LA LA land

Spring Break did not start out great.  P ended up coming down with a cold Thursday night/Friday morning, which stalled his allergy OIT from advancing.  At the time I was a little bummed out, but it turned out to be a blessing because it meant (a) we were able to leave to drive to LA sooner and (b) we got to see how the clinic handled illness without it being too bad.

They were SO amazing.  We have recently suspected he has (respiratory cold induced) asthma, so what is a normal cold for others, escalates more quickly for him, with wheezing and breathing problems.  Even though he had JUST started coughing and sneezing overnight, by the time we got to the office that morning he was wheezing bad enough for you to hear without a stethoscope. The PA and MA were very cautious.  We didn’t updose at all, and instead did a breathing treatment, and left with prescriptions for albuterol and steroids. They even knew we were going on vacation and gave us the steroids as a sample…depending on how he does from here he may need a more aggressive baseline treatment plan to keep everything under control so that he is able to updose without disruptions in his oral immunotherapy. Anyway, we are now a week in and the steroids totally nipped it in the bud!  We were thinking our vacation was going to be a Florida repeat with a super sick P, but by starting the inhaler right away, it was a total non-issue. A normal cold that lasted no more than a few days.  Hooray!

This is what packing for a road trip looks like these days…plus a bunch of breakfast options for the kids over the week.  I had a huge LA restaurant list to tackle and knowing I wouldn’t feed P any food cooked in a restaurant kitchen, I made a ton of muffins and pancakes in advance.  That way I had portable options to take with me to the restaurant so we could all eat together.  I also made oatmeal packets with chia and flax seeds and shredded coconut.  That way I could make it once we got there (with applesauce or mashed bananas for sweetness).

And we’re off!

The drive was long but not terrible.

I forgot about how insane the traffic was, but remembered all the tricks and backroads of a seasoned LA dirver immediately.  P didn’t nap, and V waited until 4 pm to finally give in, but eventually we arrived in our old hood, and went straight to The Veggie Grill for take out.

I had been considering ordering food for P here since it’s vegan (and therefore at least one allergen is a non factor), but they had peanut oil in random things, so I said nevermind.

I got my standard, the All Hail Kale salad with blackened tempeh.  Guess what!?!?  THEY FORGOT MY CANDIED WALNUTS. Boo!  This is the third time in a row I’ve gotten an order messed up from TVG.  I may be done with them.  Seriously, it is so annoying to get home, feed your kids, do the whole bedtime routine, put them down, open your food, and realize something is missing.  Not just something, your FAVORITE part of the meal.  So.  Lame.

I got the fried chick’n plate for V, and stole a bunch of it.  That’s the perk of having a kid without allergies.  You can get things to “share”. Meaning the other entree you want to order for yourself but can’t decide on.  😉

Kyle got BTLA sando.  Solid choice, with good fries.

Team eating.

After dinner, we needed to get outside (trapped in a car all day isn’t the best for toddlers or adults), so we went for a stroll on the beach.

We got our place on airbnb, and chose it for location alone, which turned out to be stellar.

The rest of the details about the place were meh, but you can’t beat being one block from the beach.  It’s just heavenly.

We grabbed a bottle of bubbly on the way home, and watched UCLA lose 🙁 after putting the kids down.

Either way, it was an excellent and relaxing start to a week in the warm So Cal sun.