Baltimore Aquarium with a toddler

In an attempt to celebrate Natalie's final days as an only child, we've been trying to choose some activities to enjoy with her before her brother's arrival. The short list has included the Baltimore Aquarium, a place I hadn't visited in at least a decade. If you're like me and you haven't been in a while, I can say that although the entrance area has changed, probably for the better -- more aesthetically pleasing, though not necessarily any better at regulating visitor traffic flow -- the interior is mostly the same. This time, though, I got to see the popular tourist attraction through the eyes of a toddler, and that made it the most fun I've had there.

Here's what we learned:

Logistics
1) Tickets -- If you're looking for a deal or you are sticking to a relatively strict schedule (as is the case with many families traveling with small children), it's probably a good idea to buy tickets in advance. Tickets are expensive -- $34.95 for adults (12 and up), $21.95 for kids (3-11), with kids under 3 free and further discounted rates for seniors. I did some searching for coupon codes and other deals, but because we're not Maryland residents I had a hard time finding much.

The best deal we could find that applied to us involved $8 off each adult admission through AAA. Because we found the deal the day before we went, we picked the tickets up at a local AAA office. A couple points to know about AAA tickets, if you go with this option:

• The AAA website may claim that there are not enough tickets available. This is likely wrong, which is part of the reason we picked ours up at an AAA office. 
• When we bought our tickets through AAA, they wound up being vouchers good for 9 months. This means they did not include entry for a specific date and time, meaning we were taking a bit of a gamble because we did not have standard timed-entry tickets. Instead, when we arrived we had to go to a will-call window and trade in our voucher for timed-entry tickets. The good news is our timed entry tickets were for 10 a.m., which is exactly when we got there, so we did not experience a wait.

2) Parking -- There is some metered street parking available on Pratt Street right across from the harbor, practically in front of the aquarium, and those few coveted spaces are actually valid for 4-hour stretches, as we discovered after the fact. There are also some 2-hour street spaces on Market Place, just one block past the aquarium, but we figured we'd be gone for at least 3 hours and didn't want to risk it. So, we went with the expensive, safe parking option of the Lockwood Place Garage with an entrance on Market Place. Most aquarium visitors will be parked for at least 3 hours, which means you'll be paying the highest price: $24 for 3 hours or more (up to 24 hours), with $5 off if you remember to take your parking ticket to get it validated at the aquarium's exit.

3) Timing -- Check the aquarium's website for updated hours information, but know that it will be open by 10 a.m. We went during the winter holidays, so it opened at 9 a.m. the day of our visit, though we didn't get inside the exhibits until 10 a.m. (mostly because we didn't rush ourselves leaving the house). If you're able to purchase timed-entry tickets before you arrive and you've got a toddler in tow, I'd recommend going with 10 a.m. as that's when the exhibits are the least crowded (and most toddlers I know, including my own, seem to be on their best behavior earliest in the day). Plan for 2-3 hours of visiting time for you and your toddler.

4) Strollers, lockers and coat checks -- The aquarium has a strict no-stroller policy, though I did weirdly see someone with a stroller near the shark exhibit (but maybe she had special permission based on circumstances). Strollers and coats can be checked right inside the main entrance, where there is a wall of lockers as well, though by the time we were leaving at 12:30 there were signs that said the stroller, coat check and lockers were all full and to check back later. I'm not sure what you do at that point, besides returning to your car to store your items or waiting for an indefinite period of time. So, I'd recommend leaving your stroller at home and trying to minimize how much you bring in if possible. We visited on a 50-degree day, so Matt and I skipped our coats and just brought the diaper bag, which we traded off carrying.

5) Food -- I'm glad we kept the diaper bag on us because I'd packed it with snacks for Natalie, and it's a good thing I did -- looking at fish made this child, who normally does not have a tremendous appetite, especially hungry. There are a few places to eat scattered throughout the aquarium, including one on the 4th floor near the puffins exhibit. This spot has a particularly awesome view of the inner harbor, and if I'd had better parenting instinct at the time I would have given Natalie a snack at one of the tables there that could have prevented the mini-meltdown we experienced moments later in front of the puffins. Over in the section of the aquarium known as Pier 4 (where the dolphins are located) there's a small cafeteria called Harbor Market Cafe with a large eating space where you can set up your child with food either from home or purchased there. Plus, you can enjoy the jellyfish art hanging overhead.

Getting around with a toddler
Our visit lasted exactly two and a half hours, which was the perfect length for us. Before you arrive, check out the aquarium maps to determine what makes the most sense for your child's temperament. If you follow the normal aquarium route, you'll start at Blacktip Reef, which is super cool and a big exhibit that should keep everyone's attention, but then you will hit a lot of small tanks as you move up the aquarium levels. This mostly worked well for Natalie, but it also means that she had her 4th-floor freak out in front of the puffins, which is too bad because that should have been one of the exhibits she enjoyed the most (she loves penguins, so puffins are close enough). It also means she didn't pay much attention inside the rain forest section on the 5th floor.

Cute mother-child photo? Not happening in the rain forest.

But, overall, the aquarium really held Natalie's attention, especially once she got more food in her system. She seemed most mesmerized by the sharks, and stared for many extended periods at the shark tanks, repeating, "Sharks have big teeth!"

We skipped the dolphin show, as I think it's probably still too long and advanced for our almost-two-year old, but Natalie enjoyed watching the two dolphins from the underwater viewing area.

When it came to smaller fish tanks, Natalie seemed more attracted to the bright displays with colorful tropical fish rather than some of the low-light displays. In fact, I suspect some of the low-light tanks scared her because she ran away from a few. There are ledges (or "little steps," as Natalie called them) in front of nearly all exhibits for kids to stand on to get a better view of the tanks, so she enjoyed that element of the visit as well. On a funny side note, one of Natalie's favorite things to say now is, "So pretty!" and "So beautiful!" So, she kept saying that, and Matt and I kept saying, "Yes, beautiful fish." I definitely had several people say to me, "Actually, that is a [insert highly specific, technical species name here]." I would just say, "Ohhh, thanks!" and then laugh a little inside at the absurdity of the situation and the fact that I was just trying to keep my kid smiling, not teach her Latin.

