Bert's Cabins

Dear Bert's Cabins,

We loved you. OK, so we loved most of you.

We loved your charm, your trees, your smells, your free grill to use, your fireplace (though it was too warm to use it), your fully equipped kitchen, and the fact that you are in Itasca.

The beds were a little firm for my taste.

There aren't many places up Nort' that have been around as long as you have. Knowing we were supporting a local family business was part of the appeal. The wireless internet (even though we never actually got it to work) was also a nice touch.

We heard an owl out the window, grilled good food, let M have her first s'more, and just relaxed.

Thank you for making the last part of our family vacation so wonderful. I have no doubt that we will be back. Next time, I won't forget the salt and pepper.

Thanks,

A. Sprout & Family

Wordless Wednesday - The Tallest White Pine in Itasca

More Wordless Wednesday.

It is just a baby river.

There were a lot of things that M was looking forward to about our vacation. We tried to impress upon her how special and cool it was that we were going to Itasca. We were going to the home of the baby 'Sippi river. She's been calling it the 'Sippi River every time we cross since early this year. When we cross back the other way it is Two 'Sippi River. Baby was the best way we could explain how it changes from a small stream in the north woods to what it is here, to eventually what it becomes in New Orleans.



Mostly, before we left, she talked about the bike trailer. She wasn't so sure when she saw it, but she likes going fast, so any fears were quickly forgotten. It creates a bit more drag than the bike seat, but I didn't mind pulling it. I'm not sure if I would have felt the same way a few months ago.


The life of the person who takes pictures is that I always get to see these kinds of firsts. She would have walked back and forth on that all day if we had let her.


As it was, we knew we were all getting tired and hungry. Just one more time though.


If you are wondering, yes it really is that beautiful and green up there. While we have been hurting for rain here, they have had enough up north. The weather was gorgeous for the whole trip, if not a little warm.

I love the city. I love the diversity, the culture, the access to fresh vegetables. However, if I could find a way to have a good job and fresh produce up there, I'm not sure if I would want to stay here so much. It is so beautiful.

Adventures in the North Woods

If it seemed this last week like I was just phoning it in, it is because I was. Pre-scheduled posts set up before we went on vacation.

We went on our second vacation with M and have survived to tell about it.

I have a million things I want to post about, but I need to take the time to sort it all out, along with all of the cool pictures that I took. There is the new travel bed, overcoming the fear of potties in a big big way, going home for what may be the last time, how I desperately want a Wii, and Burley bike trailer, and how coming home is so sweet.

So, what have y'all been doing?

Vacation Part 4: Eating Out

I knew going into vacation that eating out would be one of the hardest things for us to do. I've seen kids menus, and I know what kind of looks you get with a toddler. To make things at least a little bit easier, I packed a selection of fruit/veggie snacks, some yogurt, and string cheese. I had a cooler on the train, and a fridge in our room. One of the main issues I have with kids menus is their lack of vegetables and fruit, so the fruit I packed was pears in individual cups. I figured it could help keep M more regular. Unfortunately they only come packed in light syrup, unlike the cans which you can get packed in juice.

Breakfast was easy, since M would eat some fruit, some eggs and toast. Lunch was much harder. As always, kids menus have nothing but fried food. I ordered extra sides of veggies when I could, and hoarded her fries for myself. I also got out the pears.

Dinner was the more of the same with one amazing and wonderful exception.

When A and I first started dating, he impressed me with the fact that he had cooked something out of a Rick Bayless cookbook. It was even vegetarian, something I was at the time. He really hasn't cooked more than toast or grilled cheese since then, but it set up our third date when I made homemade tortillas for him. Our mutual love of Mexican food has continued since then. Because of this, we knew when we finally made it to Chicago that we wanted to go to Fronterra Grill or one of the other Rick Bayless restaurants. As far as celebrity chefs go, he annoys me the least and impresses me the most. As the kid of organic farmers, his commitment to local product means a lot.

