Every year near Christmas I travel to NYC for some holiday shopping! I wrote about my last few trips here and here, and this year was a little different because I spent the night.
My first time in New York I was there for about a week and did everything on the tourist bucket list. I’ve seen Times Square, Rockafeller Centre, the Empire State Building, and everything on those “must see” lists that you see over and over again on the Internet.
Each year that I go back I tend to choose the Christmas season because it’s so beautiful in the city, and I have shopping to do!
This year instead of flying in and out the same day, I stayed overnight to get more shopping time in. There were a few extra things I wanted to do this year as well.
As usual I flew Porter which I LOVE, but this year I used the new underground tunnel instead of the ferry. It was beyond fast and easy! I also tried their pre-booked parking as well which I really liked. I paid in advance to park, and a free shuttle took me to the airport in under 5 minutes. Porter really does think of everything!
One of the highlights of my trip was heading to Soho for some shopping, and to have lunch at Ladurée. I can’t believe I’d never been to Soho before! Especially since it’s right beside Little Italy which I have been to before.
There were so many great stores, from the fabulous and luxe Chanel and Louis Vuitton, to boutiques and shops that had independent designer wear and handcrafted goods that couldn’t be found anywhere else.
Ladurée was beautiful. There was a back terrace, along with a bake shop in the front selling their famous macarons. The restaurant was intimate, and very chic. The staff spoke French, and the menu was French as well. On my way out I obviously had to buy a box of macarons, and a few extra to eat as I shopped.
I had the Salade Soho, and I could hardly finish it, and I also had their Chocolat Ladurée. It was their famous version of hot chocolate, but it was more like a drinkable chocolate sauce. It was pretty amazing, and a must try if you visit!
After spending the rest of my day on 5th Avenue I made a quick stop at Sprinkles Cupcakes. There were many cupcake stops on my trip including to Magnolia and the bake shops at The Plaza Hotel Food Hall. Sprinkles was fun because they had a cupcake ATM! The inside of the shop was cute, but pretty ordinary. The cupcake ATM was a must-visit because hello, it’s a cupcake ATM! Oh yes, and the cupcakes were good too!
My day of marathon shopping ended with a reservation at Bergdorf Goodman’s famous BG Restaurant. I made a reservation well in advance, and requested a view of Central Park.
I arrived for a rather early dinner at 5:00pm, and the place was completely packed! I was so glad I had a reservation because the restaurant was full of women just like me, completely exhausted and ready for a glass of champagne!
I had the Lobster Macaroni and Cheese which was actually the best I’d ever had (and that’s saying a lot since I order it any place that offers it) and a glass of champagne. It was the perfect location, and a great restaurant for a girl who needed a shopping break.
Before I left on my trip I booked a visit to the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Last year I didn’t realize how busy it was, and I couldn’t get in because so many people had pre-booked tickets. This year I knew I wanted to see it so I booked my entry time online.
Even at 9:30am there was a line up just with people who had pre-booked tickets. It didn’t take long to get in, but when I left a couple hours later the line up was massive.
The museum was incredible. I realized after walking for a few minutes that it was a very different museum experience because there were no children, and everyone was very quiet.
Photos could only be taken in certain areas of the museum, and in most sections they were prohibited. It’s hard to describe the whole experience. I thought it was beautifully done, but I had a hard time seeing some of the photos and footage. It was amazing to see things that were recovered (such as seat belts from one of the planes) and things recovered from the buildings, but it was very emotional. I couldn’t get through some of the museum, and it still took me two hours from start to finish. I absolutely recommend seeing it for yourself – it was very powerful. I did need a bit of time once I left to get my head straight again as it was based on such tragic events.
On my way to Starwberry Fields in Central Park I happened to pass Tavern on the Green, and they had a beautiful patio that people were enjoying because of the amazing weather. I only wore a sweater while on my trip because it was so warm in the city, and I couldn’t help but stop for a mimosa on the patio.
I’d never been inside Tavern on the Green before, but it was gorgeous. It was packed on a Saturday afternoon, but the patio had lots of room so I took a breather. I can’t wait to head back one day to have lunch or dinner there. In this case I had no time, but it was the perfect spot for a mimosa!
