Expert Traveler

So in less than a week Olivia will be turning one! During her first year she has become quite the expert traveler. Here is a laundry list of where she has been...She's flown to California and New York. She has also been to Pennsylvania, Illinois and Michigan by car. And we just returned from a week in Arizona! Not bad for a one year old! Lucky for us she handles the traveling quite well. Of course it is always difficult taking a baby out of their comfort zone, but she adjusts quickly and always enjoys herself. Here is Olivia passing time in one of the airports as we wait to board our flight...

I attended a week long conference in Tempe, Arizona for my job. I was lucky enough to be able to bring Todd and Olivia with me. Since I was busy most of the time Todd was able to spend a lot of quality time with Olivia. They spent their days exploring the area around the hotel and lounging by the pool. Todd's favorite part of spending time with Olivia was when she would get so tired that she would just crawl up and fall asleep on his lap. This is something that does not happen very often!

We stayed at a very nice hotel located right next to Arizona State University in Tempe. It was a busy area with lots of fun restaurants and shops. Since we were in the heart of a college town it was quite full of college students. Not to mention that it was ASU's homecoming week. It was a fun place to be!

During my free time we were able to do some fun things as a family. There was a huge mountain behind the hotel that you were able to climb. We were told that it was a quick walk but we would have to do it without a stroller as part of it was a little rugged. The thought of climbing up the side of a mountain with a baby was not very appealing but we so wanted to see the view from the top. Since we are the adventurous kind of family we decided to go for it!

It was tough...especially while carrying a baby. But we made it and the view was totally worth it! We could see the beautiful mountains in the distance as well as the ASU campus and the Tempe river. I think Olivia was quite fascinated with being so high up. It was a easy trek for her as all she had to do was hold on and enjoy the ride. I, on the other hand, was quite sweaty and exhausted by the time we made it to the bottom!

We also went to the Phoenix Zoo. As Olivia gets older she is starting to enjoy the zoo more and more. We saw some amazing animals...the giraffes being our favorites. It was a gorgeous day! The sun was shining but it was cool. Now we can add the Phoenix Zoo to our list of zoo's that Olivia has been to in her first year as well.

We ate at some really fun restaurants throughout the week. It was challenging at times as we always had to find a place that was family friendly. Now that Olivia is eating so much table food she really enjoys trying big people food. One night we ordered her her very own cheese pizza! She has had bites of pizza before, but never her own slice to munch on. I think she enjoyed it...

We also ate at a Rainforest Cafe. For those of you that are not familiar with this restaurant it is like eating in a jungle. There are mechanical animals all around the perimeter of the restaurant that move and make noise randomly. There are big huge trees and a amazing ceiling that looks like a sky filled with stars. Every once in a while the restaurant erupts with a fake thunder storm. It truly is amazing! Olivia was extremely fascinated with the whole experience. It was the perfect place to take her!

And when we weren't eating or shopping and I wasn't stuck in a conference room, I would join Todd and Olivia at the pool. Everyday was full of sunshine with no clouds in the sky. Most of you know how much Olivia loves being in the water. So she was always ready to splash around in the pool. We would swim and then relax under our cabana and take a nap. That's the life!

Even though I was in Arizona for business we still had a great time as a family. Todd was able to spend some amazing quality time with Olivia...which was very special for him. Although it was exhausting at times, he really enjoyed being on full time daddy-duty! We are so grateful that we have been able to bring Olivia to all of these wonderful places during her first year. I have a feeling her second year will not be filled with as much traveling...but that is ok. And although she will not remember any of our trips, one day I will show her all of the places she went to as a baby. What a lucky girl!