Feeling Hot! Hot! Hot!



 This past weekend, the three of us went to Austin, Texas. You may be thinking, "Who in their right mind would choose Austin in August?" I assure you it was work-related. We are planning our 2012 conference, and my job was to go pick a hotel. Since I had lived in Austin for about a year in 2003-2004, I was excited to take Jen and Owen to the city full of "hippies and homos". What I managed to forget was how ungodly hot Texas can be in the summer. Nonetheless, we packed as if were going to visit Aunt Beast in China, and headed to the airport!

 Owen had a GREAT time before we even got on the plane!

We were nervous about how he'd do on his longest flight to date (3.5 hours), but he was a rockstar! Before we even reached a comfortable cruising altitude, that baby was passed out on Jen's chest where he remained for a solid 2 hours!

So part of the fun of choosing a hotel to hold a national conference is that the hotels REALLY want to impress you. We wound up staying at The Driskill in downtown Austin in a complimentary suite. I'm pretty sure our room was bigger than our apartment, which worked out well seeing as how we spent much of our visit escaping from the heat in luxury.

While I was out scouting hotels, Jen and Owen spent the morning at Austin's Children's Museum (conveniently open only to babies on Monday mornings!).

Later that day, we did the only reasonable activity for when the thermometer hits over 104 degrees...we went swimming at Barton Springs (by "we", I mean Bub and I. Jen felt it was her moral obligation to remain fully clothed and photograph the event). This kid cannot get enough of the water! He doesn't care if he's in a tub, a pool, a river, or a lake. As long as he can splash those little hands, he's a happy boy!

 

If we're being honest, there may have been another reason we chose to visit Texas at the height of their Hell-like summer. Best Friend (also known as Aunt Sarah) just so happened to be visiting the city at the same time. The last time Aunt Sarah saw Bub he was barely holding his head up on his own! Oh how things have changed.

 

So what have we learned about traveling with a baby? Let's make a little list.

1) Don't be foolish enough to think you can maintain a "typical" schedule while traveling. While it's a great goal, flexibility is a necessity!

2) Don't schedule your trip so the baby (and his parents) only has one day between flying. This creates a VERY antsy baby on the way home.

3) If you are going to bring your laptop so the baby can watch a DVD on the flight, be sure to bring the external drive which plays the DVD.

4) If you are going to be dealing with a time change, don't plan on sleeping...much.

5) Just bring the baby into bed. Fighting with the pack-n-play will only end in sleep deprivation, screaming, and possible complaints from neighboring rooms.

6) If you're going to be traveling to a city where the average monthly temperature is over 100 degrees, don't go.

In all seriousness, we did have a nice time despite the heat, and look forward to returning to Austin when we can enjoy all the city has to offer!