What to pack when flying with kids

Isabella and I decided to make a short video and post with some tips of what works best for us when flying. We have done at least 5 long haul flights with Isabella now, she's only 5 years old and while it is still not easy, it does get better!

Before flying:

We always book Isabella a kids meal. You can do this via your airline's website and should find it around the section where you can select your seats. The kids meals usually consists of something like chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, vegetables, salad and fruit plus child friendly crisps, chocolate treat and a juice/ water bottle. There is no way Isabella would eat any of the regular meals you would receive. Too many different bits touching and strange sauces etc. So this way she usually manages to eat at least something.

The other benefit to ordering a special kids meal is that it is brought to your seat before the rest of the plane is served their meals. This allows you to help your child with his/ her meal, then get them settled with a movie before your meal arrives, allowing you to enjoy your meal in relative peace.

What to pack:

Carry on suitcase 

We use one of these once it's sleep time to extend Isabella's seat to a bed. Place it upright at the child's feet with a pillow on top and you have a bed! See photo below.

Pillows and spare clothes

In this suitcase we pack 1-2 pillows depending on space and spare clothes for everyone. We've never needed it, but I'm pretty sure the day I don't pack spare clothes for all of us she will be vomiting all over us or spilling a drink on me. It can also often be quite warm on flights so pack light clothing and layers.

Sleep mask

Isabella sometimes likes sleeping with a sleep mask at home or will drape her comforter over her eyes. We find it definitely helps her to switch off and fall asleep faster. Especially useful on a plane with many distractions and then on the rest of the holiday too. She had a cute reindeer one from Primark for the past Christmas flight.

Favourite toys

Isabella loves her soft toys so we pack about three of these, a few dolls, note pad and pens, stickers, activity books. Any of your child's favourites, although we find these get used minimally on the flight. Do pack lots of toys for the holiday as we found Isabella gets homesick even during the best holidays and it helped having enough bits from home. 

She now looks after her own carry-on as you can see below, which also holds her favourite soft toy or doll in a pouch on the outside. She used to have a Trunki which was useful to sit or ride on when her legs got tired, but a pain to pull along as the wheels don't swivel and a pain to open on the flight as it needs to fold completely open.

Tablet and headphones

When Isabella was younger, the angle of the screen and her height meant she couldn't see the built in  screen very well so a tablet worked better. Now that she is 5 and taller the screen worked perfectly fine for her and she enjoyed the choice of movies. Having her own comfortable headphones was a must as the adult size in-ear headphones wouldn't have been comfortable for her.

Snacks

Isabella usually ends up not eating a lot of her snacks, but again, should I not pack any she would probably be asking for more snacks. I would pack as many snacks as possible.

Milk

Isabella loves her milk so we pack her empty milk bottle which now is a sippy bottle she loves. Before boarding get some warm milk from a coffee shop. You could even bring a flask to fill with warm milk form a coffee shop. Previously on flights we were told they didn't have enough milk for children to drink and that it was only really for tea/ coffee on the flight. 

When she was under a year and drinking formula milk I took pre-made bottles of formula which you are allowed to take for babies. Plus some formula powder in a container to prepare fresh on the plane if needed.

Reward for good sleeping

On our first long flight with Isabella I bought various cheap small toys to have some new things to keep her occupied. This was a mistake as she was so excited to open all of these she didn't want to sleep. Now what we find works better is having one treat which is kept for the next morning, usually very early morning, once your child has hopefully slept at least a few hours during the night. We've had good flights where Isabella slept six hours, and then we had our last flight when she had three hours sleep only.

If you're flying with little ones, may it be as quick and painless as possible! Enjoy your trip!

I'm back!

Wow it's been very nearly two years since my last post. I wish I had kept the blogging up the past two years, but I just didn't get the time in between playing duplo and dolls. And after Isabella's bed time I just did not feel creative at all to be writing anything.

But now I feel better! And inspired after we have started our vlog- take a look here, this link will take you to our channel.

The vlogging started after we recently started watching and subscribing to a few other vlogs on youtube which we watch most evenings instead of tv shows. We find it relaxing to switch off from our own life and watch someone else's instead and at 10-20 min each it's nice and short so we can watch one or two and then get on with other things like this, instead of getting hooked on a tv show and trying to watch the entire series in a night.

