Vacation!
We just came back from a week's vacation in Orlando, FL! We joined David's family for spring break and had a wonderful time. We stayed at a time share that had multiple pools, a lazy river, mini golf, a view from our room of Epcot and their fireworks... plus sun, 80 degree weather, and family. It was really nice to get away, get a little bit of a break from dealing with Kayla 24/7 and be able to spend some time as a family (the 3 of us), and also to visit with David's family.
We didn't make it too busy of a vacation. We didn't go to any theme parks (Kayla is obviously too young to enjoy or remember it, and although we might have had fun, it wasn't worth the money to us!), but instead enjoyed the pools and the sun and the company.
One day we took an Airboat Tour, which is a motorized (and loud) boat that goes through a swamp/lake in search of alligators. Kayla had to wear a life jacket (which was way too big for her, but I guess I'm glad she had one) and we all wore ear muffs to drown out the loud noises, which Kayla did not enjoy so much! It was fun to be on the boat, but at times I felt like a terible mother for taking her on it. She was cool for about the first 5 minutes, and then she screamed for the next 15 (which you couldn't hear of course, due to the ear muffs and the noise), and then eventually she just fell asleep whimpering. I really couldn't even hold her close, due to the life jacket. I just tried to rock her in my arms, and protect her from the wind with a towel. I had never been on one of these before and didn't realize how loud it was going to be... in hindsight, she probably shouldn't have gone. But we all survived, and she wasn't too tramatized!
Another day we hit Cocoa beach. We had a small tent to keep Kayla out of the sun (I was super vigilent about keeping Kayla out of the sun period from 10-2, and being covered with 50 spf sunblock all of the time anyway, and reapplying it frequently). The good news is, she didn't burn at all (I would have felt horrible if she had), and neither did I, since I took the opportunity to reapply it on me every time I reapplied her. My skin tone is not prone to burning, but being in the winter in MI and not having sunlight and then going to sun often results in a burn if I forget to put it on some part of my body! Daivd was not quite so lucky in the no-burn area.... but he ins't bad, and it was only the last day we were there that he got too much. But anyway, we realy enjoyed the beach. We took a nice walk and Kayla enjoyed the sand between her feet. We ate dinner at a restaurant right next to the water that had a live band playing too! It was really a fun day.
One evening we went to dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe and then walked around Downtown Disney, looking in shops and having fun! Gotta say, we LOVE the Ergo carrier we have. We used it so much this vacation. Kayla loves being close to us, it's easy for us to be hands-free, she takes long naps in it, and I was even able to very descreetly nurse her in it (while we were walking around!).
The rest of the days we just relaxed at resort. We didn't usually make it down there until about noon, right about time for Kayla's nap. So I'd walk around the resort area with a towel covering her stroller until she feel asleep, and then joined everyone at the pool myself. She'd sleep in the stroller for her 30 minute power nap and then wake up ready to play! She was typically content playing with her toys for awhile. Then we took her out and went in the lazy river and the pool. Kayla just loved the water! She would kick her legs and splash the water with her hands, and just smile and relax with us. Plus, how cute is she in her suits?!
It was also really fun to have some time with the family - mom, dad, Laura and David's cousin Feli were there the whole week, and then Steph and Nick joined us the last few days as well. It was fun seeing everyone interact with Kayla, since she has changed so much since the last time they saw her!
It was really fun to dress Kayla for warm weaher, I can't wait for the warm weather to be here in GR too!!
Overall we had a wonderful trip. I can't say it was particularily restful (with two 6am flights, an infant in a new sleeping environment, plus late nights), but it was relaxing and quite enjoyable. It was a nice break from our normal routine and we have many special memories and tons of pictures (see link) to prove it!