After a looong winter, Emerson and I decided to take a vacation! What better place than sunny Houston to visit some of our best buddies! We took an extended Memorial Day weekend vacay and soaked up some sun, pool water, and lots of good food! Prepare to scroll… lots of pics ahead!

The Flight:

As the excitement for the trip built, so did the anxiety! Traveling with a toddler isn’t easy, and I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into. In preparation for the trip I investigated the blogosphere for tips on flying with kids. Many travel blogs later, we must have done everything right because our trip was perfect from start to finish. The hardest obstacle to overcome was the 5:45 am flight out of Des Moines. What seemed like a tough situation in the beginning (we live 4 hours away from DSM) turned out to be a big contributor to the overall ease of our traveling. Em and I stayed at a hotel near the airport and were able to ride a shuttle to and from the airport and not deal with the hassle of the car and getting our luggage from point A to B. I was thrilled I didn’t have to drive anywhere and E was thrilled to ride a bus for the first time! Somehow we were among the first to arrive at the airport that day and Emerson didn’t seem to notice it was only 4 am. After running around the terminal she crashed about 5 minutes into take-off. Her first plane ride was a success! She had her very own window seat but it was too dark for her to see the sky that time of day. I was thankful for the next 2 hours of quiet and relaxation until we arrived in Houston. Our return flight the following week was just as smooth, but with less sleeping. As opposed to flying early in the day as we had the first leg of the trip, we flew late in the day. I would recommend either; this was perfect for us because it gave us 6 full days with our friends! After take-off Emerson waved to her friend Abby from the plane window for at least 30 minutes before I put pj’s on her and she fell asleep.

 

 

The Fun:

Abby’s mom had all kinds of fun stuff planned for us! We made several trips to the park, fed giraffes at the zoo, spent lots of time in the pool, and even had time for some shopping and of course… naps! It was so fun to see the girls interact, some times were better than others, but overall they shared, laughed and played like true besties. Emerson was obsessed with everything Abby said and did and has brought home with her some stolen phrases — I love hearing the reminders of our trip!

The Food:

We are lucky to have such good friends who know where to find all the best food! Delicious Mexican cuisine, grilled meats galore, pizza, and frozen yogurts were among the favorites. Honestly I’m still trying to wrap my head around the doughnut with the tiny hot dog hiding inside — whaaaat!!!!! So good!

 I can’t express enough thanks towards Josh, Michelle, and Abby for having us and making vacation so memorable! We loved Houston and already can’t wait to go back! Now that we’re travel pro’s, I won’t hesitate to book another trip!