As an early Christmas gift, my wife booked us a night away. I’m not usually a fan of surprises. I prefer to be the one who plans these things, but even I couldn’t complain about this one! She booked us a night at one of our favorite hotels, Bedford Springs Resort in Pennsylvania. If you’ve never been there, you need to go. It sits in the small town of Bedford, Pa, just over two hours from Baltimore and Washington. It’s an amazing place that we’ve tried to get to at least once a year for the past five years.

We first discovered Bedford Springs after I missed Sara’s 30th birthday (and Valentine’s Day) while covering the Vancouver Olympics almost five years ago. Looking to make it up to her, my mom tipped me off to the resort and we’ve been going almost every year since. If you like The Homestead, but don’t love the drive, this is for you!

Sara arranged for my sister Meghann, brother-in-law Dan and their dog Ollie to come to our house on Saturday and stay with Cameron and our dog Quinn for the night. Our job was to leave by 10:30 am so we could get there, get checked in and make it to the spa for our afternoon appointments. I assumed leaving would be the hardest part; I wasn’t wrong.

We cheated a little bit and planned our “handoff” during a nap. Our babysitters arrived just a few minutes before we put Cam down for his morning nap. The idea was it would be easier on everyone if we left while he was asleep. Easier for us anyway. Probably easier on him. The plan worked, even with Sara going in to “check on him” like three times before we could get out of the house. No tears were shed by anyone; we left a very “first time parents” checklist of phone numbers and instructions for the baby and the dog. And we were off.

It wasn’t until sometime after 11 that we first checked our baby dropcam remotely to make sure Cam was still sleeping. After being assured that all was well, we focused on the rare opportunity for us to get away. Cam will be 10 months old on January 5th. Sara has never spent a night away from him (we took him to Vegas to avoid this when he was 2 months old if you recall). I have been away once, a quick overnight trip to New Hampshire in September. I wasn’t really sure how she would handle this. Even if it was her idea.

After an uneventful drive, we check into the hotel just after 1 pm and immediately get drawn back into this great place. I’m a sucker for Christmas decorations, and Bedford Springs delivered. Beautiful tree(s) throughout the place. Nutcracker guys all over the place. I think we decided this will be a pre-Christmas family tradition in the years to follow.

Our spa appointments were at 3:30 and we check in around 2:30. We do that because the locker room is a spa experience onto itself. Bedford Springs has a four step pre spa situation that is almost as relaxing as the massages that follow. Spending that hour in the deluge shower, the steam room, the hot and cold tubs is what you remember a week later when you wish you were back there. All-in-all we spend almost four hours at the spa, without phones to spy on Cameron or get any updates from my sister. We check in to confirm all is going well and head off to dinner.

The Frontier Tavern is the casual dining option at the hotel. Since I barely packed more than sweatpants and flip flops, we go there and enjoy a drink at the bar while we wait for a table. I think it was then, when we got confirmation that Cam was asleep for the night, that we able to exhale and fully enjoy where we were.

It is easy to forget how great it is to eat at a restaurant without a baby. This is something we have done maybe two or three times in almost ten months. The meal isn’t rushed, you aren’t constantly looking at the baby to make sure you don’t become “those people” in the restaurant with the screaming kid. Sara and I have gone out to dinner probably thousands of times in the last twenty years. This one simple meal, at a tavern, may be among the most memorable.

We ate too much as usual, and had to give ourselves a timeout before heading to the indoor pool around 9. Sara, who finds any body of water freezing, actually jumped in without her agonizing “dip her toe in the water for 15 minutes,” routine! I was so proud. The pool is the second thing I always look back on fondly when remembering Bedford Spings. If I’m a sucker for Christmas decorations, I’m a super sucker for indoor pools!

The most important part of the 27 hours away was the sleep part. For all the credit I get from people for taking care of Cam every day and writing this blog, it is still Sara who handles almost all of the overnight activity. Despite my “offers” to help, she is one who has the broken sleep every few nights and handles the 5:30am wake-up calls before going to work for a full day. So it was essential that she get a full nights sleep, for probably the first time since before she was pregnant.

She did that, but it didn’t stop her from sleeping on our drive back. She could sleep for like two straight days, and she would still sleep on our drive home! We get home just as easily as we got there. Stopped for gas, and Roy Rogers to grab something for dinner. We are home by 1:30, almost exactly 27 hours after we left . Cam was fine of course and looked a little confused, but pleased to see familiar faces. Hugs and kisses all around.

It wasn’t until then that I realized how much I missed him, even for just one day. A wonderful weekend, but I think I’m OK if we don’t go away again from our guys for a while.

Merry Christmas from all of us at foggdaddy.com, see you in the New Year!

