Destination: Miami Beach!

In less than 48 hours our little family of three will be in Miami Beach, FL! I would be excited...if only I could get past all my worry. I really don't travel well...I guess I'm not going to be one of those RV types when I retire...I'm just fine at home. I don't really deal with change well, and traveling means change. Change in schedule, change in scenery, change in eating habits, change in everything. I really am excited to see the ocean again, and watch Savannah's reaction as she discovers the ocean and sand. I know she will be amazed by it all, and I really am excited to see her eyes light up.

It's the "getting there" part I'm worried about. Saturday will be a very long day for us all...our flight leaves around 9:30am.....so we'll be waking up quite early. Then we fly...eventually we'll make it to Miami Beach, sometime around 3pm that afternoon. In addition to my natural dislike of flying, this will be Savannah's first trip on an airplane. This is really her first vacation ever (minus trips to visit family). I have tried to plan for everything...but I am sure things won't go just as planned. Packing for a week long trip with a one year old in tow is quite a bit of work! She has enough clothes, snacks, diapers, books, and toys to fill a large suitcase...all just for her! We also have the diaper bag as a carry on, included in our entertainment selection - portable DVD player (Thanks Ashley!). We also have to take a car seat for the taxi ride between the airport and the hotel (only a distance of about a mile, but a car seat is required none the less), and we'll have her stroller too. The amount of stuff one child needs is amazing! Security is also something that worries me a bit...not that I worry about being hassled, it's just going to be slow going. We have a child to get through (I'm not even going to bother with shoes that day) and then we have Carl's work laptop that has to go, and my purse, and a diaper bag, and a car seat, and a stroller, and we have to take off our shoes, and Carl always wears a belt....so after we load all our junk on the conveyor to be scanned, we have to put ourselves back together again on the other side. I am by no means complaining about security (I think it is a much needed measure), but I am worried about how other travelers will receive this. We will hold up the line a bit I'm sure....and some travelers are always in a hurry! Then the other main worry is the actual flight...I wonder if Savannah will like it or hate it. I don't think it's really the flying itself I'm worried about, but more the fact that she has to stay in one spot for so long...she doesn't like sitting still for very long...and the second leg of the trip is about 2 hours. I'm just hoping to keep her entertained with books and DVDs...and honestly (hopefully the health-nut police don't come after me) I think I may just let her eat Cheerios the entire time...she will sit and eat them forever if I let her...and if she's eating she can't be crying or squealing!

Once we are at the beach it should be a fairly relaxing vacation - well as much as a one year old relaxes anyway! It will be a nice break from cooking and cleaning and laundry...and hopefully during Savannah's naps I'll get a chance to catch up on some leisure reading...I'm actually taking a book and a magazine! Oh, how I have missed reading! (Well - I've missed reading things other than "Wibbly Pig" and "'Baby Farm Animals"....)

So please pray for us to enjoy a safe trip - and that other travelers find Savannah just as endearing as we do! :0)