Critz Farm, New York.

Last weekend we traveled to upstate New York for my cousin Emily's wedding. The morning of the wedding, we -- along with another cousin Lindsey (+ her family), needed a little outing -- or rather, we felt the other hotel guests needed a break from our company :) I searched online for a great place to spend time with toddlers and I stumbled across Critz Farm -- a playground open all day, a farm, a petting zoo, a brewery... I mean, it was really the perfect place. When we arrived the brewery wasn't open (it was like 9:30AM) and either was the petting zoo part but the playground was, the grassy area for running was so big and the petting zoo animals were just right there! We spent 2 very fun hours on the farm and the whole time we were amazed that no one else was there. Before we left, Sean and Tim made it up to the brewery and said the beer and cider was great, too.

The point of our outing was to tire out the kids so they'd nap before the wedding. Obviously, it didn't work out that way -- because there's never a nap time guarantee but they all rallied for the wedding (post to come!) especially after being out in the hot sun for hours and hours.

Delray Beach, Florida.

We've been home from Florida for a little more than a week. Even though we didn't go down there for the best reason, Sean's dad is sick, we tried our best to squeeze in as much family time as possible in between doctor appointments and spending time with Sean's dad. We managed to explore a number of places. 

We attempted to go to the beach one morning. It was actually all that I talked about for 4 days -- and then when we got there, to my surprise NO ONE was there! I was amazed. I thought, for sure, that it would be packed. We carried all our stuff -- a beach blanket, sand toys, food and drinks, a diaper bag -- you know, all the stuff that is "unnecessary". Well, apparently, no one was on the beach because they're smart and know that it was way too freaking hot at the beach. Like... so... hot. I thought I was going to die and made us leave within 45 minutes.

We also spent an afternoon at Wakodohatchee Wetlands. It was a really cool place to walk around and Javi was obsessed with seeing all the birds and turtles and fish and we even saw an alligator! I was a bit scared of the alligators and it was really hot (that's sort of a theme when talking about our trip -- it was hot) but it was really nice and I highly recommend the walk!

 It was so hot that ice cream was a necessity! And ice water especially through a straw. :)

We ate out for nearly every meal. One of the best places we went was Rok Burger and I loved their fried pickles. Javi wasn't totally into being at a restaurant at the time but he pulled through.

The best place we ate at (3 times) was El Camino. Every time Sean gets back from Florida he talks about their tacos and I finally got to experience them. They are really amazing and since we've been back and have gotten tacos -- we've compared them to these ones. So good!

The absolute best outing we made was to Lion Country Safari. Javi is loving all things animals right now and they have a drive-thru safari park along with a whole list of other things we didn't have time to see but hopefully one day we'll get back. If we lived close by I imagine we'd spend a lot of time there!

Lion Country Safari from Jasmine Duffy on Vimeo.

As you can tell... lions are loved around here. 

Road Trip: 1,400 miles with a toddler.

Well -- we made it to Florida! We left Monday at 10AM -- we had to wait for my doctor's appointment to be over (what's up with the non-ultrasound pre-natal appointments when the doctor just asks you how you're feeling and then sends you on your way?!) -- and we arrived at Sean's dad's house around noon today. Roughly 1,400 miles stood between our house in Massachusetts and his house in Delray Beach, Florida. 1,400 miles. With a 23-month old. And I'm 20 weeks pregnant. With a blood clotting disorder. Yikes! Needless to say we stopped... a lot. More than Sean stopped on his last trip down south. But it was necessary for stretching, safety and sanity.

I was really aware of space on this trip. I'm trying to be more minimalistic when it comes to packing. It stresses me out. I googled and pinterested and scoured the internet for the best way to actually pack the car. Not necessarily what to pack... but how. I ultimately decided to share a suitcase with Sean and have all of Javi's stuff in another suitcase. Within each suitcase, I'm using packing cubes and everything has a very clear, visible place to be and it's worked out well so far. With the packing cubes, it's easy to see what's missing and what still needs to be re-packed -- so hopefully we don't leave anything behind in hotel rooms! We have his pack n play, diaper bag -- packed with any emergency things we may need like an extra outfit, medicines, a blanket, his lovey, then a backpack for all our computer things, a cooler with plenty of drinks and snacks behind the passenger seat that I could easily access wherever I was sitting and a snack basket that can easily be transferred between the backseat and the front seat depending on where I wanted to sit. I also set up a little diaper changing station in the seat pocket of the drivers side so any time we stopped I could change Javi. Most importantly, I limited his toys/books/entertainment to whatever fit into a narrow basket. It's small and fits on the floor in the middle of the backseat. 

