I reluctantly left our son with Grandma, reluctantly rented a Mustang convertible, reluctantly booked a hotel room with a hot tub, and reluctantly helped my husband pitch his new project to hundreds of other techies for two days.

Since my return from Vegas I’ve been suffering from an acute case of writers block. Not that there wasn’t plenty in Vegas to write about just that I am completely lacking the ability to put more than two words together at a time.

I blame the hours of networking with nerdy guys who think they’re cool because they make a lot- or just some – money online. I don’t care if you drive a Hummer or not, by the age of 38 you ought to be able to figure out that your pants are 2 inches too short or that you’re shirt is too tight and too short thus giving us all a nice sliver of belly hair to feast our eyes on.

Most of the guys were very nice, over cologned, uber successful, and quite taken with my boobs. My girls have never had such deep conversations about converting traffic, payment thresholds, and dropping cookies.

After a bit I learned that drawing attention to my rack by spinning my lanyard so that men would strike up a conversation only to be transitioned off to Techie for the sales pitch was quite effective. If you’re going to stare you’re going to get played. That’s the game boys!

After all their hard work Techie and I took my girls out for crazy good food at “Kahunahville” at Treasure Island, where we stayed. The gals and I got some fresh air as we cruised the strip in our mustang convertible and took in all the sites. My favs were the Bellagio and New York New York.

I pushed up the gals and put on way too much eye makeup for an exclusive bash at the Venetian’s swanky bar Toa. We and 2700 of our closest affiliate friends took in a private performance by the Blue Man Group and enjoyed great food and an open bar.

At Toa my gals were introduced to 2 gals twice their size which belonged to a bartender who mixed my drinks 90 to 10…10 being the diet….90 being the rum.

Needless to say I got very drunk, entertained quite a few people on the way back to our room, and spent the flight home the next morning hung-over. Being married to an internet marketer certainly has its perks!

I expected a long hot stressful day but what I got was an unexpectedly perfect day….just the two of us. 

You have a toddler and everyday, well every minute, is different.  One minute they’re playing and laughing, the next they’re laying on the ground kicking and screaming.  While luck favors the prepared, even the prepared are no match for a toddler.  When I set out for Sea World I was excited, prepared, and thankful for the good morning we were having thus far.  As it happened both luck and my toddler were in my favor.   

Our mommy-baby adventure was filled with big smiles, beautiful weather, lots of kisses, and enough fun to make Sea World worth every penny.  I totally expected a fight about the stroller because Chibby hates to be strapped in.  But we immediately found an arrangement that agreed with each of us.  At each exhibit I either wheeled him up front so he had a perfect view from the stroller or took him out and stood him up on it so he could see and when we moved to the next exhibit he gladly rode along. 

He ate like a champ at the deli and made friends with the girls at the table next to us (are we surprised?)  During the dolphin show he kept turning around to hug and kiss me which is his very adorable way of telling me thanks. He clapped along with the crowed and shouted “ooooh” during every trick.  The smile plastered across his face was, and even now is, enough to make me cry.

It struck me today when I noticed the woman next to us (who was super nice and a Grandma herself) watching and enjoying Chibby’s reaction to the show that there’s no way that someone without a kid could have had as much fun as I did today.  That grin and those chubby little hands clapping so furiously made Sea World really and truly magical. 

I’ve always wanted to go to Sea World and until today I’d never seen a dolphin, or manatee, or a whale.  Having Chibby along with me on my first visit made it all the more worth the wait.  Sea World is awesome and if you have a toddler I think it is an awesome place to visit.   With a bit of prep you can even go it alone, although, I think it would have been even more fun if Techie had been there to share in our great day!

Love to you all from toasty beautiful Orlando!

Thanks to teething we were all awake at 3:30 AM this morning, mommy and daddy only having gone to bed a few hours earlier and we were all pooped before we even left the house. 