Perhaps the weirdest/coolest exhibit all three of us enjoyed is the jellyfish, also located in Pier 4 near the dolphins. I mean, come on, these guys are cray cray.

There's a small section in Pier 4 named the Children's Discovery Gallery. It was not what I was hoping it would be (I remember a place where I got to pick up starfish when I visited as a child), but Natalie thought it was amazing, so that's all that matters. The Gallery includes marine-life dress up clothes children can try on, a giant tortoise shell they can touch, a marine-life puppet show space where kids can put on their own performances, and a wall with a coral reef backdrop where kids can stick Velcro-backed sea creatures. Natalie was difficult to photograph here because she was excited and mostly jumping.

If you're hoping to get some good photos of your family at the aquarium, take advantage of the several atriums throughout the buildings. They offer great lighting, provided you keep the camera pointing away from the windows.

I'm so glad we had a chance to share this experience with our daughter!

Miami hotel review: The Fontainebleau

So, we decided to go all-out with our Miami trip, and we wound up staying at the Fontainebleau, a hotel that appealed to the Rat Pack back in the day and most recently achieved legendary status as probably the most expensive hotel we've stayed at to date.

But it was worth it.

Everyone and their mother on Yelp is going to have something negative to say about virtually everything, so we decided to book this hotel mostly on its reputation and no specific recommendation. Once we found out that the hotel was running an October special for one free night with three paid nights, we made the fastest booking decision we've ever made. It went something like this:

Matt: "There's this special. Should we book it?"
Me: "We can cancel the reservation for free up until the day of check in. Let's book it."

I figured that unless our child got seriously ill or I went into majorly premature labor we would not look back, and we did not.

The hotel is practically impossible for me to criticize, but in the spirit of fairness I'll share the good and the not-as-good. Still, keep in mind that for our five-day, four-night stay, Matt and I kept saying to each other, "I'm so glad we booked this trip," and, "Can you believe how awesome this is?"

The good
The beach is beautiful! This is one of my key desires for an ocean-front hotel.

The grounds are well-maintained. There are basically six pools, two large hot tubs, an outdoor bar, an outdoor restaurant with deck and bar, and plenty of (astroturf-covered) lounge areas with abundant seating (and palm trees to boot).

The rooms are beautifully decorated and immaculately maintained. OK, here I should mention that we scored a free upgrade from a king-size bedroom to a suite. I maintain we got this because we'd paid for a king-size bed with an ocean view, and by the time we arrived there were none left. I guess we are not 100% sure that's the case, though, which is why Matt claims instead that we played the pregnancy card on this one. (Specifically, while checking in, I pointed out an advertisement for an open-bar event at the hotel taking place in a few nights, pointed at my belly, and said, "You know who would go crazy at an open bar? This guy." This did cause the hotel clerk to begin to openly talk about my pregnancy [she was being super polite so as to not insult me, I suppose, before that]. Then she said, "Well, this is your first time in Miami, right?" when she was telling us she'd upgraded us to a suite. So, I claim we played the never-been-to-Miami card, but whatever.)

Our suite had a balcony with plenty of space as well as pool and ocean views; a sitting area with a sofa, wingback chair and coffee table; an office area with a desk and computer; a king-size bed; and a large bathroom with a large vanity, big shower, and separate jetted tub.

The little details add up. I'm not used to a whole lot of pampering, so maybe the average guest would take these items for granted, but I took special pleasure in:

• All the staff with whom were interacted were incredibly pleasant and sometimes even amusing
• Plush robes in every room
• An iMac with free Internet access in every room
• Molton Brown toiletries (shampoo, conditioner [so happy to find good hotel conditioner], body wash, lotion and soap) in five awesome scents
• Free fruit-flavored water dispensers throughout the pool area. The flavors changed between lemon, watermelon, and pineapple, the most exciting by far being the pineapple water.
• Great shower water pressure (seriously, this is something we care about)
• Full-size gym that offers group exercise classes

The not-so-good
Just be ready to pay for it. Most of the quasi-criticisms I could give of the Fontainebleau come down to price. I feel, though, it's a little unfair for me to criticize costs at a place that is not expected to be budget-friendly. We knew we'd be spending some money, and we were prepared for that. Still, here are a few points to know:

• Added to your hotel room cost (anywhere in Miami/Florida) will be comparatively exorbitant resort taxes. In our case this added about $50 per night to our room's cost.
• The Fontainebleau also charges a resort fee of $20 per day.
• If you rent a car (in our case, a sweet Toyota Yaris, a.k.a. the car with the world's smallest engine) it will cost you $40 per day to valet park it at the hotel. Matt did some pre-trip sleuthing and discovered, though, that there's a public parking lot with metered spaces one hotel down the street from the Fontainebleau. There it costs $10 per day to park. The downside: if you move your car on a weekend night and plan to park it there later that same night, you might be out of luck as those spots fill quickly. We managed to park there three of the four nights and therefore only needed to splurge on valet one day.
• You can rent beach umbrellas, beach beds, and beach canopies, but again, it will cost you. We opted for an umbrella three of the days we were there. The sun in Miami is so intense, even in October, that I thought it was worth the $25 per day investment. Your beach chair, beach chair cover and towels, though, are included in your daily resort fee.
• You can also have a waiter bring you a $20 cocktail on the beach, if you like. In an effort to live vicariously through him, I encouraged Matt to treat himself. He did this...once.

Early beach chair set up

Our little piece of the pie

People treating themselves

There isn't much in walking distance from the hotel. If you're not renting a car or you just don't feel like traveling particularly far for food and other attractions, you won't find much right outside the hotel's doors. There are many restaurants and shops inside the hotel, but because we found them especially overpriced and we wanted to sample some other Miami food, we happily made reservations elsewhere and hopped in the Yaris for nearly all our food ventures. We did manage to find, though, a good New York deli with a reasonably priced brunch menu less than a mile from the hotel. It was a nice little walk, and along the way we passed a Walgreens, where we picked up a few snacks.