Javi did really well. Like really well with what limited supplies we had -- we'll have to see if he's so content on the way back home -- because, yes, we still have to drive home. But there were some things that aided in our road trip and I wanted to share them here:

I brought some of his favorite things -- like this viewfinder toy, this vtech book, this doodle pro, and lots of books like this one. I also picked up some things that were brand new to him like some foam puzzles (similar), brand new mickey crayons, and mickey flashcards. 

I bought him a travel tray for coloring, reading, playing, eating, etc. This came in handy, for sure, though it doesn't lay perfectly flat (I'm assuming because he still rear-faces). So at times, everything on his tray would slide into his body and down into his seat which would elicit a "nooooooooooo" squeal. We bought a tablet holder. I know, I know. But disney movies kept him occupied, busy and happy. 

For me -- being in the car that long wasn't a good idea! In fact, one of my doctors was against us making the trip, another one of my doctors told me my pregnant bladder was my only limitation. So to make everyone happy, I promised to stop and stretch every few hours, drink plenty of water, I rotated from the backseat to the front seat so that I could stretch out my legs and put my feet up, and I wore compression socks. By the way -- compression socks in August... in a place like Georgia -- are hot. So hot. But they did help!

Another thing we did that worked out well and we plan to do it the same on the way back is to book hotels as we go. Each night as we were nearing what we felt needed to be the end I quickly got online and searched for a hotel on our route. Originally, I wanted to book ahead but between not knowing how I would feel, how Javi would respond to being in the car, Sean driving, possible traffic... there were just too many variables. Booking last minute was fine and we got pretty good deals on the rooms. When booking hotel rooms, we always opt for suites because we like having a separate bedroom so that Javi can go to bed in darkness (like he does at home) and we can still have space to get organized, watch tv, eat snacks, etc. It's worth the extra money to us and it's typically a difference of $20! $20 for a good night's sleep is so worth it. For Javi, we brought his pack n play (he's used to sleeping in it) with a comfy mattress pad, a sheet and blanket, his sound machine and his monitor so we can check on him without disturbing him. I find that making it just like home, is important. 

We also tried to keep him on schedule as much as possible. We tried to eat at normal times -- (I cut up a lot of fruit and veggies and brought him a bunch of pouches), get to bed at his normal time and we tried not to rush him in the morning! In fact, one morning at 9AM he was still looking like this -- and we just waited, and waited for him. But he was happy when he woke up and we eventually got on the road!

Now for 5 days in the Florida heat -- and then the drive home!

Cape Cod.

Javi and I joined my aunt and cousin down the Cape for a week. We were so lucky with weather and it was such a nice week to be on vacation. Javi enjoyed the beach, daily shopping trips and of course, spending time with my cousin Lizzie, who he calls "Lillie!" He also thoroughly enjoyed the outdoor shower at the house we rented! 

Sean had been away with his dad in Florida and needed to get back to work so he wasn't able to come for the entire week. He did manage to sneak away from work for a few nights here and there. Luckily, the Cape is pretty close to where we live so it made it easier for him to join us. We ate out a lot, had ice cream nearly every day and even went mini-golfing!

One day we drove all the way to Provincetown -- it's all the way at the tip of Massachusetts -- and spent the day. It's a really popular location and it seems like everyone always has a dog with them! Javi thoroughly enjoyed shouting "a dog!" every. single. time. he saw a dog! I also got my first Cape Cod bracelet!

On one of the cooler evenings, we thought it would be fun to take a stroll on the beach. Apparently, toddlers don't know that means "we aren't going swimming"! -- because Javi jumped into the ocean -- fully clothed! And I didn't have a towel, a change of clothes or a diaper! So...

We also spent a day in Chatham -- one of my most favorite places in the Cape. Another one of my cousins joined us and Javi is OBSESSED, though totally wasn't a fan of having his photo taken that day. 

It was such a fun week and one that reminded me of my childhood since I spent time in the Cape every summer. I hope that Javi gets to experience similar vacations because they really were so fun!

York, Maine.

Javi and I traveled to Maine with one of my aunts to visit one of my aunts who lives there! It was a much better trip than the last time we went to Maine and Javi was obsessed with both the pool and the ocean! We couldn't get him to calm down about it and he was a complete maniac! He's definitely a pool-runner and we have to work on that!