I decided what I post here might not be in any specific order. It will just be what I feel like writing about or showing you on a specific evening and depend on how much time I have. 

We've just gotten back from an amazing two weeks in Mexico. We travelled to Puerto Vallarta for my sister's wedding which was absolutely amazingly beautiful and perfect. More on that at a later date. There are way too many wedding photos to sort through and I want to try not get to bed too late. I feel like I might have a cold coming on. Anyway, there will also be a vlog about the wedding soon. That will be our very next vlog actually! I'm excited to start on that and show you.

After four amazing days at the wedding venue (and I'll show you more of that later too) the three of us moved to a different hotel to stay an extra week. I'll also give you a tour of that, probably in a vlog too I think. But what I wanted to show you tonight was this animal show we watched at our hotel. If I understood it correctly it was some rescued animals and they showed them and gave some information about each. It was a quick little show but perfect for the kids. There weren't too many people/ kids watching either. They took pictures (we weren't allowed to) which they then sell afterwards to raise money for the care of the animals. At the end the kids could hold either a small crocodile or a python and Isabella was brave enough to hold the python!! 

And I was excited to show you those photos! But then I just realised Isabella wasn't wearing a top... And while she's still little it's fine but one day she might not like having such a photo of herself online. So if you're family or a friend, let me know if I haven't sent it then I will send it to you to show, but I'm sorry only after writing all the way to the previous paragraph I realised she wasn't wearing much. We were in the pool when they came to tell us about the show about to start so we didn't have any clothes for her with us.

But we did also get this one of Andre the crocodile hunter! Or rather gecko hunter. (No geckos were hunted or hurt in any way!)

I promise to have more photos next time, but at least I'm back!

And if you haven't checked out our vlog yet, go take a look and subscribe. I'll be back here again soon!

Oh, did you spot the gecko on Andre's hat? (Click to enlarge.)

Happy Divers: another video

I couldn't resist making this short video showing how much Andre and his dad enjoys diving!


Happy Divers from Anneliese Mostert on Vimeo.

British Virgin Islands: a Video

I have finally finished editing the first video of our two holidays with my dad and Colleen on the yacht this year. It only took me nearly 5 months to finish editing this one! Tomorrow I will start on the next one. Warning: It's a long video this one, about 15 minutes.

As always, I think it looks better on vimeo where you can watch it full screen. Be sure to click on HD and have the sound on for the music too.



Holiday in the British Virgin Islands May 2013 from Anneliese Mostert on Vimeo.

Tobago Cays

Yesterday morning we got to swim with the turtles at Tobago Cays (pronounced keys). The Tobago Cays are a group of uninhabited islands with a protected area for turtles. The turtles naturally like being in this area as the turtle grass grows here and buoys have been placed to keep boats from anchoring to close to them. You can however snorkel all over this area. We were very excited when after some swimming we saw the first large turtle and soon I counted up to 12 turtles which we spotted but it cold have easily been more. They were not bothered by us and went about their business enjoying their turtle grass breakfast.

 

Afterwards we moved on to Union Island where we went ashore to get supplies and have a look around. The stray dog in the picture started following us and would wait outside each shop we went in before continuing to follow us around.

 

Andre decided to wait on the boat while we all went ashore to practise tying special boat nots which he mastered by the time we returned. Colleen and my dad bought him a pair of shorts as we've been teasing him that he only ever wears his green shorts. They managed to find a pair to match his 'uniform' of red and grey!

 

 

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Mustique

We arrived at Mustique yesterday afternoon. Mustique is a private island with houses of the rich and famous such as Mick Jagger, Shania Twain and Bryan Adams to name a few. Princess Margaret was the first to be given a plot on the island. Apparently the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent a holiday there in February this year. While they allow public on the island you are not allowed to photograph any of the residents on the islands or any of the private houses. About half the houses are for rent per week including staff to cater to your needs.

 

We went for cocktails on Mustique yesterday evening, first at Basil's bar right on the water then to Firefly, a 5star boutique hotel up high on a hill. It would have been quite a walk if we didn't get a lift from a friendly passing golf cart belonging to one of the villas. We were the only people in the Firefly bar/ restaurant at that time and enjoyed snapping photos all over, especially of the stunning view.