However, it is fine dining, and fine dining and toddlers don't always mix. Fortunately, Fronterra Grill is a casual environment. Reservations not required, jeans not looked down on. We timed our schedule so that we were there when it opened for dinner on Tuesday, and got immediately seated outside. Something that I think is good with a kid. The invevitable noise is less noticeable. (and fortunately that crowd doesn't seems to smoke at all) Our food was in my top all time food experiences, including when I lived in NYC and ate at nice places regularly. (and Fronterra so tops Bobby Flays food, no question)

However, their kids menu and treatment of M was what had me the most impressed. Nowhere on their kids menu was there anything that was dumbed down, there were only smaller (and affordable) portions of the adult menu. That included a salad. (wow!) We went with a quesadilla, but a Mexico City style one, since we know M loves cheese. It was a corn masa turnover type thing, that was easily gobbled down. She also mastered the use of a spoon and ate her whole bowl of charra beans. (pintos simmered with bacon and spices) We were able to order early to get her food in, they gave us crayons, and the staff talked to her. That included staff from his high end restaurant next door. M, for her part, behaved well, only having a little issue as the meal was ending. My only request would be that they have an alcohol free dessert option, since M was left out of that experience. Even if it was just fruit or ice cream.

I know that when we go back, since I still need to see the sea otters, that we will return. Just to show my appreciation, I've sent an email off to the chef, and we made sure to leave a large tip.

Vacation - Part 3: Fish and other stuff

When we picked Chicago for our trip, we knew that we wanted to see a few things for sure, a few other things could wait until M was older. Top of the list was the Shedd Aquarium. M loves fish, smacking her lips was one of her first animal noises. She gets excited at the doctor's office because of the fish tanks. The other thing I wanted to see was the Art Institute. Unfortunately most of the impressionist exhibit is on loan to a museum in Texas while they renovate. We knew that M isn't ready for fine art quite yet, so we figured that could wait, we still had the aquarium.

Except... two weeks ago they closed the part I wanted to see for renovations until next summer. You know, the part with the sea otters, my favorite animal obsession. Not to mention, the dolphins, the whales (beluga), and the penguins. Hello let down.

So, we still saw all of the fish at the aquarium. I think she may have even gone into a bit of a fish overload. After a quick lunch at the aquarium, we took a tour bus to get back to the hotel to drop off a few things. The tour bus allowed us to let M get a nap in, and she went to sleep easier. If we had gone back to the hotel it would have been us fighting her to sleep, and then doing nothing while she slept. By being a little more flexible on the sleep thing, we didn't feel like we lost half the day. Since M wasn't sleeping well anyways, it worked out about the same. She was going to come home very tired no matter what.

After our quick hotel stop, we took the L to the Lincoln Park Zoo (something I wouldn't recommend, the bus is way faster/closer)

The zoo was nice. They have a good balance between the classic zoo with animals in small cages, and some actual habitat for them. (similar to the Como Zoo) Like many zoos I am sure they struggle with allowing people to see animals, and not making things worse for the animals. The monkeys were a hit, and the apes were mostly scary. One of the female chimps freaked out on one of the others (love triangle maybe), and it freaked M out. The only other issue was that we were there close to closing time, and it seemed a lot of animals were off exhibit for feeding. Something it would have been nice if they could have held off on for another half an hour.

Even though I won't show M's face, that doesn't prevent me from showing videos. It is of her and her new friend from the Amazon section of the Shedd. It was by far her favorite, since there were lots of fish the same size or bigger than her.

Vacation - Part 2: Well, that day was a bust.

I'll admit it, we had no idea what we were getting in to. Day one proved it. After getting in a little late on Sunday, and a completely disappointing dinner at the hotel restaurant, we fought to get M to sleep, then all slept horribly in a horrible bed with even more horrible pillows.

We got up Monday, fought over where to go to breakfast (too many choices), decided on a bad choice, and made our way (walking a long walk) to the Chicago Children's Museum.

