Back From the Beach
Thursday, June 11, 2009
We just returned from our first official family vacation. We spent a week of sun-drenched, fun-filled days in San Diego, CA!
Liam did great on the plane ride and loved the water activities. We went to Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. The dolphins & Shamu were a hit but the land animals at the Zoo were not as entertaining for him. His favorite thing to do was just to splash around at the pool or any body of water. He fearlessly charged into the ocean waves — the very chilly Pacific water didn’t intimidate him the least bit.
Click above for photos from Liam’s first trip to San Diego.
My friend Karen (a.k.a. Nanny Karen) from Kansas City met up with us in San Diego. She’d never been there before and it was great to experience S.D. through new eyes. Also, my friend Gretchen and her daughter who live in California drove down for the day to visit with us. Liam loved having a new friend to hang out with at the beach.
The trip was also bittersweet for me as I scattered the ashes of my Uncle Whit there who passed away last December. I had spent many summers out there with him in my high school / college years. He had moved to Texas 13 years ago but his heart was always at his beach house so I wanted part of him to be back there.
Rob & I used to go out to San Diego once or twice a year (in fact, you can still view photos of our 2005 San Diego - Bakersfield trip on Kodak Gallery) and I’ve gotta say that this trip was quite different! For those of you who have not vacationed with your new children, be prepared... things go much slower and you run out of energy much faster!
I overloaded our itinerary, forgetting that I needed to cater it to the attention-span and dawdling pace of a 3 year old doesn’t move at the same pace we do. A few travel tips too: take lots of new things to entertain your child in the hotel room (thanks, Nanny Karen!) and be prepared for your child to be very cranky & moody at times since he/she will be way off of the normal routine. (Being cooped up in a small hotel room where there’s little to do sure doesn’t help.) Don’t get me wrong - we had a great time and San Diego was wonderful as always. But vacationing with a toddler was a very different experience and everything happened at a far different pace than I would’ve imagined.
Liam did great on the plane ride and loved the water activities. We went to Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. The dolphins & Shamu were a hit but the land animals at the Zoo were not as entertaining for him. His favorite thing to do was just to splash around at the pool or any body of water. He fearlessly charged into the ocean waves — the very chilly Pacific water didn’t intimidate him the least bit.
Click above for photos from Liam’s first trip to San Diego.
My friend Karen (a.k.a. Nanny Karen) from Kansas City met up with us in San Diego. She’d never been there before and it was great to experience S.D. through new eyes. Also, my friend Gretchen and her daughter who live in California drove down for the day to visit with us. Liam loved having a new friend to hang out with at the beach.
The trip was also bittersweet for me as I scattered the ashes of my Uncle Whit there who passed away last December. I had spent many summers out there with him in my high school / college years. He had moved to Texas 13 years ago but his heart was always at his beach house so I wanted part of him to be back there.
Rob & I used to go out to San Diego once or twice a year (in fact, you can still view photos of our 2005 San Diego - Bakersfield trip on Kodak Gallery) and I’ve gotta say that this trip was quite different! For those of you who have not vacationed with your new children, be prepared... things go much slower and you run out of energy much faster!
I overloaded our itinerary, forgetting that I needed to cater it to the attention-span and dawdling pace of a 3 year old doesn’t move at the same pace we do. A few travel tips too: take lots of new things to entertain your child in the hotel room (thanks, Nanny Karen!) and be prepared for your child to be very cranky & moody at times since he/she will be way off of the normal routine. (Being cooped up in a small hotel room where there’s little to do sure doesn’t help.) Don’t get me wrong - we had a great time and San Diego was wonderful as always. But vacationing with a toddler was a very different experience and everything happened at a far different pace than I would’ve imagined.
Posted by Dede at 11:26 AM
7 Comments:
You may have a future surfer on your hands. I can only imagine how things will change. Those quick trips to the store are probably a thing of the past too.
Great pictures.
Joy
What a fun vacation. Liam looks so happy. I agree that toddler time and our time can be different, but we wouldn't trade it for anything!!
You guys look great! I remember walking just like that with each of my kids when they were that small, mom on one side, me on the other, and we'd be swinging them in the air! Much fun . . .
I'm so glad you had a great trip and thanks for the tips for those of getting ready to vacation!!
Liam sounds like a fish!!!
We seem to keep over planning the holidays with too much stuff too, forgetting about how easily the little ones tire! Great post, and I like the picture! :-)
Todd and I used to lie on the beach at South Padre sipping pina coladas. The first time we took Blaine with us as a toddler it was so much fun, but definitely not the same relaxing trip we used to enjoy!
It does look like you had a good time at the beach! I look forward to the day when we go and he can actually "build" a sandcastle!
Have a safe 4th of July!
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