Florida - Day 3

When we woke up this morning it was cloudy. Being my mother's daughter I decided to check the weather. There was a good chance of rain so we made the decision to go shopping at the outlet mall in Sandestin. Mason was looking for some new shoes but came out empty handed. I got two new t-shirts and Miles got a couple new shirts as well. There was a Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant at the outlet mall but turns out it was not open yet. We all had a hankering for a hamburger and got lucky when we found a Johnny Rockets at the other mall in Destin.
After lunch on our way back to the house we stopped at a Gellato shop we saw earlier in the day. I had a cup of lemon sorbet and shared it with Allison on the way home. Turns out it was her first cone ever. She enjoyed it thoroughly.


After nap time we took our bikes for a spin down the road through a couple of little beach towns/neighborhoods. We put Miles in the trailer. I don't think he disliked it but he did not squeal with excitement either. He looked uncomfortable but since he didn't say anything about it, I did not mess with him. We had to wake him up when we got home to put the bike up.

A couple of my favorite areas were Alys Beach and Rosemary Beach. It just amazes me all these huge homes that are really beautiful and are really expensive. I didn't realize this many people had this much money in order to buy a vacation home. Most of these houses are $2 million +. What in the world are we doing here? See more pics here.

Mason and I were able to dine alone thanks to Kim and Matt. We will be reciprocating on Sunday night. We visited a small little restaurant called Summer Kitchen Cafe. I had a Mahi Mahi fish taco and Mason had shrimp and cheese grits. We then investigated Rosemary Beach some more and walked over to the beach to admire the stars. They are brighter and twinklier at the beach.

We are now working towards our phases in our card game. I am not doing so well. For any of you who are wondering how it is going- Kim is winning.

Florida - Day 2

It is actually day 3 of our trip but I didn't get to post about day 2 - so I thought I better not slip up before I really got going on our trip log.
After everyone got up and had some coffee and breakfast in them we prepared for the beach. And I wasn't really prepared for the amount of planning it takes to get a baby to the beach. And having never been to the beach, I had no idea what I did or did not need to take. We finally got everything packed up and headed for the beach on our rented bikes. My bike is girlie girl pink and they aren't really "cool" bikes but rather beach cruisers like the one I used to make fun of my mom for riding. To make things even better, I am pulling a kiddie trailer to put Miles and all our stuff in. It was actually quite a bit of fun and I am considering investing in one when we get home. We didn't take a picture of the bike but we should today. I have never had a pink bike. All i need are some sparkly streamers and i will be in the third grade all over again.

It was a really gorgeous day for being at the beach - clear blue skies, not too hot. And the beach was just as pretty as the one in Pensacola - sugary white beaches and beautiful blue water. - what you picture a beach to be like. Kim and Matt brought a canopy and we landed in our spot on the beach. I learned a lot about what you need on the beach. A beach chair is very nice if you don't want to wallow in the sand - which we did - but we will not do again. I am serious about investing in some chairs or at least renting some for the remainder of our trip. A floaty of some sort would be nice for getting the water. I was only in the ocean for about 5-10 minutes but all these little fishes kept coming up and nibbling at your feet and legs. That freaked me out and I know I looked like a buffoon in the water dancing around. Turns out when you step in the sand, it stirs up their food, and they are just taking advantage of your movement, soooo if you are in a floaty you won't do that and therefore they will not nip at your toes....Oh and the other thing was the flag indicating the safety was on blue which means dangerous marine life. The only dangerous marine life I saw was those little white fish. I wish they would have been more specific so I could have been on the lookout.
Miles was somewhat indifferent to the beach. He was the only one in our party that was able to snooze at the beach. By the time we got there and set up, it was his nap time. We propped him up in his little chair and he snoozed away. I tried to lay on the beach and relax but it was near impossible as i rolled in the sand. Since I was already sandy, I decided to try and make a sandcastle. Unfortunately when I tried to get some help from Allison she decided it was demolition time.
We were out there for about an hour and decided it was time to go in.

That was about it for the day. Mason went for a massage while the rest of just hung out in the house. After much contemplation we went out to eat for dinner at a place called Pompano Joes in Destin. It was a seafood shack that was right on the beach. All the windows were open and you could see the ocean. The food was OK but it was neat how you sat right on the beach to eat. It was really fast to sit down and the food came fast. Speedy service is oh so important when you have a toddler and a baby with you.

