LA Trip Part III (Monday)

Monday was our last day in LA, and we made it count. That morning we woke up, packed up the car and headed to Forest Lawn to visit Pablo. I've blogged about him before, so most of you know who he is... we brought flowers and I wrote him a little note. It took me 4 tries to get it right, and I still don't think I said what I really wanted to say. How do you tell a little boy you've never met how much you miss him? How do you tell him that you'll never ever forget him, and that he's made a huge impact on your life? How do you tell a little boy who died of cancer that his story, his life, has fundamentally changed the way you see life and the way you see your own child? There just aren't words to adequately express how I feel about Pablo's story and how much of an impact it has made... and I am certainly not eloquent enough.

I've known other people who have died before their time, and I have felt the loss of them keenly. But it has been nothing compared to how the death of this precious child has effected me after having becoming a parent. I cannot even begin to imagine the heartbreak his parents felt - and still feel. Contemplating their pain is overwhelming, it makes my mouth dry, my throat freeze, and my heart ache... and it has to be nothing compared to what they feel. I think about them every day.

I'm glad we went to see Pablo... the cemetery is beautiful.

After our visit we grabbed a late breakfast and went to Venice Beach. It was Penelope's first ocean experience and I think she's a fan... here are some pictures:







After the beach we headed to the airport, checked in, and hung out until our plane left. Penelope slept the whole ride.

We had a really great time in LA. It was exhausting, but fun.

LA Trip Part II (Saturday & Sunday) - picture heavy

Saturday morning we got ready and then headed North to go to a BBQ at the house of one one my online mommy friend's mother in law (say that three times fast!). Meg (my mommy friend) and I had met online when we were both pregnant, she was in town visiting. Kristen (another mommy friend from the same online board) lives in the LA area, so she came up for the BBQ as well. Have I confused you yet? Good.

Anyway, here are the babies in birth order (Edith, Penelope, and Jon):


Here's one of favorites of Jon and Penny:


And here's one of all of us moms with our babies:


Oh! And here's one of two of the Daddies having some quality time with their daughters... squeezed into a baby pool:


We had a really good time! I love meeting all of the moms I've known online for over a year. We're all planning on meeting up for the kids' 5th birthday, but I would love to be able to meet everyone before then... I have a not so secret hope that Penny grows up to marry one of the other December babies so I know she'll get along with her in-laws, not everyone lucks out like I did with super-awesome in-laws!

After the BBQ we headed back to the hotel and got stuck in some NASTY Los Angeles traffic. Not fun. I got rather cranky, I hate traffic.

BUT after refueling Penny's diaper-bag at the hotel we headed over to my cousin Wade's house. He and his wife Jennifer had twins in February (did I mention that on this blog? I think I did...) Anyway, I was super excited to meet them (and to spend some time with Wade and Jen who are fantastic).

Penelope decided that Jennifer was the coolest thing since sliced bread. It was so cute... she just LOVED Jen!

I didn't get as many pictures as I had planned, too busy holding babies! But here are some that I was able to take.

Ava in her jumperoo:


Penelope in the jumperoo and Luke watching her play:


Luke with his Daddy:


It was a really great visit. I wish they lived closer so we could see them more often! I can't wait until they're all a little older and they can run around and play play play!

So that was Saturday, fun and exhausting.

And now, SUNDAY!

Kristen, her husband Brian, and Jon picked us up at the hotel and we took a short drive over to Angel Stadium to see the Angels play the Yankees (the Angels won, and it was a sweep!).

Here are the babies watching the game (we were closer to the field at the beginning, but moved to the rafters so we could have shade)


Here's baby and Daddy:


Miss P & I:


We had a really great time. I enjoy going to stadiums to watch games (not so much watching them on TV), and Penelope love people watching. Once we moved to the shade it was much more enjoyable - it wasn't too terribly hot, but it was pretty warm and the sun was pretty fierce on baby skin.

It was also really nice to spend more time with Kristen and her family. I'm so glad they came with us, it made the game that much better!

After they dropped us back off at the hotel we took P to the pool, ate, and then all crashed. It had been a very full and very fun two days and we were all exhausted!

More later on Monday - our last day in LA!

LA Trip Part I (Friday)

Our baby is an excellent traveler... so far. She was wonderful on the plan to Seattle back in May, and I was hoping she would do just as well on the flight to LA. Even better, she slept the whole way - after having a small bottle, Penelope was out for the entire flight, take off & landing! Super-awesome.

I also have to mention how much I heart Jet Blue. Not only were they the cheapest, they have the most legroom of ANY flight I've EVER been on (with the exception of my one trip in first class) and they give you a WHOLE can of soda AND a snack. I know, awesome yes? Plus you can watch DirecTV & listen to XM radio. So between sleeping baby and decent amenities, the trip down to LA was actually quite enjoyable.

Our hotel, on the other hand, sucked big time. It was a Priceline find, and we got it for about half of the going rate. A really nice hotel (The Doubletree), and they even have the spiffy commercials with Dinah Washington singing "Relax Max"... but you have to pay extra for parking and no complimentary breakfast. Even the freaking Holiday Inn has free breakfast! They do give you a warm chocolate chip cookie (one for each member of your party) when you check in, so that was nice. But what are supposed to be queen sized beds are actually doubles - boo.

It was in the perfect location, so that was nice.

Anyway, we checked in, got settled, and then decided to explore the area. Walked down to The Block at Orange which is an open shopping center and bought Penny some new sunhats and had dinner at Dave & Busters, which is like a Chuck-E-Cheese for grown-ups. Penny crashed once we got back to the hotel, so I hit the hotel gym while Bryan watched baseball. All in all a nice start to our vacation!

Here's a pic to tide you all over - more later