Gideon, we took you on your very first family vacation to Fredericksburg Texas. We found quite a few baby-friendly things to do, and it refreshed and delighted our whole family. Instead of a hotel, we found a lovely Air Bnb where your Daddy and I had date nights in the living room after you went to bed. We watched movies, enjoyed their hot tub, made homemade ice cream, and even had a candlelit dinner complete with classical music waltzing in the background. You missed out–Sorry. 😉
The first night we arrived, we decided on dining at a German restaurant we’d googled. What we did not read was that it was one of the most expensive places to eat in town. You didn’t care how fancy or expensive it was, and proceeded to scream through our dinner just because you felt that was more fun than sitting nicely and eating what we gave you. What we learned from that experience, is that if you go to a restaurant, and see the menu is three times what you are planning on spending, and you have a baby in-tow, it it WELL worth it to get up and find a different place to eat. We paid a lot of money for that miserable dinner, but we won’t make the same mistake twice!
We hiked Enchanted Rock. You slept most of the time in the carrier while Daddy carried you. I really appreciated it, as it slowed Daddy down just enough so I could keep up with his aggressive pace as we charged up the hill. When we got to the top the view was absolutely beautiful, and well worth the climb and exercise. Not to be limited by your age or stage, Daddy lead us back down off-trail at which point you woke up and kept turning your head back and forth in wonderment at the scenery surrounding us.
On another day we visited antique shops, and scored some fall jammies for you at the local thrift store. We also had another rather loud, squawky lunch at a German bakery off of main street. Thankfully the noise level was already at a low rumble with everyone talking at once. We were able to relax a bit more as you simply added to the noise rather than provided the entirety of it. Actually, you shrieked through every restaurant we attempted to sit down at in Fredericksburg, so we eventually started getting fun lunch and dinner items at HEB. (And after the trip we practiced sitting sweetly at the table, being patient. It hasn’t been much of a problem since then).
One day it was a little drizzly, but we drove out anyway to a peach orchard where they had blackberry bushes to pick from. There weren’t a ton that were ripe, and they were a little sour, but all three of us still massively enjoyed ourselves. You would grab a dark juicy berry with your chubby little fingers, and then smash it into your mouth, red spray going everywhere. You wrinkled your little nose each time at the sourness, and then chomped throughly away despite it. Towards the end it started raining more heavily, and laughing we made a dash for the car after we had paid for our tiny carton of berries. Your daddy spiked your hair up with the rain water, and it stood straight up like that for hours afterwards.
We mostly just soaked up the memories and impressed them in our minds, but I did bring my camera that day, and caught a few tangible photographs. I am slowly getting back to taking pictures for my own enjoyment, and that has been one of my favorite days thus far.
We also meandered through a beautiful flower farm. The brilliant hues of the petals splashed against the grey sky, and brightened all of our hearts. We let you stick your toes in the dirt and wiggle them around–Just stopping you when your little mouth tried to get in on the action. Then Daddy swung you through the flower fields, your laughter merrily skipping through the air into my ears and heart.
We saw a fair amount over the trip, but we will definitely have to go back again when you are older. Right now we are learning to take things at a gentle, relaxing pace… Doing a little less than we used to, but enjoying life a whole lot more. So thanks for that, little fella. And minus your restaurant screaming antics, thanks for being a darling on our first family vacation.
