Not everyone fared so well. Both flights were extremely turbulent. The second flight was my worst experience to date. Several people got sick, including Matt. And he never gets motion sick.
We checked into our hotel, fed Natalie, let her watch an Elmo DVD while we recovered, and prepared for the rehearsal dinner. Dinner lasted a long time past Natalie’s bedtime, but we were back at the hotel and fast asleep by 10:30 pm.
The next day brought a trip to the pool. Natalie totally dominated that pool. We showed her how to go under water then dunked her carefully. She wasn't crazy about it, but she wasn't afraid. Most of all she loved sitting on the side of the pool kicking her legs and splashing everyone in a 3 foot radius. She was in the water for two hours, followed by a two-hour nap.
The wedding ceremony was lovely. The cocktail hour was spent chasing after Natalie who at one point grabbed two handfuls of dirt from the potted plants and threw them all over herself and the floor.
The reception was fantastic. The first hour was dancing instead of dinner, and I’m so glad. Matt and I got to dance with Natalie, and she even busted out her frog dance move. This consists of a lot of up-and-down motion, stomping one foot, and saying "ribbip". We danced the entire hour. Then I rocked her to sleep, and left her slumbering peacefully in the care of a babysitter.
The next day was more family time, and the next night was a different hotel. Though she was coming down with something and had a fever, Natalie slept pretty well.
The flights home were better than the flights there. The first flight (1 hour), she got her own seat. The second flight (1 hour, 30 minutes) she slept the entire time.
We landed safely in Dayton and now look back fondly on our first vacation-with-a-toddler experience.
