The Turkettes Take On Rocky Harbour

Our first stop on our trip was to the beautiful Gros Morne National Park! This picture is a tradition my best friend Jen Frendo and I started back in 2004 when we first started traveling out East to visit National Parks of Canada.

We stayed at the Gros Morne Cabins in the small town, Rock Harbour, located inside Gros Morne National Park! It was a great set up as we were right on the water and had a living room, full kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom. They also have laundry facilities and a grocery store so it was very convenient for us to do the girls laundry (wow, two kids make a lot of mess!) and grab and food items we might need to snack on.

The cabin had beautiful quilts that were great for the girls to play on when they had some much needed tummy time! The poor girls went from car seat, to stroller, to baby carrier!!

Hi Sister!

Abigail Hanging out on the quilt

Loving our time in Rocky Harbour

On our second day in Gros Morne we took the girls on the Western Brook Pond Boat Tour. This required us to hike 3km into the boat launch area before going on a two hour boat ride. The view was amazing and the girls lasted about half the boat ride before falling asleep!

The Gang on the Boat Tour

Enjoying the great view of Western Brook Pond

Sleeping on the boat

The Whole Family!

Even though we asked a lot of the girls and carted them all over Gros Morne National Park, the Turkettes were fantastic and had a great time! Smiles all around!

To The Rock We Go!

Our past road trips with the girls seem to pale in comparison to the adventure we have ahead of us, flying to Newfoundland for a week long vacation with the girls and my parents! The hardest part about packing for this trip is that EVERYTHING you need to pack must fit into your suitcases for the plane. There is no room for error and no thought of "I'll just leave this in the car, just in case". Predicting what two babies will need for an eight day excursion with unpredictable weather can be tricky. When traveling to Newfoundland you always have to remember that there is no humidity and always a chance of rain....a perfect place to travel to with 7 month old twins! Some how once we had packed up the car with the girls and our luggage we came to the realization that we had more room in our car than any previous road trip. Huh?

After a well planned stay over night in TO at the Comfort Inn Toronto Airport, we were able to pack up, have a hot breakfast, feed the girls and make it to the airport looking calm and refreshed (okay I may be slightly exaggerating).

The first part of our adventure begins with the girls first flight! Not wanting to be "those parents with the crying baby" on a two hour plus flight, we picked a morning flight when the girls were likely to be napping! This worked out well in our favour as both girls slept through take off.

Here are some things we learned from flying with the Turkettes.

1. Baby formula or breast milk are the only liquids you are allowed to bring on the flight in excess of 100mL. The flight attendants will warm your bottles for you any time during the flight!

2. Babies are allowed two baby items (e.g. car seat, play yard, stroller) but no carry on or luggage.

3. While you are allowed to keep and use your stroller right up until you board the plane, we found it a lot easier to use our Baby Bjorn baby carrier and just wear the girls. This allowed us to have both of our hands free especially helpful while boarding the plane and putting our carry on luggage away.

4. There is only one infant allowed per row due to there only being 4 oxygen masks per row, so Shawn and I had to sit in consecutive rows with our own baby.

5. (Thank you Mom for this) Having a soother clip was a big bonus because we a) always knew where their soother was and b) didn't have to worry about it falling on the floor or losing it. Soothers or drinking during take off or landing is recommended for babies since they don't know how to pop their ears on their own and this can be really painful. Both the girls took their soothers for take off and landing and had no discomforts.

6. Dressing the girls in a sleeper was great for the plane as we didn't have to worry about them getting cold, socks falling off and it was much easier when trying to change a diaper in the small little airplane bathroom. (that is a skill all on it's own!) Only the washroom in the back of the plane has a change table so it was easier to be seated closer to the back of the plane. Having small children allows you to board the plane earlier if you wish, but we just let everyone go first and tried to board the plane near the end so we had less time sitting on the plane.

7. Our Westjet flight attendants were awesome! They met with us to give us specific instructions regarding flying with infants and even gave the girls "First Flight" stickers! Our Little Westjetters did a great job flying! Looks like a trip out to Calgary to visit Auntie Michelle might be possible!!!

How Goes the Feeding Frenzy??

Ever since we've introduced the world of solids to the Turkettes, meal time isn't the only thing that has gotten more interesting! The diaper genie continues to work it's magic even though it's on overdrive! 

Since the girls' first introduction to Flavour Town we've slowly been introducing more foods with mixed reviews from the Turkettes. Avocado was a huge hit the first day, then Abigail started making the worst gagging noises and funniest faces every time she ate it! She virtually refused to swallow if avocado was in her mouth! Even attempting to have her drink water (in hopes of sneaking down some avocado) was met with some resistance! To say Molly LOVES avocado would be a huge understatement. Other than rice cereal and formula, avocado is easily one of Molly's favourite foods!

Recent additions to meal times in the highchair include:
Prunes (both liked)
Strawberries (both liked)
Oatmeal (both liked)
Carrots again (neither really liked them)
Strawberries/Banana (both liked)
Chicken with Broth: in the jar (no luck, they still don't like chicken!!)

There have been a few times we have had to do a little tom foolery when it comes to feeding the Turkettes. Today for example, Abigail was able to each almost 2 tablespoons of avocado if I mixed it in with her rice cereal!! Surprise!! Putting a bit of avocado in front of carrots fools Molly almost every time!! 

Peas have been the latest addition to the repertoire and both girls seem to really like them! Success! 

More vegetables is our next conquest in the high chair! Zucchini and some sweet potatoes! More fun times and great faces ahead!!

Swim Baby Swim!

Yesterday we had a great visit from the Hill Family! What started as "just getting the girls' feet wet" as Tank and Tankini swam in the pool, turned into a full family swim a few minutes later! A sun hat, some sunscreen and a swim diaper was all it took for the Turkettes to explore the new world of the backyard pool!

 

Daddy + Abby, Hiller, Tank + Tankini, Mommy + Molly

Did you know that swim diapers are designed to be removed by ripping the seam on both sides? Thank you Amy for teaching me this trick as wrestling a baby out of a wet swim diaper is not in my current parenting skill set.

Today the girls went for their second dip in the pool on a very hot day! Looking forward to many more swims!