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.

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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.

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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.

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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

Brian won a trip to Branson, Mo., and so we took our trip there this week. We left Saturday and stayed overnight in Litchfield, Ill., about halfway of the nine-hour drive. That was the easiest drive of all, as Braden napped most of the way, then we stopped for dinner, and then he watched a DVD until we got to the hotel.

We got to Branson (after a lunch stop in Springfield, Mo.) about 2:30 p.m. Sunday. We didn’t waste any time: after checking into our hotel, we briefly shopped, did a duck ride (a tour of Branson and a lake while riding a duck) at 4 p.m. and then went to Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede dinner show at 5:30 p.m. Braden was so focused on the horses that he stayed put in our laps for 95 percent of the 1.5-hour show (thank goodness!).  We decided not to push our luck any further and headed home after the show (though we took a scenic route by the historic downtown on the way).

On Monday, we discovered that the theme park called Silver Dollar City was closed Mondays-Tuesdays, which really made us sad (that was supposed to be our entire Monday). So instead, we went to the new downtown and the old downtown to shop/sightsee, then we had lunch at a seafood place on the lake. Braden didn’t nap at all in the morning, but he finally fell asleep in the early afternoon, which is when we decided to take a winery tour (he slept the entire time).

After he woke up, we went to the Shepherd of the Hills park to try to do some horseback riding, but we couldn’t find where that was taking place. Instead, we climbed to the top of Inspiration Tower, which is 230 feet tall and has beautiful views of the entire Branson area.  For dinner, we went to a steakhouse that had just one waitress, so dinner was very slow and Braden was getting fairly antsy at the end. From there, we went to a 50s diner and had some dessert (Braden ate a waffle cone), then we tried to ride some go-karts but found out Braden was too short (36-inch minimum height). We retired for the evening at that point.

On Tuesday, we took a two-hour scenic train ride through the Branson area that wasn’t as scenic as described, though the experience was still fun. Braden couldn’t sit still for longer than 5-10 minutes at a time, so we took turns letting him wander throughout the entire train. Of course, Braden fell asleep AFTER that long train ride, so we decided to visit another winery while he slept.

We went to a buffet for lunch that a local couple recommended. It was easy grabbing food for Braden and not waiting for a waiter. Also, with a buffet, Braden got a lot more variety, which is helpful as he often gets tired of eating the same thing too long. We then went to a park so Braden could burn off some energy before we went to our 3 p.m. show–the Shanghai Acrobats. Braden was a bit fussy in the first half, so each of us missed parts of the show as we tried to rock him to sleep. Brian finally succeeded right about the time of intermission; Braden slept the rest of the show.

We went home to rest a bit before dinner. We found a resort on the far west end of Branson up on a very high hill–it overlooks Branson on one side and has a lake on the other. Just beautiful! We were the only ones in our area, so it didn’t bother us as much when Braden got noisy.

Braden had some trouble sleeping that night, but instead of just crying, he simply rolled around his crib while “talking” or standing up from time to time. After nearly an hour of this, Brian finally caved and rocked Braden to sleep.

Wednesday was a LONG day. We left just after 9 a.m., and with three stops (lunch, gas, dinner) and two road construction delays (the one in Illinois lasted almost 30 minutes), we finally got home around 8 p.m. We felt really bad for Braden, who slept little but ate a lot. He was in such a good mood when we got home; we’re not sure he’ll ever get in a car again!

Please make sure to check out the photos!

Journal vacation

Kristin had a pharmacy convention at the Kalahari Resort in Lake Delton Thursday-Saturday (Aug. 27-29). Brian and Braden tagged along and spent most of the days together while Kristin was gone.

On Friday, Brian took Braden to Tanger Outlet, where Braden pooped. This gave Brian his first opportunity to try a Koala changing station (it worked well). In the afternoon, Brian took Braden to both the outdoor and indoor waterparks at the Kalahari. This time, Braden did not cry like he did when we went during Memorial Day weekend.

That night, we had dinner at Del-Bar (in May Braden was fussy the whole time). We were put in a section with two other babies, and Braden was the best behaved we’ve ever seen at a restaurant (also his first time using the high chair).

Saturday unfortunately was chilly (temps in the 50s). We had moved over to the Great Wolf Lodge, where Brian took Braden to the indoor waterpark. Braden seemed to generally tolerate his surroundings, and we can’t wait to return when he’s older and really appreciates it.

Please make sure to check out the photos. We’ll post the accompanying videos soon.

Journal, Pictures vacation

As previously mentioned, we took Braden to Kristin’s family’s cabin up north near Summit Lake (about an hour north of Wausau) last week. We took Braden to the beach (he ate some sand), to the lake (he didn’t swim much) and on the boat (the lifejacket seemed to annoy him). With all the family there, we had plenty of babysitters.

Unfortunately, Braden slept poorly, especially Wednesday night. That made for some groggy mornings for us.

Check out the photo album called “Maywood.”

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Did we mention that Braden is teething? He has two lower teeth coming in. Now when he bites you, it hurts!

Braden does NOT like it when you try to look for his teeth–in fact, he will swat your hand away (very cute). You can only see them when he cries.

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We are trying a new system for putting Braden to sleep. Instead of rocking him, we are just letting him cry himself to sleep (Kristin’s book, which she follows religiously, suggests this method). We let him cry for five minutes, then console him, then 10 min and one minute, then 15 and one, then 20 and one and so on. He actually fell asleep after the 15-minute mark last night.

Journal sleep, teething, vacation

We’re staying at Kristin’s family’s cabin this week. Kristin–who has the entire week off–and Braden left today with Kristin’s parents. Brian will join them on Wednesday.

The cabin is located on Clear Lake just west of Summit Lake (about an hour+ north of Wausau). Brian is looking forward to fishing (and some day fishing with Braden).

We’ll have plenty of photos when we get back.

Journal vacation

Last Saturday we went to Fontana (on the west end of Lake Geneva) for a mini-vacation. We stayed at a resort called the Abbey, which had an indoor and outdoor pool, several restaurants, tennis courts, a marina and a full-service spa.

Brian’s intent was for Kristin to get a spa treatment after 10 brutal night shifts in a row at work. So while Kristin did that, Brian and Braden went to the indoor pool, where Braden floated on a raft (in 4 in. of water).

The next day, the three of us all got in the pool together (Braden wore a swimming diaper). It’s funny, Braden kicks his legs so much on a day-to-day basis, but in the pool, he didn’t move them at all.

We’ll have pictures and videos of our trip posted soon. One thing you won’t want to miss is Braden laughing–it’s so cute!

Journal new skills, vacation

We’ve finally uploaded the photos from our trip to the Kalahari. Check out the new album!

Pictures vacation

We vacationed at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells this past weekend with Kristin’s sister Marcie and her husband Josh. Despite Braden being too young to care where we go, we thought no one at the resort would mind an infant baby, seeing how the Kalahari is so family-friendly and oriented.

As previously mentioned, Braden developed a small cold, but we decided he would be okay to take this trip. (It should be noted that Kristin caught Braden’s cold.)

We got a two-bedroom suite that was connected by a shared living room and kitchen. We took Braden everywhere–to dinner at Del-Bar, to shopping at Tanger Outlets and of course to the indoor and outdoor waterparks at the Kalahari.

Braden had a nice nap at the indoor waterpark, probably because it was so hot and humid inside. Outside, we dipped his feet in the water, but he cried (see photo). We should mention that we bought him a Hawaiian shirt and a swimsuit (Braden loved the shirt when he first saw it, smiling and grabbing it right away).

We look forward to returning in a few years when Braden is old enough to enjoy his surroundings more.

Journal vacation