We decided to bring Charlie with us because he still nurses and because I wasn't ready to leave him for a weekend. And because he isn't ready either. But we left Aubrey here with her grand parents. That wasn't an easy decision...but we really needed it. Matt and I wanted to hike, which is something Aubrey can't do...plus any type of change is incredibly challenging for Aubs. She would have been miserable, and so would we. We will travel with Aubrey, but it is going to be something that will have to be carefully planned out and prepared for. We may even need to bring along some extra help. A spontaneous weekend trip just wasn't gonna work for her.
Even though I spent a lot of time feeling guilty about leaving her behind, we had a GREAT time...and Aubrey had a fun weekend too.
Charlie took all his naps in the car, which has made for a tricky adjustment since being home.
We stopped at a super fun park in Cedar city to break up the trip a little bit. Charlie got really restless in the car.
Swimming was the first order of business once we got there. Charlie wasn't a big fan...probably because he is used to his nice warm bath water! I know he'll love it some day.
The next day we drove to Zion National Park to do some hiking. When I told Matt that we should go to Zions, he said "Why don't we just hike in St. George?" I told him I wanted to see something so beautiful it would take my breath away. So that settled that. And man, my wish came true. Utah is so stunning.
Charlie loved this little backpack carrier that we borrowed from Matt's sister, Katie. I mean, he never whined, cried, or fussed once! He just rode along and jabbered and hummed. And the few times we took him out to explore...after a few minutes he would try to climb back in the carrier. It was awesome.
The only rough part of the trip was sleep. Man, I've never been so exhausted on a vacation before. Charlie had a tough time sleeping in the hotel room, and was up several times a night. One night I was so tired I brought him into bed with us (thank goodness it was a king), and he slept and kicked and smacked me all night. It was totally worth it though.
I think my favorite part of the trip was just watching Charlie take everything is stride. Matt and I were constantly amazed at how well he handled everything. From the change in his schedule, to eating at restaurants all the time (something we rarely do as a family), to missing naps, and hiking, and being in the car and having his diaper changed in weird places...he was just such a trooper.
All along the way, we couldn't help but talk about how easy it was in comparison to how difficult things like this are with Aubrey. We felt guilty about enjoying the ease of it all so much. But we were also so thankful for the respite. We've been living life in such a way for so long, that I think this is the first time we really realized just how different life is with Aubrey. It was easy. And pretty much nothing in the last 6 years has been easy. So, we missed her like crazy and thought about her a lot. But it felt good to just breathe for a few days.
1 comment:
So glad you guys were able to get away and (kind of) relax! I'm sure Aubrey had much more fun being with grandparents and being spoiled rotten! And what a trooper Charlie was. I hate feeling exhausted after coming home from a trip because of the babies not sleeping!!
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