If you are looking for a weekend getaway you should consider flying with Porter to NYC! The trip is quick and easy from Toronto, and I can’t wait to get back there.
On October 31st we left on a Disney Cruise Line adventure on the Disney Fantasy – Disney’s newest and largest ship in it’s fleet. Because we left on Halloween, our cruise was part of the month long Halloween on the High Seas series of themed Disney Cruises. The whole cruise was centered around Halloween from the décor, to all kinds of Halloween-themed activities throughout the trip. I LOVE Halloween so this was pretty exciting for me! Oh, and also for my toddler!
What to Bring
There were a few key things we needed for our cruise. One of them was a pirate costume for the pirate party on the ship. We all brought costumes for the pirate party, but once on board if you forgot your costume it was fine because free Mickey Mouse pirate bandana’s were provided in your room the night before the party. The on-board shops also had pirate costumes for kids and t-shirts for children and adults. EVERYONE dresses up like a pirate – there was no getting around this, so be prepared!
Of course a Halloween costume was required as well. There were actually two nights our son dressed up – on Halloween, and the next night when the actual Halloween celebrations took place. Because we all boarded on Halloween the actual party took place the next day since people may have been tired on the first night.
Getting on Board
From the initial planning stages, everything was beyond easy. Once our trip was booked a bound book full of our trip details arrived before we embarked, and everything we needed to know was in the book. Barcodes were printed inside the book which were scanned as we boarded the ship, waivers could have been printed and signed from the website, but they were also made available in the booklet which was great. Our excursions for the trip were also detailed in the book as well.
I called the Disney Cruise Line customer service line ten or more times just to ask details about our trip. Their customer service reps were amazing and had all seemed to have cruised themselves with Disney before so they had great advice.
Prior to your trip you can arrange a free call from a Disney character for your child to get them excited for their trip.
We decided to leave for our trip one day early so we were well-rested and ready to board the ship without being too fatigued. Disney Cruise Line prefers that if you use their bus transfers to the boat that you stay either at Disney World in Orlando, or at the Hyatt Orlando Airport hotel. We stayed in the Hyatt, and it was beyond convenient. It was actually located in the airport so we collected our bags, and went straight into our hotel! The airport shops just below our hotel were Disney themed, and there was a Starbucks for bonus points. We received a letter that evening detailing that we could hop on any Disney transfer we wished until 1pm the next day, and when we were ready we went down two levels to where the buses disembarked.
The buses were pretty amazing – they played a video which gave us all kinds of details about the ship, and then they played cartoons for the kids. The trip was about 45 minutes to the ship. Check in was easy because Disney has it’s own terminal at Port Canaveral, and we were on the ship in no time.
Staterooms
We lucked out. Our stateroom was at the top of the ship, and the last room at the back of the ship. We had an incredibly huge balcony! It was amazing to have a room at the very back of the ship, and at the top as well. We had an incredible view, and our oversized balcony was the coolest thing ever.
It was also a great spot to watch the fireworks after the pirate party. Yes, there were fireworks. Amazing, right?
Our room included a large bed, then a couch with a pull-out bed, and a bunk bed that came out of the wall with a starry ceiling. Our son slept in the wall bunk so we had lot’s of space to move around in the room. He loved his bunk! A curtain kept his room a bit separate from ours, and we could move the TV on the wall to our side of the room and were able to stay up late watching movies.
The bathroom set up was really cool! One room housed the toilet and sink, and the other room housed the bathtub/shower and another sink. It was great for getting ready in the morning.
There was also lot’s of hanging space and drawers for clothing – with all of the clothes I brought we still had lots of hangers and space leftover. The bed was also raised high enough to store our suitcases out of the way.
The Food
Once on board you received a ticket which provided details on where your would be dining each night. There was rotational dining schedule so you would have the opportunity to eat at all of the restaurants on the ship. We chose the later dinner time of 8:15pm, but even if you had the earlier seating all of the movies and activities on the ship were timed so you could enjoy them either before or after dinner – you would never miss out on anything.
