncontrollable rage. But eventually, I duno twenty minutes, she calmed down, hiked up the hill on her own and within one trip down the fairly nice sized hill she was over it. Spending the day sledding with the kiddos was worth every non penny spent.
The wet heavy snow was eating a frostbite hole right through Shaina’s high top Chucks, yea, no boots on a trip to the mountains so the sledding ended sooner than anyone wanted. We stopped at a crepe making shack called Crepes A La Cart on Main Street for lunch and it was incredible, the absolute best crepes anywhere. Unfortunately, the staff was alarmingly dispassionate and distracted with their own dramatic drug induced lives. How could I tell? The young self-mutilated crew of three seemed not to care about any customers who may overhear their conversation of possession, arrest, trial and all the crazy details, but damn those where the best crepes ever.
That night we all went out for dinner at the Breckenridge Brewery. While we were waiting for our table Hailey challenged everyone to an arm wrestling match. Well first, and this only took a half a second, Samantha pinned her older sister Danielle and after that, Hailey defeated anyone in our party who stuck their arm within her reach. The staff there was quick and put our table for fourteen together relatively fast. The food was ok but the freshly brewed beer was freaking great. The Avalanche’s came crashing down. I can still taste it, so fresh and tasty.
Day 7; a late return. Packed, cleaned and rechecked condo for any claimable items. Olivia, Hailey, my Dad and I had lunch at Eric’s again, the kiddos had to show Zadie the games. We had to find Olivia a Breckenridge photo album for her school assigned photo journal project so after lunch and games we patronized a few more of Breck’s multitude of shops until we had tracked down a couple photo albums at twenty a pop.
Our flight departure time was 8:00pm, Sam and Samantha had a later flight. We were going to meet them at the skier pick up in Big Blue and head to airport. The meet time was set at 3:30pm, but that didn’t happen. We waited, with no return calls until 4:30pm. “I thought it was at four thirty” Sam and Samantha grabbed their luggage out of Joe’s rental car and tucked it into Big Blue and then return their ski equipment. Thankfully there was no traffic and we rolled up to DIA Southwest Airlines curbside passenger drop off around 6:30pm. Where we stood for like twenty minutes waiting for two people in front of us for the super slow motion porter. And the night crew on this flight seemed a bit condescending. One of the male attendants made a remark about my kids being “asleep in no time at all”, hinting that I should convince them to fall asleep. Luckily, packed in the feed bag of goodies were a few mini chocolate bars and cookies. Two Disney movies, a steady stream of sugar and they were bouncing. They didn’t cause any trouble on the airplane but they were being a bit loud, not obnoxiously. Although, I didn’t hear “Thank you for flying Southwest” on the way out. Olivia and Hailey were plain goofy in the baggage claim area at our home town airport. Running up the going down side of the escalator, ridding on the baggage carousels and doing things I couldn’t see but I could hear in the women’s restroom. They weren’t completely out of control and because they had jumped though all the hoops the whole day without too much of my directive, I didn’t mind them having a little fun in the un-crowded airport capping off a great trip.
Side Note: this post was pulled from the buried father of the blog archives, we took this trip last spring and I can’t wait to get back to Breck or any mountain for that matter although it may take a year or two more to save up for it.

Olivia and Hailey go to first book signing. http://www.kevinhenkes.com/

Hailey’s First big ride with encouragement from Olivia. A 2 mile round trip.

Olivia invites her younger sister to be her Special Person

Here she is girl number four.

So what is the key to creating a stylish and comfortable nursery for your little one? Stylish Crib Bedding! It may seem a bit strange to think that something as simple as crib bedding can actually make or break a nursery, but it’s true. Crib bedding brings everything together and creates atmosphere, and as any good or even amateurish decorator knows, atmosphere is everything. And in addition to creating a comfortable nursery for your little one, it’s always important to make sure that they themselves are comfy, and given the fact that babies generlally love to be swaddled, what better way to insure their comfort than by using a luxe swaddle blanket? So, what’s in this package? Your choice of either the 4 Piece Migi Sweet or Splash crib bedding set (provided by Baby Nursery + Beyond) and a luxe swaddle blanket from Kushies!