A few other points
Be prepared for a super clubby environment. I knew this place would be a little clubby, but it was a lot clubby. That was OK with me, though, because I rather enjoyed pretending to be young and carefree once again as I surrounded myself with a bunch of 24-year olds attending bachelorette parties. I could have done, though, without some of the accompanying cigarette smoking on the beach. We got a kick out of people watching one night outside the hotel's famous club, Liv, where I observed lots of scantily clad, attractive women for some reason entering the club with a bunch of 20-something men-children wearing flannel shirts and Vans. Seriously? I've only been to about five clubs in my life, I'm about to have a second baby, and even I scoff at a guy wearing Vans to a club. Who does that?

Miami's hottest club is...

The hotel at least claims to be kid friendly. I really was not expecting to see any kids at our hotel. That was naive, but the place was definitely not overrun with families, and from what I could tell most of the families there with kids were European or South American, which makes sense to me. Americans just seem a lot more likely to stay at a Hampton Inn while visiting Disney World (I imagine this is somewhere in my future), whereas my stereotype of European parents in particular is that they're cooler than me and they'd be more likely to bring their kids to a clubby hotel where a fair number of guests are wearing thong bikinis. It's neither good nor bad; it just is. Tangent aside, there is a dedicated kid pool with a fun looking slide, there are plentiful beach toys provided by the hotel staff, and there are kid activities that seem to be scheduled each day.

Of course, the only kid I brought with me was in utero, but he seemed to have a great time.

 

Happy travels!

Miami review: finding good food

Over Columbus Day weekend in October, Matt and I took a five-day, four-night trip to Miami to enjoy some baby-free time together before baby #2 makes his appearance this winter. We stayed at a fancy-schmancy resort (more to come on that later) and decided to spend our days at the beach and by the pool. The only other plans we made involved eating.

Matt spends a good amount of his time reading food blogs and restaurant reviews, so he happily accepted the task of booking all dinner and brunch reservations for us. We're the kind of people who eat two big meals -- breakfast/brunch and dinner -- while on vacation, and we graze as needed for a mid-day snack. We always prefer to visit restaurants that are highly reviewed by locals rather than eating at touristy spots or overly stuffy, fancy places. In booking our meals, Matt took into consideration several recommendations from friends who either have lived in Miami or have visited a few times, and he relied heavily on the 38 Essential Miami Restaurants from eater.com. I tip my hat to my husband for doing an excellent job with all our dining choices.

Here's what we ate and where we ate it in case you're planning a getaway to Miami any time soon.

Gigi
A restaurant that defies easy categorizing, claiming to be a noodle bar with BBQ and beer. That's about right.
Dinner: $67 for three drinks, four dishes
This restaurant kicked off our Miami vacation. It serves small-ish drinks that are actually affordable and a great size. The ambiance is loud -- loud kitchen, loud music -- but it's the perfect atmosphere for an un-stuffy restaurant catering to a young crowd. I was happy to start our celebration here.

• Brussels sprouts with cauliflower, soy and bacon, $9 -- amazing! Cooked perfectly, great combination of flavors. This is one of my favorite dishes from our entire trip.
• Cubano special with brie, $15 -- worth it, large portion, brie was a nice touch
•  Roasted pork bun with peanut sauce and carrots, $9 -- OK, but too similar to the Cuban special for me, and too much bread, not enough meat.
• Drumsticks, $13 -- a little spicy, just right for us, surprisingly big portion (5 large drumsticks with lots of meat)

We were considering ordering some udon noodles, too, but the waiter advised against it, both because he dislikes the dish (I appreciate his honesty) and because we had ordered enough for two people (he was right).

Yardbird
Southern food, but not overly heavy/fried/covered in gravy. Fancy drinks, some with moonshine!
Dinner: I can't tell you the bill total on this one, because a generous friend picked up the tab, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't cheap.
This is far and away the restaurant I would say you have to go to out of all the ones we tried -- a very memorable dining experience.

• Kitchen pickle jar, $6 -- several types of pickled items, including carrots, tomatoes, onions, horseradish (we think), plus served with some hearty bread with salted butter.
• Fried Everglades' frog legs, $14 -- Eh. I would not have ordered this, but our dinner partners had sampled them before and wanted more. I tried a bit of one of Matt's frogs' legs, and it was definitely not offensive in flavor, but it was really chewy. I didn't want to risk my pregnant self throwing up in the bathroom over the gross-out factor.
• Fried green tomato BLT, $14 -- I loved everything about this. Big slab of bacon, over pimento cheese, over a perfectly fried tomato? Yes.
• Chicken 'N Watermelon 'N Waffles, $36 -- enough for four people to share. The chicken was appropriately fried, not too heavy on the breading. The watermelon cubes were an ideal amount of spicy. I've never had the classic chicken-and-waffles southern combo, and I don't seek out waffles in general, but these cheddar ones were pretty awesome.
• Buttermilk biscuits, $9 -- with a honey butter that may have forever changed the way I'll look at the possibilities butter can present. As with waffles, I do not actively seek out biscuits, but I had more than my share of these. This is another favorite food item from the whole trip.
• Charred okra, $8 -- Who knew? I've only had slimy okra. There was nothing slimy about this side. It was incredibly salty, though, but I am not one to complain about salt.

Khong River House
Thai
Dinner: $110 for two drinks, four dishes, dessert
We're always on the lookout for good Thai food. Northern Virginia has some really wonderful Thai restaurants, so it's hard to find ones that are just as good as the ones we're used to here. Khong River House is good, but I can't say it's much better than what I can get for half the price in our hometown.