 

We're now on our way, sailing to Tobago Cays. The guys have the fishing line out hoping to catch us some fresh fish on the way.

 

 

Next day and I can tell you now that they did catch fish yesterday! First a barracuda and then a tuna which Colleen prepared for lunch. It was delicious. So fresh, not an hour after catching it and it was on our plates. Simone, our party planner also organised a surprise early birthday party for Andre. She decorated the boat again, this time with birthday balloons and a banner.

Andre loves the tv show Duck Dynasty so Simone and Dave brought him some gifts from there.

 

Yesterday evening my dad and Colleen organised a special birthday dinner which we had on the beach. One of the locals, Romeo, barbecued fish on the beach for us. It was delicious and there was so much food! Definitely one to remember.

 

This morning after breakfast we're going snorkelling again, hopefully to find some turtles.

 

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Bequia

We've spent the past two nights here in Bequia, which is part of the Grenadines. The divers have been diving every day, yesterday at a dive site called Moonhole and the day before they did a wreck dive. The snorkellers have been snorkelling several times a day every day. Jumping off the back of the boat there are rocks with loads of fish to explore with a very pretty beach to swim or walk along. We've seen lots of eel, flying gunhards, big ugly scorpion fish and yesterday a juvenile spotted drum fish.

 

Yesterday afternoon we also went to visit a turtle sanctuary here on the island. A taxi ride in an open truck took us across the hilly island to the other side of the island where the sanctuary is. It was lovely seeing some of the island which is beautiful and so green. At the sanctuary the owner showed us around and told us all about turtles and what he does there. We were lucky enough to see baby turtles who were not even a full day old yet. So cute. If I remember correctly he said there were over 80 of them swimming around in that particular pool. Then there were some who were a week old and also one of 18 years old with others of various ages under 5. The big one was injured or deformed and is not able to swim properly so lives at the sanctuary. The other turtles are all released when they're five years old. He hopes that by doing this they will have a better chance of survival. In nature only 1% of hatched turtles survive while he has a 15% survival rate. They attack each other even there where they're protected but won't live on their own in separate pools to avoid this. They are only separated when injured in order to recover. He also works at educating the local children about turtles becoming extinct and that they shouldn't be captured.

 

After another long snorkel to the rocks and all along the beach after lunch yesterday, Andre, Colleen and I came back to the boat decorated for a party! All in pink, lots of balloons and other decorations, it was a surprise baby shower for me! Turns out everyone knew about it but me! In true Simone style there were decorations everywhere and I got to wear a mommy to be sash and badge. I had my own special alcohol free sparkling wine too. I got so many lovely gifts for baby. Lots of the cutest clothes, a big fluffy pink dog which we named Madiba and who will be moving straight into baby's cot when we get home, a baby sign language book which we'll start studying, cute hair clips and the cutest little pink swimming costume. I can't wait for her to try it all on! The father to be even got a gift too, a nappy changing survival kit containing gloves, nose peg, tongs and safety goggles!! Colleen also made my favourite key lime pie, complete in pink with butterflies and daisies on. Very appropriate as baby has been nicknamed Daisy right from the start.

 

This morning we will be going into town, I don't expect it will be town as we know it but there are some shops and a market which we will go and explore. Very important to Andre we also need to collect the dive tanks which were left at the dive shop to be filled yesterday, ready for the next dive. I don't think Andre will ever tire of diving!

 

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Diving & sailing

Yesterday we sailed from sandy island, L'esterre where we slept the night before to Mayreau after clearing customs in Hillsborough. We left Grenada to enter St Vincent & the Grenadines and you have to check out and in each time you leave another country or islands part of a country even when on the boat.

 

It was interesting walking around the town of Hillsborough and I took some lovely pictures there which I'll share once we're home.

 

Simone and the guys did their second dive yesterday. It was a wreck dive and they all said how great it was. Lots more video editing for me to come from all the dives they do! Colleen and I enjoyed a relaxing snorkel. We were anchored near a beach with some rocks to one side too. The water was calm and it was sunny so made for a beautiful snorkel. We spotted baby sergeant majors the size of my thumb nail complete with their black and yellow stripes, a large starfish, trumpet fish and many others.

 

Yesterday evening we had sundowners in the shallow water on the beach, hanging around on the water hammocks and noodles until the sun went down. Heaven!

