First Plane Ride with a Baby 2010

Our first plane ride was Aug. 31-Sept. 3, 2010 to Las Vegas, NV. Logan was six months old. He was fantastic on the trip! A passenger exiting the plane said he didn't even know there was a baby on board. For the plane ride, we bought an umbrella stroller and borrowed an infant carrier/base. The infant carrier was extremely useful for the plane ride for Logan to sleep and play in. I wore Logan in the sling while at the airport and being transported to the hotel in the airport shuttle. We stayed at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, which was a beautiful hotel, complete with a lazy river and wave pool. Sadly we didn't make it into the water, but we did enjoy the view. Philip attended Photoshop World Conference during the day, while Logan and I explored the hotel. Logan and I had dinner with my cousin, Courtney, twice and met her fiance, Brady. That was a lot of fun getting to talk with Courtney and hear about her life in Vegas. Thursday afternoon Philip joined us for lunch and we ate with his aunt, Kathy, and his cousin, Brian. It was nice to finally Brian after hearing so much about him. Logan took a liking to Brian instantly. Philip enjoyed the conference and learned a ton of valuable information. The presenters were amazing, ranging from National Geographic photographers, to Photoshop gurus. The conference was definitely worth attending.

What I learned about our first plane trip with a baby:

• The infant carrier/base was well used
• The umbrella stroller caused more of a headache than anything and I would rather spend the money to buy a travel bag and take our stroller next time
• Traveling is great when UNT pays for it
• Food is not cheap in Vegas, it is ridiculously expensive
• Logan and I had a good time exploring
• It's important to keep Logan on his sleep schedule as much as possible
• Logan rolled over from his tummy to back on his own for the first time
• Logan found his toes and learned how to grab them

First Road Trip 2010

Our first family road trip took place from July 5-12, 2010. We left Denton and drove 5 hours to Amarillo and stayed the night at our friend's mother's house. The next day we arrived in Santa Fe, NM and stayed at a nice hotel for only $48 a night, thanks to priceline.com. Philip surprised me by making a short detour to the Four Corners on our way to Colorado. Turns out they closed the monument back in February and didn't tell anyone! At least we got a picture of the closed sign. We continued on to Durango, CO where we had a nice dinner and walked around the tourist area. The drive through the mountains was gorgeous, making quick stops at Silverado and Ouray. Absolutely breathtaking locations. We made our way winding in and out of narrow mountain roads, until arriving in Montrose, a decent sized city in the foothills where we stayed the night. The next morning we enjoyed a cup of coffee and pastry on the front porch at a cute coffee shop before hitting the road again. The drive from Western Colorado to Eastern Colorado was beautiful. We saw mountains, valleys, thunderstorms, snow and sunshine all in a few hours. That afternoon we pulled up to our final destination: Denver. We met our nephew, Matthew, which was really fun. The next few days we enjoyed time spent with Stacy, Ben, Matthew, my parents, Don, Lori, Courtney and Katie. It was relaxing and pleasant. The return trip we stopped in Colorado Springs just long enough for Philip to see our old house, then pressed on til we reached Amarillo and arrived in Denton the following day.

What I learned on our first road trip:

• we packed way too much of everything for Logan
• as long as we stopped every 3-4 hours for a feeding, diaper change and play time Logan did great traveling in the car
• priceline.com and travelocity's secret rooms were an excellent way to book lodging
• renting a car was a wise decision, providing more space and no wear/tear on our car
• I love traveling with my husband and son, anytime, anywhere, as long as we go together:)