Hello there! We’ve made it to the beach, to the snow, and back again…all in one week! It was a wonderful break from the day to day. I’ve got a whole lot to catch up on over the next few days. I’ll begin with our little family vaca to Ft. Lauderdale.
After this trip, Dave and I learned that traveling with children would be a little different experience than traveling as a couple. We came up with a couple guidelines to help us remember how to ensure a fun time with as little stress as possible.
1) Keep it short…I think two days on the beach with an almost-two-year-old is ideal
2) Keep it about being together…family vacations should be about FAMILY primarily, and the sights and activities are just a bonus!
3) Keep it comfortable…We’ve always been shoestring travelers, and good at it! We’ve decided, however, that as a family it’s nice to be able to enjoy some of the luxuries of vacations.
And one I learned this trip, that made a huge difference:
4) The vacation begins when you leave home, so enjoy the hour going up and down the escalator in the airport and be amused by the endless amount of pretzels and juice your toddler can down on the flight and take advantage of opportunities to have fun on the way. Rather than “waste a whole day traveling,” consider the traveling part of the fun and love it!
See? Even watching Elmo on the concourse floor can be a fun family activity!
If you ever visit Ft. Lauderdale and stay in the Marriott on the beach, ask for room 917A. It’s a corner and has floor to ceiling windows all the way around! Almost made us want to lounge inside all day!
But, the palms got us and we ventured out. Doesn’t everyone need some palm trees in February?
Milo is a dilly dallier. Maybe all toddlers are, but he just loves to explore wherever we are. “Forget the beach. I want to scoot back and forth on this curb for a while.”
“Forget the beach, I want to sit up here on this bench and slowly sip my Slurpee for a while!” Does everyone’s kids crack them up as much as mine does me?
Ahh. We made it to the beach.
We spent our first morning running around in the waves, climbing up and down the lifeguard tower, begging grapes from a sweet old lady in a beach chair, and basically getting sand everywhere.
During Milo’s nap, Dave told me to head to the pool and lounge while he stayed in the room. So, I spent a couple hours just relaxing and reading.
Both relaxing and reading have virtually disappeared from my daily routine, so it was a real treat.
Don’t I look relaxed?
I got back to the room just a few minutes before Milo woke up silly. We played in the room for a while before heading out to the pool as a family. Dave and I were thrilled with Milo’s enthusiasm for the water, and for his life jacket-which he didn’t love last summer. After a couple hours of playing catch and Milo jumping off the side into our arms, we were all ready for some dinner and a Piña Colada on the beach.
Our second day played out much as the first. Lots of sun and sand.
We couldn’t have chosen a better weekend as far as weather. It was absolutely beautiful. Warm, but a little overcast to keep the sun from scorching.
It makes a huge difference in my experience to not have a fixed agenda. We were simply in Florida together to enjoy some warm weather and be without life’s little distractions for a couple days. It was brilliant, and I found I enjoyed every minute, because I was never once disappointed!
We decided to take a long walk down the beach, since we were walking all around following Milo anyway. A little ways off from the hotel we found some tractors. Milo was in heaven!
This one didn’t have a driver, so Mister Milo took over without delay. He didn’t want to leave! We finally lured him further along the beach by pointing out this huge playground.
What a find! He slid and climbed and slid and climbed and slid and climbed and slid and climbed…
Then he spotted the crew digging up the side of the road just on the other side of the barrier from the beach. So, here’s what he and I did for the next 45 minutes! I’ve never ever seen him pay attention to something for as long as he watched that backhoe!
Mid-day we packed up and left our bags with the valet. Then we hit the pool one last time, ordered lunch poolside, changed in the restroom, and got to the airport to leave the beach for the mountains.
I can’t wait for our next little family blitz. We’ll see if we can slip another short one in before Milo turns two (and no longer flies free!) and Eliot makes an appearance.
Family
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Mister Milo
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TRAVEL
