This past weekend we went to a med school friends' wedding and took Rowan on his first ever road trip. With a couple stops, the total drive time was just shy of 8 hours – and he did such a good job! (whew) I was a bit nervous initially, but he surprised me and did really well. He absolutely loved being out and about – the more action the better. Not only was I a tad nervous about the drive down but I was even more nervous about how he would sleep in a new and different environment. Again, he surprised us – and slept better than when he is at home in his crib (go figure)! Given it was our first trip with Rowan we had a lot to pack (or maybe I just over packed) either way…packing to bring a baby on a trip anywhere can feel daunting.
One of those many things on the "to pack for baby" list was a playpen, also known as a pack and play or playard. We decided to try out the Evenflo Aeris BabySuite PlayPen. I was a little nervous at first – I truly didn't believe he'd take to the playpen. But he ended up loving it! He played in it and slept in it. And as I said earlier in the post…he slept better than he did in his crib at home! We wish we would have had this playpen for when Rowan was a newborn, as it came with a bassinet and changing station. Not to mention the assembly is basically fool proof – so easy and portable! Having Rowan sleep well made for a very stress-free and wonderful family trip. We also brought Rowan's nanny, Carlye, and her sister along – they were wonderful and kept an eye on Rowan for us while we went to the wedding reception and stayed out past Rowan's bed time. We aren't quite sure what we would have done without them either! Overall, the trip was fantastic, we stayed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton in downtown Grand Rapids, MI. Our rooms were really nice, modern, and spacious. They had a mini kitchen, high ceilings, a couch, large windows, exposed brick, a full complimentary breakfast (Dusty's fave part). Not to mention it was located right downtownwhich made for a great location to walk pretty much anywhere. I got to meet up with my friend Andrea while we were there! It was a great time.
We will be bringing Rowan to Mackinac Island for Mother's Day weekend…we are looking forward to it and hope he keeps this good traveling habits! You can see more from our trip to Grand Rapids by checking things out on my Instagram.
A BIG thank you to Evenflo for sponsoring this post. All thoughts and opinions on the product are my own! I appreciate you supporting the brands that I work with!