First Family Vacation
Jul. 25th, 2012 09:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancerjodiBrian and I spent last weekend with Mina in the White Mountains area. It was our first vacation there (of many to come) as a family!
We took Friday off of work and took our time in the AM over breakfast and packing and running some errands before heading North. I needed a bathroom break in Danvers, and then Mina needed a diaper/boredom break a half hour after that. I sat in the back with her the rest of the way to our lunch stop, managing to bottle feed her while she sat in her car seat and soothe her to a nap.
We typically take 95 to 16 up to the Valley area, and we stopped for lunch in Conway at http://www.cafenoche.net/. We discovered this place on our honeymoon, love Mexican food and needed the break, so after another diaper change we went in for a late lunch. It was Mina's first time sitting in her little seat at a restaurant! We debated bringing it (we have this instead of a high chair http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Healthy-Care-Booster-Green/dp/B004C43JJ4/ref=br_it_dp_o_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=3AJO9SNUW5FTC&coliid=I20S7XBS2I85KO and LOVED it for travel). We are so glad that we did. After a great lunch and some outlet shopping (Miss Thing is growing so fast, we needed more sleepers and summer shorts for her) it was getting later and it was close to nap time, so we headed across the http://www.kancamagushighway.com/ to the other side to get some food supplies and check in at http://www.pemicabins.com/. The last time we stayed here was 4 or so years ago, though this time our cabin had a little kitchenette. I fed Mina and we settled in, and headed for dinner at http://indianheadresort.com/ before retiring for the night. Mina fell asleep on me while eating on the back porch, along the Pemi River (aw, so sweet) and Brian rocked her a bit and got her into the Pack and Play. She lasted in there an hour before waking up cranky, and though I managed to soothe her and get her back in there again, she only lasted about 30 minutes before she woke up hysterical and would not calm down. It was onto the boob and into the bed with us for the rest of the night.
We were up the next day and after breakfast in our cabin ventured out to Plymouth 30 or so miles away to try and make our Pack and Play more comfy. We had a very nice travel one, but as Miss M has gotten bigger and is moving around, she rolls once and is stuck on the side. We decided to leave the small one with my parents and buy a larger one, getting the cheapest and only available one at Target before we left (a Baby Trend model for around $70). CRAPPIEST MATTRESS EVER! I don't know why we didn't think of this. I wouldn't be able to sleep on this thing. Mina would settle down OK, but she'd roll and get stuck in a crack in the thing, or hit the hard surface and wake up. Determined to get a better rest on Saturday night, we went to Walmart only to find the same crappy, cheap Baby Trend brand unit. We did the best we could and bought a mattress top, sheet and bed roll (that we cut to fit). We put the roll under her mattress, cover on the mattress and the sheet over to hold it all together. It did make the thing more comfortable and she slept 4 hours Saturday night before waking up upset and went into our bed. Moral of the story: invest in a better pack and play. She slept in one just fine at my sister's house on our RHPS overnight, so I know it wasn't just due to a strange place or not being in her crib or our bed at home.
After we got home Brian went out to buy a nicer Graco one (we'll return the Baby Trend). But I digress.
On Saturday after our Walmart adventure we came back to the cabin, packed up lunches and got ourselves together for a hike at http://www.cannonmt.com/flumegorge.html . It is a clear, short path (about 3 miles round trip, though quite hilly). We figured a good first one to do with baby. Brian carried Mina on his back in our great Kelty pack that we registered for and received at our baby shower. Such a great thing! We will get a ton of use out of it. She was fascinated on the way up to the top of the gorge and slept the whole way down. We stopped in their cafe after to eat our packed lunch, had some bathroom breaks, and then on a local's suggestion went to check out the Old Man Memorial up the road http://oldmanofthemountainlegacyfund.org/ . What a neat experience! I wasn't expecting to like the site but I think they did the best with what they had. From there we headed to http://www.christmasloft.com/XmasLoft/index.cfm to pick out Mina's first ornament for our tree in December. Though the North Conway store is a bit bigger/nicer with a little Victorian 'Village' in it, the Lincoln store was more convenient. We were all pretty beat and Mina was due for a boob and nap before dinner, so we headed back to the cabin for a bit. Oh - my - goodness! This was probably the most fun we had on our whole trip. Mina had a case of the sillies, and so while Brian and I layed on the bed she rolled around between us laughing at our funny faces, us tickling her or whatever. She alternately played and nursed, but there was no nap happening. When we were fairly sure she was done eating, we headed to dinner at http://www.thecman.com/. We had eaten at the Tilton Diner and loved it, and my brother was married at the Greenhouse and Inn in Plymouth, so we wanted to give this location a try. Mina was awesome as always, the food was great and the service was wonderful. After another sleepy feeding on our riverfront porch, we settled in for the night.
