Guest Post - Grace and Josie - Toddler Prep

My favorite mommy is preparing for a family vacation to coastal ME and looking for some inspiration for her babe as well as some inspiration for her blog  Grace and Josie while she is away. Since I love beach babies, especially the blond ones, I happily volunteered to do some online browsing for little g. In case you have not figured it out by now, little g is the daughter of M, one of my best friends and former college roommates which makes me auntie J. Naturally, I'm going to be the cool aunt who shares those college stories of M locking her keys in the car at the worst time, playing Oozeball and dancing in the living room of our beach house. If she's lucky she'll even get the R rated versions. Unless of course I have kids by this time and don't want the reciprocal treatment form her mommy.

If I were a 1.5 year old beach babe, this is what I would pack for a week in Maine with my parents. I first went to the Lilly Pulitzer site but then realized Lilly is a bit to tropical for Maine. Sorry g, come back when you are going to FL and I will give you the best tropical inspiration. I've tried to include sources for purchase in case M wants to take my advice.

First, a few bathing suits. The ocean will be too cold to swim in my you need to be prepared just in case and I'm sure there will be a baby pool somewhere. Don't forget the swim diapers mom, these suits are too cute to have an accident!

Perfect from Maine, this suit packs the lobsters, from Zulily.com



Every toddler needs a bikini and this plaid one from Ralph Lauren is perfect for a New England baby and comes in a size 2 for little g.


I would round out the collection with this rash guard set from rufflebutts.com for some addes protection from the sun, sand and wind.


And this starfish and anchor one piece from Old Navy, you can never have enough bathing suits!


Every beach babe needs a cute floppy hat like this bright red one from www.eyescreamshares.com that goes with all the bathing suits.


I know little g loves Hello Kitty and the girl's got great taste because she was my favorite as a kid too so I would complete the beach gear with this towel available at sears.com and pack it all in the matching bag.

 


Days at the beach in Maine are usually rounded out by cool, crisp evenings and a campfire if you are lucky. So a cozy hoodie or cable knit sweater is a must on this trip.
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Any of these rompers fro Ralph Lauren would be perfect for a day of playing and they are all on sale. these one piece outfits will make packing easy but may not be the most functional for diaper changes.
 

Dresses are the best part of a summer vacation. These are some of my favorites from Baby Gap. BTW did you know DVF has a baby gap line? These last two are from her collection and I love them.



After packing the daytime attire, I would add in an evening outfit to go out to dinner with the adults.
This hairbow, simple tank and white skinnies should fit right in, all from baby Gap.


Don't forget the shoes. A pair of jellie sandals for the beach (Old Navy), jelly ballerinas for running around and some gold sandals that go with everything both from baby gap.

Have fun in Maine!! Take me with you next time and we can play in the surf together with matching beach hats.

July 3rd - a Retrospective

Last night I realized that it was about to be July 3rd and became nostalgic about Independence Day at home.  Because the 4th (and 3rd) of July are just normal days in Europe. In fact, they aren't even summer days this year. I guess I should elaborate a bit on why I celebrate the 3rd. It's simple really, that is when my city had a hge fireworks display following the annual home game of the AAA baseball team. Literally everyone went to watch the fireworks. Growing up July 3rd always included a cookout with the most extended family possible at my Great Aunt's house from where you could watch the fireworks or walk a few blocks for a front row seat. Sometimes it was the only time of the year I saw my second cousins and it was ALWAYS a really fun day/night party. I hardly ever went to the baseball game because, as the locals know, the view is inhibited by the stadium roof. But the music in the stadium makes the show that much ore magical. By the time my grandma's sister became too old to host the party, I really didn't know what to do with myself, it just wasn't the same but it was not a problem for long because I was in college then I moved to Germany where 3rd of July Fireworks were hard to come by although I did find them once!

