our first official family vacation!

This past week, we took the first of many family vacations!  The days leading up to our trip were a teeny-tiny bit STRESSFUL {to put it midly}.  Not only was this our first family vacation, but it was Dafney's first plane ride.  We talked about plane's and how fun they are in the days leading up to our departure.  

We flew out of the smaller airport in our city.  As we were walking to our gate, we spotted a little play area for kiddos.  SCORE!  We let Dafney run around until the very last possible second.  We were thinking/hoping that she would be super tired and pass out on the plane...she had other plans.

When we got on the plane, we had the row with 2 seats {Dafney sat on our lap}, but the row behind us only had one lady and she was kind enough to switch rows with us, so we could have 3 seats.  Bless her!  To have that extra room was so nice!  Dafney was able to sprawl out a bit more & we all had a little extra leg room {lets face it, plane's are not the roomies of places}.  

The majority of the trip Dafney was really good.  She sat pretty good & played with her toys & books and even watched a little bit of her Minnie Mouse DVD.  However, just before we started our descent, she got really fussy.  She wanted to lay on the ground, but she couldn't.  Her diaper was REALLY full {it may or may not have been leaking a bit...} and she was overly tired.  Needless to say, she screamed for a good 25 minutes...and I do mean SCREAMED.  

We had numerous people looking back at us and we even received a few eye rolls & "shut that kid up" looks.  It was horrible.  I stressed and literally almost cried.  I felt bad for my child because she was obviously uncomfortable and at the time, I felt bad for the other passengers.  But, the more I thought about it, the less I felt bad for them.  I mean, what was I supposed to do?  It's completely impossible to reason with an almost 2 year old.  I quickly got over the glaring stares & eye rolls and just worried about my daughter. Once we landed, she was just fine.  And, I was thankful we made it safely.

We headed to get our luggage and met my Father-In-Law who so graciously picked us up!  Then we hopped in the car and headed to their house.  A certain someone fell asleep about 3 minutes after getting in the car...

On our way to the house, we stopped to pick up some pizza's for dinner {it was 8pm and we were HUNGRY}!  I was a little nervous to see how Dafney would adjust to the new surroundings, but she totally amazed me.  She called Kyle's parent's "Grandma" & "Grandpa" from the get-go {thanks to Skype} and made herself right at home at their house!  

The first night of sleep was a little rough.  We put her down around 10:30pm EST and she slept until 4:45am.  So, we got up and she watched TV & ran around like a crazy woman until 6:30am when she FINALLY fell back asleep in my arms :)  She ended up sleeping until a bit after 9.  The only reason she woke up is because she rolled off the couch...oops!

My Mother-In-Law took Thursday off, so we spent the morning lounging and then took advantage of the sunny-warm(er) weather and headed to the nearby park.  Let me just say, their park put our parks to shame.  They had 4 different jungle gym's.  3 of them were perfect for Dafney and the 4th was perfect for Kyle & I :)  I tested out the slide {which Kyle thinks was 3 stories high} to see if it was "Dafney safe", let's just say, it was NOT.  I flew down it...at HIGH speeds...okay, that might be a bit over-dramatic!

I think Dafney's favorite part of the park was their giant sandbox. Seriously, what kid doesn't love them some sand?

And we even got to take a picture of her in big ole' pile of leaves!

After the park, we made a quick trip to Target and then headed home for lunch & naps!  That evening, Kyle & his Dad picked up a chicken dinner at a local restaurant and we rounded out the evening with some Thursday Night Football!  And, to make it even better, Dafney slept almost 12 straight hours...it was a MUCH needed night of sleep for everyone!

Friday, Kyle's Dad had taken off of work.  Our original plan was to head to the Atlanta Aquarium, but it's quite the drive and major moola to get in {close to $115 for 3 adults & 1 child}.  So, we changed our game plan and headed to a place called Monkey Joe's. It's a place for kiddo's, complete with bounce houses, cars and other fun toys!  

After, we went to lunch & then to one of my favorite places ever...CRATE & BARREL!  My hubby joked that Crate & Barrel is my Monkey Joe's :)  Then we headed home for a nap, dinner & some lounging!

Saturday we took a mini-trip and headed to the Atlanta Outlet Mall. Naturally, Dafney is the only one that got anything fun there: 2 pair of shoes, a toy from the Disney store & a pair of fleece lined jeans! We spent most of the day there, so by the time we left, it was time for dinner, so we stopped at the store & grabbed some stuff to grill. A perfect last night dinner!

Saturday morning we had to leave by 10am to get to the airport on time.  My Mother-In-Law & I sat in the back with Dafney on the ride there and did everything in our power to keep Dafney awake...we totally succeeded!

We got on the plane early, thinking Dafney would fall asleep as we figured she was tired {the little sinker was up at 5:45am}.  She fussed for a short while and then fell asleep in between my Hubby & me and stayed asleep until we pulled up to our gate.  It was awesome!  

All in all it was a really great & much needed vacation!  I think we all enjoyed ourselves and most importantly, the in-law's were able to spend some special time with Dafney!

My tips for flying with a Toddler:

1.  Fly at a time when your child naps or tends to be more tired/quite.  Seriously, timing is EVERYTHING!

2.  Try to sit in your own row and if possible in the last row(s).  I only say this because it's louder in the back from the engine's and will drowned out some of the screaming, crying, laughing, talking your child may do while in the air!

3.  Bring plenty of snacks & drinks for your child.  The last thing you want is to run out of food/beverages while you're 4654664158 miles up in the air.

4.  Purposely wake your child up early & keep them awake until you get on the plane.  I know, never wake a sleeping baby/child, but trust me, you'll want your kid to be super tired by the time you get on the plane.

5.  Lastly {and quite possibly most importantly} - don't feel bad if your kid is the one that is screaming on the plane.  It happens.  The other passengers might not like it, but too bad.  Just worry about taking care of your child & making them as comfortable as possible!

Until next time...