It was after 9 when we got in. We got the kiddoes to bed and enjoyed a partial game of 12 step Rummy (which is just like Phase 10). We only got through the first 3 or 4 steps because i was falling asleep and couldn't hold my cards up. We will continue the game tonight. I was winning until the last hand which i then went from first to last place.

Florida - Day 1

I thought I would keep a daily log of our journey. We will see if i keep it up.
We left 5 min earlier than our ETD - 4:55 am. It was a miracle. Miles woke up at 3:30 so i just stayed up. Lets just say its been a long day.

Miles was ok on the trip. He was on the fussy side this morning but after lunch he was good and took a good 2 hour nap in the car. After about hour 10 in the car he was ready to get out and would put up a little protest whenever we would snap him in the carseat.
It seems like the last hour and a half were an eternity. I am sure it had nothing to do with the screaming baby in the backseat. it only took 12 hours.

Our place is really nice. It is very "pottery barn" which I like. Miles is going to have to sleep in the room with us which I wasn't thrilled about. i don't sleep well when he is in our room. But i was probably not going to sleep well anyway.
I will post more pictures of our place when i can take some better pictures. We got our stuff unpacked and had pizza tonight.

Here is a picture of Pensacola Beach. It was prettier than I thought it would be. We stopped real quick and took a few pics. We were surprised how few people were out. Hopefully it will stay that way atleast until Friday. Visit more pics here.

The Digg Running Challenge

Mason needs some motivation to get him back into a running routine. So here's my proposition. For every comment or digg this post gets up to 100, he will run 1 mile. After that, he will run 1/10th of a mile for every comment or digg this post gets. He is ready to get into shape, so bring it on!

Whales and horses in the same building

One of the more facinating sites we saw at the Georgia Aquarium was the Beluga whale exhibit. See these graceful animals for yourself.



These odd-looking sea horses were nice, too.

Hotlanta...

As I have chronicled before, being parents has not cured our case of wanderlust and we still regularly check out the airfare deals online. We found a good deal on a trip to Atlanta, GA and decided to go see our dear friends, the Wessels, since they had only seen pictures of Miles. So we packed our bags and headed east.
On the drive to Memphis I told Mason that vacations were never going to be the same for me. I didn't have that giddy feeling of complete freedom and excitement of the open road. Instead I had this nagging sensation that I had forgotten something important - not for me, but something for Miles. And that forgotten something was going to make life miserable for all of us. Miles is completely dependant on me to remember everything for him - and anyone who knows me well knows "remembering" is not my strong suit (though it has improved out of survival). I developed checklists in my head and on scraps of paper weeks before we left and would add to it while washing dishes or blow drying my hair. It was like a lurking shadow. And now that we were on this trip, it did not stay in Little Rock. Rather, it evolved into new concerns the whole way. I'm not saying that I did not have a good time because of it. I did. But things were just different.
Anyway, our flight left Memphis Saturday morning around 9 a.m., so we decided to take a more relaxed approach and get a hotel room in Memphis (after dropping Smokey off in Searcy.) We had dinner at Cozymels (because it was close to the hotel) and were back in our room by 7:30ish. Another indication of this new phase of our lives - I was on vacation and in my hotel room for the night at 7:30 on a Friday night by my own choice. Things have changed.
This was Miles' first night in a hotel. He was excited to be in the room with us and would not have gone to sleep except for the towels and blankets that I draped over the side of the hotel roll-away crib (which seemed more like a cage without the top). He kept kicking his feet in between the bars intentionally and running his hands along them. I think he liked the cold metal. We got a picture of him chilling on our bed before he went to sleep.

Of all our bad nights, this was the worst. We all had a hard time falling asleep and after I was just about there, the fire alarm in the hotel went off for a brief second. I have never experienced the fire alarms at a hotel but I can now tell you that they are LOUD. Very loud. It scared me and Miles half to death. He started screaming and my heart was pounding. For the rest of you who know me very well, you know I am terrified of fires, especially in the middle of the night. For the next two hours, I tossed and turned with the idea of running out of a burning hotel clenching my baby floating through my mind. Miles must have had the same thoughts because he woke up just about every single hour until the alarm went off, which could not have come soon enough. All night long I ran back and forth to his little crib popping his pacifier back in his mouth and occasionally picking him up for a short rock hoping not to disturb one of the three family reunions that were staying at the hotel with us. 6 a.m. never looked so good to me. We got ready and went to the Memphis airport to go to Atlanta.

