traveling with a baby. it can be done!

it's no secret i was pretty nervous for this two week trip to hawaii with parker & our friends.  i was worried about the six hour flight there & back, parker crying while sharing a condo with two other {currently kidless} couples, fitting naps into a busy sight-seeing agenda, & all those other inevitable baby-related inconveniences that might occur.

all these worries were for naught.  it went perfectly.  here's what helped us & what we learned along the way:

number one:  if your baby is under two years old & is flying free as an "infant on lap", ask at the gate if you can be moved to a spot with an empty seat.

this is my NUMBER ONE TIP.  i cannot sing enough praise for this one piece of advice.  it saved us big time, both ways.  and?  kudos to hawaiian airlines for being super accommodating.  both times they were able to move us to an empty row of three seats, which allowed for us to bring on the car seat & strap parker in.  the benefits were two fold: it made me feel so much more comfortable knowing that he was securely belted in his carseat rather than being held while flying through the air at 500 mph, AND he felt like he was riding in the car, so he slept like a champ. 

when he was awake were were able to put the carseat under the seat in front of us & let him stretch his legs, sit up in the seat, crawl around a little, etc.  it was awesome.

number 2:  if you're traveling with friends, travel with friends who love kids.

this was key to our successful two weeks.  we have awesome friends.  even though the two couples we vacationed with don't have kids yet, they were all amazing with parker.  everyone played with him, held him, entertained him, & kept him happy at one point or another.  not once did anyone complain when we had to wait an extra half hour or so to go out because parker was napping, or when we had to be a little more mindful of quietly closing doors because a baby was sleeping.

but on the flip side of that...

number three:  be flexible, be realistic, & realize that every one else's vacation doesn't need to revolve around your kid.

kids are pretty dang adaptable.  once i accepted that parker would probably miss a few naps, stay up a bit later, & eat at a few different times than normal, the vacation went great.  we didn't want to hold everyone else back for the sake of his "schedule", so realizing that your kid can handle a few upsets in his normal routine makes life a bit easier for everyone.

number four:  always pack a backpack full of snacks, sippy cups, toys, diapers, wipes, clothes changes, & more snacks. take it everywhere.

having a bag of tricks to keep parker entertained was pretty key.  we always had a backpack on hand full of toys, various snacks, his sippy cup, a change of clothes, diapers, & wipes.  this seems obvious, but it was easy to forget about.  until we would go from the beach to a restaurant & realize we left stuff for him to play with in the car.  if we just took this one go-to bag with us everywhere we were set.

how is this different than packing a diaper bag?  i suppose it's not much different.  but a backpack seems much more on-the-go trip-like, right?  and, sam wore it a lot.  so it's different.

number five:  have an amazing husband who pulls his own share.

sam is easily the number one reason why this vacation with parker went so smoothly for me.  we totally took turns staying back at the condo with parker during naps, holding him while the other swam in the ocean, & carrying him in the baby bjorn for hikes.  never once did i feel like i was getting the short end of the stick, or that parker was completely my responsibility.  why should i?  his dad was with me.  and sam was perfect in that respect.

make sure your partner is on board with baby duties & that you agree to how you will share the down time so that the trip will be relaxing & fair for both of you.

and finally,

number six:  realize it might not go perfectly.  there will be tears, there will be fussiness, & there will be things that don't go quite as you planned.

one thing i didn't expect?  parker would HATE the beach.  he hated sand.  he hated being on a blanket or a towel on top of sand.  all time spent at the beach with parker was spent holding parker.  but that was ok.  sam & i took turns holding him & our friends helped out a few times too.  as long as he was held, he was happy.

also?  he would not, for the life of him, stand in the water.  if he was up by your shoulder clutching you tightly, he would allow for you to wade in the water with him.  but standing in it?  not happening.  ah well, maybe next time.

oh yeah.  and?  parker cut a tooth on this trip.  i won't even go into that.

so anywho, there's a few things that worked for us.  a vacation is totally worth it, even after baby.  i would do it again in a heartbeat.


voting for us? also totally worth it.

the good times are killing me.

what's the bad part about having a totally amazing ridiculously perfect awesome vacation?  the part where it ends.

i'm not asking for anyone to feel sorry for me here, but getting back to reality sucks.  my house is a mess, we have no food in the fridge, sam is back at work, the laundry needs to be done... you get the idea.  poor me.  well, not really.  coming home to all that?  was worth the last two amazing weeks.

so basically, i'm tired.  we got home last night at midnight & i haven't quite hit the ground running.  there's a lot of stuff that needs to be done around here but i'm taking my time settling in.  what's the rush, right?  afterall, i'm still on island time.

