After another way-too-fast weekend, Monday has arrived but this week will be a little different than usual around here. Chase, Sadie and I are headed off to Florida today! I’ve never tackled the drive to my parents’ place in Jacksonville with Chase alone and let’s just say I’m a little on edge and curious to see how everything will go with just me behind the wheel for seven(ish) hours. I have snacks, toys, games and a DVD player packed and ready to go. My fingers are crossed all goes well!
I’ll be sure to share some of our Florida adventures on the blog this week but until then, let’s back up and chat about the weekend!
Saturday
Saturday morning began with a bit of a slow start which was so nice. Ryan went to the gym a little before 7 a.m. and I made myself a bowl of triple chocolate protein oatmeal before settling in at the computer and working for almost an hour until Chase was up for the day. He slept in a bit more than usual which played right into our plans for a low key Saturday.
Once Ryan was home and everyone was fed and happy, we leashed Sadie up for a walk around our neighborhood and ended up at a nearby park for some playtime.
The park was empty so we had free reign and had a great time playing before we made our way to the nearby boat dock to throw rocks and feed the fish some of Chase’s snack crumbs.
We made it back to our house around 10:30 a.m. and headed out to pick up some road trip essentials that I wanted to grab before we leave for Florida today. I know a constant supply of snacks is key for toddler happiness and entertainment on a long car ride, so I’m hoping the large supply of some of Chase’s favorites (and mine, too) will keep us from getting hungry and cranky!
By the time we made it home, we were ready for lunch and I threw together a frittata and made sure to add a bunch of veggies to the frittata so we could avoid wasting as much fresh produce as possible before our travels.
Ryan and I both had work to do during Chase’s nap on Saturday, so we set up camp side-by-side on the couch, streamed Friends on Netflix and plugged away until Chase was up. Once he was awake again, Ryan suggested heading to Carburrito’s for dinner and since chips, salsa and guacamole always sound great to me lately, we piled into his car and made our way to Davidson.
(Who else is on team flour tortilla chips over team corn tortilla chips? They’re the BEST and I love that Carburrito’s includes a mix of both in their chip baskets. Is there a brand out there that makes flour tortilla chips that I can buy online? I’ve never seen them at the grocery store and I need more of them in my life.)
We’ve seen slooow progress with Chase when it comes to dining out (I laugh when I think about my pre-kid self who thought you could “train” a child to be calm and easy at a restaurant) but thankfully he seems to be becoming increasingly content to hang out with us and actually eat some of his meal when we go out to dinner. Choosing the right restaurant helps a lot (aka one that’s not too quiet with either outside seating or a lot of windows where Chase can point out cars and trucks passing by) and we had a really nice meal together on the patio of Carburrito’s on Saturday evening. Dining outside in February felt like quite a treat, too!
Of course there was no way we could be within walking distance of Whit’s an not stop by our favorite frozen custard shop for dessert. We ate our custard on a bench outside and as usual Chase ate his slower than we thought humanly possible and ended up with frozen custard soup. At least he seemed to enjoy every last bite of his liquidy treat.
Once we made it home, Ryan and Chase did some laps around the house in their cars (a nightly occurrence) before bath and bed time and, as usual, Sadie joined in the fun.
This activity always cracks me up because Sadie inserts herself in to their lineup almost every time and typically serves as their faithful caboose.
What a goof! I think she tired herself out because a very sleepy Sadie gave me a low growl when I tried to scoot her over from my spot in bed after I was done putting Chase down for the night.
Sunday
Sunday morning began quite early! Ryan had his alarm set for 5 a.m. because he had to catch the first flight out to California for work. We’ll definitely miss him a lot this week! After I said goodbye to Ryan, I dozed in bed for another 45 minutes or so before it was clear I wasn’t going to drift back into a solid sleep. I got up, did a little online shopping for a friend’s upcoming bridal shower and threw a load of laundry in before Chase was up for the day.
Chase and I spent the morning at church and followed up the first service of the day with some errands. I really wanted to find a portable DVD player to bring with me for our drive to Florida today and grabbed one at Target but we ended up visiting three additional stores trying to locate a car adapter that will reach from the back seat to the cigarette lighter charger that’s located underneath the radio in the very front of my car. We weren’t able to find anything long enough, so I’m hoping I won’t be pulling my hair out in a few hours once the battery is drained and Chase is sick of his books, toys and snacks! (Side note: This is why I Amazon Prime everythinggg. I am kicking myself for waiting until the last minute to pack and get organized!)
We arrived home in time for lunch and a few stories before Chase went down for his nap and I began working on this blog post and a blog post I’m hoping to share tomorrow recapping the most recent four weeks of my pregnancy. I’m hoping to check in on the blog most days this week but also want to soak up some family time so I’ll do my best to blog when I have a spare moment or two to myself! (I’ll also likely be posting more in Instagram Stories so you can also follow some of the day-to-day fun there if you’d like!)
Once Chase was up for the afternoon, the rest of our Sunday centered around packing for Florida. Thankfully Chase needs WAY less stuff now than when he was a baby which makes packing for a week away a bit less daunting but it’s always hard not to feel like you’re forgetting something crucial!
I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and I’ll see ya next time from Florida!
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Have so much fun in Florida this week! What a good way to kill some time while Ryan is gone 🙂 Sending up a prayer now that the drive goes off without a hitch!
Hope you have a wonderful time and the drive is smooth and easy!
