GIVEAWAY: Evenflo ProComfort Symphony DLX Car Seat
Two weeks ago, when I talked about how I spend all my time at the house shuttling my kids around in the car, someone said I was doing too much. I should just open the door and toss them outside.
Point taken. The ability to "toss the kids outside" was one of the main reasons we bought the house.
But, try as I might, I keep winding up at Target or the supermarket and nothing can get me out of driving Mazzy to camp. I gave her a map and a good pair of sneakers but she just looked at me blankly and I was like, "Oh, alright, get in the car."
And then, poor Harlow. The girl has taken a backseat to Mazzy since she was born. Her whole life is basically spent napping or taking Mazzy wherever she needs to go. That's why, instead of just plopping Harlow in the car while I do errands, I decided to take her somewhere for real. I was even going to take Harlow while Mazzy was in camp, so I wouldn't spend the whole time chasing and chastising my four-year-old.
Is it just me or can four-year-olds really ruin a family outing?
Yesterday, I drove Harlow out to Harbes Farms in the North Fork which has a farmer's market, a picnic area and a petting zoo. They've got pony rides and pig races on the weekends, but this was a Monday and Harlow had never seen a live animal besides a dog (poor deprived child), so she wouldn't have any idea what she was missing.
Harlow rode there in style in her new Symphony DLX car seat, part of Evenflo's new ProComfort Series, sold online and at Target. That's the one area Harlow seems to have it better than her sister— car seat comfort.
The ProComfort Series was created because Evenflo realized carseat safety is not just about minimizing the impact of an accident, it's about minimizing distractions from the road due to parents attending to children who are uncomfortable. The ProComfort Series uses innovative gel matrix technology which reduces pressure point build-up alleviating discomfort (short term and long term) for a safer, more peaceful ride.
Harlow fell asleep in the car on the way, even though it wasn't her naptime, because— DUH— COMFORT, which made me wonder if perhaps Evenflo should start making adult car seats and then I was like, no, falling asleep at the wheel would be a bad thing, so let's forget I mentioned it.
Stick with the children, Evenflo, thanks.
Harlow is hit or miss when we take her new places. She can get excited and want to run around, or she can get scared and want me to hold her the entire time. Luckily, the farm sparked something in her immediately.
First, we had a picnic lunch. I bought us both watermelon and fresh corn on the cob from the farm stand.
FYI- Harlow calls corn on the cob "Harlow's corn" and don't you try to call it anything different.
Then I let her run around the farm, but we didn't get far. Three steps in and Harlow saw the chicken coop.
"Chickens!" she screamed and bolted over like they were each standing there holding out a present for her. (Check out Harlow shrieking "chickens" on instagram).
Then she moved onto the billy goats. I pointed out a baby goat and she went nuts.
"Baby baby baby baby baby!!!!"
Then she saw some bearded goats which she insisted on giving each an air kiss. SMART CHOICE.
And lastly, and best of all, she saw the sheep. Harlow stuck her little hand through the gate and touched the tip of one sheep's nose.
"I touched it!!!!" she screamed before she went back for more. Then she spent the next half hour poking her fingers through the fence, waiting for one of the sheep to press his nose up against her little hand. Each time her hand got nuzzled, she started squealing with delight and ran in circles.
Oh goodie, I've got video.
I could have watched her do that ALL DAY.
But alas, it was time to pick Mazzy up from camp. (Isn't it always?)
Ten baby wipes and a bottle of hand sanitizer later, we were back in the car, on the road once again.
Good thing Harlow fell asleep in her car seat on the way back too.
Dreaming of bearded goat kisses, I imagine.
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NEW GIVEAWAY (winner announced on 9/02/14):
Today, I'm excited to give away another Evenflo ProComfort Symphony DLX All-In-One Car Seat ($249.99)!
All you have to do is…
1) Follow both Evenflo and Mommy Shorts on facebook and then leave a comment below answering the following question:
What was your child's favorite day trip experience? Petting zoos, amusement parks, trips to Target (who could blame him), please give me future day trip ideas in the comment section below.
2) Please like and/or share this post if you enter. It's not required, but it would be nice!
That's it! You can find the official rules here.
Winner will be selected randomly and announced on September 2nd.
