Free kids

Free kids, you ask? Am I looking to give Noob away to avoid having to do any more long-haul flights with him?

Nah... the flights weren't that bad. (I'll blog about those separately). Anyway, what I mean is that our kids were able to get in free to just about everything we did in China, from attractions to transportation.

This wasn't too unusual for Noob, who is just shy of 2 and is still able to get in free to many things in the USA. But even Littles was free, at age 4.5. Most places we went only charged for kids over 1.2 meters, which is just a little under 4 feet. Some places were even more generous and allowed kids under 1.3 meters to get in free.

I think Littles is pretty average height for her age, but she is well under 1.2 meters. Here she is at a height checker in the Beijing subway. You can see that she's well below the 120 cm line, even with her hat.

The two places where the 1.2m rule didn't apply:

• At the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium. They charged for kids over 1 meter. Littles just barely squeaked in.
• On the high-speed train from Shanghai to Beijing. Well, the kids could've ridden free... if we didn't mind holding them in our laps. For the 5-hour journey, we decided to splurge on child tickets, which were half the price of adult tickets. Still way cheaper than flying!

Almost everything we did was pretty cheap compared to similar attractions in the USA, and not having to pay for the kids made them an even better bargain.

Chinese toilets

Yes, this post will talk extensively about toilets. You have been warned.

Most toilets in China are just like the ones bck home. But at some point, you'll likely encounter a Chinese toilet, or squat toilet. If you've never seen one before, it looks like this (courtesy of Wikipedia):

(You may encounter these elsewhere in the world, too. For example, I used one on a trip to Japan, and one of my friends said that she had to use one at an Italian train station.)

Needless to say, these posed a bit of a challenge for Littles during our travels in China. Aside from the fact that, well, they're just different from the potties she's used to back home... she was physically too small to use them properly. The leggings or tights she wore did not allow her to separate her legs enough to straddle the toilet as she needed to.

What I ended up doing was this:

1. I had her face me, with her feet just in front of the longer narrower part of the toilet, while I faced her/the toilet.
2. She pulled down her leggings or tights.
3. I held her under her arms and lowered her bottom towards the toilet so that she could go.

I would strongly recommend being with your child the first time they encounter one of these toilets. Littles' first time was with my mother-in-law. Her solution to the squatting problem was to remove Littles tights. Which required removing her shoes. Then, Littles was indeed able to squat over the toilet... barefoot! I'm not easily grossed out, but that still makes me shudder, over a week later. I made sure to go with Littles the next two or three times she used a squat toilet, and by then, she was a pro and could use one with assistance from anybody. With her shoes on.

Even older kids who are fully bathroom-independent back home may need some help with these toilets the first few times, so be aware.

This should be less of an issue for boys, since they can just stand up to go, but I was still very glad that Noob was still in diapers for this trip :)

A couple more tips for these types of toilets:

• Some places have both types of toilets -- for example, on the train. They had little pictures on each stall door showing which type of toilet was in that stall.
• Bring toilet paper (or Kleenex) and hand sanitizer/wipes. Toilet paper and soap is often not provided.
• Hold your breath. Most of them stink. Really, really badly. (Which makes Littles' barefoot incident even grosser. Ugh)

American kids in China

The kids attract a lot of attention here in China. I guess they are a curious sight, given that they are young Western faces and that there are two of them! We've seen hardly any other Western kids during our stay, and thanks to the one-child policy here, it's rare for us to see two Chinese kids from the same family. Literally, I can think of maybe two or three instances of each of those that we've seen, in two weeks here -- and none of both combined, i.e. two Western kids from the same family, like my kids.

(Too bad I'm not showing more with Q. That would really blow everyone's mind :)

Sometimes this attention is welcome. Like when we got to the long line to clear immigration at the airport and an official took one look at the kids and waved us to the front of the line. Sometimes, it's not-so-welcome. Like when Noob throws a tantrum on the subway and I look up to see every face on the train turned our way. Just a typical toddler tantrum folks, nothing to see here, move along... please?

Noob attracts noticeably more attention than Littles. I don't know if it's a preference for his age, his sex, or his blue eyes. (Blue eyes are rare here. Littles' hazel eyes are closer to typical Chinese coloring.)