Dinner’s were all four courses, and if you wanted more than one soup, salad, appetizer, entrée or dessert then you could indulge! I had two lobsters on lobster night – it was a little ridiculous on my part, but I loved it. Even the breads at the table were different each night. Children had their own three-course dinner options, and when they requested ketchup it was made into the shape of Mickey Mouse by the server. Our favourite restaurant was the Animator’s Palate. The characters on the screen at each table were interactive and spoke to us by name, and commented on our appearance! It was a great show to watch during dinner, and kept the kids busy.
On our second night for dinner at the Animators Palate we were asked to draw on our placemat, and after handing them in the drawings came to life in a movie on the screens. It was amazing!
Breakfast and lunch on the boat could be found at one of the cafe’s on board near the pools, and at some of the dinner restaurants as well (hours were always printed on our daily newsletter).
Room service was perfect for excursion days. We would order breakfast straight to our room for early mornings. We had a late diner seating, so we often ordered cheese trays and sandwiches in the late afternoon to our room as well.
The Oceaneer’s Club
The Oceaneer’s Club was the spot children could take a break from their parents, and I had never seen a place like it! As we checked into the cruise our son was outfitted with a bracelet that also served as a GPS tracker for the Oceaneer’s Club. The first day on the ship we went to the parents open house to check this place out, and we were beyond impressed. First of all, it was massive! No wonder the kids needed a GPS. A separate space was available for children under 3, but this area was split into two – one area for children aged 3-12, and the second for ages 13-17. Both areas were connected and our son could travel to both, but the areas were tailored to each age group.
As you walked in hand washing was mandatory. You placed your hands into two slots, and both soap and water would wash your hands for you. It was super cool!
Once inside kids could watch Disney movies, play with the light up floor, hang out in Andy’s Room from Toy Story, hand out in the Monsters University room, play games in the submarine, take a cooking class, do a craft, or take part in one of the million other activities each day. There were science experiments, Halloween activities, dance parties – what they offered was truly endless.
Our shy son spent one morning taking a cooking class, having his face painted like a pirate, doing Halloween crafts, and watching movies. While on board you are provided phones to take with you so if you need to be contacted the staff can call or message you.
We did an on-shore excursion where we could not be contacted, and although we were nervous, it was our son’s most fun day on the ship. The childcare staff were amazing and knew him by name, and knowing we would be off the ship meant he got some extra TLC. They made sure he ate lunch, and had a great time.
One parent was allowed to pick up their child at a time, and staff had us use a secret word to sign him out. Staff also stood by the multiple children’s washrooms (everything was a child’s height) to monitor who was going in and out.
Excursions
The thing that really wowed me about the ship was how we were greeted when we came back ON the ship. Each time we returned to the ship there would be stations outside the entrance with water (fresh cold water with basil and melon, lemon, ect.), we would receive a sanitary wipe to clean our hands, take a drop of hand sanitizer, then a cool towel on our way back onto the ship. Loved this part! It was a nice way to come back to our temporary home!
We chose an excursion in Cozumel where we took a two-person speedboat to a private island, and then spent some time at a resort pool and had lunch. This was the day our son spent on the ship, and we had an amazing time! I would do this excursion again no problem!
In Jamaica we went to a resort where we spent the day at the water park, and on the beach with lunch included. This one was so much fun – the water park was very new, and super fun! We practically had the place to ourselves. The beach was amazing as well, and my husband went sailing there on a small catamaran.
We spent our time in Grand Caymen on 7 Mile Beach enjoying the ocean, and having lunch Oceanside. Each excusrision still gave us a bit of time to do some local shopping as well which was nice.
We also visited Disney’s private island Castaway Cay.
Castaway Cay
This island was absolutely amazing! Situated in the middle of the Bahamas, this private Disney island was beautiful. Only one Disney Cruise ship docks here at a time, and we could walk right off the boat to enjoy the island. It felt so safe! There was a private adult beach and dining area, and the rest of the island had everything from food, beach activities, snorkeling, boat adventures, bike rentals, and other fun activities to enjoy. The island was immaculate – there wasn’t a spec of garbage in site. There were more than enough beach chairs and umbrellas, servers walked around offering drinks, and food was available all over the island. We were told there would be a beach BBQ, but what it really was included much more. Fresh fruit stations, ice cream stations, and huge buffets filled with amazing food were on the island.
