Saturday, October 13, 2012
I forgot! 18 Month Stats
This is such old news, but her official 18 month stats were: 20 lbs and 29.5 inches.
Vacation
Our little family of three just went on our family vacation to St. Augustine, FL. Last year at this time we went to Myrtle Beach and had a great time with our little 8 month old. This year we decided to venture a little farther with our 20 month old. We chose St Augustine because Paul and I love historic towns and we've never been that we can remember. We hoped the weather would be cooler this time o year allowing us to do lots of walking downtown. And it really was! We had weather in the low 80s with a nice cool breeze with absolutely no rain. We drove down Tuesday morning and checked into our hotel. We just recently got a credit card that earns Hilton honors points and we were able to use our points for our entire hotel stay at the Hampton Inn. The hotel as just ok, not quite as close to historic district as we would have liked. Luckily we did get a room upgrade, an advantage to being a gold member (another perk of the card) and got to be in a huge suite from the second night on. Gotta love a free upgrade! Anyways, we survived the drive down although peanut didn't sleep much, checked in, and headed to the beach. We walked along St. Augustine beach for a few minutes. The sand was so soft and pretty. It was approaching dinner time so we headed downtown and ate at a little Greek restaurant. I'll take any excuse to eat tzatziki sauce! Audrey ate some mozzarella sticks we had for an appetizer. We called it an early night after that. That night we were still in the regular room that had 2 queen beds. Thankfully Paul is a genius and figured out how to make a fort with the mattress of the unused bed to put in front of Audrey's pnp. Basically our experience in hotels has been bad sleeping wise because if Audrey can see us, she just cries. Well this solution worked perfectly.
Day 2 (Wednesday) started bright and early ... Life with a toddler haha. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then took the shuttle to stop 1 of the old trolley tours. We chose to use the trolley tour as a way to see the city. It's inexpensive, the ticket is good for three days, it takes you to every tourist spot including the things at the beach, eliminates the need for driving and parking, gives history along the way and is fun. There are 22 stops and you can get off and on as you please. Another trolley comes every 15 minutes.
So anyways, we started by seeing the old jail and the old general store which gave tours in each. We also walked through the St Aug museum. Next, we took the trolley to St George St which is a pedestrian only street that is filled with shops, restaurants, and bakeries. We ate lunch at an italian restaurant and after that continued to walk as Audrey napped in her stroller. We continued to walk along the bay area on this beautiful walkway. It was amazing to have the nice breeze and the view of the water. Once Audrey woke up we went to the old fort called the Castillo de San Marcos. It was awesome and we all loved walking around the top of the fort. We went back to the hotel after that to rest and regroup and then headed to dinner at a place called Harry's in downtown. Harry's had out door seating (I think we only ate indoors once the whole trip actually!) and live music. Audrey was very into showing off some dance moves for all to see.
Day 3 we took the trolley toward the beach to the Alligator Farm. We spent the morning there looking at the alligators, crocs, and other wildlife and even saw a feeding demonstration of the alligators. It was actually pretty cool. We took a family picture in which we held a baby alligator too. Afterward we went to the Potter's Wax Museum which was small but pretty interesting. I've always wanted to see what this museum was all about so I'm glad we went. Next, we went to a winery in town that gives free tours and wine tasting. Audrey at this point was T.I.R.E.D. but refusing to nap in her stroller! The tour and tasting was disrupted frequently but one of us taking Audrey out since she was being little miss cranky pants. We still enjoyed some wine enough to buy a couple bottles and then decided a nap in the stroller was not happening so we should go back to the hotel. She took a small nap there and then we went downtown to dinner at an Irish Pub along the bay.
Day 4 was our last full day in St. Augustine. We started our day at the Fountain of Youth which was fun. Audrey's favorite part was feeding peacocks peanuts! Paul's favorite part was seeing a demonstration of a canon being fired. My favorite part was walking around outside especially out on the dock on the inlet which extended 100 feet or more. We left there and went back to St. George St. for a light lunch at a taco shop and then to get frozen hot chocolate at Whetstone's. I had been dying for this since seeing the sign a couple days prior and was excited to try it. It was pretty good but not exactly what I expected. Anyways, Audrey was in need of a nap at this point and did us the great favor of taking one in her nap. Determined to keep her asleep for a decent nap, we walked. A lot. First we walked down St. George, then to the oldest street in St Augustine in the spanish quarter, then through downtown, over the Lions bridge (until we got stopped by the drawbridge being used!), then along the bay. The walk was wonderful, the weather again being perfect. And Audrey got a little more of a nap! Once she woke up we hung out outside of the Castillo again until the trolley came to take us to Ripley's Believe it or Not. Well, we went. I was not impressed. Not worth it in my opinion. It is in a very old home which was cool. Anyways, that summed up our day. We went back to the hotel, got refreshed and headed to our last dinner downtown to the Floridian.
What I am failing to include is that we spent a lot of time on the trolley, enjoying the tour and learning the history. Anyways, our last day was spent going to an outlet mall where I could stock up on fall clothes for my little peanut! I love Carters and wanted to take full advantage. I can't buy in advance for her b/c of her being so petite so she literally had 2 pair of pants for the fall. I made sure to change that and bought her a whole fall/winter wardrobe, a Thanksgiving dress, Christmas pajamas, and a Halloween costume! My little 21 lb, 20 month old is still in 12 month clothes! The outlet mall also had a Stride Rite which I was pumped about because for some dumb reason, we don't have one here or in Augusta. She got fitted at about a 3.5 so they advised going for a 4. We got her 1 pair of size 4 sneakers and 1 pair of size 4.5. Overall, a great success.