• Burmese fresh noodle wraps, $15 -- my favorite dish! Appropriately spicy, nice blend of peanut sauce and spicy goodness.
• Korat beef jerky, $12 -- Matt has an affinity for beef jerky (the kind you might find in 7-Eleven during a road trip), but he hardly ever eats it, so I thought this dressed-up version would be fun. It was! The beef was chewy, but not overly so, and the spicy dipping sauce that came with it helped soften it appropriately.
• Thai crispy duck, $28 -- This was probably the best duck dish I've ever had, though I can't say that duck is ever as good as I want it to be. This duck was not particularly fatty, and it was somewhat crispy.
• Stir-fried eggplant, $12 -- My least favorite dish. It contains minced pork, FYI, so not a vegetarian option, though that is not a concern for me. I felt that overall this dish lacked flavor, but that's probably because I kept comparing it to a favorite stir-fried eggplant dish that I absolutely love at our neighborhood Thai restaurant.
• Dessert: Thai doughnuts!, $8 -- three little doughnut orbs with three dipping sauces: dark chocolate, coconut, condensed milk. Skip the condensed milk sauce and you will generally be in love with these perfectly crispy doughnut balls.

Tongue and Cheek
Modern American
Sunday brunch: $45 for one drink, three dishes
The food here was probably the least unique out of the food at all the restaurants we visited during our trip. But, that's not to say it wasn't enjoyable, just not overly memorable, and probably dinner plates here are more unique than the brunch options. The ambiance, however, was the most in step with my style -- classic modern (is that an oxymoron? Probably.)

• Cuban sandwich with Gruyere cheese and pickles, $12 -- This was an OK Cuban, but I preferred the one at Gigi earlier in our trip. The bread on this one was just too soggy for me to feel really positive about the whole thing.
• BLTA (bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado) sandwich, $12 -- Served on thick-sliced olive bread, this was a great sandwich. Challenging/messy to eat, but very satisfying. This and the Cuban were served with a generous helping of house-made potato chips.
• Freshly baked basket of assorted pastries, $12 -- The basket contained four items: a small sugar-coated doughnut, a blueberry muffin, an indeterminate muffin (that may have been either cream-cheese or coffee based, we're not sure) and a buttermilk scone with honey and sour cream. The scone was far and away the best item in the basket, though they were all pretty awesome.

Sugar Cane Raw Bar and Grill
Eclectic cuisine: raw bar, robata, sushi, tapas, modern American
Dinner: $85 for one drink, 7 dishes
This was our last dinner of the trip, and by this point my third-trimester pregnant belly decided to go on strike. So, we didn't stay too long, but the place was lovely and the food (that I ate) was enjoyable. Sorry to not be overly descriptive on this one. We sat on the beautiful patio, but we didn't factor in the cigar smoke from a few tables down. This may have exacerbated my pregnant stomach sensitivities. Here's what I recall:

• Marinated olives, $6 -- what you'd expect.
• Local catch and shrimp ceviche, $14 -- Excellent flavors and portion sizes. This tied for first place for me.
• Heirloom tomato and bread salad, $10 -- This was a dish I couldn't stomach that night, which is weird because basically combines all my favorite foods -- tomatoes, fresh herds, feta, bread -- but I enjoyed it as my breakfast the next morning on the way to the airport, and it held up quite nicely.
• Goat cheese croquettes, $7 -- Skip these.
• Brussels sprouts, $8 -- I've never met a Brussels sprout I didn't like. These were no exception. The orange and sweet soy flavors were wonderful.
• Bacon-wrapped dates, $11 -- I bet if I had been feeling better these would have been great, but that night I needed them away from me.
• Sweet potatoes, $7 -- These were made on the robata grill and finished with a maple glaze. It was my first grilled sweet potato experience, and I'd do it again.

When we came back from Miami and reported to several friends that we enjoyed some excellent food, most were surprised, figuring Miami isn't known for its cuisine. I can't say whether that's a fair statement or not, but I can say that you could go to any of the restaurants we visited during our stay and have a great time.

Staycation: Busch Gardens with a toddler

This year, instead of taking a traditional vacation, given our lack of success on a couple vacation attempts during our daughter's life, we opted for a staycation. We chose a long weekend when neither of us had any work obligations -- the only long weekend available all summer when such a phenomena occurred. Our staycation commenced last Thursday mid-day and ended Sunday evening. In this time we visited three sites we'd never been to as a family (Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia; Clemyjontri Park in McLean, Virginia, and Our Special Harbor at Lee District Park in Franconia, Virginia) in addition to a family outing to a favorite Mexican restaurant and an adults-only outing to the Mosaic District in Merrifield, Virginia.

I'd like to share our discoveries regarding visiting the three parks we toured with a toddler during our staycation, starting with Busch Gardens, the most potentially daunting location we explored with an 18-month old.

Our Busch Gardens trip was a remarkably huge success. I have incredibly fond memories of visiting Busch Gardens as a child. It was a welcome break from all the colonialism up in my business after hours (or days) at Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown. (In retrospect, I really like Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown too, but it's hard for tri-corner hats to compete with the Lochness Monster roller coaster when you're seven.) I've looked forward to introducing Natalie to amusement parks, and I've always liked the "classiness" of Busch Gardens compared to other amusement parks. (As my friend reported back while studying abroad in college, "Europe is just like Busch Gardens!") Still, I didn't know if an 18-month-old would be too young for the joys of amusement parks.

Turns out, 18-months old is a magical age and the perfect time for our daughter to experience Busch Gardens. It's hard to imagine what life is like for her on a daily basis since so many of her experiences and the objects she encounters she has never seen or experienced before. Multiply this phenomenon times 1,000 and that's what you get when you take a toddler to an amusement park. Just looking at a roller coaster whizzing by is a huge deal.

So, here are some of our takeaways from our trip:

Logistics
1) Tickets -- Buy tickets online. You'll most assuredly get a better deal, and you'll probably get into the park faster as you can go straight to the entrance and bypass an additional line. Matt found an online discount through Food Lion, but each week there are different coupon codes you can easily search from different retailers. I think we saved $14. Children under three years old are free! Parking, though, is going to cost you $15.

2) Timing -- Arrive early. This is classic amusement park strategy, but in our experience it's especially crucial with a toddler. We went on a Friday, when the park opened at 10 a.m. Natalie's best time of day is from about 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., so we wanted to capitalize on that time before the afternoon crankiness/nap time set in. If you're visiting Williamsburg from the D.C. area, you can expect it will take you exactly 2.5 hours to get there without traffic. This proved true in our case, and leaving our house at 7:30 a.m. got us to the gate right at 10 a.m.

