What a whirlwind week! I will say all of my planning and lists did pay off. Carl and I successfully survived Savannah's first vacation! I think one of my biggest concerns was flying with a small child. After all my worrying Savannah surprised me (it seems like she is always doing that!). Our first flight was from Pittsburgh to Philly, so the duration was a good "tester" to see how she would handle it. Prior to the flight Savannah met the pilots (and we have some awesome pictures of that!) and flight attendants. Of course, she won them over with her grin. Once it was time to take off we gave Savannah her sippy to help with the pressure changes and we pointed out that we were going up - she loved it! She waved and waved at all the things we passed by. When we broke through the clouds it was a bit rough so we just told her we were going over the clouds and to wave and she was content with that. During the flight she was content to look out the window or to read a book. As we landed I expected her to be afraid of all the noise with the reverse boosters, etc., but she just clapped and giggled. We may have a pilot in our future! The only time she wasn't the picture of perfection was on the second leg on the way to Miami. She was exhausted and really didn't want to sleep - there was so much to see! It took her about 10 minutes to give up and nap, but no one around seemed to mind.



Once we got to Miami we had a fairly easy time traveling to the hotel...and we had a beautiful room too! It turns out we had a Junior Suite, so we had a nice space for Savannah's crib (they provided) and there was a microwave, mini fridge, stove top, and dishes to cook on. Shortly after arriving we took a short walk to a local Walgreens for some milk, bread, and snacks. It turns out that Savannah and I were able to eat lunch in the room every day, which was a big financial help too! The only difficult part about sharing a hotel room with a toddler is the sleeping. Savannah's bedtime is around 7:30pm, and we aren't really ready to sleep at that point...so it took a night or two to find a way to allow her to sleep but for us to stay up to watch TV. Nap time was pretty easy, Savannah and I would lay down on the bed to watch kid shows and she'd just fall right asleep. At night I read to her, then put her in the crib, pulled it close to my side of the bed and then watched TV. She'd sometimes stand and watch, then sit and watch and then she'd lay down and eventually fall asleep. That isn't really how bedtime works at our house, but for vacation we let things slide.



The beach was a lot of fun for Savannah. She enjoyed watching the waves and playing in the sand. There was a time that she ate sand...but she never did it again. It was beautiful there, and on the days Carl was attending his conference Savannah and I mainly stuck to the pools. The beach is just a lot of work with one mama and one toddler. Sand gets everywhere, and the towels need carried, and the bags, and the drinks...I just didn't have enough arms to attempt that alone. I tried once and decided it wasn't worth it...so we stuck to the pools.



Overall Savannah had a wonderful time on her first vacation...I can't say quite as much for Carl and I. I think we were both expecting a very different vacation. We hadn't traveled anywhere together for pleasure since our Honeymoon...and we were hoping to enjoy ourselves on this trip. While we delighted in all the new things Savannah experienced, we definitely had a hard time adjusting to vacations with a child. Our schedule was set by someone other than us, we were limited to where we could eat, and I couldn't do much of anything for myself once Carl's conference started. I couldn't lay out and tan, or just swim at the pool, or attend dinners with Carl. A one-year-old doesn't take care of herself! Carl felt like he deserved time at the pool when he had free time because he'd been working all day, but I felt I deserved time alone because I'd also been working all day. His "fun" was all the outings for dinner (a yacht dinner cruise!), and I felt my fun should be relaxing for a while! I truly came home feeling like I'd had very little fun compared to Carl's extraordinary fun. We both came home with a negative attitude. We had some communication issues, as well as expectations that just aren't realistic with a child. While we loved the trip, it was quite the learning experience. After hashing out our feelings, I think we both understand each other's opinions about the trip...and we have a game plan for future trips. We've decided that for business trips either Carl goes alone, or we leave Savannah with my mom. When I am left in the room with her for days it can be pretty isolating. We will plan family trips outside of work..children are a lot of work for one parent to care for all the time. We both want to be an active part in the vacation, so no kids on business trips. It will be pretty hard leaving Savannah, but it will also be a great way to rekindle our marriage the few times it happens. While I hate the idea of leaving my child for a few days, I also cherish the idea that great marriages are what keeps great families together. I don't want to wonder who the man is by my side once my kids are grown...so this trip was fun, hard, eye-opening, and not regretted at all....we just know how to go forth from now on.