The Bon Mama: Road Trip

This weekend we took Hayden for her first trip to Ameila Island, the continuation of one of our favorite family traditions. Chris and I have gone every year to the Concours D'elegance, an annual car show held on the fairways of the Ritz Carlton. Last year, this picture of us was taken posing in the Thomas Flyer that won the 1908 New York to Paris Race. Normally, however, we are just attendees to the Concours, and not participants. It is one of Chris's dreams to have a car worthy to show at this event, and I can't wait until we do. In the meantime, it was still a very big deal for Hayden as this was truly her first experience with her daddy's addiction...er, obsession...um, hobby.

When we told Hayden we were going to Amelia, she was so happy! It was our first trip out of state as a family, and we promised to have lots of eating of good food, visiting of good friends and even some sing-a-longs!

She started warming up her voice while we were packing, singing us a few tunes she's been working on at daycare. You may know them - "oooohhhhaaaahhhh -EEEEEEhhhhhaaaa", and "ddddaaaaaaaHEEEeeeeee-aaaaahhhhhooooo". She kept us entertained with these for quite a while. The kid's got some range!

She also helped us pick out our clothes - "You're not wearing that, are you, Mom?"
(By the way, if your 3-month old makes this face when you're trying on an outfit, you can bet others will, too...)

As we got ready, we entertained her with tales of where all we'd go, and what we'd do. You can almost see the sugarplums dancing, can't you?

And like a herd of turtles, we were finally ready to hit the road. We got snapped, buckled, tucked and locked in the car, and did a final verification to ensure we had all our necessities - Sunny sunshine rattle? check. Dangly dragonfly? check. Clangy caterpiller? check. Shoulder-strap doggies? check. Pooh Bear paci? check. Mama's milk? CHECK.

Before long, we were settled in and on our way. Hayden promptly fell asleep, a choice she elected to excercise for most of the ride, thankfully!

Our first stop - always - is at the Crab Shack at Tybee Island. We LOVE that place. It's a total hole, but has some of the best low country boil, and we dream about it for months before we go.

It doesn't matter - rain, shine or snow, we go to the Crab Shack if we're anywhere near Savannah! Hayden just insisted on posing with the giant Alligator, so of course we indulged her.

Hayden's become an old pro at traveling, so she wasn't impressed by our fancy hotel digs... She decided to relax for a bit, and try on her new shades -we were in the Sunshine State, after all!