Planes, Rains, and Automobiles

We're back from B's 2nd vacation, and what a whirlwind it was! No, that's not a typo in the title of this post, but more-so an allusion to Tropical Storm Debby who threatened to rain on our parade...slight pun intended! 

B's Grandma KD was supposed to visit from Florida, but at the last minute we decided it would be more fun to take the trip out east. A little back story: B has a great uncle who recently moved from England back to the states and hasn't had a chance to meet him yet. They have settled in South Carolina, just a quick drive from Florida.  So, the decision was made, fly out of Arizona on a Tuesday, arrive in Florida. Leave Thursday from Florida to drive to South Carolina (roughly 8.5 hours). Leave South Carolina on Monday morning to drive back to Florida. Leave Wednesday from Florida back to Arizona. Doesn't that sound like fun? Oh yeah, factor in a teething 9 month old! :)

At the airport waiting to board

We decided not to tell my uncle that we would be visiting and opted to surprise him instead. Who doesn't love last-minute house guests? Don't worry, my aunt was in on the secret! :) I also took this opportunity to try a new travel system for B's cloth diapers. (That will be another post entirely, but it will include Flips and disposables--don't get me started here) So there we were, hubby just left the airport and it's just B and I, ready for a 4 hour non-stop flight. This leg of the trip was surprisingly uneventful. Despite having two teeth popping in, B was rather pleasant to travel with. He was chatting up a storm with the ladies sitting next to us on the plane, and we didn't have one diaper issue the entire flight! I thought this would be a great indicator for the rest of our trip!

All buckled in!

Tuesday and Wednesday came and went, and Thursday was the first day of our road trip. Road trips these days aren't what they used to be. Loud random music, stopping here and there for whatever "world's largest this" or "see the tallest that". We were two ladies (Grandma KD and I) and a baby on a mission. Upon looking at the forecast, it was to be sunny and warm in South Carolina, the perfect recipe for a nice family weekend. We made a couple pit stops to eat, stretch our legs, and change diapers. B was a champ in the car! He slept most of the way up there and really seemed to enjoy his view from the backseat. Once we arrived safely in South Carolina (a mere 8.5 horus later, yes, even with traffic and an infant we made GREAT time) we met up with the rest of the family and had a nice evening of pizza and swimming. 

What you can't see is his shirt reads "Road trips are awesome!"

The rest of the weekend consisted of B's first trip to the ocean and of course visiting a couple local cloth diaper shops (I'll post about these later too). While we were having fun in the sun, a quick look to the weather channel, and multiple texts from family and friends in Florida indicated South Carolina was a much better place to be than Florida. Debby. Mother Nature's moody sister blew in to town and wrecked havoc on the part of Florida we were supposed to be staying in. It was like the second we left town it started raining, and it didn't stop for days. Streets were flooded, people were canoeing where they should have been driving, and alligators were walking down the street! We decided to stay an extra day in South Carolina and ended up leaving Monday night instead of in the morning. We made it halfway home, stayed in a hotel, and finished the rest of the driving the next day. Naturally, it was about this time that B decided to get his first real fever. Not a vaccination-induced fever, but a legit, over 100, fever. My poor little monkey was a little out of sorts and crabby making the second part of our trip a little...shall we say, noisier? than the first part, but alas we made it back to Florida by Tuesday afternoon. (After another day or so of fevering, B was back to his normal self!) Although the city was still a little damp, and we did hit some rain patches here and there, for the most part the city was drying back up. Well, as dry as Florida gets :), and wouldn't you know, South Carolina was now getting the rain that just left Florida. We couldn't have planned the trip better if we were meteorologists!

Beach baby! He loved playing in the sand and waves!

 After a brief afternoon night of adjusting to being out of the car, we hit the road again Wednesday to get to the airport to fly home. Another packed flight, nicely delayed about 20 minutes, but once again B prevailed and was a trooper. I even got to chat with one of the flight attendants about cloth diapers! It was the only flight I think I've ever been on where all the attendants were men. And wouldn't you know, one of them is planning to cloth diaper when he and his wife's little one is born! After arriving safely in Phoenix, we met Polish Prince at baggage claim and the smile on B's face was almost as big as his daddy's! We had such a great time visiting family that I'm truly thankful to get to have these experiences with him at this age. We have a few more trips planned for the rest of the year and it makes me excited to know that B can handle pretty much anything that gets thrown at him!