Finn and I spent a quick weekend in Florida and it was just the best ever. This was the trip that I rescheduled from a few weeks ago when my dad had the flu and flights got canceled due to winter weather. Once again, I questioned whether or not we should go because I had just brought Benji home and the concerns with travel and COVID-19 are a huge consideration. I ultimately decided not to blog or Instagram about my trip in real time because I knew it would open me up to a lot of opinions and judgement.

This trip was planned before I got the call about Benji. I was open with the rescue and his foster mom about my frequent weekend travel and they were both comfortable with it given that I have a consistent house/dog sitter who is basically a second mom to the dogs. I have received a lot of questions about this so I want to reiterate that I never board the dogs and my sitter stays with them at the house and treats them as her own.  She’s been with us for many years.

She came over last week to spend a few hours with Benji so that he would know her when she came to stay for the weekend. I am so lucky to have her. Believe it or not, I think it was good that I left Benji with Zoey because when I got back the two of them had really bonded in a sweet and special way.

And RE: COVID-19…I asked my family no fewer than 20 times last week if they were okay with us coming and the answer was yes over and over again.

I don’t usually go into this level of detail (and quite frankly defense) on my blog but these are crazy times.

Our short trip was a dream. The weather was sunny, in the 60s and low humidity, which is my dream come true. Finn is OBSESSED with the beach…and said “beach” so many times over the weekend. This summer is going to be really fun! 🙂

Do y’all remember a few months ago when I wrote about how sad I was that Finn wanted nothing to do with my family and only wanted me? Well, in our last couple of trips to Florida Finn has been SO into my family. While he still wants me to hold him 99% of the time, he wants my family close. If anyone walks away or out of the room, he yells their name and gets upset. It makes my heart so happy to see him bonding with them so strongly. My grandparent relationship was really important to me growing up and I want that for Finn too! He loves his Mema so so much.

Speaking of Mema, she loves it when I shop for snacks for her at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s so my dad and I took a trip to the Whole Foods in Destin on Saturday morning to stock her up! I am 100% on team let the kids eat the free cookies at the grocery store! 🙂 Tip: if you ask the bakery at Whole Foods, they will give you a freshly baked cookie for your little one.

My sweet sidekick.

On Saturday my mom and I took Finn on a park tour. We started at this beautiful waterfront park that is just down the street from our condo.

And we ended at a huge local park that had playgrounds, sports fields and a disc golf course. Finn skipped the playground in favor of running the disc golf course. He’s a busy little guy! 🙂

Later that day I took him down to the beach where he loved putting his feet in the water and chasing birds.

And then he loved hanging out with Sam and p paw (we have no idea where that name came from) on the gazebo.

I ran every day that we were there. One day I got in a 5K beach run and it was magical. The sand was hard and packed and I did not pass one single person the whole run.

Finn and I have been fortunate to spend so much time in Florida in his short life. I am grateful for every single trip that we can make. These memories will stay with me for my whole life, and I want them to be part of the fabric of Finn’s life. I pray that these will be sweet childhood memories for him.

I’m uncertain about what to do regarding future trips right now. The news is overwhelming. My heart wants to be with my family but I also don’t want to put anyone at risk unnecessarily. I will continue to evaluate the situation and stay in open communication with them.

QUESTIONS

Have you made any changes in your day-to-day life or travel given COVID-19? 

What does your child call their grandparents?