We're Baaaaaaaack!!!!!

Finally! After a week of vacation and then half a week of sickness, I am ready to report on the happenings of the Patterson family! We have had one heck of a ride this past week and a half and I wanted to do a quick trip summary. So, without further adue, join me friends as I reminisce on our first ever vacation adventures as a family of three!  

The Car Ride There:

I am happy to report that daytime travel with a wide awake toddler is possible…IF you have a well-rested Nana in the backseat with them! That’s right, my mom braved the 2.5 hours (more like 3ish with traffic) in the backseat with plenty of snacks, toys, books, sippy cups (and yes admittedly a few bottles-however we are now down to just one bottle a day!) Emma barely fussed until the very end of the car ride! It was wonderful! We stopped for lunch at one of the only restaurants on the main road that had outdoor seating, since we had our stinky old Stanley with us. He got plenty of love and attention from passers-by who said he was the sweetest dog and they hoped he had a speedy recovery. I told them not to worry he was getting the only child treatment on this trip (plenty of people food and all the attention to himself with the 3 other dogs at home.)

The House:

After our lunch break it was a short drive to the house we would be staying at for a week. It was a sweet little house with front AND back screened in porches! Literally you could follow the flow of the ocean breeze from the front to the back of the house and enjoy it all bug free. I spent many a night unwinding in these lovely bits of space (which are now a must have on my long, completely unrealistic first home list). We had a bedroom with two queen beds which I thought might not be the best set up, but it turned out that Emma enjoyed having her own big bed to herself. She is a sprawling sleeper and has been since birth. My mom had the good insight to bring one of those baby catcher/ edge of bed blockers that worked out just perfectly. It was a real treat to get to stay in a nice house (you know one that’s not falling apart and drafty like ours.) It’s amazing how just this one setting lifted my mood (and we hadn’t even made it to the beach yet.)

The Beach:

We were fortunate enough to be staying with my mom and brother which gave us the opportunity to stay in town (not cheap.) We were about 6-7 blocks from the beach, 4-5 blocks from town, which turned out to be the best part of the trip. We walked all day every day! The ocean kissed air was not too hot and the air quality was amazing, truly therapeutic. If there is one thing I miss the most everyday siting in my neon lit, air recirculated cubical is the fresh air and freedom to move around. I think that had an amazing impact on my health. The beach itself was at medium capacity, there were people, but it was not uncomfortably crowed (except for one night on the board walk.) Emma was not a fan of the actual beach itself. I have discovered she is more of a beach chair/ umbrella type of kid. She was terrified of the water and definitely not trusting of the sand…I mean I suppose something that gives way under your feet is meant to be questioned. I was slightly disappointed but I realize we have years of beach visits in our future so hopefully she will grow to love it. If not, we can hang out and read books together from the safety of our chairs  :) 

The Attractions:

Lots of fun firsts happened on the trip…Emma got away with eating some pretty questionable meals but if mom and dad got to do it I figured so could she. She had her first ice cream cone! It was an amazing experience! Her dad gave her a taste first and then I gave her a few bites of mine and then she just HAD. TO. HAVE. IT! Being an ice cream lover myself I understood when she started making high pitched noises and reached excitedly for our cones. I have been in the throngs of ice cream cravings myself (hello pregnancy cravings) so I understood her sense of urgency. I finally just gave in and handed mine over. She was of course overjoyed! It was also her first time going to Funland, the family amusement area (I say area and not park because literally it’s only half a block’s worth of rides etc.) on the boardwalk. She rode the carousel of course and even won her own prize! They have a magnetic caterpillar game where all you have to do is hold a pole over a caterpillar and under the capillar it tells you what prize you won. Kinda cute, it gives the little kids an opportunity to play a game. It’s beautiful to see the things that bring excitement and wonder to a toddler. Seeing her face light up when she won the prize and listening to her squeal with delight on the carousel were both memories I froze in time that I will revisit on one of those tough days in the future.

Nana:

Having Nana with us was great! When Thomas or I ran out of patience we had a backup. I was glad Emma and Nana got to spend quality time together. Thomas and I even got a date night to see The Heat which I highly recommend if you don’t mind a lot of foul language. I laughed so hard several times and my husband will tell you I barely ever laugh at any movies or tv shows (maybe I will do a future post of the handful of shows or movies that have actually made me laugh out loud.) My mom and I also got along really well the entire time which was very refreshing. 

Sleep Schedule:

This my friends was the most intricate part of the trip, as I knew it would be. This one little concept is like a house of cards or stack of jenga blocks. A small breeze or slight hand quiver and the entire establishment comes crashing down. I decided to do the “cool mom thing” (which turned out to be the stupid mom thing) and let Emma’s sleep come and go as she pleased. Well, after two nights of betimes past 8:30pm (one past 9pm) it was evident that a late bed time followed by her usual 6am wake up wasn’t going to cut it. There were several epic meltdowns due to extreme exhaustion, one that took place on the boardwalk after I had carried her, three chairs, and whatever else through the blistering sand. Feeling proud of myself for not dropping my child in the scorching sand, I happily placed her feet on the safe, cool surface of the boardwalk and took literally two steps over to a bench to unload my arms. Well, two steps away was apparently too many. She proceeded to plop down in the middle of the boardwalk and scream at the top of her lungs like a motherless child. Now Rehoboth Beach is a very family friendly beach so I was hoping me fellow mommy and daddy comrades would understand this meltdown as I was two feet away and rushing back to her. Before I could get back to her though, it seemed like an endless stream of grandparents and kidless people walked by with sad/ worried looks on their faces. I could see my mothering skills and overall love of my child was being put into question. I mean come on not even one family passed by in the 60 seconds this all went down….nope I got the judgmental adult crowd headed to lunch and to the nearest phone to call CPS on my ass. 

Needless to say the sleep schedule being off was a challenge. I was really nervous that this would lead to problems at home with getting her back on track but luckily, once we were back in her normal environment she went right back into her schedule. I think she really likes having her own space (crib/ room) and I am glad that comforts her.

I was really sad to leave and we all vowed that if anyone in the family won the lottery that a beach house would be number one on the list for purchases. Amazingly enough, Emma slept all but the last 20 minutes of the ride home! It must have been catch up time for the rest of the sleep she lost during the week. We had an amazing time overall and even with toddler meltdowns and sickness we managed to have a relaxing vacation. I am looking forward to many more in the future. 

I’d love to hear about your vacation adventures! Feel free to leave links in the comments!