Sunday oh Sunday, I felt terrible! Was it a stomach bug, a flu, overdoing it too soon after pneumonia? I had a slight fever and a lot of GI distress. We got up and packed the cottage, went out to http://pollyspancakeparlor.com/ for the first time for breakfast and just headed straight home from there. Our plan had been to continue to Littleton for some walking, to pick out a book for Mina from their great little bookstore in the center, hit up their farmer's market and then have lunch before home, but I was just not up for it. I sat in the back with Mina and Brian drove home, with a stop in Derry for us to stretch, feed and change Mina. I felt like death all of Sunday (missed an obligation that I had in the late afternoon - totally blanked on it because I was so feverish and icky feeling). Brian cared for Mina and let me sleep as much as I could aside from feeding her. What a world of difference it made, I felt normal again on Monday.
All in all a great trip. Mina is great being out and about, it is all up to us to pay attention to her cues and kind of predict when she'll be hungry, or when she'll want to nap (the two needy/cranky times she has). She did great despite some running around, and really seemed to enjoy the new sights in front of her. I look forward to lots of fun with her in the mountains, many times over our years together.
And I learned that I just pushed myself too much. I am dying to get back to exercising, but overdid it with that small easy hike and paid the price. I miss Zumba! I miss the gym! Soon, soon.
Our pics from the weekend are here http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancerjodi/sets/72157630673050280/with/7633438042/ and here http://www.flickr.com/photos/tk7602/sets/72157630728602994/with/7633084988/
We took Friday off of work and took our time in the AM over breakfast and packing and running some errands before heading North. I needed a bathroom break in Danvers, and then Mina needed a diaper/boredom break a half hour after that. I sat in the back with her the rest of the way to our lunch stop, managing to bottle feed her while she sat in her car seat and soothe her to a nap.
We typically take 95 to 16 up to the Valley area, and we stopped for lunch in Conway at http://www.cafenoche.net/. We discovered this place on our honeymoon, love Mexican food and needed the break, so after another diaper change we went in for a late lunch. It was Mina's first time sitting in her little seat at a restaurant! We debated bringing it (we have this instead of a high chair http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Healthy-Care-Booster-Green/dp/B004C43JJ4/ref=br_it_dp_o_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=3AJO9SNUW5FTC&coliid=I20S7XBS2I85KO and LOVED it for travel). We are so glad that we did. After a great lunch and some outlet shopping (Miss Thing is growing so fast, we needed more sleepers and summer shorts for her) it was getting later and it was close to nap time, so we headed across the http://www.kancamagushighway.com/ to the other side to get some food supplies and check in at http://www.pemicabins.com/. The last time we stayed here was 4 or so years ago, though this time our cabin had a little kitchenette. I fed Mina and we settled in, and headed for dinner at http://indianheadresort.com/ before retiring for the night. Mina fell asleep on me while eating on the back porch, along the Pemi River (aw, so sweet) and Brian rocked her a bit and got her into the Pack and Play. She lasted in there an hour before waking up cranky, and though I managed to soothe her and get her back in there again, she only lasted about 30 minutes before she woke up hysterical and would not calm down. It was onto the boob and into the bed with us for the rest of the night.
