Nolan's First Road Trip!

We had talked about taking a quick weekend road trip to San Diego to see how Nolan would do as a little traveling man.  A few weeks ago, we decided to just wing it, book a hotel and see how it goes!  So that's exactly what we did.  A few days before we left, I started getting super nervous about all the things I didn't think about... How will he do in the car?  What will he do when he gets tired of sitting in his carseat?  Where and how will I pump?  All of these things I found a solution to, and came up with a loose itinerary to go off of for the three days we would be gone.  I crossed my fingers everything would go smoothly, and to my luck and happiness, it all did!

We packed everything up and into the car Wednesday night, that way we could leave after Nolan's breakfast in the morning on Thursday.  Once we got everything together and made a stop at Dunkin' Donuts, we got on the road at about 8:30AM.  Nolan quickly fell asleep around 9:00AM, which is his normal nap time, and slept all the way through until we reached Barstow around 11:00AM (perfect timing for his next feeding).  We stopped in Barstow to feed Nolan, change him, and let him out of the car to walk around.  After spending about 30 minutes resting and refueling, we got back on the road.  Nolan played with his toys in his seat and did great!  He fell back asleep again a little before his next nap time at about 12:30PM, and slept until we reached the outskirts of San Diego.  We arrived at our hotel in the downtown Gaslamp District, and Nolan couldn't be happier to be out of the car and ready to start his adventure!

Sleeping in the car

Ready to see the hotel room!

When we got checked into our room, Nolan had a blast bouncing on the bed and looking super tiny in the pile of pillows on our comfy King size!  He played with some of his toys from home and didn't even act like he was in an unfamiliar place.  I think he thought it was pretty awesome to have all of his toys with him!  We brought his oatmeal cereal with us so he could eat his dinner at his normal time, but we forgot about how messy it is and didn't have a place to feed him (no highchair, no bumbo).  So, I got creative and sat him in his bathtub that we brought with us!  It was quite a scene to see, and Nolan thought it was pretty goofy that we were feeding him in his bathtub!  Either way, he gobbled up his food like a champ.

Comfy bed, I approve!

We got ourselves cleaned up and headed out to downtown Gaslamp to find a place for dinner.  It was a little cool, so Nolan got bundled up and looked adorable in a hoodie that cousin Everette passed down to him.  We were happy to get to wear it before he outgrew it, since there hasn't been an opportunity in Vegas to wear it!  We ended up eating dinner at Burger Lounge, which we thought was great but realized after eating there that it is more or less a Southern Cali "fancier" fast food joint.  Ha!  They serve all grass-fed burgers and had some delicious onion rings and fries.  We were happy with our choice, and Nolan took a quick catnap while we ate.  After we finished eating and Nolan woke, we took a walk around Gaslamp and strolled through the Westfield Horton Plaza.  We made a stop at the Gap and picked up some more clothes on clearance for Mr. Spoiled.  He decided to have a blowout while we were there, but lovely Cali stores have nursing rooms in their GapKids stores, so we did a quick wardrobe change and decided to head back to the hotel.  We gave Nolan a bath and tried to stick to his bedtime routine as best as we could, and after a little fight to get him to go down, he eventually wore himself out around 9PM.  He stirred in his Pack N' Play through the night, but I think most of it was because I kept checking on him.  I was nervous about how he would sleep, if it was too humid, if he was comfy enough, but overall, he did well and slept in until 7:30AM the next morning! 

Burger Lounge for dinner

Sound asleep in his Pack N' Play

The next morning, we ventured out again through Gaslamp to grab some breakfast at The Mission.  It was highly rated on Yelp so we decided to check it out, and it definitely did not disappoint!  Jason ordered the Roast Beef Hash & Eggs, and I ordered the prettiest French Toast with Berry Puree.  Nolan took his nap while we ate again (it's all about timing!), but woke back up on our walk back to the hotel.  He slept for a about a half hour and was totally over it... he wanted to hang out and explore, too!  

Dressed and ready for breakfast!

Ready to roll in his big boy stroller seat

French Toast at The Mission

Our plan was to head to the zoo after his morning nap, so we made our way over around 11:30AM.  We spent our whole day there and Nolan did great!  He took catnaps here and there, and enjoyed being awake for the giraffes, polar bear, ducks and birds, monkeys, and his favorite, the fish and hippos!  We took a milk break in the monkey exhibit and enjoyed sitting and watching them swing around.  Nolan was more distracted from drinking than anything, but it was fun to see him observe the monkeys and try to figure out what they were doing.  His absolute favorite was by far the hippos and the fish in their tank.  I think he would love an aquarium at this age, which made me think we should definitely make a trip to the Shark Reef at home sometime soon!  He liked being up close and watching the quick fish swim back and forth in front of him, and got super excited when the hippos swam by.  We took lots of pictures with the statues around the zoo since he could touch and explore that way, and by the time we got to the Children's Zoo and petting zoo, Nolan was out for the count. 

