Amelia Island!

Whew! We've just returned from Amelia Island and it was AMAZING!

Rusty's company sent him to the island for a programming conference for several days. Originally, he was to go with coworkers, but because of a series of events, they didn't come and Adam and I got to go instead!

To anyone considering visiting Florida, I definitely recommend going there more than any of the other beaches. Being in Georgia, I've been to several Florida beaches since it's the closest (and most popular) vacation spots. Most of them have been crowded and made for an average vacation - rooms and pools were clean, staff was friendly.

Check out how traveling with a toddler went in this post. It definitely had its ups and downs.

This resort (Omni) on the other hand made sure to go above and beyond in EVERYTHING they did - and I assure you, I'm not getting paid to say any of this. From the moment we arrived, they ensured that all of our needs were taken care of, from offering water at check-in to helping maneuver a stroller around stairs.

We checked in and Adam and I hung out by a fire pit while Rusty checked into the actual conference.

Because Rusty booked his room a little late, we got a villa instead of just a hotel room (no complaints here)! We were right on the beach with a fantastic view. This also meant that we got to use a private villa pool instead of the hotel pool - there was at most four other people in the pool. That was great for me because I'm not confident in a bathing suit at all.

Adam had never been in a pool or in the ocean before. Turns out - he's a little merbaby! He loved being in the water and playing in the sand. I'll be excited and more confident going to our neighborhood pool now!

Sleeping and nap time was quite an issue. Adam hasn't slept in the same room as us since he grew out of his bassinet (over seven months ago) and we were only in a one room villa. Also, he was in a pack-n-play, not a crib. Rusty was at the conference during nap time, but I had to go through the same thing for both nap time and sleep time - I closed the curtains, turned out all the lights, laid him down, and laid flat on the bed so he couldn't see us. Once he was asleep, we could turn on the tv very low or move around a little, but it took a long time for him to actually fall asleep the first couple of days. Adam also needed to be VERY tired for this to work, so he went to bed all week way past his normal bedtime. If any of you have a better way to handle this - PLEASE let me know! We'll be trying to get through it again for our actual vacation.

Other than the sleeping issues, the week went great. Adam and I ate, swam, played, and explored the resort. This resort had a very large campus with several different restaurants, a nature center (where we could talk to a parrot and feed turtles), playgrounds, novelty stores, trails, etc.

All while poor Rusty had to work (ha ha - this is a joke because he loves what he does and on one day, he got to build a robot that worked with JavaScript. He had an incredible time).

I will look forward to our vacation because we'll be sharing the parenting duties - which will give me a little more time to relax. Overall though, it was fantastic and a success of a trip, and Rusty said it was the BEST conference he's every been to!

Any suggestions for our next beach trip - especially with a toddler? I'd love to hear them!

Travelling With A Toddler

I have now traveled with my toddler... and we definitely had our ups and downs.

We traveled about six and a half hours each way to the beach and back, and I definitely had to do some prep work for it.

One of the biggest assets to the road trip was the travel basket. The day before we traveled, I picked up a couple of new books and cheap toys. I also pulled out a couple of toys that Adam hadn't played with in a while because I rotate his toys every so often. Here is a list of the items in his basket:

• Three plush balls
• Musical toy (his favorite toy)
• A bucket with a shovel and rake (which we also used at the actual beach)
• Two small flags (he likes to wave them around - only $1)
• Large handheld mirror (only $1)
• Four board books (so he couldn't rip the pages)
• Giraffe squeaky toy
• Maraca (only $1)
• Tractor with four animals that sit in it

I kept all of these in a basket right next to his car seat so he was able to reach in and grab his toys without them flying all over the car. He did toss the toy on the other side when he was done with it and grabbed a new one, but he never emptied out his basket before we made a stop, so we were able to refill the basket with everything and he never went without.

I also bought a "SippiGrip", which worked great! Like I said, Adam has a habit of tossing his items into the opposite corner when he is finished with them, so this allowed him to be able to continue to have access to it even when he thought he was finished.

We made sure to leave right when Adam woke up (and was changed and dressed of course). I put his Cheerios and blueberries in a shallow plastic cup so he could self-feed on the road. He did end up with several Cheerios and one blueberry squished in his seat, but they were no issue.

Then he started exploring the basket. Most items he had never seen before, so he took them in hand and played with them and tried to figure them out. He fell asleep right before it was time to stop for gas and lunch, so he wasn't happy about that at all, but was okay once the food came. Unfortunately, I didn't let him stretch his legs as much as I should've during this stop because he was very upset when we got back in the car. We could tell that he was tired because it was nap time, but also because he was tired of being in the car.

Note - on the return trip, we allowed him to walk around the parking lot before and after we ate lunch to stretch his legs. He took getting back in the car MUCH better.

Unfortunately, you can't always be prepared for everything or you can't really help a baby who's only issue is that he's tired. So Adam had a meltdown for about 15-20 min before his nap on the way down. I gave his paci (which he only gets when he sleeps now) and eventually he fell asleep and stayed asleep until we arrived at our resort.

On the way home, he had a meltdown during the last 20 min of the trip. He had just woken up from his nap and was not happy to still be in the car. We did our best to get home in a hurry. Once we pulled in and got him out, he was a happy baby again!

Finally, I always made sure to have a cup of blueberries on hand. These are his favorite foods and, luckily, are not messy at all. When I felt his was getting restless, I would hand him a blueberry, one by one. It took time for him to get them from my hand to his mouth and even more time for him to eat it, taking his mind off of being in the car or being unhappy.

I definitely suggest getting your toddler a couple of cheap, new toys at the very minimum as well as some snacks to get him/her through - even if you normally don't let them snack all day like us. Hopefully, my successes (and failures) help you on your travels.

Now it's your turn to share with me! How did you get through your road trip with a toddler? What did you use to keep him happy? What would you do differently?