3) Don't get scared away by an overcast day. Although you can never predict the weather, we just lucked out this time. While it was pouring all day in the D.C. area, by the time we hit Williamsburg it was just cloudy. It drizzled about twice for five minutes each, but otherwise the clouds helped keep temperatures down and other visitors at bay, so we encountered practically no lines for any attraction.

4) Packing -- Pack two bags: a bag for the park and a bag for the car. Inside our diaper bag, which we brought into the park, we had the usual sunscreen, diapers, wipes, changing pad, cups, bib, and snacks. We also threw in Natalie's bathing suit and one change of clothes. Inside our car we kept a second bag with an extra change of clothes for all of us, extra clothes for Natalie, Natalie's PJs for the drive home, and towels. We also had a small cooler with extra milk and some perishable snacks as back-up. Guests are allowed to leave the park and reenter with a hand stamp, so one time Matt needed to run to the car for supplies while I pushed Natalie in her stroller during her nap. We definitely over packed, but all our over-packed items stayed in the car, so it wasn't a burden.

5) Food -- You can apparently bring food into the park. We saw some families with large-ish lunch bags/coolers packed with food they'd brought in. I don't know if this poses a problem with the people working the bag check at the front gate (do you need to have a connection to sneak in contraband?) but we were able to bring in bottles and snacks for Natalie, no questions asked, and it seems that whole families were getting away with bringing family meals in, too. We did not bring meals into the park, though, and were able to find fine (read: OK) food throughout the park. Natalie got a $5.99 mac n cheese kid's meal in the Italy section of the park that came with breadsticks and an Honest Kids organic apple juice pouch. Adults: hold out for the BBQ and crepes in France rather than eating in Italy. Also, get a fantastic soft pretzel in Germany.

6) Bathrooms -- They are everywhere, very accessible. I salute Busch Gardens employees for keeping the park's bathrooms incredibly clean. Seriously, it's impressive, especially given the fact that so many people go into them soaking wet having just ridden a water ride. Impressive. Also, if you're a nursing mom who doesn't want to nurse in the open, there's a nursing room (separate from a bathroom) in the Sesame Street area.

Getting around with a toddler
There are a surprising number of rides only for small children, or for small children accompanied by adults. There are even several rides for visitors of all ages. Some, but not all, kid-friendly attractions are marked with a special symbol on the park map. Check all the height restrictions carefully and consider your child's limits and temperament.

We checked out the map in advance and realized there were a few key zones in the park we could hit:

1) Sesame Forest of Fun -- this is located right past the United Kingdom section of the park close to the park entrance. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that not only does this section of the park have four rides, a playground, and a splash park, but Natalie could technically participate in everything except the kid's roller coaster, Grover's Alpine Express. She wanted to keep riding Bert and Ernie's Loch Adventure (calling the water a "pool"). Far and away, the splash park was the biggest hit. This child loves water. We did all the Sesame Street rides first thing in the morning, then came back to the splash park in the afternoon. Doing the rides here first was a good move because we rode them with Natalie, so she got used to the concept of rides before later attempting any on her own.

2) The Land of the Dragons -- this is located in the middle of the park, so we saved it for later. It's also right next to the carousel, which is an added bonus. This section not only has a small splash park and a tree house/playground with climbing nets, but it also has four rides that toddlers of any size may ride. The two dragon-themed rides allow for adults to ride along with children. The two other rides, the ladybugs and the boats, require children to ride without adults. Natalie loved the two rides we did together, and it was especially comical seeing us three squeeze into a giant dragon egg ferris wheel. Natalie didn't get a chance to ride the ladybugs, but it probably would have been great. She agreed to get inside the boats, but the boats are secured with a weird netting that must freak lots little kids out because the ride operator wasn't surprised when Natalie started screaming when she locked her in. So, we abandoned ship (literally...haha). That was, fortunately, the only ride she absolutely refused.

3) Little Italy -- there are two kid-friendly rides, the Little Gliders and the Little Balloons. We had to sit in a seated glider (rather than a reclined glider) with Natalie, but she loved this ride. She was a little hesitant at first about the Little Balloons, seeing as she had to ride in one alone, but she really enjoyed it in the end and kept pointing up and saying "balloon" as she went around in circles. I was just shocked she didn't try to jump out.

4) Little Germany -- there are three kid-friendly rides, Wirbelwindchen (the little swings), Der Roto Baron (the little airplanes), and Der Autobahn Jr. (the little bumper cars). The swings were Natalie's second-favorite activity all day, probably because it felt familiar, a lot like being on the toddler swings at a playground. She rode this five times. (She kept asking for "more" and the friendly teenagers operating the machines obliged.) The airplanes were not as big of a hit, probably because she could not see Matt and me standing on the sidelines as well as she could see us on the other rides. So, I think she got a little freaked out by the end. Although she is technically big enough to ride the kiddie bumper cars, I think she would have gotten in a car and just sat there, so we skipped out on that one and watched Matt crash into people in the adult bumper cars next door.

There are two other kid-centric rides: the Lil' Clydes, which Natalie totally loved (though Matt and I win some seriously dorky parents points for the number of times we were saying "giddyup!" each time Natalie rode past), and the Elephant Run, that we didn't have time to get to.

There are also quite a few attractions that have no height restrictions that are designed to appeal to the whole family:

1) The Log Flume (Le Scoot) and the Teapots (aka Turkish Delight) are free of height restrictions, so adults and kids can easily ride together. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to go on either ride.

2) The park features three skyrides that form a triangle to connect popular areas of the park. We planned to ride all three skyrides, but by the time the ride opened for the evening (after experiencing some technical difficulties during the day) Natalie was starting to get sleepy, so we rode one and called it a day. There is also a train that makes three stops throughout the park, and we never even made it onto the train.

3) Busch Gardens is partly known for the Anheuser Busch Clydesdales. After waiting about two minutes we were able to pet Gordon, one of four agreeable Clydesdales living at Highland Stables near the park entrance. There are some sheep at the stables, too, but we only saw them from above during our skyride. There is also a wild animal exhibit new to the park since my last visit over a decade ago. It includes Wolf Valley, where you get to overlook a wolf habitat, and Eagle Ridge, with, well, eagles.

