Cruising!

Ready for vacation!

Key West (that's our ship in the background)

Sand! Cozumel, Mexico

Bathing Beauty

Ethan wasn't so sure about the cold water

View from the balcony in our room

Daddy and Ethan on the ship

Ethan LOVED his little umbrella stroller (and so did we!)

What an exciting week we have had! I can officially say that Ethan is an amazing traveler! He experienced more modes of transportation in a five day period than most adults and made it through all of it with a smile on his face (most of the time).

Our journey began last Tuesday. We drove down to Connecticut to leave Barley with Grandma and Grandpa Fowler. Thursday morning, we woke up very early and headed to the airport for our flight to Miami. Ethan was a dream! He fell asleep as the plane took off, and slept peacefully for about half of the 2 1/2 hour flight. After that, he was happy to walk up and down the aisle with Daddy. When we began to descend, Ethan started to get upset (I think that his ears were bothering him) but luckily Grandma Fowler had stuck a lollipop in our carry on at the last minute. Once we popped the butterscotch lolli in Ethan's mouth, his eyes widened and he was quite as a mouse for the rest of the trip!

After waiting for bags, taxis, shuttles, etc, we arrived on the ship. Ethan was a star through it all! He was happy to sit in his stroller and take in views, or sleep in my ergo carrier.

We had a wonderful trip! Though it was a bit breezy on the ship, the sun shined every day and it was so nice to just get away! Our first stop was Key West, where Ethan got to put his feet in the ocean and play in the sand. Next, we went to Cozumel, Mexico. More beach time for Ethan! He was very intrigued by the sand and kept trying to put it in his mouth! Finally, we had a day at sea. We spent the day walking around the ship, and sitting on the deck just relaxing.

While seeing all of the new places was fun, my favorite part of our vacation was simply spending uninterrupted time together as a family.

Monday morning, we woke up early and headed back to the airport for our trip back to NY. We got on the plane, and waited to take off. We sat, and sat. Then, they told us that our flight was being cancelled due to a mechanical problem. All of the flights to JFK for the rest of the day were either overbooked or cancelled. Yikes! Long story short, we booked a flight that connected through North Carolina to Hartford. Ethan was amazing through it all! He waited patiently with us in the airport, flew on two different planes, waited while we discovered that our bags were heading to New York (even though we were in CT) and slept for almost the whole ride home from the airport! It was a stressful, long day for us all, but I am happy to report that Ethan is a stellar little traveler and took all of our hiccups in stride!

Despite our not so relaxing ending, our trip was incredible. I realize that now more than ever, the importance of taking time to stop and smell the roses! This vacation allowed us to do just that- stop, take stock in how incredibly lucky we are to have this little guy, and how much we love being a family!