Today, as I walked home from my German lesson in the rain without an umbrella, i once again remembered it was the eve of the 4th of July. My thoughts wandered to this day in 2009 when we were in Japan. I looked at my phone to check the time I realized we would have been on our way up Mt. Fuji. That was the wettest, coldest night I have yet to experience in my life. Despite the misery of the overnight climb, getting completely ripped off in a mountain lodge, waking up at 4am to learn we would not even see a sunrise due to fog and then having to put our wet jeans back on to climb back down the mountain, it was a great memory. In 2010, I spent July 3rd at the wedding of a close college friend who I sadly don't talk to as much as I would like anymore but it was also a great day/night/next day. In 2011, I was in Las Vegas, having just split off from a road trip with one of my oldest friends and his now wife. In 2012, I was most likely working but I kind of draw a blank on that one. Now in 2013 I'm having a normal day completely soaked from the not so summery rain. I sit in my apartment in Basel awaiting the arrival of my husband with a dinner plan and realize that every July 3rd won't be amazing but I have some nice memories. I cherish them and hope to make many more.

My First Congress

I feel like I am still recovering from a whirlwind 7 days in Barcelona. Made it through my first conference with the new job and that's a huge milestone. Also had another not so exciting first, first time my flight was canceled due to a strike (air traffic controllers in France).  Here's a random selection of photos taken at conference events. I had some great vistas each night at dinner.

Transition through Versaille

I feel kind of odd following up such a fun tropical trip to LCI with the more somber, yet very interesting and personal, topic of my trip to the Normandy region of France. So, this is a transition. A warning of sorts. I want to share an emotional and historical trip through Normandy. I learned a lot about June 6, 1944 and the planning that went into what is forever to be known as D-Day. Ironically, the thing that connects our vacation to LCI to this trip to France was a trivia question posed at a tourist bar on the island, what does the D in d-Day stand for? My team didn't know the answer at the time but learned it was simply Day. Now I know much more about this Day Day than I even anticipated. But I want to take a beat and get my emotions sorted  through before putting it out there. Therefore, this is a post of photos.

On the way to Normandy, we stopped and toured the Palace of Versailles. It was as opulent as I had heard. After spending 4 years living near and working at a Baroque Palace, I thought I would be underwhelmed with Versailles but it lived up to its reputation. Enjoy the images I captured.

Little Corn Island 4 - The end

When I last left off, we were facing the facts that we may leave without out PADI open water scuba certification. Our classmate from Holland left without her certification and our flight was so soon. Dive Master Dan informed us that no one was going out but there would be a chance we could head out the following day. At this point, we had 2 days before catching the 6am Panga back to Big Corn in time for our flight. In case you are unaware, 12-18 hours on land are required between a dive and a flight so we were cutting it close. Thankfully that next day we could take advantage of the 1 to 1 student / instructor ratio and get in the water. We only got through half of what was planned for the day or 1/4 of what we had left but Dan was confident we'd be able to squeeze it all in the next day and be done with plenty of time for our dinner reservations.

And everything worked out. I am so so unbelievable happy to report this story has a happy, albeit slightly stressful, ending. We are card carrying PADI scuba divers! I don't for a minute regret doing the course on Little Corn either. We saw a turtle, rays and sharks among many reef loving fish, living reefs, conch, flounder (which look nothing like in the Little Mermaid BTW),   and so much underwater life. I hope we can return one day and dive more of the island sites.

Here's how we spent the last bit of our vacation.

Last happy hour at Casa Iguana

A goodbye view or my hammock perch

The ocean view from our Casita

Taking in the view for one last breakfast on the deck

Admiring the beach while waiting for our food

My last island breakfast of coconut french toast (with coconut maple syrup on the side) and scrambled eggs

Flowers I admired all week and finally photographed

Using the phone cam to access my sunburn status after 14 days, note the creeper in all black behind me, who wear that plus Doc Martins to a tropical island?!?

Paid our hotel bill and enjoyed a final rum and mango juice.

Little corn Island won our hearts. I am sure we will return one day and I can only hope it is as natural and awesome then as it is now. I fear it may soon be exploited but it is a true island paradise.