They even had the Oceaneer’s Club outside so your children could play in their own area while you were on the island!
On Board Activities
There was so much to do on this ship, there was no way we could take it all in.
We loved the movie theatre. We watched Big Hero 6, saw an extended preview of The Good Dinosaur, and movies like Inside Out, Avengers Age of Ultron, and Bridge of Spies (still in theatres) were playing every day. There was another theatre for live shows as well, and each day had a different show.
Morning’s included Disney Junior breakfasts where you could watch Disney Junior cartoons while eating breakfast, there was pumpkin carving, trivia games, live music in different locations, and character meet and greets. There always seemed to be an opportunity to run into one of the Disney characters throughout the ship.
The main deck had two separate pools where you could watch movies played on the big screen like Frozen or Finding Nemo, and there was also two separate spash areas for different age groups. There was also an adult-only pool at the front of the ship along with a few bars just for adults as well. The deck also had the Aquaduct – a super fun waterslide that went around the ship, and even pushed you along upwards! It was really fun.
There was a special pre-teen section as well where they could hang out with friends and eat food, and an arcade was on the ship as well.
We took our son to the Bippity Boppity Boutique to become a knight while we were on our cruise, and I would highly recommend this! He was outfitted with a knight shirt and cape, he had his hair done with Mickey Mouse glitter stuck in his hair, and he was given a sword and shield. It was really fun!
With Halloween being on the cruise we had a night where the kids dressed up and went trick or treating, and the Halloween tree changed each day with a little more décor.
Final Disembarkment
When it was finally time to leave the ship, things were very well organized. Our Customs form was in our room the day before we left the ship, and instructions on how our final day would play out were made available. We were to have all of our luggage out side of our room at 10:30pm the night before we left the ship so they could be brought to a safe spot in the terminal. We were provided new luggage tags so we could easily find our bags, and we still had the option of carrying anything we wanted off the ship the next day. We were assigned to eat breakfast the next morning in the restaurant we had dinner at that night to make things easy, and that was it – we were free to leave the ship anytime before 9:30am.
Would we do it again? In a heartbeat? It was hard to find fault with any part of this trip. We truly had an amazing time.
The stateroom cleaning staff knew our whole family by name on day one, and each day checked in to make sure we had everything we needed. Our dinner staff catered to us completely and made sure we had everything and anything we wanted. The service was incredible.
One night my heel broke, and I called down to the customer service desk, desperately hopeing someone on board could fix my shoe. The next day my heels were back in my room with the heel fixed. Anything we needed was available to us. Softdrink bars were open at all hours, there was 24 hour roomservice, and an icecream station available at all times. There was even a café on board that made Frappuccino’s and other specialty cofee drinks.
Shopping on board was pretty impressive with everything from souveniers to snacks. They even had jewelry, luggage, and sunglasses from brands like Michael Kors and Ray Ban.
Our trip was incredible, and we can’t wait to go on another Disney Cruise Line adventure!
Last week I wrote about what I wore on my cruise – you can see the post here!
Stay tuned next week for details on our trip to the Kennedy Space Center!
Every fall we love to plan a getaway as a last hurrah of summer. We love to travel when the crowds have died down for back to school, the weather is still warm but a little chillier at night, and the leaves are starting to change. We thought that this year the perfect getaway would be to The Drake Devonshire in Prince Edward County.
In the past we have loved travelling to Niagara-on-the-Lake for wine touring, and to enjoy a break in a town where things aren’t quite as busy as at home. This year we decided to do some wine touring in Prince Edward County instead, but we decided to focus more on the “getaway” aspect of the trip by bringing along our toddler.
The Drake Devonshire is located in a small town called Wellington, and when I say small, I mean it doesn’t take long to drive through it. Downtown consists of a grocery store, a couple restaurants and stores, and of course The Drake. It’s situated right on the water, and the area is beautiful.