Airport security always makes me a little nervous, but now I had a stroller full of baby stuff. I was sure I would be pegged. Luckily I have a fabulous husband who said to me, "You just take care of the baby and I will take care of the rest." I couldn't have been more relieved. Mason got all of it through like a pro and i just held on to the baby. Miles LOVED the airport. He is a people person and would squeal at all the people and the attention that came with it. It was Miles' first plane ride and he did fantasticly. The sensations of the change in pressure and all the acceleration and turning did not phase him. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of us on the plane. We tried to take one but it turned out poorly. Oh well.

We grabbed all our bags and headed to our rental car - or should I say our rental minivan. Yes, boys and girls, we rented a minivan. Another indication of how the times-are-a-changin'. There was a cute little VW Bug convertible and a sweet Audi within reach but we chose the mini-van. It was very convenient for our situation since the Wessels would be riding with us. And it did have leather, which made me feel a little more hip riding around in it. It was a good ride, but I had a hard time swallowing the fact that we deliberately chose a minivan.
We had a nice visit with the Wessels, and her mom actually kept Miles while we went to Stone Mountain that night for the laser show. I didn't get to see much of the show because we were late arriving and didn't have very good seats. I had seen it before and I don't think it has changed in 15 years from everyone I have talked to about it. It was nice to be free of the youngin' and not have to worry about his bed time and how keeping him up too late was going to create havoc on us in the coming days.


Sunday we visited their little church and then made a beeline for the new Georgia Aquarium and Coke Museum after we had a quick lunch at the Varsity - an established grease joint in a 50's style eatery. I had chili cheese dogs which I thought were very cleverly executed. They take the hot dogs and put the chili and cheese on them and then grill the buns shut. They were the tidiest dogs i have ever eaten. Miles had a milkshake! (Just kidding mom.)
Again - the whole time Miles did fantastic. He just rolled with the punches. True, he probably didn't nap as well as he did at home, but if he got tired he would take a little nap in his stroller. He did not fuss much at all and is a great baby to travel with. I almost think he is better while we are on the road than when we are at home. Maybe he gets bored sitting at home. I do too. But how sad it is to think at 5 months old Miles is already bored.
Here are a few favorites from the Aquarium. I especially enjoyed the humongous tank aquarium. It is supposedly the largest in the world, and I think I believe it. I was able to slip back in the handicapped section of the observation room and feed Miles while I sat and watched the fish swim by. There were 4 whale sharks in the tank if that gives you any idea how big it is. There was a tunnel that you walked through to get to the room which was amazing. When one of the whale sharks would swim by, it was as if an eclipse was occurring.
It would block most of the light and all you could see would be this huge silhouette floating by.
We rushed through the coke museum since it was getting late but were able to stop for a few photos. Our little joke has been "MILEStones" and they had a great sign that we took our photo next to. We had a moment and took a family portrait by the big coke bottles. The best part about the Coke museum is the soda bar they have. You can sample coke products from all over the world. My favorites were the Asian sodas, and the Latin American sodas were yummy too.
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We were only there for one whole day and then had to turn around and go back - and through the whole airport worry again. I wish we could have stayed another day. But isn't that the way vacations go - you always wish you could stay longer.
It was a learning experience. I don't know why I worry so much about Miles. He did better than I dreamed he would. Babies are such resillient beings. They are more flexible than the majority of adults I know. I realize that this lurking shadow of worry isn't going to go away for a while - if ever - but I can pretend it's not there. I can't stay home because Miles might disturb someone else - or because I might forget to pack something. That would deprive Miles and me of living life. I don't want him to be an outsider watching everything go by. The only way to teach him otherwise is to get in the middle of it. True, vacations will never be the same again because I have been changed forever - I am a mother. And being a mother, a little piece of my heart will now be running around outside of me somewhere. It makes me quite vulnerable and I believe that is why I worry so much - no matter how many lists I make and precautions I take.

Out with the old...

And in with the new. I haven't been up to this blogging thing long, but after consulting my technical advisor (aka Mason) we decided a "bigger" hazelwoodhouse is needed. So, welcome to our new home. If you would like to check out any of our past posts (or see the infamous video of Miles rolling over), go to hazelwoodhouse.tumblr.com
I plan on publishing a few new post this week including highlights from our trip to Atlanta and new stuff that Miles is doing!