Going Back To Cali!

Once again, I've taken a long blog hiatus. But I have good reason this time! We packed up the kids and headed to California for a week. And before I say anything at all about the trip, I need to thank my husband for planning everything and making this such a wonderful trip for our family. We love you Marty!

I think I'll just write a post for each day we were gone. The first day started out REALLY early! Most of you know that I am an early riser but 2am is early even for me! We had to leave the house by 4:30 to make our 6:45 flight. And, of course, I had procrastinated and not really packed anything for the trip. So up I got at 2:00. Marty got up at 3:00 and we had everything loaded and made our 4:30 AIS (ass in seat) deadline.

Here we are in remote parking waiting for the shuttle to take us to the airport terminal. The reality of three hours of sleep had not yet set in for me. And the kids were so excited they didn't care they got up so early.

All was going as planned but as we were waiting at the gate, you could hear the thunder rolling in. We boarded the plane on time but it wasn't looking pretty outside. We needed to get in the air fast. We pulled out on the runway and thought we were home free. No dice! The captain came on and said we were delayed because of the weather. So we ended up taking off late. No big deal ... or was it? We arrived at LAX about 45 minutes late. Not a problem for Marty, Mackenzie and Austin. BIG problem for me, Lauren and Nick. For very complicated reasons (free air miles), we were taking separate planes to San Diego. Because of the delay, Lauren, Nick and I missed our flight. And all flights to San Diego were full. So we had to fly stand-by. The next flight out was the one Marty and the boys were on. So they boarded and we waited. Did we make it on the flight? Before I finish this nail-biting cliffhanger, I'll post a picture of the kids waiting at the Los Angeles airport.

So ... did we get on the plane??? We waited until the last second and really didn't think we would. But luckily, we had child stand-by priority (it's a beautiful thing) and she called us right before they closed the flight. Marty had a great big smile on his face when we walked on the plane. Unfortunately, we couldn't sit together but at least we all made it to San Diego at the same time. Here are some fun action shots from the rear of the plane (Lauren, Nick and me). Oh I'm not looking so hot here. The sleep-deprivation was really catching up with me by the second flight. So I put on some music and slept the whole flight. OK ... I slept the whole first flight, too. Flying is like watching TV - puts me to sleep immediately!

Ahhh ... sunny San Diego! We made it! But it was a little surprising because it was kinda cold! So we went in the airport to the luggage carousel and out came 1 bag ... 2 bags ... ... ... ... carousel turns off. No third bag! That sucks! Had to stand in line behind some New Jersey lady who had been stranded all night in Dallas ans was NOT happy. Then I finally got to talk to the highly intelligent lost baggage man. Oh, let me tell you, he REALLY cared if I ever saw that bag again. Anyway, gave him our hotel info and he said it would be delivered 6-8 hours after it arrived in San diego. But at this point he had no idea where it was. Oh well - the bag just had make-up and toiletry items. I mean, who needs deoderant and make-up and sunscreen anyway? Minor details. We were on vacation!

And we were off to the hotel! The place we stayed was in Newport Beach which is really closer to Los Angeles than San Diego but since we were leaving out of San Diego, that's where we had to fly to. I promise it makes sense but I don't feel like wasting your time with a long speech about the logistics. Anyway, we got to the hotel in Newport Beach. It was actually more of a condo ... 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen. Very nice. The kids immediately wanted to go swimming so we unloaded all of our crap and found their swim suits.

On the way to the pool, we saw this gorgeous scene. I think I may be in love with the Pacific Ocean! It is soooo pretty!

So we finally made it to the pool. Kids were happy. Marty and I were TIRED! So how do you end an exhausting day of travel? Your wonderful husband heads to the pool bar and orders you a margarita. The perfect ending to day 1!

Today's song is an absolute no-brainer! I mean, could there be any other song to play with this post? Come on ... you have to know what it is!! LL Cool J: Going Back To Cali