Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Traveling wraps have traveled to Paducah, KY



Inka: Woohoo! We made it to Paducah, KY!! I must say it was quite a trip. Being packed in a box with you two for a few days wasn'’t too bad but it'’s nice to be able to stretch out.

NINO Blue Jeans: I agree. You two are great company but I really enjoyed hanging out with all those adorable babies at the Western KY NINO meeting.

Black Pepper: While I didn'’t get a chance to get worn at the meeting, I did enjoy meeting some new friends, like Didymos and Hot Mama.



NINO Blue Jeans: The meeting was great. I got to carry 15 month old Colin in a back wrap cross carry. Let me tell you, Colin'’s mama, Danielle, made the whole thing look effortless. Of course, I think I had something to do with that also.

Inka: Oh, enough bragging out of you. It'’s my turn. I had fun helping Jill and 13 month old Nolan practice their back wrap cross carry also. Jill has been a little leery of doing them in public and without a mirror but having the use of my stripes helped her out a lot. She was able to distinguish which rail she was pulling on and now she'’s practically a pro.

Black Pepper: Since I didn'’t get to make the trip around Paducah, I'’m eager to hear about it. I was sorry to miss out but I got to make a few grocery store trips with Nolan. It was his first time riding in a Bara Barn so I'’m glad I got to experience that with him. I think he really enjoyed it. It wasn'’t 5 minutes before he was snuggled down and fast asleep.

Inka: Awww. I love it when we'’re able to put babies to sleep.

NINO Blue Jeans: Me too. When we were walking around the city, 15 month old Colin was on the verge of falling asleep but he fought it well.

Inka: Paducah is such a pretty town. I loved the view of the Ohio and Mississippi river. It was very serene and beautiful.



Black Pepper: Well, from what I saw from inside the van, I agree. The river area was pretty.



NINO Blue Jeans: My favorite place we visited was the flood wall murals. It had so many interesting pictures depicting the history of western Kentucky.





Inka: Not to mention, the colorful wall matched my stripes.



Black Pepper: (rolls eyes) Go on...

Inka: Ok, fine. I loved looking at the old historic steam engine!

NINO Blue Jeans: Oh, you only liked it because the black train showed off your bright colors.

Inka: Can I help it if I look great in all situations?



NINO Blue Jeans: Anyway, I had a lot of fun in Kentucky but I'm so eager to travel to Canada!

Black Pepper: Me too! I'’ve never been out of the country before.

Inka: We better get some sleep now. I hear we'’re leaving really early in the morning. Goodbye, Kentucky!

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Traveling Wraps in Pittsburgh!

Setting: airport lounge. NINO Blue Jeans, Black Pepper and Inka are on their way to Kentucky, after a short and action-packed visit to the Steel City, Pittsburgh.


NINO
Blue Jeans: Hey Inka! Quit trying to entice that baby over there with your rich, vibrant colors, and get over here! We want to debrief about our visit before we head on to Kentucky.

Inka: Sorry, I can't help it! My gold undertones are so luscious. Everyone says so. In fact, yesterday, at the Pittsburgh NINO meeting, I heard one mom say "I've never wanted to wrap before, but looking at that one" (meaning me, mind you) "makes me want to start after all!"

NINO Blue Jeans: Yeah, well, one of the moms that tried me on said how comfortable I was, and that she might have to get one just like me.

Black Pepper: Enough you two! Guess I have to play the straight one, eh? Why don't we talk about what we did this weekend?

NINO Blue Jeans: Fine, fine , fine. I have to say, I was pretty excited at the monthly NINO meeting yesterday -

Inka:
- which was very well-attended, don't you think? They must have heard there would be a really pretty wrap there -

NINO Blue Jeans: (rolls eyes) right, right, whatever... I mean, I do agree that there were a nice number of babywearers there. Whether it was because of you or not... well, moving on. After the leader, Christy, talked for a while and everyone introduced themselves, I was quite excited when we got to the hands-on part, and I got to help a mom, Allison, with her first-ever rucksack carry of her 16-month-old
little boy, Emmitt.

Black Pepper: Emmitt looked quite cozy in there! Inka: He sure did. Likewise, I was pretty excited to be the first woven wrap used by mom Theresa with her 9-month-old daughter Lowenna. Did you hear her talking about how comfortable she felt? She was definitely converted to the wonders of wrapping.

NINO Blue Jeans: Yep, the fine moms of Pittsburgh were quite open to the cause.

Black Pepper: While you two were busy converting newbies, I hung out with slipknot expert Bridget and her 16-month-oldLizzie.

Inka: I'll admit it: that WAS an impressive slipknot. Bridget really made it look easy. But what about at our next stop, when we went to that breathtaking view of the Pittsburgh skyline, up on Mount Washington? Her next trick was even more
impressive.

NINO Blue Jeans: At first I wasn't sure what she was doing, but when I realized what she was up to, I was awestruck. Supermom Bridget pretied a front cross carry, put Sean on her back, and then popped Lizzie into the front cross carry in front. All this on a busy city overlook, with lots of tourists gawking! And never missed a beat.

Inka: It was quite a view. You could see Pittsburgh's three rivers off to one side, and then numerous bridges off to the other side. Black Pepper, why are you suddenly a little pale? Hey, Black Pepper, I see you eyeing up that toddler over there... stay focused, please!

Black Pepper: Who, me? I don't... know... what... oh, all right. I'm scared of heights. I'm glad that Heather and Taryn had me tied on so snug in a rebozo carry so I knew I wasn't going anywhere, but I did feel a little tense. And then our next stop was to visit a big dinosaur! Boy was I relieved when we got there and discovered that it wasn't a real dinosaur. But it truly was big,
especially next to Kristie and Christy. And Kristie had never used a rebozo before, so that was fun for me.

Inka: Black Pepper, you didn't really think the dinosaur would be real, did you? Did you miss the memo about dinosaurs being extinct? Of course with me around, no one is likely to notice a dinosaur, real or not, what with my colors to look at
-

NINO
Blue Jeans:
Uh-huh. Well, they're certain to notice the towering Cathedral of Learning that we took a quick pass by next. And Inka, I'm sure you must have enjoyed the opportunity to be worn by a babywearing dad, Matt.


Inka: I did indeed! I look good on him.

NINO Blue Jeans: And Kristie raved about how comfortable it was to carry Seamus in a front wrap cross carry with me, her first long woven wrap.

Black Pepper: But let's get to the really fun part - riding the carousel!

NINO Blue Jeans: Yes, that was fun! There were a lot of strange animals on the carousel - whatever happened to good old horses, I don't know...

Inka: I thought it was fun to ride the giraffe. Seamus, thought so, too.

Black Pepper: All in all, it was a great trip! I think I can speak for all of us that we really enjoyed meeting the fine babywearers of Pittsburgh and seeing as many of the sights as we had time for. On to Kentucky!