As most readers know, we recently went on vacation with our infant and toddler.  There were definitely some items that we brought on vacation that were absolutely essential and helped make our trip better.  Some have been reviewed here in the past, while some are new products we’ve just started to use.

CARES -Kids Fly Safe I wrote a review of CARES here after our trip, but in summary, I was very pleased with how easy it was to carry this on our flight (it just sat on the top of our diaper bag and is super lightweight) and installed very fast.  It is so much easier to bring this on a flight than a full fledged car seat! You can purchase CARES at

http://www.lexiebarnes.com/ - I’ve reviewed Lexie Barnes in the past, but have recently purchased a Dutchess and a Gem.  The Dutchess is a lightweight backpack diaper bag that is made to hook to a stroller, and also wipes clean!  We used this throughout our trip, as a carry on bag and as a diaper bag!  It’s also a casual enough bag to bring on an all day trip such as the zoo.  I can’t say enough about how much we used this, and how nice it is!  The Gem is a small personal bag - we used it to carry our wallets, keys, camera, and cell phones, and then when we went somewhere quick, it had all of our personal and valuable items.  I was able to wear the Gem messenger style, and barely knew it was there!

Secure2Me Eclipse Blanket - http://www.secure2me.com/ - we reviewed the Secure2me Eclipse here, so most readers know how much we loved it.  I’ll just add that if you are going on a warm weather vacation, you won’t want to be without this blanket to protect your kids from the sun!

Diaper Baggies - http://www.diaperbaggies.com/ - Diaper Baggies are the only bags I’ve tried that actually eliminate dirty diaper odor (read our original review here).  They were especially useful on vacation where we actually had dirty diapers sitting in the trash can in our room until housekeeping cleaned.  I had also brought some regular zipper bags for our trip and tried using one of those for a dirty diaper - it didn’t work at all.  I’m so impressed with Diaper Baggies and will certainly bring them on any vacation we have as long as my kids are in diapers!