If you don't win, don't worry! I am giving away one more Evenflo car seats in the upcoming weeks.
LAST WEEK'S WINNER (from giveaway on 8/08/14):
Congratulations to Sabrina, who won last week's Evenflo Symphony Car Seat giveaway! She was selected randomly and left the following comment about her worst road trip:
"We took a 16 hour road trip with my 10 month-old daughter and 13 year-old. My baby hates the car seat so when she wasn't sleeping she was crying. The only thing that would distract her was the theme song to Roly Poly Olie over and over. She had at least two diaper blowouts and I had to pull over on the side of the road to breastfeed her several times. It was worth it though to see my family who I only get to see once a year."
Let's hope that road trip is easier next year with your new Symphony DLX!
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This post was sponsored by Evenflo but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
My boys always enjoyed going to a local fish hatchery and feeding the fish and watching the fish jump out of the water to get the food. It was a fun time and inexpensive.
Our little girls favorite day trip is going to her nannas to play with her favorite biggest cousin because he almost spoils her more than we do!!
My first long day trip was a 3 hour trip when my son was 9 months old to cherry hill, new jersey. I was dreading it because he was just a baby and I knew that it was going to be a “long” ride. But m family insisted as we were going to a family reunion and alot of them hadn’t met my son yet. Needless to say, the trip included a few stops for diaper changes, feeding. I sat in the back seat with my munchkin just t ease the long ride. I know for some 3 hours is not alot, but when you live on an isand, Puerto rico, everything g is 10 minutes away. 3 hours is eternity for us islanders. But we pulled through and made it surprisingly without much fuss or cries to our family reunion. It was well worth the trip. Now we will mentally prepare for our next road trip from Florida to New Jersey. But that’s another story! LOL
My child is too young to have a favorite, but the most recent was hiking to a waterfall and mommy and daddy had a good time!
My 2 year old son love taking trips with the family especially during summer, we go places like Seaworld, he loves it there, love seeing the animals and pet some of it too, on his age it’s amazing that he is not afraid of any animals at all. Then a trip to Safari san Diego zoo, he also love it there, He could go around all day even he is too tired by the end of the day, right when we put and strap him in in his Evenflo carseat, he knocked up so soundly with a little snore, I have evenflo carseat for years. In fact the one we are using is the old one that my other older child was using, it’ll be nice to have a new one….
We live near Mall of America so we go quite often. The best was when we decided to pay the extra at Sealife to feed the fish. It is a whole new world. They have a lot of behind the scenes fish and turtles. My son had tons of fun.
We love going to see “thomas the train” (up close and personal) and later this week we are picking up daddy who’s coming home from afghanistan:)
Our favorite road trips are the ones we take to Michigan. It’s a good excuse to have licorice in the car and watch fun movies, all in great anticipation of spending time with our family who live too far away!
Btw…thomas the train will be in golden co end of September..my twin 1.5 year olds love it, just hate car rides.
My 17 month old son loves car rides!!! His favorite trip was probably a few months ago when we had to drive 4 hrs to an army base to say goodbye to his uncle… We don’t normally play DVDs in the car but because it was an unusually long trip for him we thought it was a good idea… So he loved that travel day!!! And the army ceremony was great, he got to go inside real tanks and they had Home Depot there doing building projects and face panting… So it helped make a sad day easier! And he had a blast!!! (In the car and at the destination)
My 22 month old daughter loves going to the beach. On our last trip, she coaxed whoever she could to take her to the ocean and would run in and out of the water. She even cried when we had to leave. She loves the water and sand and just being outside. It’s great to see how much fun she had.
My son loves driving around listening to music and singing. We are in the car a lot, so I’m thankful he enjoys it!!
My 1 year olds favorite place to go is to the river to play in the water. He hates pools but will spend the whole day in the river if we would let him. He absolutely hates riding in the car so it is a good thing that it only takes about 15 minutes to get to the river. He gets very hot and sweaty in his car seat even with the air conditioner on High. We also like to go camping or just to the lake to play. Anywhere that there are animals or playgrounds with climbing equipment are family favorites.
