Picture Story Part 2

Anyway, after waking up at 5am, we decided to get out early and go sightseeing. St. Augustine is an amazing, historic town with so much to see. It was ungodly hot though, so we weren't able to walk around as much as I had hoped.
Here's what we did see...

Fort Matanzas...

Old churches... (this might not be exciting to some but the old buildings facinated Dustin and I. Living on the west coast of Florida, we just don't see things like this)


and this was taken on historic St. George St, where all of the touristy shops and restaurants are...

After overheating ourselves, we went back to the condo and relaxed. We tried the beach one more time, which didn't work out so well for Lily this time but I got a cute picture out of it...

Finally, that evening, we met up with our good friends, James, Anne Marie and their daughter Ryleigh, for dinner...

So those were the highlights. We had a great time. I can't wait to travel more with Lily and have her experience different places. It's so fun to see things through their eyes, even at this age. I imagine that only gets to be more fun as they get older.

Some things I learned about traveling with a 3 month old...

• NEVER stay for only two nights. It's way too much work, unless you're only driving 10 minutes away. As you saw, you have to pack everything, whether you're staying for a night or a month. Next time, we'll stay at least 4 nights, wherever we go.
• Babies are, indeed, portable. I was so worried that she was going to be freaked out by her change in environment or get super cranky because we were on the go so much. Not the case. She was a trooper and just took it all in.
• Don't take a baby to the beach until they can sit up. Although we had the fancy tent for her, her only choice was to lay down in there. If she didn't want to, she screamed. I couldn't fit in the tent to hold her up. Just don't do it.
• Get a big place, not just a regular hotel room. You'll need extra space for all of the extra stuff and you'll be in the room more than you think. It's doable in a regular hotel room, but just not very comfortable.
  
• Finally, vacation has a whole new meaning. This is a good and a bad thing. The good was already mentioned, seeing new things through a little one's eyes and all of the new experiences. It's the best...but...I won't lie...it isn't a relaxing time, at this age. Carrying all of her stuff all over the place, not being able to see/do what we wanted to do, worrying about her (is she hungry, tired, over heated, etc) makes it a little stressful. I'm not saying it isn't worth it, it just redefines vacation. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. We're already planning our 2010 Costa Rica trip with her!