Florida Time

Well, I’ve fallen in love with Melbourne. No, not Melbourne, Australia (though, remind me to DVR those housewives too)--Melbourne, Florida!

James’s childhood best friend, college roommate, fellow cute-nerd, Jason, married the smart and beautiful, Amanda in Costa Rica last month. They invited us to a beautiful ceremony and reception in Florida so we loaded up the car, and off we went!

I was a bit nervous for the travel. A seven-hour drive with an on-the-go toddler—how in the world would that work? It actually wasn’t that bad! Doster slept a lot, played a lot, and I caved and let him have his paci the whole car ride. Don’t judge. We took snack stops, food stops and always changed in to PJs during the dinner stop in hopes of easy car-to-bed transitions.

The Hiccup

That easy car-to-bed transition that I dreamed of did not really play out how I'd hoped. We had the perfect plan: I would go in, check in, come back to the car and watch Doster while James headed up to the room and assembled the pack and play. Sounds great, right?

Doster woke up when the car stopped and was very confused about the hotel room. He was super-clingy and would not let me put him down while we hauled our stuff in the room. Settling him back down was impossible. We read books, sang, rocked, and I even tried to let him sleep in bed with us for the first time.  After three hours of this, we decided to kick it old school and drive around while he fell back asleep. Thank goodness that worked!

The Good Stuff

Experiencing the ocean through Doster’s eyes was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  He was curious, excited, scared at first, and finally in love with the water!

A little video of his first time…

"Hey Water!" he would say.

I’ll let pictures tell the story of our beach days.

The Wedding

Despite being late due to some directional challenges (sorry, GPS fail on my part!) everything was beautiful for the ceremony and reception. They chose a gorgeous location overlooking the water, and the vibe was very laid-back and beachy-elegant.

Doster narrated the ceremony from my lap:

    

   Jason an' 'Manda!   Rings!   Pretty!   Jason an' 'Manda.

He stayed as still as possible and was ready to run around as soon as he could.  After pictures we were served a beautiful dinner. Doster and I headed home a little early because, let’s face it, he gets a little crazy when he’s tired. He went to sleep with no problem, and my sweet husband brought me back a cupcake.

I love this picture!

The Family

We loved enjoying quality time with DD and Pop on Saturday of the wedding. It was definitely wonderful to have extra sets of hands! We also met up with some of James’s Florida family on our way home, too. It was planned extremely last-minute, and we are so lucky that it all worked out perfectly!

Doster talked about Parker and Houston for about an hour after we left!  We made a snack stop and a dinner stop on the way home and got in pretty late.  Luckily, we all had Monday off so we could recuperate, do some laundry, and enjoy a beautiful day at the park.

Little Things I Learned About Traveling With A Toddler

We booked a suite rather than just a room. It was nice to have space to hang out while Doster slept and napped. 

• Our room included a small refrigerator and they even included a microwave (Thank you, Radisson-Melbourne!) because I called and begged them too. It worked out really well to bring some Doster-friendly food with us and spend all of our time at restaurants.
• Daniel Tiger on the PBS Kids App = A Life Saver
• I probably would pack more books next time. 
• We kept a basket of toys on the floor of the car. That came in really handy!

In summary—our trip was amazing. I can’t wait to take Doster back to the beach again soon!