Day Tripping

Sam is the youngest by quite a bit in our family—his brother is 6 and his sister is 9. As a result, he is on the road much, much more often than his older siblings were as babies. We try to keep things minimal as far as after-school activities go (one per big kid), but we need to stay busy and active for all of us to be happy. So Sam finds himself walking the kids to school, at the park, on day hikes, and at soccer practice on a pretty consistent basis. Lucky for us, he's the mellowest baby I have ever known, and he is very content to ride on mama and observe all the goings-on!

I use a two bag system to accommodate our outings in the warmer months—currently, we're transitioning over to this since it has finally gotten to be good weather in our neck of the woods.

I keep the official diaper bag in the car all the time, and this is the bag that goes to church, the library, or afternoon outings to indoor places. In this bag I keep two one-size pocket diapers (we use bumGenius, FuzziBunz, and Happy Heinys), a zippered wetbag, a small wetbag with cloth wipes, and a full change of clothing. I also have a changing pad. This bag is a Kecci which I got when my six year old was a baby—it has held up beautifully and is a great size. It has pockets for my wallet and keys, a small hand sanitizer, and can easily accommodate two or three more diapers and another clothing change, if we will be out longer. There is also enough room for a small snack and sippy cup, and a small water bottle.

The other bag is known by the kids as my "go bag," and this is our all-purpose outdoor outing bag. We use my daughter's old canvas backpack. We carry it along with us for park visits, day hikes, and anything in between. In the front pocket, I keep a small first-aid kit (a necessity with my two big guys!) and a sealed ziplock bag with sunscreen (a gentle variety the whole family can use), hand sanitizer, and non-DEET bug repellant. I also keep a 40 oz water bottle for me (and to replenish the big kid's bottles). For Sam, my staples are two prefolds (folded into thirds), an Econobum cover, and cloth wipes. I also carry some disposable wipes "just in case" we have need for them and happen to be short on water. There is a small, drawstring wetbag, and a towel to use as a changing pad. I keep an emergency one-sie in the bag, and add additional clothing if the weather is a factor (in northern New England, even the summer months can be pretty unpredictable!). There is plenty of room for snacks for the whole family, and the big kids carry their own water bottles. If we are on a longer outing, we add an additional backpack , packed lightly so that one of the children can easily carry it. The pictures show Sam at soccer practice, our bag ready to go, and all the children ready to head to a kid's festival downtown. The older kids thought Sam shouldn't be the only one in the pictures, although in the interest of fair disclosure, he is the only one wearing a cloth diaper!

Anne-Marie is a stay-at-home mom to a 9 year old, a 6 year old, and an eight month old. She blogs about their adventures in sustainable(ish) living at
http://greenishmonkeys.wordpress.com/