Nolan had to show Sophie the giraffe the REAL giraffes!

Catching up on a nap

Nolan loved watching the ducks

Getting excited about monkeys!

Lunch break in the monkey exhibit

Hippo swimming by!

We finally finished up our day at the zoo around 5:00PM, and decided to drive straight over to dinner at our favorite San Diego spot: Filippi's Pizza Grotto.  Nolan fell asleep on the drive over, and once we got in and sat down, didn't want anything to do with being in his carseat anymore, so lucky boy got to sit on our laps while we ate.  It's tradition for us to eat at Filippi's every time we visit.  Jason's grandparents ate here when they were younger, as well as Jason's parents, and now us, and to pass the tradition on to Nolan was one of the most memorable parts of our trip. 

That night, we returned back to the hotel, bathed, bottled and bedtime'd Nolan, and he was out for the count by 8PM.  He was so exhausted, he snored, which he never does, and during his dream feed at 10PM, he passed out on Jason before finishing his bottle (which never happens)!  He had a big day, and needed his rest for another big day ahead of him: the beach!

Our third and final day, we ventured out for another breakfast in Gaslamp.  This time, we chose Brian's 24, where we got the biggest breakfast plates I've ever seen!  Jason got the Massive Breakfast Burrito (seriously, it really was) and I got Brian's Big Breakfast Sandwich.  Both were HUGE and delicious!  Nolan took another lovely nap while we ate, but again cut his nap short when we returned to the hotel, so we packed our things and left a little earlier than we planned to head to the beach.

Dressed and ready for another walk down Gaslamp

San Diego selfies

Nap during breakfast

HUGE burrito!

We decided to visit Coronado Beach, one of our favorites when we go to San Diego.  I figured it was a good choice for Nolan because it's large enough that there's never crowds, there is usually close parking for all of the stuff we had to carry, and the sand is super soft and the water decently calm.  When we got there, Jason put up our beach shade and we gave Nolan his new beach toys, but after fifteen minutes, he was way past nap time and way too overstimulated.  I had this perfect vision that he would just drift off to sleep due to the beach breeze and the sound of the waves.... totally not reality!  He had the hardest time falling asleep for his nap because he was so out of his element, which I totally understood and couldn't blame him.  It took us a good 30 minutes to calm him down and get him relaxed enough to fall asleep, but he eventually did and looked adorable napping on his beach towels in his swimsuit.  Jason and I took some pictures and got some sun while he napped.  

He only logged in a half hour of sleep, but at least he rested up enough to experience the beach and then we could head home.  He woke up happy and excited, so we introduced him to the sand, which he loved!  He enjoyed putting his hands in it and tried to eat it a couple times, and loved playing with his shovel and beach toys in the sand.  

We wanted Nolan to get a taste of the ocean for the first time, so we walked down to dip his toes in the water.  He really loved this part!  He got really excited as we walked down, and then very serious right before Jason dipped his feet in the water.  He kicked and danced his legs up and down when the waves hit his feet.  The water was really cold, so I think it was a little shocking for him and we only put his feet in because it was so cold, but when we took him out, he giggled and kicked his wet little toes!  

Walking down to the water

Checking it out before he goes in

Nolan enjoy some more time playing in the sand, but before we left, I wanted to get a few pictures of him shirtless in his swim shorts on the beach.  Once I took his shirt off, he had enough, and melted down, which was sad but made for some really adorable pictures.  We snapped a few quickly, and packed up our stuff and headed home.  This little beach bum was totally exhausted from his big weekend, the fresh air and the beach... and as soon as he hit his carseat, he passed out for a good while on the drive back.  

The drive home went decently smooth, and Nolan did really well, but bedtime at 7:00PM came and he was still in the car.  He was confused and upset, but only cried for about fifteen minutes before finally settling down and falling asleep, which he slept all the way home.  We're still catching up from the weekend and recovering, but overall I think he had an amazing first road trip!  He did so well and adjusted great to a very random, on the go schedule (which he is not used to)!  Even though he is still small, I think he really did have a good time and enjoyed the zoo and the beach.  Of course he won't remember this trip, but Jason and I loved creating some amazing memories for our family, and we had just as much fun!  After all the planning and worrying about how the trip would go, it ended up perfect and worked out so smoothly.  I couldn't be more proud of my little man... he did so well and I absolutely loved seeing him have fun!