Almost a year to the day, Braden took his second flight when we went to Myrtle Beach for vacation. He fell asleep halfway through our mid-morning flight to Detroit, and he did pretty well on the two-hour flight to Charleston until he acted up a bit in the final 15 minutes (when we had to shut off all electronics).

The way back was good, too. We did a better job of keeping him occupied from Charleston to Detroit, and he eventually fell asleep from Detroit to Madison (a late flight that also was delayed). We used food, books, DVDs, YouTube videos on Brian’s phone, videos on our iPod and toys. Both our carry-ons were totally devoted to Braden.

***

We think Braden’s favorite part of Myrtle Beach was the alligator zoo (see pictures in the photo album). He loved spotting all the gators and crocodiles, especially the ones lurking beneath us at the bridges.

For that reason, we thought Braden would love the aquatic animals in Ripley’s Aquarium, but he seemed fairly indifferent. The aquarium was located in a huge area called Broadway on the Beach, and so we went walking around a bit. We found a bridge in which you could buy pellets and feed the large fish and ducks below. There were so many we couldn’t believe it–they would jockey for position and sit on top of each other for these little pellets, which Braden enjoyed tossing at them.

***

As expected, Braden ate pretty well. We had a condo so we went grocery shopping for Braden. At restaurants, we fed him some seafood, which he tolerated to some extent. He seemed to like hush puppies and fried shrimp, but only in small quantities.

***

Braden liked the beach, but never for more than 30-60 min.; we think it got to be too hot out there for him, even though we went out around 10 a.m. We bought him a volleyball, shovel and bucket, all of which he enjoyed using on the sand. We also bought him a floatation device, which he liked using in the pool.

Apparently, Braden takes after his dad in his ability to tan. In just the few days we were out there, Braden developed a small farmer’s tan. He did not get any sun burns!

Journal travel, vacation

We went to Farmington, Conn., this past weekend for Kristin’s cousin’s wedding. Thank God the flights were uneventful. We got the worst out of the way first–Madison to Minneapolis, then Minneapolis to Harford–and Braden was a good boy. After one of the flights, a mother said to us, “That is the cutest baby I have EVER seen.”

On the way back was a bit easier, since the flights were shorter (Hartford to Chicago, Chicago to Madison). Basically, Braden either ate, slept or flirted with other passengers. Brian changed a wet diaper in the bathroom, which was an immense challenge since there was no flat surface (Brian changed Braden on his lap).

***

Saturday marked the first time we had a non-family babysitter, a person who was recommended by the groom’s family. She was nice, and fortunately Braden didn’t have a meltdown with her (again, he’s a big flirt). We did stop back in between the ceremony and reception to feed him (Brian also took the babysitter to get pizza).

Journal babysitting, travel