Hi loves! Today I wanted to finally share some pics from our Travels last month. We flew back to DC to visit my family for a few days so Ava could be in a wedding (will post on that soon). After our trip there we flew on down to Cayman. If you’ve been following my blog for awhile you know we go to Cayman usually once a year to visit family (tough I know ;). We’ve traveled quite a bit with Ava and a lot of you ask about our travel tips with the little one so here we go.
First I would be lying if I said I wasn’t dreading the cross county flights with Ava. 5 hours is a long time for a very active toddler to be contained on a plane but IT IS doable. If you have a little one who will nap anywhere (lucky you;) unfortunately not our case at all) then try to plan it where the nap time falls during your flight. Ava is not one to sleep just anywhere but she actually slept on both flights! Luckily I found that this stage was a lot easier then the flight we took with her at 9 months because……….
Now she is into the iPad! We downloaded a bunch of new episodes of her favorite shows (Bubble Guppies, Strawberry Shortcake, and Daniel the tiger). This kept her busy off an on for a few hours. We also brought a bunch of different snacks, small toys and some stickers and mini coloring books (from the $1 section at Target) to keep her from having melt downs when she wanted to leave our row. We try our best not to let her out to run in the aisle (if we do then its all down hill from there). If she knows she can get out and run around there’s no way she’s going to staying in her seat. Purchasing a separate seat for her was a MUST for this long flight. It’s a bummer having to pay for another seat but it made these long trips SO much more doable.
On the return flight Ava slept for 3 hours! We seriously didn’t even know what to do with ourselves. She was really overtired because we had to wake her up at 5am to catch the first flight out so it ended up working in our favor during the flight. On another note we got Angel Dear Blanket for Ava when she was about a year old. We only give it to her at nap time and bed time. It’s a comfort to her and signals sleepy time so was perfect on the flight! We take it with us every time we travel along with her sound machine, video camera and two little stuffed animals so we can recreate her bedtime routine at home. These are just some of the things that help us when we travel but i’d love to hear your tips too if you mamas have some to share! Okay now on to the rest of our vacay pics…..
Always hard to leave this house!
Miss waking up to this view!
Relaxin’ and waiting on the babe to wake up
a little jet ski ride with the hubs! (I won’t mention how he got us stuck out in the ocean because he went to close to the shallow and we got hung up in seaweed… lol)
Nothing like this water!
A sweet swing sesh with my little love!
daily.
When we’re in Cayman we always take a trip to Rum Point. It’s on the other side of the island but we love the drive and the cute little beach spot!
Love all the colorful buildings there!
Curry fish and rice and beans…yes please!
Little beach babe!
A trip to the Turtle Farm is a must! They have a section for the older kids where they can even go in the pool with the turtles!
Ava’s hair is SO much easier in the islands (mine on the other hand is a hot mess lol). In California Ava’s hair is pretty wild and takes a lot of “taming” (hence why its always in a top knot) but the humidity in Cayman puts her hair into the cutest little curls naturally.
Lots of Love for Grandpa 😉
Palm Tree filled skies!
Staying till sunset every night
until next time!!
Looks so relaxing there! What shoes did you wear on the plane with the stripe shirt and jeans?
that was on the way home and I just wore gladiator flat sandals for the long flight.
The Cayman Islands look gorgeous! I need to remind myself to get there some day!
its the most beautiful beach we've been to! love going there!
I am totally saving all of these tips & tricks for when we finally have a little one 😉 xoxo
yeah! Hopefully soon 😉
Well I can totally understand why you wouldn't want to leave! Looks beautiful!
http://www.emilyahlbum.com
😉 its so much prettier in person too!
The above plane pictures you have posted of The Cayman Islands over the years are always the most prettiest of blues and purples….ugh sigh…..If you ever have time I would love to read about a "where to travel post". I've only ever been to Palm Springs every few years with the BF and for our Ten year Anniversary (of dating) common Law bliss! lol. we want to go some place with sandy beach's that is relaxing, love to hear your thoughts on it! Love all the pictures you posted, all so beautiful!
you know you really can't go wrong with any beach destination! We love going to Cayman and Cabo!
Looks absolutely amazing!!! Would love to get out there one of these days!
you would love it! You guys should also try Cabo! So much closer for us 😉
I love how curly Ava's hair is getting, I mean I guess it was always that way but ohhh it's so full and cute on her!
so curly and I loved how easy it was to do in the humidity!