bare with me for a few days, mmmmk?


your votes make settling back into real life much more bareable. fer reals.

weekday recap - {in iPhone pics} w.12

this was our second week in maui & also our last before we head home tomorrow.  SAD FACE.
here's what we did.

ben & kim had to head home on tuesday so monday was spent doing the last minute stuff they wanted to do before leaving.  we played in the pool, we ate shave ice, we shopped for souvenirs, we ate dinner at lulu's, & we got ice cream at coldstone.

we had to start the day off on tuesday by taking ben & kim to the airport.  sad.  but before we saw them off we stopped for lunch at a place called "da kitchen."  the place was filled with locals & had super authentic hawaiian cuisine.  yummm.  that night we watched the sun go down & took a long walk down the beach.

wednesday was a beach day.  i snorkeled & sam took parker in the ocean up to his armpits & he didn't freak out.  success!  after p-ray passed out from all the excitement, we went to the mall for a little stroll.

on thursday we went for a mini walk at a wildlife refuge.  it wasn't too exciting & we saw minimal wildlife.  ah well, it was still fun.  that night we went out for some fish & chips & did coldstone round two.

we ventured out on friday for a little five mile hike in a nature preserve among all kind of hardened lava flow.  it was a good time.  and then there was that part where stumbled upon the two skinny dippers in the ocean.  oops.  that night we hot tubbed it up & then played some cards while watching "the social network" which brings me to my next question... anyone want me to invest $1,000 in their business venture?  only pre-requisite is that i must get many billions back afterwards.  doesn't seem too hard, right?

did you take your "week in camera phone" pictures? 
there's only one rule to linking up... your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it! you don't even have to have a picture for every day. got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week? link up!

grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog too. the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?


grab the code here:

<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=74451" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:

beach day.

today sam, ryan, christie, parker & i went to the beach & stayed til the sun went down.  and... we took lots of pics.  this is officially a photo dump.  regular blogging will resume post-vacation.

enjoy.

tears will be shed when this vacation ends. and they won't all be coming from p-ray.
ps:  how cute does christie look rockin' her twenty-one week baby belly?  too cute.


vacation ending makes me sad. your votes make me happy. vote vote vote!

a post with a few pics

still in maui.  still having a blasty blast.  today we snorkled & saw all sorts of cool fish, coral, urchins, & the such as.  last night we went for a sunset walk down the beach.  i haven't been taking near as many pictures as i should be, but i have been taking a few, so here's a few.

oh, & p-ray cut his fifth tooth.

feel free to vote if you like pretty pictures.  mahalo.

a rainy day, a sippy cup, & a turtle.

still coming at ya from maui, still having an amazing time.  we wake up, we eat costco muffins, we play in the water {either the pool or the ocean}, we eat again.  we play cards, we watch movies, we go to bed, we repeat.

i wish vacation lasted forever.  i could really get used to this.

and oh yeah, it rained yesterday.  know what?  we didn't even care.

parker has mastered the art of drinking from a sippy cup while on vacation.  we also learned that he loves yogurt, hates putting on swim clothes, & gets real freaked out when sand touches his fingers.  vacationing with a kid is fun.

and?  the guys got to swim with a couple sea turtles while snorkeling the other day.  i haven't mustered up the courage to go out in the ocean further than shoulder depth but am pretty sure i will never forgive myself if i come all the way to hawaii & don't give snorkeling a go.  right?

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and now, a question answered from my "ask me anything" post. today's question is brought to you by AReese. she asks:

"Do you think you will ever want to train for that triathlon thing again? And, why did you start training for one in the first place (before you found out you were pregnant)?"

ah yes.  my triathlon days.  quick background - i found out i was prego with p-ray about two weeks before i was supposed to compete in an olympic distance triathlon {half mile swim, 30 mile bike, six mile run}.  i had been training for it five days a week for about three months beforehand, but due to my weird background & difficulty of getting pregnant, my doctor said "NO."  so i didn't get to do it. 

would i want to train for another one?  heck yeah, for sure.  but it takes a lot of time & commitment & i think it'll be a while until i can fully commit to it again.  maybe next summer?  for this summer, i will be sticking to a couple 5Ks & hopefully the seattle to portland 205 mile bike ride.

why was i gonna do it in the first place?  training for a race or event is an awesome way to mix up your workout regime & challenge yourself in a way that you don't usually do in a regular ol' aerobics class.  and, if you've never participated in a race i totally recommend it.  they are super fun.  and?  you usually get a free t-shirt, which is pretty cool.

voting is pretty cool too.  thanks.