Baby Nursery + Beyond
Good bedding is a must; it’s as simple as that. And with so many choices out there you need to figure out what is best for you and what kind of nursery you are trying to create. If you are looking for stylish crib bedding or modern crib bedding look no further than Baby Nursery + Beyond. With brands like Migi, BananaFish, and Cotton Monkey, any discerning parent or parent-to-be will find something that they like at a good price. In addition to offering a wide variety of crib bedding choices, Baby Nursery + Beyond offers diaper bags as well as other nursery decorations.
Kushies
Where can you find everything from educational baby toys, modern and stylish baby clothes as well as other accessories like a luxe swaddle? Kushies. Kushies offers a variety of well made and high quality items for babies and toddlers; any parent is sure to find something perfect for their little one.
How to Enter (Please note that since there are a couple parts for this mandatory entry please note that once you complete each part of the mandatory entry you receive 15 entries. Please leave 15 seperate entries for this part of the entry requirements!)
First head over to Kushies and look around, then come back and leave a comment telling me what product you like the best.
Next, use the social bookmarking dropdowns Baby Nursery + Beyond and share 5 products they like with friends. (the dropdown is located under the main product picture) looks like this
* Be a fan and a friend of Baby Nursery + Beyond on Kaboodle and add 3 of our products to their Kaboodle list: http://www.kaboodle.com/store/babynurseryandbeyond.com
Bonus Entries

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- Life Starring the Kids & Me
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Every new mom knows that a stroller can be a total life-saver, and accessories that are made to work with strollers are life-savers as well. So, to kick off the Baby Shower Extravaganza we are going to be giving away a Strolling in Style Package. This package consists of an Easywalker QTRO stroller in Red, a blanket from Lil Tag Alongs and a No Throw Strap of your choice.
EasyWalker
A leading maker in innovative and practical strollers for families, EasyWalker is a company that you can trust for your stroller needs. Using quality materials and practical and comfortable designs, EasyWalker makes a great single stroller (the QTRO) and a great double stroller (the DUO). In addition to carrying strollers in a variety of styles, EasyWalker also makes stroller accessories to fit your family’s needs.
The EasyWalker QTRO is a unique maneuverable 4-wheel stroller designed to meet the needs of both child and parent with excellent performance on any surface. The QTRO has an adjustable footrest for the child’s ultimate comfort, height adjustable handle bar for parent’s comfort, full 4-wheel suspension and includes added safety features such as UV protection. The seating is easy to adjust to four settings, including horizontal. The QTRO’s light weight aluminum frame can be folded into a handy, compact package. The optional spacious carrycot as well as seat adds value and comfort to the child’s development making the QTRO suitable from birth up to age 4.
Lil Tag Alongs
Having blankets fall off of a stroller and onto the wet or nasty ground is annoying to say the least. It gets especially annoying when your kiddo learns how to play the always amusing “Pick Up Game”. Here’s where the Lil Tag Alongs stroller blanket comes in handy. So, what is it? These are blankets that are specially made with loops where you can connect links (available at most toy and baby stores) to the blanket and to the stroller; hence no need to worry about picking the blanket up off the ground. The Lil Tag Alongs stroller blankets come in two sizes: a smaller size good for lightwight strollers and a larger blanket good for full size strollers.
In addition to being able to attach your blanket to your stroller for practical purposes, you can also attach your baby’s favorite toys to the blanket with links. Keep your kiddo entertained, occupied and weather protected all at once.
No Throw Strap
Like picking up blankets off the dirty ground, picking up bottles and sippies off of the ground isn’t exactly fun…or hygienic. So, what’s a mom or dad to do? Try the No Throw, a bottle and sippy tether that attaches to your stroller, carseat or basically anywhere else. The basic premise? Attach one end of the No Throw to your bottle or sippy (or even toys) and the other to where your child is at the time (carseat, stroller, etc), then if your child does knock the sippy or bottle away or throw it, they can either get it themselves or you can easily reach it without having to worry that it hit the gross floor.