Side note to museum: With toddlers/babies, opening at 10 AM (yes I know that is when Navy Pier opens) and closing at 5 PM, leaves little time for toddlers who nap after lunch. Especially since while you are at major tourist destination, getting to/from for tourists isn't especially easy. 9 AM would be MUCH better.

We loved it, and since we have yet to go to the Minnesota Children's Museum (damn RNC), we were looking forward to it. It didn't disappoint, but the late opening time made it hard for us to figure out a plan. We only saw half of it, but we ended on a high note. The Waterways exhibit. I've learned when out and about to pack an extra set of clothes, and they came in handy. The staff noted we seemed like old pros since usually members are the only ones who know to bring a change of dry stuff. The only thing I would have done was brought M's Crocs since her nice leather shoes got mighty wet and we went back to the hotel barefoot. If you do get stuck all wet however, they have a dryer and will dry your clothes for you.

After a trip back to our hotel, a fight to nap, and an adventure to find a place to get deep dish, we crashed having felt like we should have done more. So we tried something different for day two.

Vacation - Part 1: The Train

When I was around three, my parents took the train to Chicago. I remember is fondly. So fondly that I continued to enjoy taking the train every chance I got, from Europe, to DC & NYC, from the high speed train from Geneva to Paris to the commuter rail in Jersey. So I was super excited about our trip. We got a roomette, something that was new for me, since we thought it would be good to contain M if needed. Here are the pro's/con's/things I've learned.

Pro's -

• Sleeper cars come with all meals included in the dining car, round trip, three free meals, including the kid who was free for the trip
• Dinner in the diner car is pretty good, we had steak and a good dessert.
  
• The sleeper berths are long enough for A to lay down on them.
  
• The train is contained, and does allow for some walking around
• There are cows out the train windows, cows go mmmooo!
• There is also lots of water out the windows, and we love the water
• After struggling to fall asleep on the train, toddlers love the rocking motion
• Have I mentioned the amazing views?
• It sure beats what I am sure would have been a 12 hour trip by car (have to stop to run around some)
• My friend's suggestions about small wrapped gifts was a life saver.
  

Con's -

• The sleeper berths are not wide enough for A to move if he is laying down
• The food is just OK for breakfast/lunch
  
• The train is not good for steady walking, and when you're already unsteady, it can be hard.
  
• The train is contained, you're stuck
• The train is party central for old people who drink too much and talk loudly when your toddler is sleeping
• The old men need to sit when they pee, cause their aim sucks
• Flushing is NOT optional in shared space (at home I try to conserve water and not flush every time)
• After three days on the tracks, all of the above lack of aim gets a little nasty on the floor
  

Just Stuff -

• The train can be affordable if booking early. Family/Deluxe rooms fill first, and are harder to get. A roomette is good for two adults (shorter is better) and a toddler, but maybe only for naps, overnights would have been hard.
  
• We will take the train again. When M is older and can sit still some more. By then we won't fit in a roomette, so we will either do coach, or hopefully be able to afford a larger room.
  
• The tall Dennis who works the Empire Builder is totally cool and fun. (though M was scared of him) the other older Dennis is kind of a pill.
  
• Union Station in DC is still my favorite train station (Grand Central in NYC is second). Chicago isn't comparable.
  

Whew!

We're home, safe and sound. Trip was what we expected, and not at all what we expected, all at once. I learned some valuable lessons for traveling with a (my) toddler. I've got a million post ideas about that for here and Savvy Source, but I need to actually do some work today (yeah, ugh, should have been time off...) Not to mention my yard seems to have grown into a jungle.

However, I will start with this, that I almost logged in and posted when we got there.

M's been getting a new word/animal sound every few days lately, mostly animal sounds. The morning that we left, she used a new word.

No.

She'll use a new word appropriately a few times, then not for a couple of days, and then use it regularly after that. Which means that she was using it regularly by the time our last day rolled around when we were all short on sleep and way over stimulated. Umm.. yeah. Too bad champagne gives me a headache (which I already had) or I would have been drinking all of the free stuff I could get my hands on.