Baylor absolutely LOVED the sand, the ocean, the swimming pool, and of course, the food! This wasn't his first tropical vacation, as we were in Mexico earlier this year, but he was finally old enough to enjoy the pool without feeling shocked or cold and he would walk/crawl around the beach fully indulging in the sandy mess. Let me tell you, sand will hide in cracks and holes you didn't know you had! I'm sure I'll be finding sand on him for another week or so, at least. But hey, whatevs!
I'll share more photos from our trip later this week, but first, I thought I'd give you guys the low-down on what we packed and how we dealt with the actual 'getting there'.
I realize this is all a bit random, but each of these little things had their shining moment and I feel as though they deserve a toast. So without further adieu...
First up - the airplane ride. Traveling with a one year old can be down right stressful! A six hour plane ride with a kid who doesn't like to be held while he sleeps had me a teensy bit worried. Our first HUGE blessing was getting an empty middle seat there & back - we asked if they could do an 'infant block' and thankfully- there were enough seats to do so! Having an extra seat allowed Baylor to stand up, have a little bit of his own space and for us to spread out and to get comfortable (take that with a grain of salt) while he was sleeping.
A few of our airplane necessities... an iPad. Baylor has never watched TV with the exception of a show here or there at other people's houses, so we were hoping this would grab his attention. We loaded up Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Sesame Street. We brought headphones, but that quickly became a game of on & off, so we turned the volume up and just let him watch that way. The white noise drowns it out for others enough that it was actually okay. He wasn't enamored by it in any way, but it worked for a good 15 minute chunk here or there. And 15-20 minute chunks on a 6 hour plane ride can be a saving grace. Aside from that, we packed a few random toys, lots of finger baby food that he could pick up to eat, his blanket to snuggle and play peek-a-boo! and a sippy cup. The only other major saving grace on the plane was dum-dum suckers, which we only had to pull out once. We saved this for desperate times, and at one point he got pretty antsy. Pop open one of these babies and he snuggled right in and went to town. LIFESAVER!
As for beach & pool necessities ... we kept it pretty simple and didn't bring a lot of beach toys or pool accessories. Some swimsuits, sunscreen, hats, water balls to play with in the pool and that was about it.
Look, i realize rash guards nearly as cute as chubby baby belly hanging over swim trunks, BUT when the sun is hot, the burns are not. ;) just made that up - #HOLLA! So, I bought a couple of these for Baylor and we'd alternate days of just bare belly and days with a rash guard. He honestly didn't seem to mind at all and it's way easier to do sunscreen on arms & legs instead of the whole shabang. This particular one is from the gap and I bought some super cute neon trunks to match - it was pretty cute :)
The hat - well, it's my fav. and it's been a lifesaver. Looks cute & hip and covers the face! Love it. via Cherokee for Target. And those shoes - those are Natives. Nordstrom sells them and they're great for going between sand, ocean, boardwalk, grass, and pool. All for one and one for all! rah rah!
And while I'm on the topic of swim & sun, I may as well dive into our sunscreen routine. see what i did there? I used this spray sunscreen on B everywhere but his face (we used this one on his face). Meant for wet, squirmy kids, it was easy to apply, smelled great and stayed on in the pool. Plus it's of the helioplex variation, specially formulated and meant for wet skin! Nana gives it the thumbs up, and she's the sunscreen connoisseur. So we're cool, yeah?
As far as packing for Bb, we stayed in a condo in Maui, so I knew we had a washer and dryer, which allowed me to pack lighter than normal. I just brought some detergent (tide has these awesome new detergent traveler pouches in the travel section at Target that are perfect for laundry on-the-go! a definite must have) and did a few loads throughout our trip.
I brought his pack and play (a familiar place to sleep), and his white noise machine, so we could hang out on the balcony or in the other room while he napped and not have to worry about waking him up. Plus, there's guaranteed to be a few douchebags during every hotel stay that think their volume level should exceed that of a normal, respectful human and I wasn't about to let them wake Baylor up.
Our stroller was absolutely clutch in every situation possible and I couldn't be more happy with it. Folds up quickly, packs a whole lot of crap on it and bright & cheery to boot! There were a few times we loaded this with bags or groceries and strapped BB into the Ergo (another travel essential not pictured). It's like a personal shopping cart with cute cheery stripes! Need I say more?
The only other necessity that I should mention is a pocket size camera. I decided not to lug along our big Nikon DSLR, which I feel pretty good about. We bought this little point and shoot (the canon powershot) and it's been the best little guy to tote around! More reliable (read: you don't have to delete 7 pics every time you want to take 1) than an iPhone and still takes really great photos!
I fully realize this is a novel, and for that I apologize...but not really.
Be back this week for more vacation pics!
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I stole the dum-dum trick from this post and it worked wonderfully! Brilliant!
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