We arrived on a Sunday afternoon, and the hotel was full for the night, and the restaurant was buzzing even though it was after lunch and just snacks and drinks were being served. The Drake Devonshire was the most popular place to be in the area, and it was easy to understand why once inside.
The hotel is comprised of only 11 rooms and two suites, all very unique in their own way. Walking into the front entrance we were met at the front desk by Brandy who was happy to check us in (early too!) and give us details on the grounds and amenities. A small, carefully curated General Store was also in the lobby full of gifts and things you likely left on the bathroom counter, forgotten in the rush of getting everyone out the door.
We walked up the stairs to the third floor where only our room was situated – we actually had a private floor. Our room was amazing, and I mean AMAZING! For those of you who have travelled with toddlers before, you know the key to not going to bed at 8pm with your child is having separate bedrooms. Not only did we have two separate bedrooms, but two separate bathrooms, a balcony, and a common room joining them! It was the perfect set up. Each room had it’s own T.V., desk, mini bar, bathroom, set of robes, phone and it’s own individual décor.
We let our son pick his room for the night, and we relaxed from our drive (it took us about an hour and a half from Whitby to arrive at the hotel) by watching T.V. and snacking on the unbelievable popcorn left as a welcome gift in both of our rooms.
Waiting for us in our welcome package were the details of our stay, amenity information, and although I had booked dinner at the restaurant through OpenTable, my reservation information was included in our details. Impressive!
The décor was very eclectic and included oil paintings updated with bright additions like castles and dragons in each picture throughout the room.
The hotel had it’s own games room called the Glass Box which was, well, a glass box! It allowed you to enjoy the beautiful view of the trees around the hotel you while you played ping pong, enjoyed music, or played one of the many games provided in the room.
We were in here for quite a bit while our son looked through all of the games and played some ping pong!
Next door was the fireplace room with leather couches, books, and a fireplace that was lit the whole time we were there. It was the perfect spot to have an after dinner glass of wine, and a great spot to keep an eye on our son while he played in the games room. This was also where you could have a morning coffee or tea as it was set up in the same room and included in our stay.
On our first day we spent some time touring a few nearby wineries (there were quite a few very close – only a couple minutes away!), and then we settled in for the evening with our first visit to the restaurant at The Drake Devonshire. Thank goodness we had a reservation – on a Sunday night the place was jam packed.
The service was perfect – we had a kids menu and the offer of having our son’s food come out first so he wasn’t waiting. We enjoyed a few of the signature cocktails, and our son was treated like a grown up by our server who was very sweet.
He enjoyed a glass of milk and a burger and french fries, while we enjoyed the Popcorn Shrimp, the Tomato + Sheeps Milk Cheese Salad and their AMAZING Lobster Rolls. The atmosphere was loud with conversation, which was perfect for us with a child who loves to drive trucks at the table with some serious sound effects at times.
The view of the lake was beautiful beside our table, and after dinner the screened in porch was available with a fireplace for a nightcap, or the deck and beach were well lit for a drink outside.
With all of the commotion in the restaurant it was surprising we didn’t hear a thing when we went upstairs to turn in for the night. Our son was tucked in cozy in his room (we loved that he had his own bathroom in his room for those middle-of-the-night emergencies), and we closed his door and headed to our own room.
We had the option of ordering a DVD player to our room with DVD’s, but we found a movie on TV and happily ate a lot of popcorn. It was perfect! Filtered water was provided in the room as well so we really didn’t need to leave. The minibar included Prince Edward County wine, alcohol, mixers, and all kinds of snacks.
The next morning we headed back to the restaurant because the food was just too amazing, and we enjoyed the perfect breakfast with the sun shining and a beautiful view outside.
We spent some time on the grounds hanging out by the beach, playing some of the games outside, and just enjoying the scenery. It really is a beautiful spot.
The rest of our day was spent in the neighbouring town of Picton shopping around, and at a few antique shops (there are some great ones in the area, including one called Dead People Things – what a name), and of course visiting some great wineries!
