Back in October we took our first official vacation as a family of three. If it had been just the two of us again, we would have most likely opted for our annual cruise. But since Matthew is still too young to go on a cruise (
yes were missing our annual Thanksgiving cruise with my family this year, boo!) we decided to go to the next best place we could think of: DISNEY!!!
Luckily we only live about a 3 hour hour drive away, so we thought it would be a great first go at the whole "traveling with a baby thing." We decided it would probably be easiest to go during a time that Matthew would normally be sleeping. So we waited until both of us got off work on a Thursday night, fed Matthew, and hopped in the car. He cried for about 2 mins and then as soon as we hit the highway, he was out! (
because you know, my child only enjoys being in his carseat if the car is moving. Hit a red light? be prepared. lol) Things seemed to be going pretty smoothly. Unfortunately, even though we remembered to feed Matthew, we completely forgot about dinner for ourselves. So we stopped off at a fast food place before we got on the FL turnpike in Ft. Pierce. We were hoping that Matthew would just stay asleep, but we werent so lucky. I let Matt eat while I changed and held Matthew, figuring I could eat in the car as Matt drove.
We finally got to our hotel, Disney All-Star Sports, at around 11pm. My sister, nephew, and niece were already at the hotel and had an adjoining room to ours. We setup the pack and play, fed Matthew again, and went to sleep. We knew we had quite a long day ahead of us the following day, as we were going to try and tackle 2 parks with 1 sick baby and 2 children. Oh did I forget to mention that my child was sick? Yes, the day before we left, I opted to take him into the drs office because he hadnt been feeling so great. Turns out he had bronchitis, and a normal babys blood count should be at 13, his was a 29. Meaning pretty close to pneumonia. My dr knew we were leaving for Orlando and told me to make sure he was kept cool, hydrated, and that he got all of his meds and he should be fine. He gave him a antibiotic shot to speed up the recovering process and ordered us to do breathing treatments at least 3 times a day. Before we left I also made sure to grab a stroller fan (
lifesaver!).
The next morning we woke up bright and early, no more sleeping in on vacations now that we have a lil one :( and started the day off with some breakfast in the hotel cafeteria, some playtime for the kids in the themed resort areas, and a quick morning nap for Matthew. I love that all the Disney budget hotels are themed. We've stayed at movies, music, and pop century before, but this was our first time at sports. Although Matthew couldnt really enjoy the themed part this year, Im sure if hes anything like his father, or cousin for that matter, hes going to love the sports resort the most as he gets older. There were giant football helmets, basketball quart, surfboard, etc throughout the property. Even my niece enjoyed the sports theme!
Once the time came to head to the parks, I realized it wasnt going to be as easy as I thought. We were prepared, maybe even a little bit too prepared. You see, the number one reason I like to stay on Disney property is because you dont have to worry about transportation to and from the parks. They have free shuttles that go all day long to all the parks and hotels. So I packed up everything I thought we would need for the day; the stroller, the baby bjorn, the diaper bag (packed with all the essentials) and the camera. I figured since we had the stroller it wouldnt be a big deal because we could just put everything in the bottom basket and strap the diaper bag to the handlebar. So yeah, that plan went well until we were standing in line for the shuttle and someone informed us that you have to fold the strollers up in order to get on the bus. :/
So now we have to figure out a way to bring everything, plus hold the stroller, plus hold the baby. All I have to say is thank god there were multiple hands available with my sis and her kids being there! Somehow we figured it all out, and it really wasnt that bad. People were even nice enough each time we got on the bus, to get up from their seat and allow for me to sit with the baby, opposed to standing and holding on to the rails. And i knew it would all be worth it, especially when we finally made it to Magic Kingdom. It was an absolutely gorgeous day outside, although hot, but thats to be expected in Florida. Since it was only about a week before Halloween, the parks were all decorated with pumpkins and everything else fall. (
this is when I got the idea to do my mickey pumpkin by the way)
Since Matthew was only 4.5 months I knew I wouldnt be taking him on many rides, if at all. But my sister isnt really into all the rides anyways, so I figured I could at least take my niece and nephew on a few rides. The first place we stopped was at the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. Am I showing my age here? I used to love Swiss Family Robinson, and yet my niece and nephew had no clue who they even were. lol.
Also, something I definitely recommend for anyone going to Disney with an infant, and something I am so happy i brought with us, bring the baby carrier. It was actually the first time we had Matthew in it facing out. We tried with him facing in like we normally do, but he was just too fusy. So when my sis suggested having him face out, we figured why not. Now I personally didnt like it because I couldnt see what he was doing (smiling, spitting up, sleeping, etc) but he seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. And thank god we have the
Synergy version of the Baby Bjorn because 1) its made our of mesh so its breathable, a definite must in the heat (
i mean look at my face in the pics, im beat red lol) and 2) it has additional back support, which is also a definite must because umm hello my child was 4 months but weighing in at an average size 6 month old, and carrying him around the park for that long def put some strain on my back.
Well, I think I overloaded this post with enough pics. Ill leave the rest for another post. Until then, i hope you all have a great weekend!