 

 

 

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Snorkelling at an art exhibition

Our flight from Barbados finally left at 8am and we got to Grenada around 9. Last hiccup in our journey: when we got to the immigration desk the lady wanted to know where we'll be staying. I had filled in yacht Madiba but she wanted to know which marina the yacht was in and I didn't even know any marina's name so couldn't even make something up. I explained that we have a taxi waiting to take us to the yacht. I didn't know then that my dad and sister were actually outside waiting for us since 6.30 am already! The guy went out to check that there really was someone waiting for us and after a while came back to say yes it's fine we can go.

 

So we finally made it!

 

We had the most amazing first snorkel here. In a bay artists have placed sculptures under water. You swim around trying to find as many as you can. They are all over. At first it feels creepy when you suddenly come across a ring of people standing under water. They look so real and are life size. They are slaves tied together. We find a guy on a bicycle, a woman on her knees praying, people lying face down in the sand. Statues of people that is of course. We find a mermaid and my dad swims down and places his mask and snorkel on her for a photo. Then a bench and everyone with a long enough breath swims down to sit on it while Andre videos.

 

 

 

The fish here are amazing too. So so many and they're so big! The parrot fish are all huge. Bigger than I've ever seen and so are the blue tangs. I've never seen them so big. We see a school of squid. They always hang round in a line. Strange. I don't know why they do that.

 

Then we come across a man sitting at a desk and again my dad swims down to have a chat with him at his desk.

 

Apparently there is also a statue of a pirate which we didn't find. We start swimming back to the boat when another boat arrives with loads of people. Along the reef my goggles start fogging up for the second time, making it hard to see much so I swim ahead back to the boat. I'll need to clean it with some toothpaste. That helped last time when the anti-fog sea drops didn't do the job. Right before I reach the boat a school of (again larger than I've seen before) bait fish swim right at me as though something's chasing them. They change direction when they get close and spot me. It's a real privilege to be in the water with all these beautiful creatures.

 

 

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A disastrous start to a summer holiday

We were booked to depart on Friday morning. Thursday morning I started our online check in in the hopes to get us some good seats on the flight from London to Barbados. What a shock to then see on the British airways website that the leg from Barbados to Grenada with Liat airways was cancelled. It said there to contact BA which I did. The person confirmed that this flight was indeed cancelled but that I needed to contact the agency who booked our tickets. Andre eventually managed to get hold of them during the day, Thursday. It was booked online so we didn't exactly have a specific person we booked with but anyway, after much correspondence Andre let me know that it's all sorted and the best they could do was to get us onto a flight from Barbados to Grenada the next morning at 6am instead.

So we booked a hotel for the night. I was at first very disappointed that we'd be having a later start to our holiday with our family but in the end made peace with it and thought it could actually be nice to spend an evening in a hotel with my husband. From the website the hotel looked pretty nice with a pool and bar right by the pool so I had visions of us sipping cocktails by the pool (virgin cocktails for me of course) and spending some time together on our own.

Checking in at the hotel was another joke. I booked online through the hotel's own website and was emailed confirmation with the price to pay. But on arrival the receptionist was not expecting us at all. She was like, what you want to stay here? It was so strange and very unprofessional. It took her ages to do what she needed to do. I was hot and bothered and pregnant and not having any nonsense from her.

She got on the phone with our confirmed booking print out I gave her to find out what she needed to charge us. She wanted to still add tax as well as an additional charge per person per room. After it clearly showed on the paper I gave her the tax amount before the total as well as that I paid for two people. After about three phone calls about the price to someone I made her understand I will not pay one extra cent than what their own website quoted me. She agreed and we paid. Then back on the phone to find out whether she needed to give us a receipt. Really?!! Of course you give someone a receipt if they just paid you money! She said we'd have to come back for the receipt later and we left it at that because clearly it was going to take her a long time to work out how to do the actual receipt on the computer. I asked her whether there were other people staying at the hotel as it looked deserted. She started answering me but then as someone walked by she went to speak to this person to order herself a sandwich. In the end we found out there was one other person staying in the hotel. It was a big hotel with 4 conference rooms, a very large pool with green water which we decided might not be safe for swimming in. The rooms were nice, clean and we had a balcony over looking the (green) pool. We stayed in the room, just relaxing and decided to use the time to practise the hypnobirthing exercises. Also to help calm me after dealing with the lady at the reception desk.

