Traveling with a Baby
Well, we had our first family vacation... and I think it was a success! Mike, Ethan, and I drove to Ocean City, MD on a Saturday to meet my brother and his family for a week-long vacation at the beach. The drive was supposed to take 4.5 hours; after a grueling 7+ hour ride, a screaming child, and no more room in the car to fit even a water bottle... we made it!
I did my best to pack 'only' the essentials. However, our station wagon was so completely packed that we almost decided to buy a mini van that morning before leaving! A cargo case for the top of the car is MUCH cheaper, and we'll get one of those if we do another road-trip like that again. As for the screaming child... I rode in the back with him most of the way there (and back). It made for a very uncomfortable ride and it felt kind of lonely not getting to talk with Mike for so long. But again, we made it.
My nephew, Caleb, is a VERY active and involved one year old. He likes to go-go-go, which is a lot of fun. However, with our two-month old who doesn't yet go anywhere on his own, we are not quite so active on vacation. I will say, however, that Leah and Scott never made us feel like we weren't doing enough or going out of the condo enough. They recognized that the overwhelming heat and humidity was not best for the baby to be in. It was a lot of fun to watch Caleb enjoy the beach, though! Boy did he ever!
Mike and I got to shop, play mini-golf, and go to dinner alone while the other parents babysat for us one night. It was a very nice reprieve. I even won the game of golf - albeit only by one stroke. We bought a plastic license plate with Ethan's name on it as his souvenier, and I (of course) got my required key chain to add to my collection. Mike picked out two really neat shirts for his keepsakes.
Thursday night, we all ventured to Harpoon Hannah's for dinner - our first time out with the baby at a restaurant. Admittedly, we made the mistake of choosing an expensive place as our first experience, which means we ended up wasting some dough. Lesson learned :) Mike ended up taking Ethan home early, and the rest of us were close behind! Though it was stressful, it was the BEST DANG CRAB I'VE EVER HAD!!!!!!!!!
Scott, Leah, and Caleb left on Friday morning. We'd planned to stay until Saturday, but realized that we were ready to be home. So, we packed up everything in an hour and hit the road. Hmmm... didn't think through needing to eat lunch, or that we'd hit Philly at rush hour on a Friday, or plan for Ethan to be awake most of the ride (he usually sleeps in the car) and crying most of that time. So, again, it took almost twice as long to get home as it should. (sigh) Boy, were we happy to be home!
Overall, the vacation really was very nice and we had a great time with family. We're already planning next year's trip - just have to figure out where to go and when!
I did my best to pack 'only' the essentials. However, our station wagon was so completely packed that we almost decided to buy a mini van that morning before leaving! A cargo case for the top of the car is MUCH cheaper, and we'll get one of those if we do another road-trip like that again. As for the screaming child... I rode in the back with him most of the way there (and back). It made for a very uncomfortable ride and it felt kind of lonely not getting to talk with Mike for so long. But again, we made it.
My nephew, Caleb, is a VERY active and involved one year old. He likes to go-go-go, which is a lot of fun. However, with our two-month old who doesn't yet go anywhere on his own, we are not quite so active on vacation. I will say, however, that Leah and Scott never made us feel like we weren't doing enough or going out of the condo enough. They recognized that the overwhelming heat and humidity was not best for the baby to be in. It was a lot of fun to watch Caleb enjoy the beach, though! Boy did he ever!
Mike and I got to shop, play mini-golf, and go to dinner alone while the other parents babysat for us one night. It was a very nice reprieve. I even won the game of golf - albeit only by one stroke. We bought a plastic license plate with Ethan's name on it as his souvenier, and I (of course) got my required key chain to add to my collection. Mike picked out two really neat shirts for his keepsakes.
Thursday night, we all ventured to Harpoon Hannah's for dinner - our first time out with the baby at a restaurant. Admittedly, we made the mistake of choosing an expensive place as our first experience, which means we ended up wasting some dough. Lesson learned :) Mike ended up taking Ethan home early, and the rest of us were close behind! Though it was stressful, it was the BEST DANG CRAB I'VE EVER HAD!!!!!!!!!
Scott, Leah, and Caleb left on Friday morning. We'd planned to stay until Saturday, but realized that we were ready to be home. So, we packed up everything in an hour and hit the road. Hmmm... didn't think through needing to eat lunch, or that we'd hit Philly at rush hour on a Friday, or plan for Ethan to be awake most of the ride (he usually sleeps in the car) and crying most of that time. So, again, it took almost twice as long to get home as it should. (sigh) Boy, were we happy to be home!
Overall, the vacation really was very nice and we had a great time with family. We're already planning next year's trip - just have to figure out where to go and when!
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