The staff were great and always made a point to see how our stay was going as we passed the front desk for our next adventure, and made a point to speak to our son like he was a grown up (which I am sure he appreciated!). We never felt like he was unwelcomed – actually, on the contrary! With a kids menu in the restaurant, and checking in with the staff knowing that the room ready for us was perfect for a family with a toddler by having two bedrooms, The Drake Deveonshire really seemed to want us to have a great stay with our son. And we did!
Our son loved the trip, and he actually still talks about it a lot!
For more information on The Drake Devonshire, and to book your own stay (which I would HIGHLY recommend!), visit them here!
The Drake Devonshire is located at 24 Wharf Street in Wellington, Ontario, Canada. To keep up to date on all things Drake, visit their blog here as well!
I’d been to Las Vegas twice prior to this trip, and this time around I sort of felt like a seasoned pro with a good idea of what I wanted to do in the city.
I am always a tourist, so of course I would at some point be wandering the strip just people watching and picking up souvenirs, but we had four short days that we wanted to make the most of so there was definitely a plan in place.
Staying at the Palazzo was pretty central to what we had planned – we were going to the Wynn one night for dinner and to see Le Reve, and we had a day planned at Tao Beach Club in the adjoining Venetian hotel, and we had a night planned for dinner at Tao and at Tao Nightclub after.
Checking in was quick, but the actual check in time was between 3-5pm so our room wasn’t actually when we arrived. We provided a phone number to be called when our room was ready and we had our luggage stored. Once our room was ready we were called and would have our luggage delivered to our room. Having a check in range of 2 hours was a little difficult because you couldn’t plan to be there at a particular time so you would know your room was ready, unless you waited until 5pm which is pretty late.
We stayed in a Luxury Suite overlooking the pool, and it was a pretty large room! It had a large L-shaped couch, 3 TV’s, a mini bar, and the bathroom had a sit down vanity for me to get ready. I really loved the room! We had a small issue with the curtains not closing using the remote, but someone came up and had it fixed the same day as our complaint. We asked upon arrival to have our room adjoin the people we were travelling with, and they were able to accommodate that which was great.
It was a great room for entertaining, and the view wasn’t bad either.
In our hotel itself we had all of the amenities we could have needed – there were coffee shops, restaurants, we had access to the Shops at the Venetian, multiple pools, hot tubs, a spa, and of course the casino! There was a Walgreens if you wanted groceries in our hotel, and across the street there was a CVS with anything you may have forgotten for the trip.
We spent a day at the pool, and it was conveniently linked to the pools at the Venetian as well which was great! The Palazzo has it’s own pool bar as well called Azure. If you want to just sit by the regular Palazzo pools, they have a few that you can grab a chair at (first come first serve) and there are stationary bars to grab drinks at, or servers who would come around to take your order as well. We chose to make our home base at Azure and rented a large bed by their pool for the day. When we felt like trying something else we could leave everything at our rented bed (security was around to watch our things, and to make sure no one took our spot) and we could take a short walk to the pools at the Venetian, and their Tao Beach club.
Azure was great with a couple of DJ’s that day, but Tao Beach was my jam. It was like a night club during the day! They had a line up of Slurpee machines with different Pina Colada’s and margaritas, and everyone seemed to be there for a bachelor or bachelorette party! Girls walked around giving out free freezies, and you could order food all day to your rented chair.
Because we were staying at Palazzo, we had free entry into Tao Beach as long as we signed up prior at our hotel’s concierge which was totally worth it because then we could bypass the line.
At the end of the day when we returned to our room, we were shocked at how well everything was organized. I had never seen anyone organize my things as well as our housekeeper. She actually untangled all of the necklaces I brought with me, and layed them all out on a towel for me. She organized all of my makeup and brushes, she laid out all of my accessories on towels – it was shocking! I really hadn’t had anyone do that for me before! I am such a messy person that it probably took her quite a while to do all of it. She even wrapped up my iPhone charger cord. We were beyond impressed. And embarrassed at the same time because she probably thought we were really messy people so we tried to put everything back where she had made a spot for it each time we used something.