The attention often takes a form that Americans would consider quite intrusive and rude. For example:

• Apparently, we don't dress the kids warmly enough, by Chinese standards. So people come up to me and point out that there's a gap between Noob's pants and socks when he's sitting in the Ergo, or that Littles is only wearing tights (not the thick winter pants that Chinese kids wear) underneath her dress. They tell me in Chinese, of course, so while I know what they're referring to by now (after being told a million times), I don't understand the words at all. My blank stares don't deter them from going on. And on. And on. This happens, on average, about once per outing.
• If I don't put Littles' hair back before we go out, people will come up and brush it out of her face for her.
• People are constantly trying to touch Noob, play with him, even pick him up. He has some stranger anxiety and so this really seems to bother him. Keeping him in the Ergo prevents some of this type of attention, but not all.
• People frequently take pictures of the kids when we're out and about. They rarely ask our permission.
• Lots of staring. Not just when Noob is throwing a tantrum. It's pretty much constant. Often, the stares are accompanied by friendly smiles, but not always.
• On the train from Shanghai to Beijing, the kids were standing by a big window in the snack car. Noob was being an obnoxious little brother and pushing Littles out of the way -- hey, it happens. So I put him in timeout in the corner right next to the window. He wasn't crying or disturbing the other passengers, but almost immediately, one of the train attendants came up to him smiling and cooing in Chinese, picked him up, gave him a hug, and plopped him by the window next to Littles again. Timeout FAIL.

After two weeks of this, I've kinda gotten used to it, but it was definitely unnerving at first! If we ever return to China when the kids are older (and therefore more aware of others' reactions to them), I'll probably prep them directly about this. Otherwise, they might spend the first week wondering if there's something on their face or some other reason why people are staring at them :)

Getting a Chinese visa

I'll do a trip log for our China trip, just like I always do. But I'm finding that China is much more difficult to navigate than our typical destinations, and it's harder to find the information I need to do it effectively -- especially with kids. (I'm guessing that much of the information I need is out there... in Chinese.) So I'll do some shorter posts covering some of the details, and link to those from my all-up trip log.

The first step to planning any trip to China is getting a visa. They are a royal pain to obtain! For starters, they're ridiculously expensive. A normal tourist visa costs $140! That's more than a US passport! And while a passport is good for 5 years (for kids) or 10 years (for adults), a Chinese visa is good for only a single entry. You can get a multiple-entry visa for the same price, but even then, it's only good for a few months. What a rip-off!

Also, you cannot mail in a visa application, or get your passport with your visa mailed back to you. If you're lucky enough to live in one of the five US cities with a Chinese consular general, this isn't a problem. Houston is one of those cities, and we briefly considered driving down to get our visas done, but it would have been a full-day expedition (it's about a four hour drive from Dallas, one way). Then, we would have had to either pay even more for same-day service, or plan on repeating the journey a few days later to pick up the visas.

Instead, we decided to use a visa service. A quick web search for "cheap Chinese visa service" turned up a link to Chinese Visa Express. It's a little scary mailing your passport off to some random place, just weeks before you're supposed to leave the country. So I called beforehand to ask a question about the application, and was encouraged when someone picked up the phone immediately and helped me with my question. At least I knew I could get ahold of a human being if my passports disappeared!

This service worked out well for our family because they will send up to five passports back under the same return shipping fee, rather than charging a flat rate per passport. So "all" we had to pay (on top of the actual visa fee) was a $16.95 service fee + $4.95 processing fee per passport, plus a single return shipping fee of $23.95, for a total of just under $90 for the kids and me. Not too bad, considering my husband's visa service cost nearly $100 -- thankfully, paid for by his work, since this was a business trip for him.

The actual visa application process wasn't too hard. Chinese Visa Express provides a link to download the application forms (in PDF format) from their website. You have to fill out the form on your computer and then print it -- you cannot print it and fill it in by hand. You also need to provide a recent passport-size picture. As I mentioned previously, I used ePassportPhoto to do this easily and cheaply.

Even though we were doing all this over the Christmas holiday, the passports were returned very promptly, about 1.5 weeks later. This was for their regular service. They do offer various levels of expedited service if you need your visa back faster.

I would definitely recommend Chinese Visa Express if you need to get a Chinese visa.

Updated: Making a child's passport photo

I've updated my post from a few months back on making a child's passport photo. We recently had to apply for visas to China, which required a passport-style photo, and I discovered the wonders of ePassportPhoto for easily making passport pictures. Way easier than the process I outlined previously! Full details are in the updated post.