How to Enter: (Each part of the mandatory entry must be completed! But you may leave 3 entries for each part of the mandatory entry.)
First, head over to EasyWalker and look around, then come back and let me know which stroller your like the best, which color grabs your fancy or what accessories are your favorite. Next, head over and check out Lil Tag Alongs, tell me which pattern you like the best. Finally go see the No Throw and look around, then come back and tell me which pattern you like the best or something you learned about it. This contest is open to US residents only.
Bonus Entries
* Subscribe
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* Grab my button (3 extra)
* Comment on any other non-giveaway article on this site (3 extra)
* Enter the other giveaways on this site (5 extra)
* Enter this giveaway on each of the participating sites: (5 extra per site)
- Life Starring the Kids & Me
-Cool Baby Kid
-Blessings Abound Mommy
- The Divine Miss Mommy
- Father of the Blog
* Blog about this giveaway with a direct link back (10 extra)

Our founding fathers would have made great bloggers. Intelligent and outspoken they had strong opinions with many issues to discuss. Ok, kind of a bad comparison, the founding fathers were so much more than self proclaimed writers.

The 5000 Year Leap covers the basics of our constitution, the aim of our founding fathers in regards to focusing on a center balanced government and retrospectively outlines a couple dozen principles of freedom in their actions and writings.

The book reads easy for a historical reference and is chocked full of great quotes. Middle to high school aged kids would have no trouble reading this book. Skousen intertwines his views with selective writings and particular historical facts to support his opinions. Agreeable in some spots and arguable in others, this book is a conversation starter.

Notable chapters in this book concerning principles of freedom: ‘Protecting the Role of the Family’ an obvious choice for a dedicated family man and ‘Avoiding the Burden of Debt’ financial freedom sounds darn good. I recommend this book to anyone who wishes not to be entertained, instead for someone that may be motivated into thought.

 
The 5000 Year Leap
A Miracle That Changed the World
Principles of Freedom 101

By W. Cleon Skousen
Copyright 1981, 1991, 2006
Published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies

Hailey, almost five, needed a new set of ear-tubes and her adenoids removed at the request of ENT specialist Dr. Lieu, (Department of Otolaryngology-Pediatric). Hailey has toughed out five years of constant fluid trapped in her middle ears (even with first set of tubes) and countless infections, we’re hoping the procedure will help alleviate constant pain and sensitivity issues also prevent any long term hearing loss.

Extremely kid-friendly, Children’s Hospital in St. Louis is a great facility with the best care around. Dr. Lieu’s office is located at the hospital and between Olivia and Hailey, this would make our fourth out-patient procedure, so we have frequented “Children’s” many times prior to this, but nothing in our experience would have or could have prepared us for (although we should have expected), Hailey’s difficult recovery, I’ll get to that soon.

Kim had all the paperwork completed before our arrival so checking in was a snap. We just need to show picture ID’s and insurance card at the reception desk where a concierge was waiting to take us up to the surgical center. We were immediately placed into a spacious “family” room down the hall from the operating room where we waited for Hailey to be called. We did have a couple hours to wait too, luckily the room had cable TV, DVD, and a playstation. Right outside our room was a play area loaded with games, puzzles, books and non-messy art supplies. Hailey and Kim played Guess Who? Then it was time to send Hailey to the OR.

Dr. Lieu came in to see us right before the surgery and apologized for the wait. Dr. Lieu is highly personable and genuinely interested in her paitents health. Five plus years ago when searching for an ENT, Kim and I were lucky to have found Dr. Lieu from a pool of (in my opinion) mediocre doctors that were in our (then) insurance network and we did a few interviews too.

The cartoon print scrubs gurneyed Hailey off to the operating room, bravely she went, not looking back as Kim held in a tear. Kim and I went back to the room until they called us to the recovery area which only took an hour. I had some phone calls to make so the time went by quickly.

Approaching the recovery area we could hear Hailey shouting, “The medicine made me sick! I want to go home right now!” over and over again. She was surrounded by four attendants and thrashing around when we arrived. The fact that Kim and I showed up only made her scream louder, “Take me home right now! The medicine made me sick! I want to go home now!” I’m pretty sure the nurse administered (and I wasn’t rejecting) a sedative into Hailey’s IV more than one time over the course of a thirty minute Hailey scream feast, something I am used too, but probably nothing the nurses or techs had anticipated. A few surprised passer-byers gave us the look of ‘can’t you control your child?’ a few others gave us the look of ‘been there and glad it ain’t me’.  At one point, the stubby attending nurse told Hailey that she needed to try and be quiet because she was scaring all the other children, which I didn’t appreciate her saying to Hailey at that point in time. Hailey moved from the gurney to Kim’s arms where she shrieked and wailed “I told you blueberry! The strawberry medicine made me sick! It’s in my mouth! I can’t hear! Take me home now! I don’t like this! Etc…” for another twenty minutes before she finally started to calm down enough for the recovery team to get her out of their hair. Once back in the room Hailey cuddled up with me for a few more ear splitting cry’s and the nurses shut our door on us. Kim and I half-laughed at that and I added “well we should have expected this, [from Hailey].”