Check out at the hotel was very easy – we settled our bill in minutes and were on our way.
We pre-paid for our hotel room before we left, but there was a daily resort fee that is charged to your room each day that you stay that is taken care of on your check out day.
Would I stay here again? Yes absolutely! It was dangerous to have shopping, and GOOD shopping, so close by. I really loved being so close to the Wynn and the Venetian as well as they are two of my favourite hotels. There was a giant shopping centre across the street, and every amenity possible inside the hotel. I can’t wait to get back to Vegas!
For more details on the Palazzo, visit their website here.
I work to travel. I spend countless hours devising ways to get out of town every week whether it's just for a weekend, or for a week in a foreign country. My husband and I have been to 21 different countries together, so travel is a big priority for us.
When we decided to have a child, I remember saying to my husband that we needed one last trip because we didn't know if we would be able to travel again with a child. That last vacation was to a lovely all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean with lounger chairs by the pool, drinks near the ocean, late nights and even later mornings.
Fast forward to months later, we had an infant and I needed a vacation. I was desperate to go anywhere really. I sold a trip to my husband by talking about the importance of our first family vacation, and the much needed calling for rest.
At 7 months we took our son to Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. I had never packed so much gear in my entire life. Gone were the days of trying to fit as many shoes as possible into our bags – instead I was sacrificing clothing for diapers, wipes and snacks. I was determined to bring enough pre-mixed formula bottles that we wouldn't need to wash a bottle (talk about expensive), and I wanted to bring every type of snack and food he needed so he didn't eat any resort food. I was stressed about our child eating at a 5 star resort – it was insanity.
After packing everything in sight (including bedding for his crib and wipes to sanitize everything in our hotel room), I stressed about every detail. Where would our son nap? Would his life jacket fit? Did I have enough toys? What if he got sick – did I pack every type of medicine he might need? I am pretty sure I was exhausted before we left.
Funny enough I packed magazines and books for the plane and resort – none were opened or read. There was the stress of making it through the flight without bothering other passengers with him being fussy, and making sure his ears didn't painfully pop. And the terror of changing a diaper in the airplane bathroom. The terror. Then at the beach we were making sure he didn't eat any sand, or get sand in his eyes. Sunscreen was applied every half hour, and always making sure his life jacket was on before entering the water.
Believe it or not, after all of this we had a great vacation. I spent so much time worried, it's amazing I had any time to unwind. It's hard to complain when you spend time in the Bahamas, so I have to say the vacation was well worth it. I was starting to yearn for those lazy vacations in the sun sleeping all day, and dancing all night.
Fast forward to 2.5 years later, and we have also travelled to Lake Placid, Bermuda, and Turks and Caicos together as a family. The stress has calmed a bit as our son has gotten older, but those magazines and books are still rarely opened.
Last week my husband and I went away on our first vacation without our son. We have done overnight trips away, but this was the first real trip where we were gone for 4 days to Las Vegas.
We made it – this would be our vacation where we could be lazy, we could do whatever we wanted, and I could finally read a magazine uninterrupted!
We had an amazing four days, but something unexpected happened. I was feeling a little guilty about leaving our little toddler behind.
We have been a team of three for a while now, and we left one man behind. As I strolled through shops, lazed by the pool with a magazine, and danced into the late hours of the night as I had always wanted to do, I felt like something, or someone was missing.
It didn't help that when we called home he didn't want to talk to us. Not because he was angry or sad he was left behind – he was afraid if I talked to him on the phone I would come get him from his beloved Papa and Duchesses house (he calls my mother the Duchess) so he didn't want to speak with me. He was in good hands, and so happy to be with my parents the kid wouldn't even take my phone calls, but I still found myself wishing he was with us.
When we have our son on vacation the additional stress of airplane travel, safety in the water and eating foreign foods, and planning naps are compounded into our trips. Now without him on a trip I have the stress and guilt of not having him with me and missing him.
Although he cried when we picked him up to take him home (I was feeling really loved!), the next day he told us "you don't go on a trip without London". Maybe he is right.
