Day Three

Today real life interfered somewhat with our relaxing baby-sitting plans, and on the flip side, baby-sitting interfered somewhat with our real life plans!

Summer swimming lessons for my kids were scheduled to begin later this afternoon back in the Bay Area, but it wasn't until last night that I realized that I didn't have the right kind of reusable cloth swim diaper for three-year-old Laurel. So I thought we'd begin our day with Jesse with a quick visit to Babies R Us in Santa Cruz, where I assumed a swim diaper would be easy to find. We arrived at the store before they opened, so we hung around outside while Jesse enjoyed a two-ounce bottle of formula in his stroller and my kids played a sort-of-dangerous game utilizing (1) the bike racks, (2) a deflated bicycle inner tube, and (3) a long stick. 

The store, however, didn't have the diapers in the right size.  All the kids enjoyed shopping, though, and after we visited the restroom and bought a few things, I gave Jesse another bottle of formula outside the store while my kids resumed their bike-tube game.  After just one ounce, however, Jesse in his stroller looked like this:

He looks like a little Amish man with his washcloth beard

But thank goodness for smart phones!  I looked up a number of nearby shops, both swimwear and children's clothing, called five or six of them, and finally located one single swim diaper in the right size. The shop was only ten minutes away, although it took us 30 minutes to get there. It turned out there was a wrecked cement mixer on the local freeway which snarled traffic on the side streets for the remainder of our day in Santa Cruz. What is it about truck accidents and baby-sitting days?

Jesse's nap only lasted 35 minutes, unfortunately, because he woke up when we arrived at the shop. But we did get the diaper, which by its styling (ruffled pastel paisley!) seems to date to 1986, and then because it was already 11:30 we decided to head to the nearby Santa Cruz yacht harbor for a picnic lunch. Because of the traffic it took us a long time to get there, but the kids were good sports. Isaac, especially, crooned sweet songs to Jesse whenever he groused a little (which wasn't often), and even serenaded him with his harmonica, which he had packed for that very reason.

We arrived at the yacht harbor in time for lunch. We picked out our favorite boats, and the kids were especially pleased when a dog suddenly appeared on the deck of one of their favorites and laid down in the sun. The older picnickers ate bread and cheese and fruit, and Jesse enjoyed six ounces of formula sitting in my lap. Not only did he wear his own sunhat, but I leaned over him so the brim of my sunhat shaded him!

Isaac and Laurel enjoy their bread and cheese

Picnicking cousins

After lunch we returned to Scotts Valley because I wanted to give the kids a chance to run around at the playground they had enjoyed so much the previous Monday. I felt bad that so much of our day had been occupied by errands and traffic; when I planned this summer of baby-sitting, I had intended for my kids to have really fun experiences in Santa Cruz, not shopping trips to big-box retailers.

But speaking of traffic, it was still in effect, so we didn't get to the playground until 2:00, giving us only half an hour to play before it was time to get back to Erica's workplace and switch the carseats. But the kids had a good time, although Jesse missed a lot of the fun because he was completing his second 35-minute nap of the day:

Jesse naps at the playground

Then we went to Erica's work, where my kids had a snack and Jesse hung out watching us from the stroller while I reconfigured the carseat arrangement.  (I remove Isaac's booster and Jesse's infant carseat base, and put back in Isaac's five-point harness carseat.)

Then we hit the road promptly at 3:10, because the kids' swimming lessons started at 4:30! And the drive is supposed to take an hour and 20 minutes! But instead it took an hour and 40 minutes! So we missed swimming almost completely! I guess we didn't need that swim diaper after all!

Yes, I know it was a crazy plan. Never say I am not an optimist.

Isaac was okay with missing swimming, but Laurel was disappointed and confused. Luckily swimming lessons will be every day this week, so she'll have another chance tomorrow.

Sunburn

I wasn't the only one who got sunburned yesterday!

Jesse gazes accusingly at his aunt

Despite his floppy hat and the hood of my Ergo baby carrier, a bit of sun snuck in there, especially on the right side of his face. Darn it! I thought I was being careful to stand with his face angled out of the direct sun, but clearly I was wrong.

Oh, I feel terrible. I was standing in the sun so I could supervise my own kids on the playground, but maybe next time I should just have a seat on the shady grass.

Travel time

Travel time to get to Jesse this morning: one hour and 15 minutes on the freeway.

Travel time to get back home this afternoon: two hours and 30 minutes.

Aggravatingly, it was just the last five miles of our freeway travel that took all that extra time.  The last five miles!  It should have taken us 15 minutes to drive that distance, but there was an overturned big rig on the freeway right by our exit, and the resulting traffic doubled the duration of our drive.  Next time I'm checking the traffic reports prior to choosing my route.

But both my kids were good sports and remained cheerful throughout the ordeal -- although I did have to pull off the freeway at one point so Isaac could pee behind a tree.  (He'd had a lot of juice.)  Laurel wanted to join him, but I pointed out she was wearing a diaper.

They are good travelers and I was very proud of them.

Carseats

I have an appointment tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. to have my three-carseat setup inspected by the California Highway Patrol.

It's a bit of a puzzle to fit three child carseats in the back seat of my 2005 Mazda 6 station wagon.  We thought we had a solution if we bought a different seat for Isaac, who is almost seven years old and can use the regular car seatbelt with the help of a booster.  It seemed like it worked when we tried it out in the parking lot of Babies R Us, anyway.

The setup is as follows:

• Jesse in a 2012 Graco Snugride infant seat (behind the driver's seat)
• Isaac in a 2012 Graco no-back Turbo booster seat (in the center)
• Laurel in a 2005 Britax Boulevard convertible seat (forward-facing) (behind the passenger seat)

But when we tried it again on Thursday, the lower part of Isaac's seatbelt fit so tightly against Laurel's carseat that the belt can't move.  The upper part of the seatbelt fits him fine, and it is still mobile and locks into place when force is applied against it, but I'm not sure that the lapbelt portion should be binding up.  (His seatbelt buckle is also unreachable without partially uninstalling Laurel's carseat every time, which would be a drag!)

Now that I think about it, I wonder what would happen if I reversed the positions of Jesse and Laurel's seats.  The buckle for the center seatbelt is on the right-hand side, so maybe having the infant seat on that side would make a difference.  I'll try it tomorrow.

Anyway, I fear the Highway Patrol is going to say that any interference between neighboring seats is a safety problem.  If they don't approve the proposed setup, we have one last hope: get a narrower carseat for Laurel, who currently rides in a very wide Britax Boulevard, and maybe the difference of an inch or two will let Isaac's seatbelt move freely.

Otherwise we won't be able to pull off this Monday baby-sitting plan at all!