Oh while at the desk another lady came on shift and I thought she might be more clued up so when our lady went off to check our room was ready (twice) I decided to ask this other lady about the airport shuttle they mention on their website for the next morning. She said yes she can book us a taxi. But didn't do anything about it. I gave her the time and asked whether she will be booking it and she said ok. Clearly not all there so I gave up.

The hotel also has a bowling alley and it was clear the local youth enjoyed this on a Friday night. We walked over there to get dinner and asked to have it as take outs so we could have it in our room. While waiting we had some drinks and when the food arrived the girl said we didn't have to pay for the drinks. We paid for the food. Thought it a bit strange but anyway, walked back to our room. We were hardly back in the room when the phone rang. The bartender wanted his money for the drinks we had!! Andre had a burger and chips. The burger was edible but the chips really oily. I really really wanted nachos from when we were still in the UK so I was excited to see it on the menu at the hotel. But they didn't make it anymore so I ordered chilli cheese fries. It would have been edible had I had salt to have over it. I maybe had 6 chips then gave up. We walked back to the bowling alley, Andre had another beer and I wanted to get a bottle of water anyway and we paid for it all this time.

The other funny thing is, they would give you the price in Barbadian dollars. for example our bar total came to B$20. I said we wanted to pay in US$. The bartender thought for a while and then said ok $11. So they just make it up as they go.

We told the receptionist we will be checking out at 4.30 and needed a taxi to the airport. All was pitch dark in the reception area this morning. We found a guy sleeping in a chair nearby. i called to him and he then woke up the receptionist. She said that guy could take us to the airport. He just went back to his chair and back to sleep. I stood in the middle of the room not believing my eyes!! I asked him whether he will be taking us or not, he said he works at the hotel. Eventually the receptionist told him to take us. At he airport I ask him how much, he said to just give him something. I reckoned the airport taxi must have been a rip off, this guy doesn't usually drive guests and would have no cue what taxis charge so gave him just under half what the actual taxi charged. We were happy to have made it safely to the airport.

Finally we can be on our way to see the family in Grenada. Just an hour's flight and we'll be there. Whats the chance! At the flight check in counter we get told we have to pay another US$300 since we changed our flight. We tried to argue but paying was the only way to get us on the flight. Apparently the original flight never was cancelled. We're taking this up with the travel agents and will be fighting to get our money back.

So now were still sitting waiting for our flight to depart from Barbados to Grenada. Our 6am flight has now twice already been delayed by an hour each time. At the moment we're hoping it will leave at 8am...

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BVI Holiday May 2013

We landed on Tortola the evening of 19 May. Dad and Colleen met us at the airport even though by now we feel very at home in the BVI and know the little path leading down to the beach from the airport. The sticky heat felt wonderful and my skin was happy to have a break from being continuously dry and flaky even with loads of moisturiser in England. We walked down to the dinghy dock together, went back to the yacht to wait for Andre's parents flight to get in.

The next morning we got to go on a helicopter ride over the islands which was just amazing. If you're ever in the BVI, you must make the time to do this. We went with Antilles Helicopter Services. We got some beautiful photos and video (which I'm still editing).

From Trellis Bay after the heli ride we went on to Guana Island for lunch. There is actually a rock sticking out over the sea which looks so much like an iguana when you're approaching. From here we went on to Brewer's Bay, Tortola where we snorkeled, kayaked and some tried out the stand up paddle board.

Conch blowing competition!

The following day the divers got to go on their first dive at Brewer's East while the rest of us snorkelled. We had  lunch at the beautiful White Bay with sundowners at Foxy's. We even spotted a southern ray right under the pier before getting back into the dinghy.

Now here's something funny and a warning too: Don't go on hammocks after enjoying sundowners! (This was on a walk along the beach at Foxy's.)

Posing on the hammock:

Oh so relaxing...

Let's put our feet up... whoops!!

Keep your feet firmly on the ground when hammocking!

On Wednesday there was more diving at Rainbow Canyon, Peter Island where the guys also managed to get a lion fish. These beautiful fish unfortunately destroy the reef fish and coral as they are not native to this area. They have no natural predators and so just multiply becoming a problem in the BVI. Wednesday evening we enjoyed sundowners on the beach at Pirate's Bight which they have now completely renovated and looks amazing.

