Back to Blogging and Traveling + 1

Owen's an official traveler.

Its been a while.  Our last entry left us in Carmel, California -- afterwards we headed to Santa Monica and to our original stomping grounds, some eight years ago as our first trip together, at the Fairmont Miramar and in February to Boston with the Huitemas. Since then work has taken me to Prague, Budapest and scorching Dallas -- sans Julie since Owen was either en-route or too recently joined us.

Now we're back traveling as the Ringling Brothers.  Owen endured his first flight with class and style despite 3 hours of delays.  We even made the special request for the customs officer to stamp his passport.  Hopefully that'll be the last customs visit for the US as we await our Nexus application to be reviewed. 

Party time on the plane.

Note to self: car rental seats suck.

So for a prep before a potential European trip in Sept we hopped down to Florida and are hanging out just outside of Miami at the Fairmont Turnberry.  The hotel labels itself as family friendly and didn't disappoint when they even offered Diaper Genies for the room.

After arriving late on Thursday and after a morning massage we spent Friday down by the pool.  Owen's a bit young but the 180' waterside, lazy river and massive waterfall were clearly hits with the other kids.  The clientele seemed similar to our last visit to South Beach @ the Delano -- heavily Hispanic with some New Yorkers.

Jamming to Barney by the pool.

Everyone enjoying a drink.

We were able to get Owen settled after we all grabbed some poolside lunch and put on his favorite tunes -- which let us even enjoy the pool while keeping a watchful eye from about 3 feet away. Having a newborn is like selling ice cream.  Every kid and parent (of every nationality) stops by to chat.  One lady asked if we spoke English -- another even offered to call local friends to loan us baby gear, none of which we needed.  And most importantly, despite warnings of Hurricane Emily, the sky was cloudless.

After some much needed showers we headed to the Aventura Mall across the way the back the hotel and Cascata Grill for some dinner.  We figured this would be the first challenge of traveling with Owen.  But Julie brought the secret weapon -- the baby carrier.  A natural sedative, Owen was asleep in minutes and I got to feel what it's like to be pregnant.

Overall travel day + day one were huge successes without any issues. A good sign.

Cascata Grill overlooking the golf courses.