We had a wonderful vacation! We did so much even with a toddler and still had a great time. I'm sure as she gets older it will continue to get easier. We just got back this evening and it is always nice to be home! We all missed our kitty cats, our beds, and our Stoney (who is still at camp because we didn't make the 12 pm pick up so we will get him tomorrow)!
The rest of the year will be busy. We will be in NC for Connor's 3rd birthday in 2 weeks! Then again to NC for Thanksgiving and Christmas... something we haven't been able to do in a while! Paul surely deserves these holidays off, as he has to work every weekend from now until January. :(
I'll be posting pictures from vacation soon!
Day 2 (Wednesday) started bright and early ... Life with a toddler haha. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then took the shuttle to stop 1 of the old trolley tours. We chose to use the trolley tour as a way to see the city. It's inexpensive, the ticket is good for three days, it takes you to every tourist spot including the things at the beach, eliminates the need for driving and parking, gives history along the way and is fun. There are 22 stops and you can get off and on as you please. Another trolley comes every 15 minutes.
So anyways, we started by seeing the old jail and the old general store which gave tours in each. We also walked through the St Aug museum. Next, we took the trolley to St George St which is a pedestrian only street that is filled with shops, restaurants, and bakeries. We ate lunch at an italian restaurant and after that continued to walk as Audrey napped in her stroller. We continued to walk along the bay area on this beautiful walkway. It was amazing to have the nice breeze and the view of the water. Once Audrey woke up we went to the old fort called the Castillo de San Marcos. It was awesome and we all loved walking around the top of the fort. We went back to the hotel after that to rest and regroup and then headed to dinner at a place called Harry's in downtown. Harry's had out door seating (I think we only ate indoors once the whole trip actually!) and live music. Audrey was very into showing off some dance moves for all to see.
Day 3 we took the trolley toward the beach to the Alligator Farm. We spent the morning there looking at the alligators, crocs, and other wildlife and even saw a feeding demonstration of the alligators. It was actually pretty cool. We took a family picture in which we held a baby alligator too. Afterward we went to the Potter's Wax Museum which was small but pretty interesting. I've always wanted to see what this museum was all about so I'm glad we went. Next, we went to a winery in town that gives free tours and wine tasting. Audrey at this point was T.I.R.E.D. but refusing to nap in her stroller! The tour and tasting was disrupted frequently but one of us taking Audrey out since she was being little miss cranky pants. We still enjoyed some wine enough to buy a couple bottles and then decided a nap in the stroller was not happening so we should go back to the hotel. She took a small nap there and then we went downtown to dinner at an Irish Pub along the bay.
Day 4 was our last full day in St. Augustine. We started our day at the Fountain of Youth which was fun. Audrey's favorite part was feeding peacocks peanuts! Paul's favorite part was seeing a demonstration of a canon being fired. My favorite part was walking around outside especially out on the dock on the inlet which extended 100 feet or more. We left there and went back to St. George St. for a light lunch at a taco shop and then to get frozen hot chocolate at Whetstone's. I had been dying for this since seeing the sign a couple days prior and was excited to try it. It was pretty good but not exactly what I expected. Anyways, Audrey was in need of a nap at this point and did us the great favor of taking one in her nap. Determined to keep her asleep for a decent nap, we walked. A lot. First we walked down St. George, then to the oldest street in St Augustine in the spanish quarter, then through downtown, over the Lions bridge (until we got stopped by the drawbridge being used!), then along the bay. The walk was wonderful, the weather again being perfect. And Audrey got a little more of a nap! Once she woke up we hung out outside of the Castillo again until the trolley came to take us to Ripley's Believe it or Not. Well, we went. I was not impressed. Not worth it in my opinion. It is in a very old home which was cool. Anyways, that summed up our day. We went back to the hotel, got refreshed and headed to our last dinner downtown to the Floridian.
What I am failing to include is that we spent a lot of time on the trolley, enjoying the tour and learning the history. Anyways, our last day was spent going to an outlet mall where I could stock up on fall clothes for my little peanut! I love Carters and wanted to take full advantage. I can't buy in advance for her b/c of her being so petite so she literally had 2 pair of pants for the fall. I made sure to change that and bought her a whole fall/winter wardrobe, a Thanksgiving dress, Christmas pajamas, and a Halloween costume! My little 21 lb, 20 month old is still in 12 month clothes! The outlet mall also had a Stride Rite which I was pumped about because for some dumb reason, we don't have one here or in Augusta. She got fitted at about a 3.5 so they advised going for a 4. We got her 1 pair of size 4 sneakers and 1 pair of size 4.5. Overall, a great success.
We had a wonderful vacation! We did so much even with a toddler and still had a great time. I'm sure as she gets older it will continue to get easier. We just got back this evening and it is always nice to be home! We all missed our kitty cats, our beds, and our Stoney (who is still at camp because we didn't make the 12 pm pick up so we will get him tomorrow)!
The rest of the year will be busy. We will be in NC for Connor's 3rd birthday in 2 weeks! Then again to NC for Thanksgiving and Christmas... something we haven't been able to do in a while! Paul surely deserves these holidays off, as he has to work every weekend from now until January. :(
I'll be posting pictures from vacation soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)