Packing for a Trip for One Child

Tomorrow we are going to the US Virgin Islands for some R and R. Will I really get any, though? I will be watching my 4-year old like a hawk and will not be able to move too fast from a sitting or laying down position on the beach or lawn chair with the swelling belly and lack of exercise. Today I have packed. My daughter has more stuff than I do, but I managed to get our clothes into a carry on bag for the five-day trip. All sundresses for us two. There are ten in the suitcase and we have bathing suits and wraps and flip flops and two pairs of sandals each. Oh, and we each have a cute beach bag. All this in one carry on bag...Not bad, huh?  We each have our backpacks filled with reading materials and snacks and toiletries. Packing for this beach vacation was a semi-easy project. But when the baby is born, the ease will go out the window and major stress will take its place. I don't know how my sister packed her two young kids for their trips. I just recall how hectic it must have been. She owns her own business, so she doesn't have the luxury that I did today to have a full day to get prepared for the trip. Once I go back to work and have the two kids to pack for, the trip preparation procedure is going to be chaotic and anxiety-ridden.  I better enjoy my solitude and simplicity now. I am going to soak it up like the Caribbean sun. I wonder how my makeshift maternity beachwear is going to be received? I plan to look as chic as possible, with makeup and beach jewelry to match.  This is my babymoon trip (the last trip in before reality hits), so I plan to have a good time.  But how good of a time can I have? No drinking. No high heels (at least not for me, with my post-surgery bunion and huge belly threatening to sprain my ankle at every step). No jogging on the beach (for the same reasons). No horseback riding on the beach either. And no snorkeling. O.K...that one has nothing to do with pregnancy. Pregnant or not, I don't snorkel unless I am in two feet of water. FEAR OF SHARKS!! Bon voyage and happy blogging to continue sometime next week!