4) Shows -- there are a bunch of them. This is not my favorite thing about amusement parks because I think they're pretty cheesy, but I know the indoor shows can offer an opportunity to escape afternoon heat, so I won't totally knock them.

We really had an ideal day at Busch Gardens. We arrived at 10 a.m. and left a little after 7 p.m. Natalie took a 40 minute nap in her stroller, and though that's a shorter nap than she typically takes, she still rallied like a champ. We got to hit a lot of the highlights, but we most assuredly did not run out of activities to do. We could have come back the next day and still had plenty of entertainment ahead. This is good to know, because before we got there I wasn't sure how truly toddler-friendly the park would be. If you're wondering if your one or two year old can handle the park, the answer is most likely yes.

Our travels with a 14-month old

We just got back late Sunday night from a trip to St. Louis for a family event for Matt's grandmother. This trip marked the first of our plane travel with Natalie. Everyone, myself included, is always looking for travel advice with an infant or toddler. Although I can't state definitively how much of what we did is legitimate/will work for us again/will work for anyone else, I thought I'd throw this out to the interwebs.

To add more context to the trip, we left on a Friday morning and were scheduled to return on a Sunday night. At 14-months old, Natalie is fully mobile, relatively talkative (lots of single words, only one two-word expression: "good dog"), still drinks milk out of a bottle, drinks water out of a sippy cup, vacillates between 1 and 2 naps per day, and sleeps 12 hours at night. She loves books, doesn't really watch TV, is getting interested in toys with lots of parts (think blocks, finger puppet sets), has a mostly agreeable temper but is starting to get more fussy/express her will more vehemently.

Here's the climax:
We woke up early Sunday morning to a horrible weather forecast: 10 inches of snow predicted for St. Louis, and it would start any minute. We were scheduled to leave on a 5:20 p.m. flight. We didn't want to miss some family events happening that morning, but we really didn't want to risk missing a friend's funeral back home. We called the airline and got the flight changed to 11:55 a.m. We got ready quickly, let Natalie sleep as long as possible (9 a.m. for the win!), said goodbye to Matt's grandmother, and kept watching the flight status on the way to the airport.

When we were going through security, our flight was still on. Five minutes later, when we made it to the gate, our flight was canceled. We called the airline and got reassigned to the 5:20 p.m. flight we'd been on originally. The roads in St. Louis were treacherous at this point, so we knew sitting tight at the airport for about six hours would be the plan. By some miracle, as we watched the majority of flights out of St. Louis that day get canceled, our flight remained scheduled, and even on time.

In disbelief, we boarded the plane. Then we sat on the tarmac for one hour while the plane was de-iced. As the de-icing men boarded the plane, we looked at the other passengers and thought, "This is it. We're not going anywhere." Again, by some miracle, our plane took off about 15 minutes later. We hit some turbulence in the air, but nothing absurd. We landed in D.C. around 10 p.m., and by 11 p.m. our baby was asleep in her crib at home. Our 12+ hours of travel, though not what we would choose, were actually OK, and we have our daughter's mostly agreeable temperament and a little bit of preparation to thank.

Here's what we did.

Packing plan

1) Over pack.

I hate to over pack, but I know it's a necessity with a toddler in tow.

Starting about a week before we left, the weather forecast had been calling for a freak early-spring snow storm in St. Louis the day we were supposed to fly home. So I threw in an extra day's worth of necessities. That means extra outfits, extra PJs, extra socks, extra diapers and wipes.

2) Bring items for the night time routine.

For us this meant Natalie's Halo sleep sack, stuffed bunny, and a copy of Goodnight Moon.

3) Ditch the cloth diapers; put vinyl pants over the disposable diaper for the airport/plane.

Although cloth diapers are still working perfectly for us, we knew we didn't plan to travel with them. This was especially helpful for the dozen or so airport diaper changes we had to do. To hopefully save us from an unexpected diaper leak, we put Natalie in the Dappi vinyl diaper covers we originally bought for taking her in the pool.

4) Have a bags-within-bags baby carry on.

Of everything we experimented with on this trip, this is the thing I think we did "right." Diaper bags do not count toward the total carry-on bag allowance, so we ditched our normal diaper bag for this trip and instead used a giant Land's End canvas tote as our big diaper bag for the weekend. Inside we had three additional bags:

1) a lunch bag filled with food and drink for Natalie
2) a medium-sized canvas tote filled with books and toys
3) a small tote, no bigger than a normal purse, just containing diapers for the airport/flight,      changing pad, a travel case of wipes, hand sanitizer, dog poo bags (for containing any really gross diapers in a worst-case scenario), and diaper rash cream. This suggestion was a great one from a mom friend who said this made her travels easier because it minimizes how much stuff has to come with you into an airport or airplane bathroom for a quick change.

5) Bring two bottles' worth of milk. Put them inside a big Ziploc bag with a freezer pack.

I knew prior to the trip that you could take breastmilk and formula through airport security. I wasn't sure about whole milk. Good news: bottle that stuff up and bring it with you. Two 8-ounce bottles were enough for us. Starbucks also sells whole milk in small cups (for $1.35 in St. Louis, at least), and a waiter at the airport Chili's who has three small kids of her own and feels bad for you might bring you a cup of whole milk, too. The Ziploc bag is crucial, as we learned, thanks to the changes in air pressure inside the cabin causing a tightly sealed bottle to still leak.

6) Take a small stroller to the airport, put it inside a travel bag, and gate check it.

We originally were not going to travel with a stroller. We were staying with generous family friends who happen to be grandparents who have a fully stocked nursery. There was a car seat, crib, stroller, and high chair waiting for us when we arrived. At nearly the last minute, we decided to take our own umbrella stroller, fearing getting stuck in the airport on the way home without a stroller. A generous neighbor lent us her umbrella stroller bag, which gave us peace of mind when we checked the stroller at the gate. I'd read strollers can get rather knocked around on airplanes and didn't want to risk it.

Airport/airplane plan

1) If traveling with a partner, have one person in charge of parking the car and handling most of the luggage. Have the other person in charge of the diaper bag and baby.

