Wedding Bells and Conch Shells...Our Trip To The Keys

As you know from our last post, we took a trip to the Keys last weekend. Taking a vacation with Rylan is one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences ever! Here are 10 things we learned about vacationing while on vacation.

1. No matter how much you pack, you never pack enough. We seriously fit enough supplies to last a small country several months...and still made 3 trips to CVS (without coupons...they will be on our next trip) I have no picture for this number...although I guess I could have taken a picture of our receipts?


2. It's always nice to have an extra set of hands. Having extra help is nice, especially if you need your hands free to do important things...like exchange rings and say vows. Good thing my daddy was there to help. He held Ry the whole time during the ceremony...(even though Rylan's Gigi claimed that right in advance).




3. Take advantage of all naps. Either Rylan is a super awesome kid, or we are super awesome parents. Our first dinner as a married couple happened to coincide with Rylan's post-dinner nap. This meant instead of scarfing down our food and getting Rylan the LOUD Talker out of the restaurant, we were able to enjoy our food and have a real conversation (about Rylan of course!)


4. Find out if your hotel has a bathtub (in ADVANCE)!!! We sadly did not do this. Normally, as per Ry's ped's orders, we bathe him every couple of days. Since it was so hot and he was slathered in sunscreen every time we stepped outside, we had to bathe him every night we were there. My parents saved us once by bathing him in their hotel bathtub. The rest of the nights we attempted an awkward bathing in the shower. Who knew wet babies were sooo slippery?

5. Duval Street after 8:30 is NOT kid friendly. No this picture is not Rylan's reaction to Duval after dark, but had he been awake it could be. Us being the tech nerds we are, we used TripAdvisor to search the best restaurant that was kid friendly. After vetoing anything with seafood, we settled on a "southern" restaurant on a street different than Duval. After getting lost (thanks to Matt's POOR navigation), we managed to find this restaurant. It was neither southern nor far from Duval. While the food was delicious (pizza), the walk back to the hotel was appalling. The only good thing about Duval street at night is the Ah-Mazing frozen yogurt shop that was still open! Who knew Captain Crunch was so good on top of cake batter fro-yo?

6. Have your camera ready at all times! You never know when your child will decide that they are, in fact, a FISH! Rylan spent hours in the pool! He loved the water. He had so much fun splashing and trying to dunk himself. However, this are the only pictures we managed to get of it :(

7. Wear the appropriate attire. No, we didn't really learn a lesson from this...I just couldn't resist posting this picture of the RIDICULOUS hat my parents bought for Rylan (and themselves...)








8. Sometimes, you have to just forget the reviews and try new things. As we have said before, we are NOT spontaneous. Rather, we are meticulous planners, especially on vacations. Before we go on a trip we have what we are going to do and where we are going to eat figured out. This trip, being so last minute, was different. We went to one restaurant that we researched...and it was not that great. The best food was found just by walking around.

9. Sanity is better than sightseeing. After several hours of exploring Key West (and Duval in the daytime), we deiced to forgo the standard photo op at the southernmost point, in the name of sanity. Rylan was hot (and cranky), I was hot (and cranky), and Matt's feet hurt (and he was cranky). This is the picture we got as we did a "drive by."






We already knew this one before the trip...
10. We have the best family/friends ever! Thanks so much for the amazing support. We feel so blessed by the  phone calls/texts/FB posts/ and this little surprise from Andy and Steph!






Here are a few more pictures from our trip...

Like Poppa like Grandson

Two Handsome Guys!

He loved the fish!

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