Both of my boys favourite days trips were at the beach! While visiting grandpa (12 hours away)we went to the beach, aiden(4) was so excited to go in the water but terrified of crabs! And weston was such a beach baby and never wanted to leave water or the beach! Best family trip ever and many memories gained. <3
I took my daughter to adventureland. she loved it even though she screamed a ton. the best part was seeing her smile
The pumpkin pattch, cant wait to go again!!
We have many trips in the car due to the fact we live in western Kansas. But our little guy likes going to ballgames. We go watch his older siblings play and cousins!
for some reason when my son was 3 he thought the ultimate trip was, in his words “a bus, a train, a boat, a boat, a train, a bus” In other words, a subway and bus ride to the staten island ferry and back. Best part was that it was free! (besides for mine or my husbands train fare)
My kids love going to the zoo and to parks. They also love to go watch their daddy race on his dirt bike!
We live in the Central Valley in California also. My daughter loves the beach as well! 🙂
My three year old and 8 month old love to go up in the mountains of Colorado to go hiking. We usually hike for about an hour and half then stop for a picnic lunch then head back. We collect rocks and sticks, watch the birds fly by, smell the wild flowers and try to find any wildlife, like elk or deer. After we are done hiking, we go and get ice cream.
The zoo they keep asking when we can go back again
What was your child’s favorite day trip experience?
Jimmy’s favorite day trip was when we drove to South Carolina to drop off his older brother at camp. He sang to himself the whole way up! When we got there, someone mentioned that there was a lake and Jimmy just had to go see it. He ran all the way down the path with my husband close at his heels. He seemed to forget that we were leaving his older brother there for a week. He never fell asleep though. Probably because the car seat he currently has is uncomfortable, has poor cushioning, and where the harness snaps in near the legs, pinches him sometimes. Would LOVE a new carseat!
We live in Bakersfield, CA, and our two favorite places to visit are Santa Barbara and Disneyland. My daughter loves to play in the ocean, and her favorite ride at Disneyland is The Little Mermaid (in California Adventure).
My two little ones love going out of town especially to the beach but the ride is horrible they hate their seats fighting to get out of it, it’s just a bad ride always pulling over but once were finally their its a big relief.
Day trips to the park and play ground near our beach and after playing a while then go treasure hunting on the beach as we call it. 🙂
I think my children’s favorite road trip was when we spent the day at aquarium, then out to eat at bubba gumps. At the aquarium they kept telling me how cool the animals were. They loved touching the little sharks and all the touchable animals and displays. We also bought zoo tickets along with our aquarium tickets, but we saved them for another day.
My son’s favorite day trip is the park. He asks to go to the park every day. He loves going with just Mommy but especially loves when we meet his friends or cousins there. As I type this, he’s asking to go to the park! 🙂
My kids are beach babies all the way. We pack up the mini grill and all the fixens needed for a cook out. We swim and play in the sand till we start getting hungry. Then we brake out the grill. Have ourselves so food. Then we finish out the day in the play area they have there. That way everyone is dry when we climb back in the car.
My 3 year old son loves to go visit his papa. Every time I say “let’s go see papa”. He runs around the house and then out the door to the car. Once I catch up to him and open the door he’s in his eat and ready for me to buckle him in. Once we are on the road he makes me call papa to make sure he’s awake. Then he gives me directions on how to get there. God for bid if I have to stop for gas or go to the band full melt down. Once we arrive we get out the car and he off like a shot banging in papas door. Fun ideas for the lil ones we go to those bounce house places, feed fish and the Ducks. We live near a small airport and skydiving place we like to go watch the planes take off and the skydivers come back down to land.
We love to go to Cape Cod and take the boat over to Nantucket for the day. We Have family over there still because I am originally from Nantucket. I moved to Fairhaven, MA 10 years ago.
My daughter is 11 months old so getting ready to transition into a convertible car seat. She loves the car rides! from going to the grocery store to the Zoo it doesn’t matter! I am excited to travel with her to Nashville labor day weeekend(7 hour drive) and looking at Christmas lights this winter!!
My lo loves going places with mamaw one day we will be gone all day but after an hour or two of being in and out of his seat he begins to cry when we go to put him in his seat again, I feel bad because I know he isn’t comfortable in it but being a single mom I couldn’t affor d the one that I wanted to get him. We often go to the farms to see animals and to the Amish farm to get organic food he loves seeing the horse and buggy’s.