Thursday morning the guys dived at Ring Dove Rock before we went on to Tortola where Marietjie and I went to swim with the dolphins. Always a great experience.

The next morning the guys did two dives on the RMS Rhone, the Royal Mail Steamer which stranded off Salt Island in 1876. I wrote more about it in a previous post which you can find here. Marietjie and I snorkelled above the wreck. The water was rather choppy which didn't make it all that comfortable but worth seeing the wreck from above. You can watch a video of a previous dive the guys with Simone did at the Rhone.

The evening was spent at Leverick Bay to watch the Jumbies show.

The following day the guys did a dive at Cow's Mouth, Virgin Gorda while us girls snorkelled there and then went on toe Eustasia Island where we spent the night.

Saturday morning it was time for the Poker Run. A well known cigarette boat race for charity. It was a hot day, loads of people, many coming across from nearby Puerto Rico. We spent some time before the race on land at Leverick Bay admiring the boats showing off their engines and blaring music! There was quite a party atmosphere. Before the race was about to start we made our way back to Madiba. We had an absolute prime spot - affording us to be in some heli shots taken from the air as well! From the boat we were able to see the dock and the boats pass towards the start of the race. There is not that much to see as they race actually starts but lots of white water as the boats speed away. Apparently Prince Harry joined a leg of the race, but must have been well protected as we weren't able to spot him.

From Leverick Bay we went on to Long Bay, Virgin Gorda for the night where we enjoyed another beautiful snorkel.

On Sunday the divers went for another two dives, one at a dive site called Broncho Billy at George Dog, and another at Coral Gardens where there is the plane wreck. Again Marietjie and I got to snorkel above the wreck, following the divers all the way from above. I've made a video of a previous dive here.

From here we went on to Trunk Bay where we spent the night. This was near The Baths. We also went in to Spanish Town to fill the tanks and get some groceries here. I always enjoy nosing around foreign grocery stores.

Early the next morning dad took us to The Baths. Good thing we went so early too as we were practically the only ones there and so were able to get lots of good photos without other tourists in our shots! On our way back a tour bus arrived at the top and people flooded the little beach. Luckily we had all our photos and were on our way back to Madiba by then.

After visiting The Baths the guys did two more dives that day. Busy diving holiday but they loved it! First one was Ginger's Backside. I know, strange name!! And the second was called Cistern Point. These were more new dive sites Andre had not done on previous trips. 

For lunch we went to Cooper Island which is another of my favourites. Really pretty and calm little bay, with lovely snorkelling. The restaurant here has also been renovated or was perhaps just in the process of being renovated when we were here previously as it looks really nice now. They even have a camera underwater and when you sit in the restaurant bar you can then watch the fish live as they swim past the camera.

Another two dives on Wednesday: first was the wrecks Fearless and Willy T off Peter Island and after that they did Randy's Reef nearby. We spent the night at Great Harbour, Peter Island, another favourite snorkelling spot, where we were so lucky to see a ray jumping out of the water. My first time seeing that!

Early the next morning I was on a mission to see the big five, well two. I did the same here before: jumped in early on the day before we're due to leave the islands to go for a last really good snorkel, searching for turtles and rays. And as before I got to see a big turtle practically as I got in the water. I followed him for quite a while, he was really peaceful and not at all bothered by my being there. As I turned, right beneath me was a big spotted eagle ray. They're so beautiful. It too was very relaxed, I suppose with not anyone else in the water yet, they were calmly enjoying their early morning breakfasts and not in a hurry anywhere. After a while the spotted eagle ray swam off and next there was a southern ray. A successful early morning snorkel!

We sailed to Trellis Bay where the airport is as we had to leave the next day and had dinner at The Last Resort on the little island in the bay there. The next morning we had a last snorkel all around this little island where we spotted more rays among other fish.

Ended off walking up the beach to the airport with Sir Richard Branson behind us on his way to his private plane. We wished we could have joined him in his more comfortable and faster means of transport!

Another amazing holiday with our family on Madiba in the BVI. (12 days and 11 dives- a dream for the divers and just as perfect for the non-divers!)