This fits into our plan of minimizing how many forms of transit Natalie had to be on and increasing how many opportunities she had to run around before getting on the plane.

2) If traveling with a partner, have one person board the airplane with all the luggage right after the first-class passengers board. Have the other person run around the airport with the baby and be the last people to board the plane.

Natalie really wanted a water bottle, so I made her chase me around the airport for 20 minutes while I held the bottle and the other passengers boarded.

3) Don't bring out the milk bottles until you can hear the plane's engine getting ready to take off.

We've all been stuck on planes on the tarmac. On our return flight, we were stuck for one hour on the tarmac while they de-iced our plane. Natalie did shockingly well, but to keep her from drinking her milk too soon I had Matt distract her while I got a bottle out of the bag, otherwise she would have seen it and wanted it.

4) Remember to save some milk for landing.

On our first flight from D.C. to St. Louis, Natalie drank too much too soon and therefore wasn't interested in milk during the descent. This led to a not fun time thanks to the pressure on her ears.

5) Let your child play in the aisles for as long as humanly possible.

Our flight to St. Louis was pretty uneventful because Natalie could play in the aisle fairly indefinitely while we were at our cruising altitude. Snowy turbulence on the way back to D.C. meant basically no time in the aisle, aside from the one hour waiting on the tarmac. Thankfully, by squeezing Natalie super tight (despite her significant protestations), I got her to sleep for about 30 minutes on that flight.

Toys/books/distractions

1) Take some favorite books.

We opted for variety: a couple lift-the-flap, a couple first words, a couple calm/bedtime stories.

2) A few weeks/months before the trip, hide some favorite, small toys, and bring them out on the plane.

We did this with Natalie's Green Sprouts stacking cups and Sassy linking letters. When we reintroduced them on the plane they led to over an hour of distraction.

3) Bring non-toy, tried-and-true distractions.

Natalie loves to wear my big, chunky necklaces (which she calls "'sazs"). Seeing as they are likely choking hazards and whatnot, she only gets to wear them under close supervision on special occasions. Airplane travel seems like an appropriately special occasion. Taking the necklace on and off repeatedly is a favorite pastime.

What we didn't use

1) Ergo carrier.

We brought it along, but Natalie screamed in it at the airport despite a week of re-training her to love it prior to the trip.

2) iPad apps.

We downloaded six free Fisher-Price apps to the iPad before we left. We didn't let Natalie see them prior to the trip, either. We never had to resort to using them, which is for the best because she's never really used an app before and likes the iPhone/iPad solely for looking at pictures of herself.

"OK, as you take that picture of me, you also must let me see it."

3) Cheap toys/stickers/PlayDoh, etc.

Many friends recommended stocking up on items from the $1 bins at Target. I think this is an awesome suggestion for slightly older kids. I just knew it wasn't in the cards for Natalie, so I didn't follow the advice this time.

You know, it's not that bad

We went into this trip prepared for just about anything, and we experienced just about everything. While on the trip, we were able to accommodate the weekend's schedule and make Natalie's schedule fit around it. Natalie was exhausted at night and slept like a champ. For the first time since she was about four months old, Natalie actually fell asleep on top of me Saturday night. Holding her in my arms while she sweetly cooed reminded me of how she's somewhere in between infancy and toddlerhood. Maybe that's what parenting is all about: moments when your child reminds you of what she used to be and what she's becoming.

In the 11th hour of travel, when we were about 30 minutes away from landing in D.C. Sunday night, as Natalie was falling asleep on me, her head nuzzled against my chest, I poked my almost-falling-asleep husband and said, "Isn't our daughter adorable?" He said, "Good job with that." We watched the lights of D.C. emerge from under the clouds. Sure, she started her meltdown about five minutes later, but we made it, and we are better for it.

Resort review: Breezes, Nassau

After an ill-fated attempt at a vacation with Natalie when she turned 6 months old, Matt and I knew that we would be rewarding ourselves for sustaining life for one year by taking a trip just the two of us. The trick was to find some willing babysitters -- in the form of my parents -- and to find a long weekend that worked for Matt's work schedule and our willing babysitters' schedules. So the other week Matt and I flew away to Nassau in the Bahamas to enjoy five days and four nights of glorious, baby-free couples time.

We chose Nassau because it's one of few warm-weather destinations that has direct flights from either Reagan National or Dulles airports. We contemplated going to Jamaica, but we would have needed to fly out of Baltimore to snag a direct flight, and frankly it all just felt like too much effort with the possibility of unexpected traffic jams. For this vacation we were not OK with the thought of getting stuck on a layover in Chicago or a delay in Miami, so our direct-flight requirement quickly narrowed down our destination pool.

Choosing a destination, though, was only step one. I have only been to a handful of tropical destinations in my time, but this trip actually marked my second time in Nassau, the first having been a college spring break week getaway with my roommates. My spring break trip didn't do much to help me prepare for this trip a decade later. I couldn't remember where we stayed in college, and I had no idea where to start looking for a decent hotel. Matt and I are always weary of sites such as TripAdvisor where someone gives a hotel one star because she saw a fly in the pool. Still, we thought checking out CheapCaribbean.com would be a place to begin our search, knowing that the reviewers on there might have more reasonable expectations, what with the word "cheap" and all. Breezes Resort on Cable Beach in Nassau kept getting good reviews. We took the plunge.

Our resort experience was exactly as I imagined it would be. We'd been to another reasonably priced all-inclusive resort two years ago in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, so we had some sense of what to expect for an all-inclusive experience. Because I always want to know about people's expectations and demographics when they're reviewing a hotel, let me say that:

1) Our first priority for the hotel was cleanliness.

2) We only wanted to spend about $2,000 for the entire trip, including airfare, for two people for four nights. Remember, we're public school teachers, and I'm not working this year.

3) We don't expect amazing food at all-inclusive resorts, at least not the kind of resort we can afford.

So, if you are someone with lots of disposable income and high expectations, what I have to say about Breezes is likely irrelevant to you. For everyone else, let's press forward.

Our vacation was overwhelmingly positive, though there were a few things I would change if I could.

