Thanksgiving in Montana

It was cold and then it was not so cold and then it was cold again. Weird weather which meant that the lake did not completely freeze. Or at least as much as it needed to in order for us to play on the ice.  

But other than that it was a fun week with the family. As always, good food and lots of drinks. Jas got to play with her cousins and build a snowman and snowkid and snowdog.

Can I just say that nothing beats sitting in a wood-heated hot tub on a cold clear winter’s night watching the stars and drinking a beer!

Syd and Jas with their Masterpieces

T minus 36 Days: Potty training

And I am freaking out. Because we are still not fully potty trained. Potty training has been the bane of our existence. Jas has accidents all the time including the poopy kind. She is by far the oldest kid in her school still having problems. And I am about to pull my hair out in frustration. I have been planning on taking pull-ups for the nights but if we need them in the days or she has accidents while traveling I am not sure how we will handle that.

The thought of not having to deal with someone else's "bathroom functions" again is a dream I dare not live. Argh! The more I push to get her ready for this trip the worse she gets. So I went the other way and ignored it and she still has accidents all the time. So then I tried rewards (stickers) and that works most the time. Unless of course she is at school where they don't give her stickers then she has accidents.

So we are at an impasse. Right now I am functioning on the hope that it will all work itself out and there won't be so many accidents that it makes our trip miserable. Everyone cross their fingers for us.

I guess this is the payback for never having any sleep issues!

First Big Trip W/ a Preschooler ( or Are you Crazy!?!?)

So you thought of yourself as a world traveler back in those carefree single days?? Well so did I and then I adopted a little girl and it all came to a screeching halt. I now spent more time preparing to go to the grocery store than I spent prepping for my last international trip. Not that I wasn't loving it, but it was an adjustment. I managed to sneak one trip into Mexico when Jas was 2 because we had 3 adults (love the grandparents!) to wrangle one quick moving baby.

But the wanderlust has set in and Jas is finally old enough to hit the road with me. I'm not sure what to expect but the one thing I do expect is that traveling with a preschooler will be WAY different than traveling by myself. I expect we will go slower and take shorter trips, oh and I guess those late nights out at the bars won't be happening. But I hope that traveling with a preschooler will open doors to places and experiences I would never have without her. And that is pretty exciting.  

We are headed to Indonesia for 6 weeks leaving in Dec and returning in February. Jasmine will be 3, just about to turn 4. This trip is our kickoff, practise a long trip trip. We fly into Jakarta and are planning on visiting Java, Bali, Lombok and the Gillis.