Babymoon

Staycation

When I was 15-17 weeks pregnant with Jellybean I took a little babymoon with my girlfriends. We ran a half marathon in Disneyworld and followed that up with a trip to Peru. Kind of awesome right? That vacation was one for the history books with memories I'll cherish forever! Well this time around, having a toddler kind of makes taking a babymoon difficult. I originally wanted to go to Asheville, North Carolina. I've heard incredible things about that place. I had started researching, got really excited, but as the date approached, my body started to work against me. We should have taken our babymoon to Asheville earlier in my pregnancy. The long days being a tourist (which is my idea of a vacation- long days exploring EVERYTHING), would have been a little too much on me I think. Especially in the middle of summer in the south. Although I'm one to charge through something difficult because I don't always believe in taking the easy road.....listening to your body when you're in your third trimester sounded like a better option than pushing through the pain for the sake of a vacation. Instead, I took that time I requested off for a vacation and turned it into a staycation. It actually worked out pretty well. We would take Jellybean to daycare in the mornings and pick him up at the end of the day. Matt and I got to enjoy each other's company sans toddler. While we absolutely love being parents and can't imagine life without kids now, it's REALLY NICE having time to ourselves to make sure we don't lose touch of the couple that we are. I don't want us to be looking across the dinner table from each other when the kids are out of the house and not know each other. So not only did I get to "take it easy" staying local, but I got have some much needed quality time with my husband. I came back to work completely refreshed where prior to that, I was hurting and ready to go home and put my feet up after lunch.

Day 1:
We decided to drive north and see what the Eastern Shores were like......if you've never been to that part of the country, you're not missing much! First of all, it cost $13 ONE WAY to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. We had to pay another $13 on the drive back. We checked out Cape Charles which is one of the bigger towns in the area. First stop was coffee at Cape Charles Coffee House. It was a cute little sit in coffee/breakfast bar. I went to the counter hoping to get a decaf latte and stood there for literally 15 MINUTES without anyone helping me. I was AT THE COUNTER right in front of the cash register. The barista was busy making coffee for the sit down guests and the other people were running around taking checks and delivering meals. This place was small too, maybe 10 tables at the most. I got really annoyed, really upset, and left. The rest of the town left much to be desired. We tried to go the beach but there was police tape everywhere. We were going to eat lunch on the Eastern Shores but by that time, we were kind of fed up with being there so I grabbed some croissants from a specialty store on the way to the car and we left for lunch down in Virginia Beach.

Now THAT lunch was really good! First of all, we avoid Virginia Beach in the summer at all costs. It is so crowded! But it wasn't bad on a weekday. And the food we had was amazing. Hands down the best fish tacos and crab dip I've ever had. And the view of the beach while we ate comfortably in A/C was an added bonus. After our drool worthy lunch we went watched the Avengers movie. Matt and I are total Marvel junkies. He's followed the comic books while I just like the one liners, entertaining storyline, and Chris Hemsowrth.... :)

Day 2:
On Day 2 we trekked out to the Williamsburg Winery. After spending some time in Napa, Matt and I have become total wine snobs. Oregon wines are pretty incredible too, and while I hate to say it, Washington wines have been hit and miss. We weren't too impressed with Arizona or Texas wine so convincing my husband to go to the Williamsburg Winery was kind of a challenge. True to form he whined about having to go out there for wine that he probably wouldn't like. SURPRISINGLY though, it was soooo good! I'm less picky about my wines and easier to please though. Matt was also pleasantly surprised at how yummy their wines were, both their reds and their whites. There's also a little restaurant on the vineyard where we had another flight of wine and those were all good too! And the food......I wish we had bottomless stomachs because I wanted to try everything. What we did get tasted delish and the food everyone else was eating looked and smelled incredible. We'll definitely have to go back there. Now I know what you're thinking...aren't you 8 months pregnant? You did a wine tasting?? Matt got the tasting and the wine flight, I took a small sip, and he finished the rest. I probably didn't even have a half a glass worth of wine. I won't lie to you...there are times that I will indulge in a glass of wine. It's not every day, every week, or even every month, but it does happen on occasion.

Day 3:
I wanted to go to Busch Gardens on day 3 but I let Matt convince me not to go, we'd go some other time when the weather wasn't so hot and humid. Ok fine. That morning he went to the driving range while I indulged in some Starbucks and a MUCH NEEDED pedicure.

We also got to say hi to Tater Tot! 3D ultrasounds are so cool even though you have to pay out of pocket. I swear JB looked just like his 3D ultrasound pic and I'm sure Tater Tot will be the exact same. My little man was not camera shy at all and we got some great photos. He has such chubby cheeks already and definitely mom's full lips. And the source of all the heart burn was confirmed when we saw how much hair was on that head of his! I can't wait to see him in person. Only a few more weeks to go!

We caught another movie that afternoon, this time, Jurassic Park at Cinebistro. Cinebistro has forever changed how we see movies. First of all, Jurassic Park was AWESOME! Worth the hype, especially for our generation who grew up watching the first ones come out. Second, this type of movie theater will change how you go to movie theaters. We had to get there 30 minutes before show time because it's one of those restaurant/theater combos. We ordered some amazing food and drinks before the previews and got to munch away during the movie in super comfortable seats. The movie tickets themselves don't cost any more than a regular movie and the food cost as much as it would at a sit down restaurant. I think the next movie we see (James Bond! Yes, we are James Bond junkies in this house) will definitely have to be at Cinebistro.

While our staycation was pretty simple and laid back, it was just what we needed. We ended up doing a lot of the things we would do before having kids and it was nice to see that everything felt the same and we still had a good time with just the two of us. But I will have to say, that even though I love spending quality time with my husband, at the end of the day, when we went to the daycare to pick up our little munchkin and he would run up to us, give hugs and squeal with delight that his parents were there.....well....I wouldn't trade that for ANYTHING. Sure it was nice not having to mess with a toddler at a restaurant and being able to see a movie, or even get in and out of the car in under 60 seconds because there were no car seats and strollers to deal with, but, none of that holds a candle to being hugged by your child. The screaming at the restaurant, the added time, the not watching movies in a theater, the challenges and difficulties, the constantly putting them first, it's ALL WORTH IT! I got to spend the morning and afternoon with my husband and then we spent the evening eating dinner as a family and playing with our toddler. Talk about fulfilling! In no time at all we'll have TWO little ones posing double the challenges, double the stress, double the hugs and kisses, and double the love.