Surprisingly, I didn’t feel as frazzled as I thought I would as we hit the road to the airport. Kyle was going for work but we still got to travel on the way there together, so I had help with the kiddos on one leg. But he was going to stay for two weeks so the kids and I got flights back so P wouldn’t miss school. We still had a week so it was seeming pretty perfect! I wasn’t going to let myself even think about the flight back with two kids until the end of the vacay.
We are a media free household but for the purposes of survival on the plane, we resorted to some iPad apps and episodes of Mickey Muse Clubhouse. V had Kyle’s noise canceling headphones on and they weren’t plugged in. HA. She just wanted headphones like big bro even thought she still doesn’t really care about what’s happening on the screen.
I brought a bunch of other random stuff for them to do (pinterest had some successes some fails)…but it was a LOOOOONG trip. They didn’t nap at all and we had a layover in Dallas, so by the time we landed and went to get our rental car they were wiped out.
Passed out on the Hertz shuttle. I don’t even remember what time it was when we got the hotal and got checked in, but at least they had the pack n play all set up so we gave them quick baths and then put them straight to bed.
They slept about 4 hours and then woke up with the sun…
P was up first so we snuggled in bed until V was up. Kyle was already off at work so we had a day of adventures ahead of us!
First order of business was picking up a double stroller I rented. I gave them a banana to hold them over until breakfast, and then P fell asleep after 2 minutes in the car. It only took 10 minutes to get to the rental place but I managed to do the whole thing in the loading zone while the car was on so I didn’t have to wake him.
Then it was off to Whole Foods!
There was a WF within walking distance (like 4 minutes away) from our hotel, so that was pretty sweet. It wasn’t an accident, of course.
I needed to get groceries for the kids’ meals, but first we all needed food. I cautiously got P out of the carseat once we parked, attempting a transfer to the stroller, but he woke up and wasn’t too upset by it.
Berries, granola, and yogurt for all. This is a major treat for the kids because I really don’t let them have yogurt at home. If I do it’s in a smoothie that has no other sweet stuff/fruit because the sugar content in them is unreal! They both chose Stoneyfield’s strawberry soy yogurt. I tasted it, and OMG it was crazy sweet. At least the granola I got was low in sugar. The last time I had it was in Hawaii because I make my own granola when we are at home. I remembered liking this one, and I was right. The kids liked it too although it had pretty big clusters (which I love, but are hard for them).
I’d been eyeing this cashew yogurt by Forager so I decided to give it a shot, and I have to say I wasn’t too impressed. It was super runny, which is because it doesn’t have gums or thickeners, but it didn’t even resemble yogurt. I like thick fatty yogurt. I won’t buy this again.
After we finished eating we went back in to get groceries. I made sure we got a hotel room with a fridge and microwave because due to P’s allergies, it’s impossible to feed him without at least a semi-kitchen.
After unloading at the hotel it was POOL time!! In January!! Heavenly.
They fought/took turns pushing the elevator buttons all week long. Siblings.
Lunch time. Nap time. Mama time.
With a side of Bravo on Demand…don’t mind if I do!!
Once they woke up I decided to hit up the beach.
I had packed some flimsy shovels and plastic cups (that I planned to leave in FL) which were just enough to let their imaginations fill in the gaps with the sand, seashells, and whatever else…
We were there until the sun was almost down, at which pint Kyle texted and said there was a storm coming our way (it had just dumped on them) and I should skedaddle asap.
Sure enough I looked up and saw some dark a$$ clouds coming our way.
We raced to the car as fast as possible, stopping briefly to rinse off in the shower, and made it in the car just as the sky opened up. PHEW.
P was amused by the whole thing. I buckled them in and then called in a to-go order for myself for dinner at Seasons 52. Then we drove through torrential downpours to the restaurant. Holy rain! It left as quickly as it came though, and by the time I got to the restaurant, there were clear skies again.
I left the littles in the car with the valet (!!) because they didn’t have shoes on, which made me nervous, but obviously it was totally fine. I ran in and out and then we were back at our hotel in no time.
Those microwaveable rice bowls were my savior this trip. As was WF ready cut fruit and veggies. I also learned how hard it is to cut apples into slices with a plastic butter knife. So yay for being creative!
I’ve never been to Seasons 52 before, despite there being locations in Santa Monica and Sacramento.
I got a sesame salmon salad and it was GOOOOOD. I don’t know if I wasn’t expecting much, but I was very impressed.
Kyle wasn’t going to get home til late so I bathed the kids and put them down and got my Bravo/chocolate on.
Thanks to the Overdrive app on my kindle I was able to download a few kids’ books from the library onto my device. You can only have 6 and since I had one for me, I got 5 more for them. I was pretty pretty sick of those stories by the end of the trip!!!