Love all of these pics – that one of you and Ava on the swing is so adorable – definitely a framer!!! Can't believe how lucky you got with her sleeping 3 hours!! Such a score! Caymans look amaze – that was the first vacay I ever went on – wanting to go back now that I can appreciate it 😉 Xx
serrrriously! We both couldnt believe she slept that long!!
Beautiful pics!! We just took a 3 1/2 hour flight with our 1 year old and it's so nice to hear that it will get better. It was pretty miserable this trip and I will definitely be buying her own seat next time 🙂
XO Kelly
http://www.dettecakes.blogspot.com
Looks like such a fun trip – love the house there – it's breathtaking!
thanks lovely!
I love that swing! I'm gonna have to get one for my house!!!
atparsons.blogspot.com
i think were going to have to invest in a swing set soon too!
Love the travel pics!! I've been wanting to buy an ipad for my toddler's first cross country flight, so glad to see Ava liked it! Do you have the air or the mini? Wondering what is better for little hands 🙂
we have both… the mini which totally worked fine and just got the iPad air with more storage space!
oh and we have a MUST HAVE iPad case ill post a link to as well! perfect for kiddos!
Awesome!! Thank you!! Would love to see your case recommendation 🙂 Thanks for the reply!
of course! xo Will post on it this week!
Whoops! I meant to post a ring question here, but I think it got posted to your pencil skirt post! Sorry 🙂 I was just asking if you could please provide some details about your beautiful ring! I'm due for an upgrade, and I love how yours looks. Is it a cushion cut with a halo? How many carats? Is it an engagement band and a wedding band, or just one ring? Would you mind telling me the designer? Sorry if this is too many questions, I just want to be sure to tell my honey what kind of ring I like 🙂
Gorgeous pictures! Miss Ava's hair is soooo precious! I think she was meant to be an island baby!
thanks so much Leslie and funny you say that…i totally think she was meant to be an island babe too! 😉
such gorgeous pictures!!! i could not even imagine taking my 2 year old son on a plane lol! where are you ruffled bikini bottoms from? super bright and cute!!
lol its a lot but totally doable! xo
oh and the bikini bottoms are from victoria secret
Andee, is the top the fringe bandeau from VS or the halter?
the fringe top is by LSpace and the bottoms are from Victoria Secret
Okay now I'm ready for a vacation! Ava could not be any more delish! Love the pic of the two of you xo
thanks mamacita! ;))
Oh man a seat of their own is SOOOO worth it!! Sucks to pay for it but on a long flight you have to. I have become a pro at flying with my son. I think it only takes 1 bad flight to learn everything you should have done or brought!!! These pictures are gorgeous!! We have family in Maui we visit every year and we leave tomorrow.. these pics are making me so excited!
oh my goodness SO worth it! It would have been miserable on that long flight…. passing her back and forth with a stranger in our row as well. On another note we were just saying how Hawaii would be good with a kiddo!
Andee do you work out while on vacation or do you take time off from it?
you know i used to up until a few years ago. I guess I just became a little more relaxed about it because after all I am on "vacation" 😉 I just try to still keep my eating in check (as i know i usually have more cocktails on vacay)
love when anyone does posts on traveling tips .. but what i really want to ask is, how do you manage the time change? im always so scared to go out of our time zone which is eastern standard. any tips or tricks there? or do you just roll with it and let her stay up later, go to bed earlier depending on where you were/??
you know you just have to kind of roll with it. You try your best to keep them on the same kind of schedule but at the end of the day its so hard to control it all. When we went back east we kept her up a little later… i think she stayed up until around 10pm which would be 7 our time and we didnt have a problem thankfully!
i live on the east coast and have friends and fam in CA, I would love to venture outside EST someday 🙂 thanks for letting me know what its like.. ive always wanted to ask someone who did some REAL traveling back and forth. and when i saw that you REALLY did, i had to ask- so thank you
Andee, do you use headphones for your little? We are traveling with our toddler next month and are flying from California to Florida, and it's our first time on a plane with him. Just wondering on the headphones and btw good advice on not letting them out of the aisle, I would have never thought of that! 🙂
Andee, I enjoy your blog so much and was hoping to get some tips on Grand Cayman. Any resorts or locations for rentals you recommend?? Thanks!!
Beautiful pictures!! Where do you stay when you are there, Is it a private house? It looks amazing!
Andee totally been stalking your blog 😉 love it! I have a 19 month old crazy active lil boy and I’m vacation at the Ritz Cayman Islands. We’ve been lounging on the beach everyday but we’re considering the Turtle Farm…is it a complete waste with a little one? Xoxo