My little one loves any trip that involves being out side! He is learning different animals and loving it, always has wide eyes when he see’s big animals!
Sounds like an amazing day!
library, playground, walk in the woods, swimming, zoo, fishing, farm
My son’s favorite would be going to sun splash. He can’t get enough of the water. So there being water everywhere he was in heaven
One of our favorite day trips have to be the arboretum. We love going to the Dallas Arboretum when we visit my folks, they recently added a childrens garden and it’s fantastic. We also like to visit the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center locally. We hope to someday take a day trip to the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory.
It doesn’t take much to keep my daughter happy! All we have to do is take her to the soccer field across the street from us and just let her run around for as long as her little heart desires 🙂
We love going to the park, and it doesn’t matter which one..
Our babies love to travel to see family in Yosemite. A 5 1/2 hour drive and all the farmland and cows they see on the way.. And all the exploring we do while we are there. Spending time with family and the cousins growing up together.
We took our first day trip with our one year old to Sesame Place. While Im not sure if she completely enjoyed it (she was a little afraid of the characters, but the parade music did put her to sleep lol) She did love being in the water playground. Looking forward to more road trips with her and the rest of my kiddos as she gets older and will enjoy them more!
I go food shopping at acme once a week (sometimes more depending on the sales) she loves going since Janice works in the bakery and every week she gives my daughter a cookie. My daughter looks forward to seeing janice every week. My older child likes to go to the library since they have different activities for the children.
My daughter loves to go to the beach and “build castle”.
My little ones enjoy seaworld. Living about 20 miles away makes it perfect for day trips and being so close also makes it easier on the kids to be in their car seats. We can’t leave the park without seeing shamu. He’s a big favorite of ours. We recently upgraded our 5 year old to a booster which meant that sissy got his used hand me down, and while it’s not expired or been in an accident, it is awfully worn out which makes it uncomfortable for her to be in. Hoping to soon make life easier on both of us if we win this car seat.
My daughter loves going to the ocean! Heck, any body of water will do. She’s such a water baby!
My little guy loved seeing the PUPPY that was walking around when we went to the zoo… so much for the Elephants or Monkeys!
My girls love going to the zoo.
My boy loved going to the greenspace in downtown Houston for the day last spring. we could eat there outside; feed ducks, rent remote controlled boats to race and then get wet in the fountain/water bridge they can play on. Then, visited daddy’s office downtown in the afternoon! Such a nice day.
My son absolutely loves going to museums with dinosaurs and zoos. It is always a joy to see his excitement about the animals and being able to name them.
My kids couldn’t be happier taking a day trip to Little Buffalo State Park. They love spending the whole day in the water and sun. Little Buffalo is about an hour’s drive from our house and very, very inexpensive for admission to the pool and splash pad. The kids laugh and splash and play and smile. Plus, you better believe they sleep like angels on the car ride home 😉
My littles always enjoy apple picking or the children’s museum.
I would say that Baxter’s favorite trip experience was yesterday when he took his first plane trip…even though it was the worst travel experience for me with the drama of delayed flights, lost car seat straps, and my oh so never forgettable expired license crisis…it seemed to be the best travel experience for him…he was happy and cheerful the entire trip…he didn’t cry or get fussy for the possible “ear popping” experience…he was just super chipper, making new friends, pinching the guys sitting next to us, pulling the hair of the old guy in front of us, kicking the guys seat directly in front of us, and…oh yeah, don’t forget flirting with the ladies. I was extremely worried that he would be fussy and cranky, but to my surprise he was my perfect little happy baby, and I cannot wait for our next trip which could be even better with the new Evenflo ProComfort Symphony DLX car seat.
Our little ones loved our trips to the zoo, and our daily walks that end at the playground! I always suggest a trip to the zoo, local water park, a trip to a museum (depending on how old) and family picnics!
Our little ones loved our trips to the zoo, and our daily walks that end at the playground! I always suggest a trip to the zoo, local water park, a trip to a museum (depending on how old) and family picnics!
Dollywood has been a big hit for our kiddos this yr.