Amazon prime,for life. Great idea on the portable DVD player. I should definitely look into those. I dread long car rides. My little one is getting better with them, but still gets bored. I wonder if it’ll change when she faces forward. Is Chase facing forward yet? I know he’s on the tiny side like my little girl. It’ll all be worth it though once your in Florida! Good luck, and I hope it goes well!!
Good luck on the car ride and have so much fun in Florida this week. You definitely have lots of yummy snacks packed. And Mexican food and frozen custard sounds like my perfect kind of meal 🙂
Amazon prime the adapter to your mom’s so you’ll have it for the ride back!! Safe travels today!
Have so much fun on your trip!! Saying a prayer for a smooth ride for you!
Check the truck stops for the charger that you need! Have a safe trip 🙂
Safe travels!
I love Sadie so much. Our little V always has to be in the center of all the action and it cracks us up!
Can’t believe the beautiful weather we’ve been having…it feels good to be able to run outside in a tank top and not have to bundle up with 100 layers…
Safe travels to Florida! I am obsessed with Whit’s. We live close to Whit’s so it’s an almost too common occurrence for us to end up there!
Yes! Choosing the right restaurant and going at the right TIME is so key to eating out with a toddler. Most days lately we just do carry out because it’s so much easier, but if we do take her with us, we like to sit in a booth so we can “block” her in, and we try to go suuuper early like 430 or 5 at the latest! And not gonna lie, she’s watched the PBS kids app a time or two on my phone…#guilty
I hope you have fun with your family while you’re in Florida.
Have a safe trip to Florida; hoping everything goes smoothly on the drive down there! Your comment about Chase eating the ice cream slow made me laugh, especially because you’ve shared so many times about how you and Ryan inhale your food. I was an extremely slow eater before I had my kids. Taking care of twins alone…if you didn’t eat fast, you didn’t eat (Ross)!
Safe travels and have so much fun!! I know you and Chase will love being with your family. Maybe you can amazon prime something for the DVD player while you’re at your parents so you have it for the car ride home.
I hope that you have a great, safe trip to Florida and that Chase does well in the car! Your chips/salsa/guacamole look too good….I am also a big far of flour tortilla chips. And flour tortillas in general.
Have a great time! I stress when packing too but always try to remind myself that if I forget something, there are always places I can buy what I forgot! And I always end up overpacking:)
What kind of dog harness is Sadie wearing? I like that the leash seems to hook on the side! We need one like that for our dog!
glad you had a nice family meal out! Safe travels to Florida, spending that much time with family when it isn’t the holidays is the BEST! (just because I feel like the holidays add a certain amount of pressure, stress, tiredness to the equation)
Where do you have Chase sleep when you travel? Do you have a crib for him at your parents’ place or do you bring a travel crib? I have a 5 month old – we recently traveled with our travel crib for the first time and he slept terribly! We had traveled with a bassinet when he was younger with no problem (probably because we used the same one at home and traveling) so it was a bit of a surprise. I’d love to hear any advice on sleep/travel with a child. Hope you have a great trip and that your drive goes smoothly 🙂
Safe travels and enjoy your time with your family!
My daughter is Chases age. Would love to know what toys end up working well on the drive!
Good luck with the driving part! I would love to hear how that all worked out. I’ve only ever driven that long with my toddler with my husband there too. How many breaks do you have to take? My daughter is also suuuuper active and just doesn’t like being confined for very long so would love tips for a longer day of driving. I have dreams of us driving across the country with her!
We do a LOT of long road trips with our (now) toddler. We live in Tallahassee and have family in Raleigh, so we are very familiar with that long drive. Consider getting or using an iPad instead of a portable DVD player. Netflix and Amazon Prime have SO MANY shows you can download, and the battery lasts a really long time. Also you can teach him to wear toddler Bluetooth headphones (so you don’t have to listen to SuperWhy the whole way…I personally enjoy audible books while I do the lonely drive down 95!) We are currently using a really old iPad 2 for our son, and he only gets it on car trips. Even with the old iPad, it holds hours of downloaded shows and can stay charged for 9+ hours of video play.
Ask for a portable charger that will work for a computer when you stop at a truck stop. They usually have long cords and will work.
Whole Foods sells flour tortilla chips!!! They’re amazing. They make them in-house so you can usually find them in the prepared food section, usually above the salad or hot bar. Try them!
This was going to be my suggestion! These are the best chips ever!
Hi love! Have an awesome time in Florida. I wanted to write about the stride of your ads, it’s so much. They are in-banner on half the photos and every other paragraph after. It’s really distracting.
Also, I work in this industry and the Better Ads Coalition is hunkering down. Right now you’d definitely be past their 30% ad density threshold. If you failed, they’ll likely block all of your ads in Chrome. With a chat with your ad network etc.
Let me know if you need help!
Lyndsey
Your part about dining out with Chase makes me feel so much better, haha. My son is 2 and I wish we could get him to sit nicely with us. We rarely take him out to eat because of how unenjoyable it is, but I hear of other families taking their toddlers out and I can’t figure out why it sucks for us. But we won’t use phones during meals so maybe that’s why we’re SOL on dining out with a 2 year old. Glad it’s not just us! I drive 5 hours with my son regularly (my husband lives in another state) and it’s never an issue. On the snow day, I drove 7 hours with him and we only stopped for 20 minutes to pee. He just entertains himself and takes a nap halfway through! Hope it went well for you.