Our First Family Vacation

We survived our first family vacation! I went into it with an open mind and an expectation that it wouldn't necessarily be super relaxing/restful. But I will say that overall the vacation exceeded my expectations. Paul was pretty resilient and handled the change in scenery very well over all. He got 2 more molars during the trip and ran a fever most days (thank to the molars) but he was still in pretty good spirits, albeit a little extra clingy. The weather in Florida was amazing. It was in the 80s every day and me missed a snow storm that dumped 8" of snow while we were gone! Score!

Here's a photo-heavy recap of our first trip as a family!

We flew out on Wednesday morning. My mom, dad, and me had TSA precheck but Phil didn't so we were separated for the security process. My parents were great about helping get our bags through security. Overall it went pretty smoothly! Traveling with a baby is SO different from pre-baby travel. We used to never check bags. On this trip we checked 3 - a travel crib, a big suitcase with my and Paul's clothes, and his car seat.

Excited for his first vacation!

It took most of the day to get to our condo in the Longboat Key area as we had a little over an hour drive from the Tampa airport. We could have flown into Sarasota and had a shorter drive to the condo, but we would have had to connect through Atlanta. I decided 1+ hours in a car was better than 2 flights with a baby.

After we arrived, my mom and I hit the store for groceries/wine/beer and my dad and Phil took a walk on the beach with Paul.

Eating al fresco on our first night

The view from our balcony.

Our VRBO unit was great but the best part was our balcony. It had a great view of the Gulf of Mexico. We spent a lot of time out there!

We were all tired from traveling so my mom and Phil picked up take-out for dinner. After dinner Phil and I went for a walk on the beach. It was so beautiful and there was barely anyone else out! After our walk Phil and I played whist with my parents.

The sunset beach walk was beautiful!

On Thursday morning my mom and I went for a walk with Paul and checked out a cool park that was about a mile away. We hung around the condo that morning, went out to eat for lunch and then spent the rest of the day at the beach. I wasn't sure what Paul would think of the ocean but he loved it! He crawled right into the water and didn't care when a wave struck him!

Crawling into the Gulf

All smiles!

On Thursday night we grilled burgers. It was my first grilled meal of the year and it tasted so good! My mom and I made green beans and roasted fingerling potatoes as sides while the guys handled the grilling. After dinner we played a game of hand and foot with my parents. I'm glad my parents love card games as much as we do!

On Friday morning we enjoyed another al fresco breakfast. After breakfast I went for my first solo run since before I was pregnant!! It felt good to go for a run. I ran 3 miles. My pace was definitely slower than my pre-baby days but you have to start somewhere!

Ignore my crazy bed hair!

Later that morning, we headed to my aunt and uncle's for lunch. My mom has 3 siblings that live or winter in Venice, Fl which is about an hour south of where we were staying. My mom's sister hosted us for lunch. It was so great to see 3 of my uncles and 2 of my aunts!

When we got back to the condo that afternoon, we hit the pool. Paul loved the ocean but I thought we'd give the pool a try. We brought a flotation devise I had bought on Amazon. Phil and I took turns 'passing' him back and forth in the pool, which he loved!

Paul took a late nap that day so we decided to go out for dinner on our last night in Florida. Paul was such a trooper at dinner even though the night got pretty late due to a long wait at the restaurant. He absolutely LOVES eating out. He was in his best mood when we were eating out on vacation. He loves looking around at everyone and waving at people!

On Saturday morning, Phil joined us for one last walk before we checked out.

Then we rounded up our things and left the unit at 11 am.

A pre-departure book with Grandma

Our flight out of Tampa wasn't until 6:45 so we had lots of time to kill. We drove over to the park and went for a long walk in the hopes that Paul would nap in the stroller.

Success!

He didn't nap as long as I was hoping but we had to take what we could get. I'd say he napped about 40 minutes total each day of vacation. That's about how long he naps at daycare but we are used to him napping around 1.5-2 hours total when we are home with him on the weekends!

We had one last lunch out in the town of Cortez and then hit the road for Tampa. I was hoping Paul would maybe nap in the car but he was wide awake. He enjoyed playing peekaboo with me and my mom. He only covers one eye when playing peekaboo. So cute.

We landed around 9pm so it was a long final day in Florida. In hindsight we should flown out in the afternoon. The upside to the later flight was that Paul slept for the entire flight! I never get to hold sleeping Paul anymore so it was a treat to cuddle up with him for 3 hours!

All in all it was a great trip. I definitely got less sleep than I normally do as I stayed up a little bit later each night playing cards (by later I mean 10:30-11 so not exactly super late!). Paul was up around 6 each day so mornings definitely came early! My mom would get up around that time, too. It was nice to have some company while my dad/Phil slept in! I'd definitely return to this area of Florida but we would stay for a couple more days as the trip felt quite short. But it was a good first family trip and I'm so glad my parents came with!