We were up the next day and after breakfast in our cabin ventured out to Plymouth 30 or so miles away to try and make our Pack and Play more comfy. We had a very nice travel one, but as Miss M has gotten bigger and is moving around, she rolls once and is stuck on the side. We decided to leave the small one with my parents and buy a larger one, getting the cheapest and only available one at Target before we left (a Baby Trend model for around $70). CRAPPIEST MATTRESS EVER! I don't know why we didn't think of this. I wouldn't be able to sleep on this thing. Mina would settle down OK, but she'd roll and get stuck in a crack in the thing, or hit the hard surface and wake up. Determined to get a better rest on Saturday night, we went to Walmart only to find the same crappy, cheap Baby Trend brand unit. We did the best we could and bought a mattress top, sheet and bed roll (that we cut to fit). We put the roll under her mattress, cover on the mattress and the sheet over to hold it all together. It did make the thing more comfortable and she slept 4 hours Saturday night before waking up upset and went into our bed. Moral of the story: invest in a better pack and play. She slept in one just fine at my sister's house on our RHPS overnight, so I know it wasn't just due to a strange place or not being in her crib or our bed at home.
After we got home Brian went out to buy a nicer Graco one (we'll return the Baby Trend). But I digress.
On Saturday after our Walmart adventure we came back to the cabin, packed up lunches and got ourselves together for a hike at http://www.cannonmt.com/flumegorge.html . It is a clear, short path (about 3 miles round trip, though quite hilly). We figured a good first one to do with baby. Brian carried Mina on his back in our great Kelty pack that we registered for and received at our baby shower. Such a great thing! We will get a ton of use out of it. She was fascinated on the way up to the top of the gorge and slept the whole way down. We stopped in their cafe after to eat our packed lunch, had some bathroom breaks, and then on a local's suggestion went to check out the Old Man Memorial up the road http://oldmanofthemountainlegacyfund.org/ . What a neat experience! I wasn't expecting to like the site but I think they did the best with what they had. From there we headed to http://www.christmasloft.com/XmasLoft/index.cfm to pick out Mina's first ornament for our tree in December. Though the North Conway store is a bit bigger/nicer with a little Victorian 'Village' in it, the Lincoln store was more convenient. We were all pretty beat and Mina was due for a boob and nap before dinner, so we headed back to the cabin for a bit. Oh - my - goodness! This was probably the most fun we had on our whole trip. Mina had a case of the sillies, and so while Brian and I layed on the bed she rolled around between us laughing at our funny faces, us tickling her or whatever. She alternately played and nursed, but there was no nap happening. When we were fairly sure she was done eating, we headed to dinner at http://www.thecman.com/. We had eaten at the Tilton Diner and loved it, and my brother was married at the Greenhouse and Inn in Plymouth, so we wanted to give this location a try. Mina was awesome as always, the food was great and the service was wonderful. After another sleepy feeding on our riverfront porch, we settled in for the night.
Sunday oh Sunday, I felt terrible! Was it a stomach bug, a flu, overdoing it too soon after pneumonia? I had a slight fever and a lot of GI distress. We got up and packed the cottage, went out to http://pollyspancakeparlor.com/ for the first time for breakfast and just headed straight home from there. Our plan had been to continue to Littleton for some walking, to pick out a book for Mina from their great little bookstore in the center, hit up their farmer's market and then have lunch before home, but I was just not up for it. I sat in the back with Mina and Brian drove home, with a stop in Derry for us to stretch, feed and change Mina. I felt like death all of Sunday (missed an obligation that I had in the late afternoon - totally blanked on it because I was so feverish and icky feeling). Brian cared for Mina and let me sleep as much as I could aside from feeding her. What a world of difference it made, I felt normal again on Monday.
All in all a great trip. Mina is great being out and about, it is all up to us to pay attention to her cues and kind of predict when she'll be hungry, or when she'll want to nap (the two needy/cranky times she has). She did great despite some running around, and really seemed to enjoy the new sights in front of her. I look forward to lots of fun with her in the mountains, many times over our years together.
And I learned that I just pushed myself too much. I am dying to get back to exercising, but overdid it with that small easy hike and paid the price. I miss Zumba! I miss the gym! Soon, soon.
Our pics from the weekend are here http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancerjodi/sets/72157630673050280/with/7633438042/ and here http://www.flickr.com/photos/tk7602/sets/72157630728602994/with/7633084988/