Awesome! One of my college roommates is a Harbes daughter. So fun to see their farm featured on your blog!
My daughter is happy going to the park, playground or any open field that she can run around in 🙂
This little one won’t be joining us for day trips until February, but were SO excited to get out and about with him or her! I’m looing forward to checking out the arboretum and going on family hikes!
My kids love the zoo
My kids love going to the park and going swimming.
Favorite place for my kids to go!? Long road trips to visit family! My oldest has traveled back and forth from NC to ME, NC to ME, moved clear across the country from NC to WA, and from WA to CA! We’re planning another trip to CA (from WA) and then hopefully to ME!!!! These times, she’ll have two little brothers to keep her company!
My son loves the zoo and splashing in the kids water features!
Over the summer, we took our kids and stayed at the summer camp where DH and I met, got engaged, and got married (for the record, that didn’t all happen during the same summer!). They loved the big open spaces and the water activities on the Chesapeake Bay. Lots of things to do there! I also took them to pick blueberries at a local fruit farm one Saturday. I think they ate more than they put in the bag!
we take my daughter to the playground and the water park! we also have a park that has a few animals such as llamas, bunnies, pigs etc so she loves going there and looking at the different animals 🙂
My kids love the Omniplex in OKC. It’s probably called the Science Museum now, but it’s definitely a fun place to go!
Our children all have special needs and are in wheel chairs. They love visiting Disney World in Orlando and Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tn. Even the baby enjoys riding and will go to sleep almost immediately when the van or motor home starts. When not in a car seat, he also has a wheel chair.
Our son’s favorite day trip was to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He loves the drive and loves seeing all the marine life and animals!
Our son is 6 months old now. Two weeks ago we had a road trip down to the Keys. We were going lobstering during lobster fest. Along the way we had to do quite a few stops because our son doesn’t like being in the car. (Our guess now is the car seat) So we checked out alligator alley, the coral castle in Miami, and fed the tarpon in Islamorada. Gavin loved the tarpon, they jump out and all over like crazy for the bait fish. We also saw some Key deer, they are the size of our labradors. Gavin laughed n giggled so much over them. Went to the aquarium and sea turtle hospital in Marathon. He loved all the bright colors. It was great to be able to have great experiences with our son, that the tramatic car rides kind of seem to fade out 🙂
my daughter loves trips to Petco. she gets to see fish, ferrets, turtles and is most excited when we buy crickets for the geckos and bearded dragon.
my daughter loves the park especially the one near my house where they have animals as well.
My son just turned 7 months, he falls asleep in the car most of the time, but his favorite day trip is going to grandmas house. I can’t wait till we can go to the zoo though.
As my newest baby hasn’t arrived yet, I don’t really know of little one day trips. But this summer I have been taking my 11 year old aound Western Washington so she can go fishing. We go at least once a week. Honestly though there has been more swimming than fishing on her part. I just sit back on the beach of the lake or river and spend a relaxing day watching her have so much fun. My 13 year old daughter has even gone with us twice so far. When we went to the Tolt River. They have so much fun! The best part is my 11 year olds fishing license is free until she is 15! I love finding adventures that are free as I am a college student.
My 13 month old son absolutely loves our cousin’s pool. He’s okay with tiny splash pools that we have, but he loves being in a deep pool where he can blow bubbles and be floated around by me. It’s amazing that he isn’t terrified each time he dunks his head in the water. I worked many summers as a head lifeguard and swimming instructor so I’m super pleased that he’s so comfortable in the water. I can even sit him on the pool steps and he’ll just hold out his hands to glide right to me!p
My almost-8-month-old son, Torin, seems to love the water! Earlier this month, he enjoyed a day at Sandy Point State Park, MD, with big brother Ben, 7, especially when it came time to get his hands on some sand. He also had a great time splashing me during our day at Greenbrier State Park, MD, last week once he got over the initial shock of the chilly lake! I loved watching his face light up in wonder as he discovered what slapping his hands on the water can do!
My daughters favorite day trip activity is going to the aquarium and children’s museum in Houston. She loves seeing the fishes!