Trip log: Philadelphia (Thanksgiving)

Note: We've gone to Philadelphia for Thanksgiving for the last four years, so this post will include what we've done in the past as well as what we did on this trip.

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dates: November 23-29, 2011

Ages: Littles = 4 years 5 months, Noob = 21 months

Methods of transportation: We flew into Philadelphia and rented a car.

Accommodations: Vacation rental in Bryn Mawr, found through www.vrbo.com

In the past, we've usually stayed out by the airport, as that's relatively close to my grandmother's house. We've stayed at the Embassy Suites, Sheraton Suites, Four Points, aloft, and Residence Inn. They are all fine, although I would recommend one of the three suite-style options (Embassy Suites, Sheraton Suites, or Residence Inn) for traveling with kids, as it's nice having an extra bedroom. Note that the Residence Inn's studio suites do not have an extra bedroom.

Sleeping arrangements: The vacation rental had two bedrooms. Noob always slept in the Peapod Plus in one room. Some nights, Littles slept in the bed in that room. Some nights, she slept in the bed in the other room with me, and Hubby slept in the room with Noob.

Eating arrangements: We typically eat out quite a bit, since we're visiting family, and this trip was no exception. The vacation rental did provide a high chair for Noob, which came in handy for breakfasts and take-out meals at "home." We were also able to host Thanksgiving dinner at the vacation rental, which worked out really nicely!

Activities:
The main focus of our Philadelphia trips is always to visit family. But when we go for the holidays, we usually end up flying out a little "early" or staying a little "late" (or both!), as the tickets are cheaper. So we do have some time to sightsee.

Riding the SEPTA train into downtown Philadelphia to see the Macy's Christmas Lights Show (a Philadelphia holiday tradition):

Stopping by Reading Terminal Market for some snacks and to check out the holiday train display:

Enjoying a soft pretzel from Reading Terminal Market on the train ride home:

Walking around downtown Bryn Mawr, and stopping at the fabulous Pun's Toys to check out the window displays:

The Franklin Institute. Wonderful hands-on science stuff. My dad practically lived here as a kid, and I have great memories of visiting as a child, too, so I love taking the kids there.

Other things we've done on past trips, which we didn't have time to do this year...

Visited Valley Forge National Historical Park, to walk around and visit the various historical structures:

Visited the Please Touch Museum. We did this last year and had an absolute blast. We could barely drag Littles away. I'd recommend it over the Franklin Institute for younger kids (it's designed for ages 7 and under), although my kids do enjoy both.

Visited the Philadelphia Zoo. This was another favorite spot of mine as a kid. That's Littles at about 17 months old, in this picture:

We've also used Philadelphia as a base for exploring the rest of the mid-Atlantic region. We've mostly gone south, to Baltimore and Washington DC, as we have a lot of friends and family who live or lived down there. We've done day trips (it's about a 2-3 hour drive) and also gone down to stay for a few days. Some of the things we've done:

• Various Smithsonian museums (National Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center and the Museum of Natural History), in DC
• The National Aquarium, in Baltimore
• Fort McHenry National Monument, in Baltimore
• Port Discovery Children's Museum, in Baltimore

You could also just as easily go north from Philadelphia, into New Jersey and New York. Maybe we'll get around to that, one of these years!

Key piece of travel gear: Noob's new Britax Boulevard 70 car seat + the quick release strap for our GoGo Kidz Travelmate. This combo works really well together! I'll write a full review later.

Biggest challenge: The flights, again. I'm coming to terms with the fact that Noob is a really bad traveler :)

What worked well:

• Using a vacation rental, yet again. As usual, we appreciated having more room to spread out, and access to a washer/dryer to cut down on the amount of clothes we had to bring. Also, this particular property had two suites available, so my parents were able to rent the one directly upstairs from us. The kids loved having their grandparents so close! (When we've stayed at hotels In the past, we've gotten adjoining hotel rooms, which works well, too.)
• Location, location, location. The location of the vacation rental was fabulous, with shops, restaurants, playgrounds, the train station, and -- well, sidewalks within walking distance. So we were able to get outside with the kids whenever they got antsy. In the past, when we've stayed out by the airport, that hasn't been an option, as there's really not much around except for parking lots and a few restaurants.
• Monday sightseeing. We've been to the Franklin Institute a few times on past trips, and we usually go with my parents over the weekend. (They always fly home Sunday night to get to work on Monday.) This year, we weren't able to squeeze it in while they were in town, so we went on Monday and not surprisingly, it was a lot less busy. Next year, we won't be able to stay till Monday, since we'll have to get Littles back to kindergarten(!). But if she has the whole week of Thanksgiving off, I hope we can fly out early and get in some sightseeing during the less-busy times before the holiday.