Let me start by saying that I watch a LOT of television. Always have. Always will. I was never much of a reader. Reading for fun never worked for me. I didn’t start reading books that I wasn’t going to be tested on until midway thru college. How I got into college is anyone’s guess. Instead of reading I watched TV. I wouldn’t start homework until my afternoon/evening shows were done. I watched pretty much everything. Growing Pains, Facts of Life, Full House. Heck, I even watched Small Wonder if it meant I could put off math homework by 30 mins.

Now that I am home most of the day, I’m getting exposed to a type of television that I never really watched. Daytime TV. In my former life I worked in a newsroom. We had something like 200 TVs on at all times. But those were tuned to CNN, FOX News, MSNBC and CNBC. I could get away with watching ESPN or NFL Network under the guise of being a “sports guy,” which was a perk I suppose. I’m trying to actually parent Cameron, and not let the TV do all of the work. And he isn’t really paying attention to the TV just yet anyway.

Let’s start with what I watch. I haven’t been seduced by soap operas. My mom stayed at home with me as a kid. I don’t know who was paying attention to me everyday at 1:00 when All My Children came on, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t her! When I have the TV to myself (nap time) I mostly catch up on my DVR. Or watch Netflix. Every few years I plow through all seven seasons of The West Wing. I recently completed that again. I’m not necessarily proud of this habit, but there it is. I check on The Today Show from time to time. I accidentally watch the first few minutes of LIVE with Kelly and Michael every once in a while as a result. I swing by The Price is Right just to remind me of the days that I stayed home sick from school. Otherwise, my viewing is pretty predictable. Sports networks, DVR and sometimes HGTV. HGTV is addictive. I barely own tools. I have no business watching this channel, but I can’t help it. I went thru an Extreme Couponing phase when we were in Rhode Island last year. I don’t really like to talk about that.

In short, not much has changed in my personal viewing since we had Cam. We do have a couple of shows that we “watch” when we’re home, and that’s what I want to discuss. Cam is nine months old. He doesn’t speak yet. He doesn’t really even know what he likes and doesn’t like. (That’s not really true; he likes putting everything in his mouth;  he hates everything else). So luckily I’m not dealing with having to be told to  watch Caillou or Dora. Not yet. Our morning routine includes watching PBS Kids. We haven’t gotten to Nickelodeon or really even Disney. Three shows tend to be on all the time, and they have, for better or worse, become part of our day.

*I won’t include Sesame Street here. It’s an old standby. And hasn’t really changed all that much in the 30 years since I stopped watching. Elmo gets it done. Incredible.

Curious George: I grew up reading these books (yes, I read those books!). I don’t recall a cartoon on TV of the book until well after I was of the appropriate age. As a TV show this is pretty ok. If you overlook why a grown man owns a monkey in the first place. And you just have to roll with it when George causes all this trouble and never faces any consequences. All in the name of curiosity I suppose. So much for learning lessons. They just roll a disclaimer of a little girl saying George is a monkey so he can do this but you can’t. It’s a disclaimer for 3 year olds! I have started judging things on how many seconds/minutes something can hold Cam’s attention. He seems to like George enough that it allows me to send a couple of emails, so this is probably my favorite show!

Dinosaur Train: I have five nieces and nephews. I was a little familiar with children’s television. Dora the Explorer, Barkyardigans, Caillou and others. I had never heard of Dinosaur Train until recently. And it’s not bad. I could see him really liking it when he becomes obsessed with Dinosaurs in a year or two. This show is very true to its title. It is 30 mins of Dinosaurs on a train. The main characters are siblings, who seem to always be on a train for whatever reason. The train is the (literal) vehicle to the show’s adventure. Lessons are learned. Friends are made. The theme song is fantastic. On the days when I catch a full episode, I’ve been known to randomly sing DINOSAUR TRAIN….DINOSAUR TRAIN from time to time. Good show. I look forward to Cam getting more into this one.

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: Let me be clear, I was raised on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Sesame Street and Fred Rogers played a big role in any person raised over the last four decades. I recognize that the Fred Rogers company is involved in this production. That said, this is horrible television. I’m a little offended by the idea that you would try and do a remake of a classic show, with a cartoon Tiger. Daniel is a our main character. He’s the son of the Tiger from the original show, many of the characters are second generation of the original. That’s nice. But this show doesn’t really work like the original show did. For one, it’s all animated. The theme song is the SAME! Complete with that brat Daniel changing his shoes, ala Fred. I’m offended by this. Parents of kids everywhere should find this offensive. And a little lazy. My main beef with this show is that they find a theme lesson. A one sentence piece of guidance that is the lesson for the entire show. And about every 2-3 minutes, they SING that sentence. That’s like 15 times a show. I realize that old Fred would sing some off-key tunes to help us learn. But Daniel Tiger is no Fred Rogers! Not even close. I’m hoping we can skip this program entirely as Cam and I both discover better options!

I won’t let television raise my kids. But as any parent who stays at home knows, it is a useful tool to allow yourself the freedom to do just about anything else! What shows out there should I looking for? Something educational, entertaining and won’t make my head explode? Open to suggestions!