My girls love going to the community water park in a neighboring city, especially when daddy can go too!
we love to take our daughter to the park, playground and we have a soccer field across the street from us. She is happy as long as she has a lot of space to run around 🙂
Our favorite day trip is to Gramen Farm here in Houston where we buy our raw milk once a month. The kids get to pet the baby goats, chase chickens and meet the cows that give us our milk!
My sons favorite day trip activity was Safety Day with his aunt and uncle!
So our crazy experience was going to Delano from long beach it’s a 5 hour drive my poor baby was really fuzzy and it was cold and the wrist part is that I breast feed so wouldn’t wanna take the bottle she was really upset but we maid it to our destination my poor baby suffered a litle bit because mommy had to go work but she’s a very stong baby I love her she was yust 5 months when that happened
First time at the zoo as a family of 4 after a difficult year….we started our summer with a day trip and it was fun but exhausting….not nice lugging a 1year and 3 year old around….silly mommy and daddy forgot 3 year olds shoes and he wanted to walk around of course….nice of the zoo to lend us some crocs that were a little small and gave blisters oops! 1 year old didn’t want to stay in stroller so mommy and daddy took turns holding 1 year old and running after 3 year old, I don’t think we saw much of the animals really! But I must say out of all that we spent quality time as a family and absolutely loved the experience regardless!
My 6 month baby boy loves car rides! Anything that gets him out of the house just excites him. There was one perticular day that he loved and that was going to the beach when my in-laws came to visit our family! He had so much fun on the way there and back! It was an hour and a half short trip and I could tell he had a ball. Slept all the way back home!
My three year old loves sesame place anytime of year and my 11 year can always find fun stuff to do as well! Hershey Park is also lots of fun. Both are in PA
We love Shedd aquarium in Chicago and the Indianapolis childrens museum!!! Theyre both amazing places to visit. I have 3 daughters ages 6, 4 and 7 months! We’ve already taken lots of day trips with the baby but she’s not a car sleeper so it’s been interesting trying to keep her busy in the car!
simple walks down the street to our nearest playground and or soccer field and my daughter is happy 🙂
My daughter loves going to the water park, the play ground and we have a park by our house with animals that she gets to go see
We love to take trips to BabiesRUs or Target where my little guy loves to stare at all the different colors.
Last year going to a reunion, we drove with my husband, his mother, and grandmother. I got to sit in the back and entertain him (14 months at the time). I am so thankful for our evenflo, my child was super comfy and was not as irritated as he could have been sitting in the car for 3 hours there and 3 hours back.
I hope I win! Hubby’s mom wants to buy a car seat and I’d love to be able to just give her one.
So far, my son Devin’s favorite road trip has been going to the Dayton Celtic Festival. He got to experience live music for the first time, and seemed to enjoy all the people and sights and sounds.
my daughter loves going for walks or even for rides in the car (22 months) we also make trips to our local water park, playground but wish we would have been able to go to the zoo or fair this year
Tennessee safari park where she can feed the animals!! Also toddler hour at skyzone! **** my daughter is also a fanatic about corn on the cob!! Once we had to get in the closet due to a storm and all she could say was we forgot her acorn (corn) ….she told that story for months!! 🙂
today we are taking our daughter to the petting zoo 🙂 i know she will love it because she loves looking at all the different animals
we are taking our daughter to the park today by the water and they have a festival going on over there. something different for the little girl 🙂
my daughter fav day trip is when we go to the park or the park with a petting zoo
I’m a SAHM, so our days are filled with loads of playdates (more for my sanity than my kids – even though I say it’s for them!). We find ourselves at the local kids science museum, parks, splash parks, zoo, humane society, donut shops, Chickfila, etc. It keeps my active 2.5 year old going, so that hopefully mommy gets some quiet while he naps! We’re in desperate need of a new car seat. His current one looks like a bomb site!
My kids love the aquarium & train rides at the TN valley railroad museum!
My 4 year old’s favorite day trip so far is probably a toss up between the beach, Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia and the SC Aquarium in Charleston.
We love trips to anywhere there are animals, the aquarium or the zoo. Even easier any trip that gets us around kids is good with my 5 year old who has never met a stranger! Hope the one on the way is just as easy!
We love going to the zoo, aquarium, trampoline places. I have a 13 year old, 5 year old. And newborn, so it’s a little difficult finding things for all the ages!