What didn't: Nothing, really. Noob made the flights pretty miserable, but we did the best we could with flight times (flying during naptime in both directions -- he did nap on the way out, not on the way home). As I said, he's just a really bad traveler!

Trip log: Florida Keys

Locations: Miami, and Big Pine Key (about half an hour east of Key West)

Dates: September 16-24, 2011

Ages: Littles = 4 years 3 months, Noob = 19 months

Methods of transportation: We flew into Fort Lauderdale, which was cheaper and less insane than the Miami airport. Upon arrival, we rented a car for the week.

Accommodations: Hotel room for the first two nights in Miami. Vacation rental in Big Pine Key, found through www.vrbo.com.

Sleeping arrangements: In the hotel room, Noob slept in a hotel pack n play, and Littles slept in the Peapod Plus.

In the vacation rental, Hubby and I slept in the master bedroom. Littles and Noob shared the second bedroom, with Littles in bed and Noob in the Peapod Plus. (The vacation rental provided a pack n play, but Noob is able to climb out of those now, and we didn't want him doing that without an adult in the room.)

Eating arrangements:There was a grocery store right on BIg Pine Key (about a five-minute drive from our vacation rental), so we bought food there and cooked most meals at "home." The vacation rental provided a booster seat, which we used for Noob.

Activities:
Checking out the beach at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne (a short drive from downtown Miami):

Visiting Everglades National Park, and walking the Anhinga Trail (we did this on our drive down to the Keys):

Bahia Honda State Park, just a short drive from Big Pine Key. We visited all the beaches and hiked up the old railroad bridge.

Fishing in the channel behind our vacation rental:

Day trip to Key West to visit the Key West Butterfly Conservatory, and Fort Zachary Taylor State Park:

Checking out all sorts of wildlife at Blue Hole and other areas of the National Key Deer Refuge, which covers most of Big Pine Key:

(yes, that's an alligator visible between the slats...)

Making buttons at the fabulous (and free!) visitor center for the National Key Deer Refuge. This little gem is a must-visit if you find yourself on Big Pine Key with kids. In addition to the buttons, they had various stuffed animals, and a table full of things for kids to touch (key deer antlers and skulls, snake skins, turtle shells, etc.)

Enjoying some amazing sunsets (and stargazing far from city lights):

Key piece of travel gear: The Peapod Plus. Versatile enough to work for both Littles and Noob!

Biggest challenge: The flights. We chose late afternoon flights (around 4 PM) in both directions. Big mistake. Noob got his usual nap in before both flights, and therefore didn't sleep at all in the air. It's only about 2.5 hours from Dallas to Fort Lauderdale, but that's a long time to occupy an active toddler on an airplane...

What worked well:

• Going in September. It's hurricane season, which means that rates are lower. We made sure to choose a vacation rental that had a full-refund policy in the event of a hurricane, just be safe. Obviously, that didn't happen, so we enjoyed a great vacation for a lot less money! It did rain almost every day, but there were more than enough periods of sunshine to do everything we wanted to do outdoors.
• Big Pine Key. We chose this key over the more-famous Key West because it was much less touristy and offered more of the outdoorsy stuff that we love to do. (Bonus: Outdoorsy stuff is cheaper than touristy stuff!) Plus, it put us much closer to the beaches at Bahia Honda, which we far preferred to the ones at Fort Zachary Taylor. And Key West was still a very easy day trip.
• Using a vacation rental, again! This is definitely our preferred way to travel with kids. One nice perk of this particular one: It included a Florida state parks pass, which saved us about $40 on entrance fees to the two state parks we visited over the course of the week.
• One nap a day. Noob dropped his second nap after our Panama trip. It was nice being able to go places in the morning without having to worry about when/how he might nap.
  

What didn't:

• Our hotel room in Miami. We stayed at the same hotel that we stayed on our first Miami layover during our Panama trip, but the room we got this time around was half the size. The bed, Peapod Plus, and pack n play took up virtually all the floor space.
• Mosquito repellent. Lots of mosquitos in the rainy season. We all got bitten in spite of repellent -- except Noob, for some reason.