Miraculously we arrived at the airport on time, checked in and went through security with ease (seriously the baby needs to remove his shoes???).  My son was a dream on the plane due in part to my preparation, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

Chibby and I took the window seat with my husband beside us.  My son watched out the window admiring the trucks and other planes and even the scenery as we took off which actually calmed my nerves. He slept through the layover and spent the second flight watching Cars for the 1,000th time.  No screaming – no fits- no way!?

To go with our unexpected baby ease was a good dose of difficult served up by Alamo.  Lines, stupid check-in procedures, the wrong car seats, and a trainee in the exit booth who took 30 minutes to fix a paperwork error (Alamo’s fault)  helped us get our Orlando vacation off to a peachy start.  A special thanks to the a-hole a few cars back who shouted “just give the car back” for adding a little bit of magic to the day!

Being the savvy travel I am I printed directions to the hotel ahead of time via Google maps (who got it completely wrong!) so getting to the hotel was fun.  When we finally made it the hotel did not disappoint (the restaurant is another story). 

So before I slip into what will hopefully be a full night of sleep here are a few of my toddler tested travel trips from today:

• Pack Cheez-its, or some favorite snack…snacks are perfect for those confine and wait periods like waiting to takeoff or waiting to rent a car.  Plus they get Dad of his low-blood sugar funk.
• Compare maps and print them out ahead of time.  Cross check Google and mapquest to make sure directions are accurate.  Get your bearings before you leave the airport.  Am I supposed to go right or north?
• No neglecting naps…seek out sleep spots, on the plane, maybe in the car, or a quiet corner at the airport to get your little on to sleep.  Try to keep as much of their going-to-sleep routine as possible.  We always read a story before a nap or bedtime so I brought along the story we’ve been reading at home.
• Movies for when you’re not moving.  We brought along a Disney fav and played it on my laptop.
• Put the diaper bag under the seat in front of you on the plane so you can access those snacks, activities and drinks with ease.
• Pack a many little things to do.  I had a few touch and feel books which are interactive for my hyperactive kiddo, a pocket-sized sticker book, and a play cell phone which kept my son happy throughout the flight.
• Choose well balanced flying times.  Don’t pick a 1 hour flight with a connecting flight that is 4 hours if you can help it.  Try to get an even split.
• If you’re taking electronics pack them all in one carry-on and let dad go through security with that bag while you take the kiddos through.  Electronics all have to be unpacked and placed in trays and removing shoes, juggling a baby, and a stroller is enough for one person.  Let the other person take all the have-to-be unpacked items through security.
• Dress everyone in slide on shoes it makes getting through security slick and easy.
• Finally, get good sleep before you leave, keep hydrated, and kiss your spouse.  All of which will make you feel better, even if you rented a car from Alamo.   

I spent all day searching the web for ways to keep toddlers happy during a flight and I’m 80% sure that there will still be some sort of feet kicking, back arching, screaming meltdown at some point.   Though most of the advice was fairly useless (and some even harmful i.e. drug your baby) I did find a few gems in the bunch. 

One tot toting mama insists a box of colorful bandaids is the answer.  Baindaids are inexpensive, time consuming to open and peel, easy to peel off of seats & trays, and lets face it down right cool to a kiddo.  One mom suggested an in-flight movie via Daddy’s laptop (w/ headphones of course).  Another saavy mom suggested bribing your baby and fellow passengers with tasty snacks. 

On the subject snacks, I found the COOLEST snack holder I’ve ever seen and ordered several for our upcoming adventure.  My son is Mr. Independent and this clever sippy cup style snack holder is the perfect mess busting way to keep my little guy entertained while he practices his dining skills. 

I’ll be sharing more travel tips as I hear about them, and keeping you updated as to which tricks pass the test in February.  In the meantime, Parenting Magazine is keeping it real with this great article about air travel and toddlers. As for me, I’ll be packing the bandaids and taking all the advice I can get because I hate air travel enough without the baby frenzy.