Our First Trip Away From Our Baby

My husband and I finally did it, our first trip away from our baby! He turns one this month so we decided he was old enough to stay with Farmor and Farfar (Grandma & Grandpa in Norwegian) for a few days. This trip came up because my husband had an opportunity to go to a work convention in San Francisco and I have never truly visited California (other than the airport). The idea was that during the day, he would here attend various presentations and I would explore the town. At night, we would meet up, have some nice dinners and see how far we can walk the town together. It would be a great time for us to spend together, alone, which is something that can be rare when kids come along.

I have to be honest with you, I was very nervous about leaving my little man. I have never stayed even one night away from my son, so five days away was a pretty big deal. My husband's parents were nice enough to drive across state to stay at our house with him. They thought he might react better in his normal environment and I think they were right. In fact, I don't even think he noticed that we left! Leaving was harder on me than him, which I assumed it would be. When you are a SAHM and your primary function is to care for your child, you tend to forget that you can do things without them by your side. I am so use to adjusting my activities to fit his needs, it was strange to do things without thinking about his schedule.

We decided to say "goodbye" to him at our house and catch a ride to the airport without him. To be honest, I probably would have burst into tears in the middle of the airport if he would have come with us. I think saying goodbye at the house was better for him too. I am not really sure if he understood we were leaving for a few days or just the evening, but whatever it was he took the leaving well, which was the goal.

The first night there, my wonderful husband anticipated I would be a little distracted by leaving our son, so he planned for us to attend a five course dinner with wine pairings at the very nice restaurant, Fleur de Lys. The meal featured an appetizer of our choice, fish course, meat course, cheese plate and a dessert. It was a french restaurant, so everything was very small portioned but completely delicious! It was amazing how each wine that came with our meal brought out the taste in the food even more. The dessert was my favorite, the Fleurburger:

(Lightly spiced dark chocolate ganache, home-made Beignet. Banana flavored milk shake & frozen fennel ice cream "Pommes Frites")

The rest of the days were followed by the normal San Fransisco tourist things:
The Bay Bridge
Sea Lions at Pier 39
Lombardi Street
SF MOMA
Alcatrez Island
Inside Alcatrez
Arm wrestling at the Musée Mécanique - Fisherman's Wharf
a run across the Golden Gate Bridge

and of course, the Full House houseI also had some nice pampering time of a 90 minute massage and my make-up being professional done for a black tie event for my husband's work:Although you may not see any pics of my husband above (at his request), he was with me on most of my tourist escapades. We had a wonderful time and it was great to spend so much time with him. We came back to an even bigger little boy then when we left! I can't believe how much he grew in the five days while we were gone! He can now go up and down steps, he attempts to walk holding onto things even more, and has gained so much interest in animals. It was a good time for him to spend time with his Grandparents and I am sure they had a wonderful time making memories with him.

We both missed our little guy very much. We each called every day while gone, but overall I think we both really enjoyed the time together. You forget when you add kids to the marriage mix that it's important to make time for just you and your spouse. We have gotten so good at bending our activities to fit our son's schedule that it was a nice break for us to do whatever we wanted, eat wherever we wanted, stay out as late as we wanted, and really just spend some good quality time together. After all, the best gift you can give your child is a healthy, happy mom and dad who are committed to each other and committed to being the best parents we can be.

~Beth