Hailey crashed in my arms for an hour or so then woke up vomiting on my lap which was no surprise and normal, (well, did not expect throw-up on me). She swallowed some apple juice which made an immediate return. Slept a bit more, then woke up and stomached half a 20oz bottle of grape Power Aid for a good amount of time. At this point we were ready to go, Hailey was calm enough to say that she was feeling better and wanted to go home and sleep in mommy and daddy’s bed. Kim had signed the release paperwork and picked up a couple prescriptions from the hospital’s pharmacy earlier while Hailey slept in my arms. I Hoisted up Hailey to leave when she vomited all over me again, this time on my shoulder and inside my shirt pocket where I had stashed my ID, insurance card and validated parking pass. I took off my button down and walked her out in crew neck t-shirt. The stuff on my pants had long dried.  She also hurled waiting for the elevator, lucky for the janitors she made it to the trash can. Kim and I were about to turn around and go back to the nurses station and ask to be re-admitted waiting out any further vomiting but from past experiences, we knew that this was just part of the process, figuring she would be ok soon and we were right. Hailey fell asleep on the ride home, slept even more once we got home, had no more stomach problems and woke up the next day feeling as if nothing even happened.

Lesson Learned:
1. Have all paperwork complete and sent to hospital before the day of surgery.
2. Get the kiddo familiar with hospital prior to day of surgery (most hospitals do tours).
3. Keep photo ID and insurance card handy.
4. Get parking validated.
5. Expect your kiddo to be disoriented after surgery and expect vomit.
6. Bring extra clothes for kiddo (and self).
7. Bring work or activity to fill an hour or two for yourself and spouse.
8. Have vomit bag ready for car ride home.
9. Kiddo will sleep a lot the rest of day and next.
10. Have quiet low energy activities planned the next couple days.

Elizabeth is curious and makes a challenge of everything, the NoThrow strap was next on her list of objects to master. NoThrow arrived the day before, Olivia thought it would make a great leash for one of her numerous toy stuffed animals, but I wanted to see what Elizabeth would do with it.

NoThrow Strap

Elizabeth had been jolted from a short nap and hurried into the Odyssey as I was running behind on a forty minute long pickup schedule, first Olivia at camp then rendezvous with Hailey who was with my sister Rach. A perfect opportunity for an extensive test of the NoThrow.

Underestimating my little genius one and a halfer, I filled a 50/50 apple juice/water mix into her big girl squeeze bottle.  Elizabeth cautiously stared me down as I easily looped the NoThrow strap securely to her car seat and then velcroed it around her bottle. A puzzled look raised her brow and she pondered the tether while sipping her watered-down goodness.

Typically, once enough of the juice has been consumed, the cup or squeeze bottle gets thrown down with the same gusto as a dunk frat boy throwing down his last empty beer can. However this time the bottle remained in Elizabeth’s lap while she investigated and experimented with the No Throw’s Velcro strap, since I was driving I only caught a few glimpses through the rear view mirror, but I definitely heard the sound of tearing Velcro.

Once home I noticed the NoThrow was still securely fastened to the child seat, sadly the Velcro loop was hanging unfastened, the squeeze bottle lay on its side, open and slowly dripping sticky stuff on the floor of Kim’s van.

What do I think of the NoThrow? Elizabeth’s advanced unfair test aside, I think it is perfect for the ages of 3 months to 18 months, maybe longer depending on how inquisitive or determined your little one is and I know this product would have come in handy when my kiddos where in that age range, (where were you when I needed you NoThrow), because all three of them have pitching arms. Bonus points for reusability value as the NoThrow can creatively be recycled into the toy chest or used to attach the remote to my wrist, yea I tried that. Many uses for the NoThrow once the kiddos have outgrown. This product receives the FOTB seal of approval.