Shuffling Off to Buffalo

Even though I don’t currently live in Buffalo, it will always be home to me. I hadn’t been back in almost five years and I was thrilled to find out that one of my friend’s had planned her 4th of July wedding in the 716. This would be a monumental trip – our first with baby – and Mama’s nerves were pretty shot just thinking about it!

I combed tons of blogs, read books, and asked our pediatrician for advice on traveling with Fox. I quickly learned that with every helpful answer also came a hearty “good luck” since not all things can go as planned.

You may have guessed it already – I’m a crazy Virgo. Everything must be properly researched and executed. I’m having to learn to go with the flow considering my 5-month-old! You can pack your kid’s suitcase weeks in advance, but you cannot predict how the first (or any) plane ride will go.

One thing I know about my son is that he sleeps lightly. In anticipation for that I invested in Baby Banz ear protection. I was hoping that these would not only block out the noise but also help with any ear pain.

We got on the plane and right before/during wheels up I fed him with the Baby Banz on and he went right out! You can tell by the Sophie the Giraffe ear print on his cheek that he slept pretty hard. Ha!

There seemed to be babies everywhere on our two flights there and two back, and when one baby melted down so did the others – except Fox. He was completely dead to the world with his sound-proof head gear. Love it! He seemed to think it was really funny to watch lips moving but no sound coming through and he’d laugh every time.

Once we got to Buffalo we acted like total tourists.

First stop: Niagara Falls, Canada.

Anchor Bar – where Tyler embarrassed me and ordered ranch. Asking for ranch (instead of blue cheese) for your wings in Buffalo is a cardinal sin. The baby started crying and Tyler didn’t touch the ranch. My entire family ridiculed him and so did my Facebook feed. He has to learn somehow, right? Haha!

Fox spent his very first 4th in Buffalo!

And later in the day we went to the wedding of our beautiful friends, Andy and Katie Levitre, at Spring Lake Winery in Lockport.

The next day we headed to Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown to check out the French and Indian War encampment. We walked through the doors and immediately were shaken to the core by the sound (and vibrations) of a cannon. Luckily we had ear protection!

This post is NOT sponsored by Baby Banz. I’m just a very grateful Mommy who had a much easier time traveling on account of a multi-faceted product.

In case you’re interested, here are a few products that I feel made our travels a happy experience:

J.L. Childress Ultimate Backpack Padded Car Seat Travel Bag

This travel bag was perfect to bring Fox’s car seat along for the trip while keeping it safe since we kept him on our laps. I didn’t want to rent a car seat with the rental car, so we opted to use our Snap-N-Go stroller meaning that we needed to bring our base along with our car seat (unless we wanted to uninstall/reinstall several times a day – which would not exactly be ideal. This travel bag wears like a really large, yet comfy, backpack and holds the car seat and base. We stuffed extra diapers and wipes inside too. The best part is the padding around the outside, so the integrity of the seats safety isn’t compromised during transport.

Baby Banz Infant Ear Protection

Between the plane ride, the loud reenactment, fireworks, and some even louder impromptu music outside a restaurant, these kept the baby happy and his ear drums safe.

 

Babyganics Alcohol-Free On-The-Go Foaming Hand Sanitizer

This isn’t just a travel necessity, it’s an every day necessity. But seriously – being out in public, in airport and airplane bathrooms, and nearby to so many people, it’s really nice to have this handy. The small size made it perfect for the carry on. I keep no less than a dozen bottles of these in the cars, bathrooms, rooms, and bags at all times.

 

Cloud B Tranquil Turtle

This is the absolute best for sleeping in other people’s homes or at the hotel! Fox sleeps with this for all naps and at nighttime. He doesn’t need it, but it definitely expedites the sleeping process. We’ve brought it with us on two trips (one was an overnight staycation for Mother’s Day at the W San Diego) and both times it has made him feel at home. It packs very well. We laugh and say he needs his “spa music” to fall asleep since there’s music you’d hear when getting a massage or something similar! There’s also beachy noises and lights that turn the whole room into waves and shuts off on a timer.

XO, Sarabeth