our fourth of july weekend strollin’

We just got back from a wonderful, if not nostalgic trip back to Los Angeles for the Fourth of July weekend.  I am such a ball of pregnancy hormones right now that every time I am in LA and I drive through our old neighborhood, I cry like a baby.  Every block is a memory of our life there, and I find myself daydreaming about the life we would still have if we were still there.  I know I shouldn’t let my mind go down that road and that we are so fortunate for what we do have, no matter where we live.  So I am blaming the hormones for now.   Anyway, I’m not sure I would call the trip itself relaxing (I mean, we were traveling with our kids), but each trip I make back to the place I consider home does feed a little part of my soul that so desperately needs it.

Speaking of traveling with kids, can I just say that in most ways it is not so fun?  I have this pretty awesome daily group text chain going with some of my best girlfriends from college, and most of us were traveling with our young families (some for the first time) over the holiday weekend.  We were commiserating about how family vacations are a double edged sword.  It’s great to break away from the everyday routine, but trying to plan around kids’ nap schedules, seeing friends and family, making sure you have enough snacks at all times, keeping the kids entertained and in one place for several hours at a time, trying to plan fun activities for everyone and avoid meltdowns, and dealing with other people’s unsolicited opinions of your child-rearing techniques, all can make you want to throw the towel in on the whole idea of a family vacation with young children altogether.  But then you take a step back and say, “hey, we’re at the beach.  And the weather is amazing.  And we’re swimming in the salty warm ocean water and building sand castles together.”  And then you realize it was (mostly) worth all that trouble.

One thing that made our trip to the beach and while out adventuring to see our friends around the city during our stay in Los Angeles a little bit easier was our new UPPAbaby G-LUXE stroller.  I know I said previously that the UPPAbaby VISTA was the only stroller for me, but as my kiddos get a little bit bigger, I confess it is nice to have the lightweight option of an umbrella stroller.  Plus, my husband has been begging me for one for a couple of years now, so we both win.  The G-LUXE was easy for us to figure out right out of the box, perhaps partially because we already own the UPPAbaby VISTA, but also because the design was so intuitive.  Easy to fold and unfold, easy to find the brakes, and with a good sized storage basket underneath.  I should note, however, that when we were at the beach, we snapped the canopy on incorrectly so it wasn’t sitting as low as it should have been.  See below pictures from the Fourth of July for how it should be attached correctly.  And by the way, my son loved the box itself, which obviously made the best toy in the house for exactly one day.

On the day we took it to the beach with us, we started out with my daughter in it while we strolled the sidewalks scouting a good location to set up for the day.  We then easily picked it up (it’s super lightweight) to carry over the sand to our selected spot.  As we were getting ready to leave at the end of our day, we knew my son would be tired, so I put my daughter in the ring sling and he sat in the stroller comfortably while my husband and I heaved everything back up the hill to where our car was parked.  And that is why we don’t need a gym membership. #twokids

We also got this awesome travel bag for the stroller that helped keep everything together and protected while were road trippin’.  I am so happy we got this too for future airplane travel.  I always get skeeved out by all the potential germs that can latch onto our baby’s stuff at airports, and those luggage guys are not exactly known to be gentle with the cargo they handle.  And I was even more excited to learn that UPPAbaby covers any airline damage that may occur while we are traveling!  This bag will definitely keep our stroller in good shape for years to come.

Despite all of the meltdowns, whining, missed naps, and pointless arguments, we honestly had a great time in LA celebrating the Fourth of July.  It was a quick trip and we hope that next time we can go back for longer as there are always more friends to see than time to see them in.  I want these two to remember the city they were born in and grow up learning to love it as much as I do.  And maybe, maybe, do it with a little less whining.

To find an UPPAbaby retailer near you [which I also recommend if you want to ‘test drive’ your stroller before you buy] visit here for a list of retailers.

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