Pros:

1) Breezes is clean! As we were got off the elevator heading toward our fifth-floor room I noted that the hallway smelled like flowers, though the floral smell was clearly from whatever cleaning products the housekeeping service uses. Employees were constantly cleaning guest rooms and common areas, and there are plenty of common areas to clean.

2) The beach is clean and expansive for a mid-sized hotel. Breezes is located at the end of Cable Beach, so there are no other hotels to the east of the hotel. To the west of the hotel are all the other large resorts, including a Wyndham and a Sheraton. Sandals, also located on Cable Beach, is even farther west. While we were visiting Baha Mar, a huge multi-building structure, was under construction next door, so Breezes guests may not be as happy when that resort opens and the beach potentially feels more crowded.

3) There are plenty of activities for guests each day. Guests can choose from both organized activities and any number of games available 24 hours a day. There are three pools, one that has a swim-up bar and another that has a volleyball net. There's also a large hot tub which we enjoyed each day. Near the beach there's a rock climbing wall, and on the beach there is a volleyball court and a flying trapeze (!). Near the hotel lobby there's a basketball court and tennis courts, and inside the main floor/lobby space there's a billiards room, a ping pong room, a gym, a board game space, and a bar and stage space for the evening entertainment. Matt and I love some ping pong, and my skills increased exponentially during our daily tournaments. At night there's a semi-hilarious "club" called Hurricane where Matt and I may have been two of only six or eight people dancing one night, but we still broke it down.

4) The resort employees are all super friendly, even as they attempt to get the uninterested guests to participate in beach games.

5) The resort is 14-and-over! I did not realize this when we booked the hotel, but this perk is amazing. Before having a baby I wouldn't think twice about being on vacation and being surrounded by someone else's kids. Kids, after all, are wonderful and adorable. But now that I have a baby to be around 24/7 (and lots of my old friends/new friends also have babies) I am always around babies. They're great and all, but it was amazing to only be surrounded by adults for a few days.

6) The alcohol was not only plentiful as expected, but the brand-name liquors were impressive. I'm not much of an alcohol snob, so I would have been happy with whatever, but a rail-drink-free vacation was nice.

7) The size of the resort is perfect. It's big enough to provide plenty of food and entertainment options in a party-like atmosphere, but it's small enough to not feel over run with guests.

8) We enjoyed lunches from the beach grill on the pool deck. Let me recommend the conch fritters.


Cons:

1) This sounds like something I would shake my head at if I read it on someone's TripAdvisor review, so I'll give that disclaimer...BUT, both Matt and I noticed how in several places at the resort, including our bedroom, the seating area at the buffet, and the Italian restaurant the lighting was horrible. I'm a believer in environmentally friendly florescent lighting, but there was something about this particular type of florescent lighting that was an ambiance killer. This seems like a super-easy change for the resort management to make.

2) The buffet, where we mostly just ate breakfast, was fine. I wouldn't recommend the buffet for dinner. Instead, there are two restaurants on the site as part of the all-inclusive package that require reservations. The problem with the reservations is that they're supposed to be made 24 hours in advance, which is hard for many travelers. We got there Thursday afternoon and therefore technically couldn't make reservations for dinner until Saturday night. After eating the not-so-awesome buffet for Thursday's dinner Matt went to see if we could be stand-by for one of the restaurants, and because we were visiting Breezes during an off season the answer was fortunately yes. Each restaurant has a different theme; one is an Italian restaurant where the food is pretty decent (minus the entrees) but the ambiance is terrible. Then there's a modern American-ish restaurant called Garden of Eden with food that is only OK but the ambiance is quite nice, especially with the beautiful setting in the garden. The Italian restaurant's strength is in its antipasti buffet, which is reason enough to get a reservation there. If I could do it over I would just fill up on a couple plate fulls from that.The Garden of Eden has good appetizers and desserts and a menu with names that will make you laugh out loud if you enjoy some good biblical puns to accompany your food (there were references to Adam and Eve but also Cain and Lucifer). Both restaurants serve five courses, but again I'd recommend cutting out the middle part of that experience and just having the apps and desserts.

We decided to throw another $200 or so into our vacation and upgrade to an ocean-front room. I'm so glad we did this. It was perfect to just open the balcony door and listen to the waves. Most ocean-front rooms have king beds, ours included. Perhaps also by virtue of being at the end of the hallway on top of the ocean we also had a room that was significantly larger than the partial-ocean view/garden rooms we passed along the hallway.

This vacation was by no means a cultural excursion. Before arriving we had planned to stay on the resort the whole time, but we decided to try a half-day snorkeling trip with Stuart Cove's. We paid $70 each to get on a boat that made three snorkeling stops: one at an under-water plane wreck; one at a random reef; and one at a shark-infested zone (inhabited by the kinds of sharks that don't eat people). The extra $10 I paid to rent a wet suit was worth it as the water was rather chilly. Although the choppy waters made me feel a bit sea sick, especially on the ride back, I would do it again.

Although a quick weather map search will tell you the same thing, be advised that if you're looking for 80-degree temperatures in the Bahamas you'll need to wait for the spring. While we were in Nassau the typical daily high temp was 75, but the wind made it feel cooler. I did not pack appropriately enough. When the sun came out and stayed out and the wind died down it was comfortable on the beach in a swimsuit.

The low point of the trip happened moments after we arrived and tried to make it through immigration. About five planes landed all at once, right around lunch time, and apparently the immigration folks didn't get the memo because there were two people stationed at the desks to stamp everyone's passport when the airport needed about six times as many immigration workers in order to be semi-efficient. After lots of angst and some mutiny on the part of our fellow passengers, the line eventually started to move, but I've never waited so long to get through any country's immigration or customs. Once the line finally started to move we were only in it for about an hour or an hour and a half, so it could have been a lot worse and hopefully that was a random incident and not indicative of standard operating procedure at Nassau airport.

So, let me recommend Breezes in Nassau for a budget-friendly all-inclusive resort getaway. If you go, stay oceanfront. If you go in January/February, bring a jacket. And, whatever you do, leave the kids at home.