I had the opportunity at the end of May to fly out to California with the girls, alone. After the flights out there, I vowed that I would never do it again. It's just so difficult to manage two little ones. I was fine when I had my stroller with everything strapped on it, but actually getting on the plane after I'd dropped the stroller at the gate was impossible without help. I found that the tactic that worked best was to look pathetically at the people walking by until one asked if I needed help and was then surprised when I emphatically said "YES!!!! Thank you!" Despite my fears, we made it in one piece and had delightful time while we were there!
My sister, Emily, came over to visit and brought some spoilage for the kiddos. (Thanks!!)
Grace got a new pair of princess (of course!) sunglasses. Grace and Emily modeling their sweeeeeet sunglasses.
Ruby loved Emily's cute and tasty necklace!
Grace helped Grandma and Grandpa make peppermint ice cream by smashing the peppermints with a mallet. What a great way for a toddler to work off some destructive energy!
One of the main reasons we came out this weekend was for one of my very best friend's wedding. It was fun to meet Corey and to be there for their big day. Tara looked gorgeous and it was so fun to be with them on their beautiful day.
Brian was able to drive out from Utah. The girls loved having him to play with too! (Plus he was an amazing help!)
The 3-hour time difference threw us all for a loop. Most days I was up with the girls from 4 or 5 am until 7 or so when one of my sweet parents would get up and take over and let me get a few more hours of sleep. Ruby rarely falls asleep on anyone anymore, so it was sweet that she loved cuddling with her Grandpa so much!
Emily and Jack had us over to her house on Memorial Day for a delicious meal and some swimming fun.
Ruby even got in on the pool action.
Grace hanging with her cousin Ryan.
We even got to check out their awesome garage full of toys.
Tuesday was my Mama's birthday (another reason for going this weekend). We headed to the beach to enjoy the sun, sand and waves.
It was a little chilly, but Ruby had the best spot for a nap.
Uncle Bri was awesome and took Grace into the (freezing) water.
And then carried her back in when she wanted to be in the water without actually touching it. :) Did I mention it was cold?
After the beach, we headed across the street to the harbor shops for a little fun carousel action. Grace was so excited to get to ride. Every time we see one she begs to ride and never gets to, it was a very special treat to actually get to ride one!
The whole time (5 min maybe?) Grace said "wheeeeeee, wheeeeeee, wheeeeeeeee" again and again as we rode around and around.
She was a little sad when it was over:
Ruby even got in on the photo taking fun.
Wednesday we were supposed to fly home, but we missed our flight (grrrr...who does that?!) and had to be re-booked Thursday (I so could have done without carefully packing and hauling the girls and all the stuff through nasty LA traffic two days in a row!). The flights home went really smoothly and everyone was so nice to us.
What a fun trip to California. Now Grace keeps asking to go back!
My sister, Emily, came over to visit and brought some spoilage for the kiddos. (Thanks!!)
Grace got a new pair of princess (of course!) sunglasses. Grace and Emily modeling their sweeeeeet sunglasses.
Ruby loved Emily's cute and tasty necklace!
Grace helped Grandma and Grandpa make peppermint ice cream by smashing the peppermints with a mallet. What a great way for a toddler to work off some destructive energy!
One of the main reasons we came out this weekend was for one of my very best friend's wedding. It was fun to meet Corey and to be there for their big day. Tara looked gorgeous and it was so fun to be with them on their beautiful day.
Brian was able to drive out from Utah. The girls loved having him to play with too! (Plus he was an amazing help!)
The 3-hour time difference threw us all for a loop. Most days I was up with the girls from 4 or 5 am until 7 or so when one of my sweet parents would get up and take over and let me get a few more hours of sleep. Ruby rarely falls asleep on anyone anymore, so it was sweet that she loved cuddling with her Grandpa so much!
Emily and Jack had us over to her house on Memorial Day for a delicious meal and some swimming fun.
Ruby even got in on the pool action.
Grace hanging with her cousin Ryan.
We even got to check out their awesome garage full of toys.
Tuesday was my Mama's birthday (another reason for going this weekend). We headed to the beach to enjoy the sun, sand and waves.
It was a little chilly, but Ruby had the best spot for a nap.
Uncle Bri was awesome and took Grace into the (freezing) water.
And then carried her back in when she wanted to be in the water without actually touching it. :) Did I mention it was cold?
After the beach, we headed across the street to the harbor shops for a little fun carousel action. Grace was so excited to get to ride. Every time we see one she begs to ride and never gets to, it was a very special treat to actually get to ride one!
The whole time (5 min maybe?) Grace said "wheeeeeee, wheeeeeee, wheeeeeeeee" again and again as we rode around and around.
She was a little sad when it was over:
Ruby even got in on the photo taking fun.
Wednesday we were supposed to fly home, but we missed our flight (grrrr...who does that?!) and had to be re-booked Thursday (I so could have done without carefully packing and hauling the girls and all the stuff through nasty LA traffic two days in a row!). The flights home went really smoothly and everyone was so nice to us.
What a fun trip to California. Now Grace keeps asking to go back!
7 comments:
Oh my gosh, I'm glad you made it okay. Sounds very hard! I want to go to California too!
Congrats on surviving the travel! Looks and sounds like you had a ton of fun. Makes me miss visiting your parents & the rest of the Cali family.
By the way - how did you miss your flight?
We missed our flight because Ruby had a blow out on the way to the airport, stupid United had long lines with not enough customer service and a 45 minute cut off for checking in that we had no idea about so by the time we got to the check-in counter we just missed teh 45 minute mark and the guy sent us to another line which we waited in for 45 minutes (not moving much in line) until they closed that counter and sent us back to the original line we were in which started with lots of agents and by the time we got to the counter there were only 2 people helping. Oh, and to add to my (non)amusement Grace head-butted me and cracked my lip open so it was bleeding when we got to the counter and the lady told me that it would be $300 to re-book the flight and I burst into tears right there. It was awesome in a I-never-ever-ever-want-to-do-that-EVER-again kind of way. You gotta love dabbing a bloody lip, then tears, then lip and back again while the lady is completely un-feeling. Then they gave me a super hard time about giving my dad a pass to help me through security. That is my tale of woe for those of you who were curious :)
Your tale of woe sounds miserable! I'm so glad you posted. I may not comment, but I read your blog regularly and was starting to worry about you when you hadn't posted for a while. It's so sad you can't make it out this summer, but when I read your blog I feel connected. Maybe if I commented once in a while you'd feel connected, too. What a crazy idea!?! We love you guys and miss you ( and not just Grace and Ruby, I promise!)
Sooo... did you have to pay the $300 re-booking fee or did you find mercy??
What a terrible ordeal. Makes me grateful our trip was less eventful!
No mercy...we paid. So frustrating that the re-booking fee was almost enough to fly Rob out too. I'm glad your trip was less eventful!
Looks like you had a great time!The girls are getting so big. Ruby sticking her tongue out when she smiles reminds me of Rob when he was little.:)
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