Healthy Chicks

One of the best pieces of advice we were given when becoming new parents was to keep living your life, and just bring the baby with you. It’s been so much fun taking our sweet baby girl with us to do some of our favorite things — whether it’s hitting up a new brewery (hubs idea), apple picking or going for an early bird dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.

Last weekend we finally bit the bullet, tossed the Pack ‘n Play in the car and took her on an overnight trip to Cape Cod! Our little family was lucky enough to spend a night at the Cape Codder Resort & Spa in Hyannis, the perfect weekend getaway destination for us new parents.

Today on the blog I’m sharing all about our experience staying at a hotel with an eight-month-old including wining, dining and splish-splashing around in the waterpark. Spoiler alert: I’m not sure who had more fun, us or baby!

Getting to Cape Cod & Exploring Hyannis

Road trips under two hours are my jam, and getting to Cape Cod couldn’t have been easier for us! From the Providence/Foxboro area (where we were coming from) it’s just a straight shot down 495 South, and Route 6 once you get to Cape Cod. The resort is also conveniently located about 95 miles South of Boston, and couldn’t be easier to find since it’s not even a mile off the highway.

I even made a super fun summer road trip themed playlist with songs for the whole family — like Kokomo, Day Tripper, Hot Fun in the Summertime and Raffi’s Down By the Bay for baby.

Before checking in to the Cape Codder Resort & Spa, we explored downtown Hyannis and grabbed some fried calamari and burgers at the Seaside Pub (since they’re known for their extensive gluten free pub menu). Once it started to rain, we hung out at Barnstable Brewing for hubby to get his IPA fix as we waited for our check-in time.

 

Our Accommodations at the Cape Codder

We checked in to the Cape Codder Resort & Spa at 3pm, and were surprised to find we had a waterpark view room. I can see this being super fun for toddlers and older kiddos, but even our curious eight-month-old enjoyed peeking out the window to see all the action going on!

While it was fun to people-watch, there were blackout curtains to close for naps, sleep or when you just want a little relaxation. Our room was a good size, with two queen beds and plenty of space to set up the Pack ‘n Play. We really liked the modern touches, like the wood-accented backdrop against the bedside wall for a classic Cape Cod vibe.

 

If your looking for a bit more space, they also offer Family Suites (sleeping up to 6 guests)!

After settling in, I head out on a tour with Deb from the hospitality team, while our little one took a catnap. I was surprised how large the resort was with so much to offer for the whole family — including an outdoor heated pool and jacuzzi, fitness room, fire pit for marshmallow roasting, full spa at the Beach Plum and various dining options.

Deb mentioned that they keep the schedule packed with kid-friendly activities too, like the Santa Convention going on the weekend we were there and face-painting, balloons and more during the summertime. Parents never have to worry about running out of entertainment for their kiddos here!

Family-Friendly Dining at the Cape Codder

Grand Cru

After the tour, we met up with the rest of the family to enjoy a delicious dinner at the Grand Cru Restaurant, offering a variety of Italian and American fare crafted in-house by their incredible chef.

We started with cocktails — including the French Margarita — and a variety of apps like Bruschetta Caprese, Risotto Arancini and my personal favorite: a Margherita pizza prepared on their gluten free cauliflower crust. Hubby and I both agreed it was hands down the best cauliflower crust pizza we’ve had.

  

For dinner, we both enjoyed the highly recommended Grilled Salmon, which was prepared with roasted red and yellow tomato salsa, sauteed spinach and mushrooms. The Grilled Rib-Eye Steak Fiorentina, Chicken Caprese and Bolognese were also hits with our group.

 

While I barely had any room left, you’ll also want to save room for dessert — with decadent options like Cannoli and Caramel Turtle Cheesecake!

 

We were so impressed by how well our baby did at dinner, hanging with the group and staying up an hour and a half past her bedtime! New mama tip: bring toys, their “dinner” (ours enjoyed a Strawberry Pear Banana pouch) and a bottle of milk or formula. Since I’m still nursing, I pumped ahead so hubby could take over dinner duty and mama could relax with a cocktail.

After dinner, we head back to our room and called it an early night, since that’s pretty much how it goes when you have a little one. If you have a sitter or your kids are a bit older, you can stay at the Grand Cru for live music starting at 8pm. I also noticed they have a Grandparents RULE package, which could be fun to take the grandparents along to babysit so you can have some alone time with your partner.

Hearth ‘n Kettle

 

The next morning, baby girl decided to start her day bright and early, so we head out to breakfast at 7:30am at the Hearth ‘n Kettle. We were one of the first families there, but within 20 minutes it was packed so in this case, early bird truly does catch the worm! We loved the charming vibe with decor depicting the history of Cape Cod throughout.

When the waiter asked what we wanted to drink, hubby and I blurted out “COFFEE!” before he could finish his sentence. We then enjoyed a cozy, homestyle breakfast: a Baby Bella Veggie Omelet with fruit and gluten free toast for her, and H ’n K Potato Cakes & Eggs with a side of hash for him. The meals were delicious and huge, holding us over throughout the afternoon.

Cape Codder Resort Water Park Fun

After a quick nap for baby girl, it was time to hit the Water Park, what this resort is most known for!

The 30,000 square foot indoor/outdoor Water Park (with a retractable roof) has something for the whole family, featuring high-speed water slides, a “stormy” river, wave pool, 24-person whirl pool, saunas and a “Pirate Bay” kiddie spray pool with dumping bucket, water cannons and small water slides for littles.

 

Since this was our first time dipping our baby girl in the water, we started slow dipping her toes in the kiddie pool area and having fun playing on the the lobster and clamshell.

 

After a few minutes, it was clear that she has no fear of the water, so it was time to hit the lazy river — shifting between lazy and “stormy” with lively music playing on the speakers. Our curious baby girl absolutely loved taking it all in, and we had so much fun being kids again! Ahem, hubby and I totally took turns going down the water slides.

 

We had so much fun on our mini getaway, and can’t wait to return once she’s a little bit older to really take advantage of all the water park has to offer!

Big thank you to Deb of Catania Hospitality group and the entire team at Cape Codder Resort & Spa for hosting us. Please note: Our stay & meals were comped in exchange for this post; as always all opinions are my own and I only recommend places and products I truly love.