Gessner Family: Florida Adventure

Hello everyone! Sorry for the late post :) We just got back from visiting the newest family member, Blake, in Florida. We went from Thursday-Sunday so it was a quick visit, but overall we got a lot accomplished. Blake is so adorable and it was nice catching up with Erin and Chris...we really missed them. Plus! I know they were excited to meet Tristan too.

Tristan did very well for his first time flying. On the way to Florida, he only cried when we were landing and on the way home he slept the entire way. Traveling with an infant is a challenge, but we survived...yay! We ended up bringing the City Mini with us, which proved to be a good choice as we used it every day.

Just a quick rundown of how we managed through the airport. We made sure to bring a copy of Tristan's birth certificate just in case they wanted to see it. At both airports, they said it wasn't necessary for anyone under 13, but you can never be to sure. We wore Tristan in the Ergo through security. They do not make you take the baby out of the carrier which is nice. All they do, is swipe your hands with these little strips and run them through a machine to check for gun powder residue (I think?!): easy peasy. We carried on Tristan's diaper bag and another bag filled with baby essentials just in case we needed anything extra.

We checked the City Mini at the gate (also nice for making sure that it got to the final destination safe and sound). I made sure to do a quick wipe down of the seats we were sitting in prior to sitting down just to be extra cautious. Having a 5 month old means that anything within reach WILL end up in his mouth. There were a couple other babies on the plane, so that made us feel a little better. We were so nervous of being "those people with a baby" on the plane, but no one seemed to mind. The guy next to us ordered a beer when the flight attendants came to ask for drinks...but I am just guessing that he would have done that with or without the baby sitting next to him ;)

When we got to Florida, we rented a car and a car seat to go with it (obviously planned ahead of time). It was the most economical choice and proved to be a good one. It was a pain at first (putting in new car seats usually is a pain), but once it was all installed it worked perfectly. It was much better than lugging our car seat around or checking it and risking it getting damaged. Car seats are expensive, folks!! If we were to travel again we will most likely rent a car seat again too.

We spent lots of time with Blake!! It was so nice to finally meet our little nephew. Tristan tested out all of his toys and made sure they would be good for him to use in the future. Both babies are still at the stage where they don't really recognize other babies, but it was fun for us! We went on a couple walks, went to a place called Safety Harbor, and even found a nice spot so we could help Erin, Chris, and Blake get some family snapshots.

Here is Tristan trying out the jumperoo! He loved it...guess what we will be buying next?!

Bounce, bounce, bounce

He was going crazy in that thing!

Me and Erin in our matching nursing covers. Yep, there are babies under there!

This one is the best one because it is so true...always peeking down on the babies:

Tristan and me at Safety Harbor

Blake getting his diaper changed. We thought the sign was funny :)

Erin walking around with Blake

I kept trying to get a picture with both babies...this was the best I could do:

Erin, Chris, and Blake

There is the little guy!

Mike, me, and Tristan!

Tristan had his first beach and pool experience while down in Florida. He LOVED it!! He had such a blast being in the water. I think he liked the beach better than the pool because he kept digging his toes into the sand. He was all smiles.