Even though I'm not totally a fan of the water (actually I'm really afraid it) I'm really glad to have a son that loves it. I mean... LOVES it.

Javi vs. the Atlantic from Jasmine Duffy on Vimeo.

New York City trip.

Over Memorial Day weekend, my friend Whitney and I took a girls trip to New York City. It was so nice to get away for 2 whole days but I can't say we did a whole lot of relaxing! The city is just so fun we tried to pack in as much as we could in the (basically) 48 hours we had. We took every bus tour and ferry trip we could, saw a comedy show, went to the bar from How I Met Your Mother, walked a ton, visited Central Park and Times Square, got served breakfast by singing broadway stars and so much more!

I always have these grand plans for family vacations and NYC always comes up because it's my favorite place in the world. But after taking the trip, I think I'll wait before we bring Javi. A stroller in NYC just seems like a lot of work. 

Impromptu road trip

Last week a huge storm hit the east coast. We were happy to be in sunny California when it was happening but it really messed up our flight home. Originally we were leaving Tuesday night (that flight was cancelled), we moved it up a night (that flight was cancelled), we moved it back to Thursday night (that flight was cancelled), we finally moved it to Wednesday morning but when we got to the airport, our flight was delayed. Once we boarded the flight and started down the runway, we had to turn back because of a maintenance issue. We sat on the plane at the gate forever, they thought they fixed the issue, we started down the runway once more only to turn back because the pilot said "I wouldn't fly my family on a plane I didn't think was safe, and this one isn't safe". As you can imagine, after a delayed flight and sitting on the runway -- people were a little annoyed. After that it was a mad rush to get in line, get on another flight, I had JetBlue on the phone and the helpful woman was telling me "get to gate 8! there's a flight to JFK" and I'd run to gate 8 and they were auctioning off tickets and the woman in front of us got the last one (damn her!). Then the woman would say "get to gate 4, you can get to San Francisco with a layover you can be Boston tomorrow morning" and we'd run there (with Javi, a stroller, 2 backpacks, etc., etc., etc.) -- she eventually said "I'm so sorry, but that was the last one. The next flight to get you anywhere close to the east coast is Sunday". SUNDAY. It was Wednesday. So we decided to cancel the flight, rent a car, and drive. We were in Long Beach, California and we live outside of Boston. It's winter. And we had a toddler with us.

// star wars sweats // book //

// mickey magnetic fun //

It didn't take long for us to realize that Javi wasn't going to make the trek. He fell asleep immediately upon sitting in his carseat. He was out... for 3 hours. So I started researching airports along the route home and then seeing which ones could get us a flight within the next day. Eventually we settled on Phoenix (about 10 hours from where we started off in Long Beach) so we booked a random hotel on Expedia (yay for last minute bookings that are super on sale!) and headed toward Phoenix. 

I've been to a lot of east coast states, and a few years ago we drove from Seattle to San Diego -- but I've never really spent any length of time inland on either coast. I've always been pretty close to the ocean (with the exception of a few trips to places like Vegas and Lake Tahoe) so the views of mountains and deserts was something I've never (in my adult life) seen before! The drive definitely made us realize that we aren't ready to embark on such a trip with Javi (as a 17 month old) but that in a few years (!) we will definitely make the trip across the whole country! If I could have taken pictures of the stars at night -- I would have! It was like we were in the planetarium at a museum. That's how bright they were! We finally made it to the hotel around midnight and it was such a nice hotel we were upset that we were only there to sleep for 6 hours! We wanted to spend more time there. Phoenix is definitely HOT. When we woke up at 6AM it was still 75 degrees outside.

We did eventually get home. The following day (Thursday) we got on an 8AM flight (that's when this whole thing happened) and landed in Boston around 4:30. We were really excited up until the moment we stepped off the plane and felt the -degree weather and we were all "sooo.... why were we rushing to get home"?!

:)

Santa Monica, California.

On Tuesday, we got the idea in our heads to make the drive to Santa Monica -- for the sights and lunch on the pier. Unfortunately, we didn't think to go until after 9AM so we were in major traffic both on the way there and the way back! Javi is not a fan of California traffic but he was totally ready to move to the beach. He thought the sandbox at my cousin's house was amazing and then he saw the beach -- basically, a giant sandbox and he couldn't believe it! We were feeling guilty about not getting him a souvenir at Disneyland the day before so we got him a little keychain that says his name for his school backpack. :) I think the smile on his face tells a lot about how he felt about Santa Monica (it's also one of my favorite places, too!).

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