I didn't take any pictures today, so I'll post some of our condo!
We packed up the rest of our stuff and loaded up the car. David was tying down the bikes and I took the kids to turn in the keys. We stopped by the Koi pond to feed the fish one last time. These fish were crazy. You would just stand on the walkway next to the food dispenser and ALL of the fish would swim over waiting for some food. They were huge! and apparently starving!
We were on the road by 9:30 and traffic up to LAX was smooth sailing. When we got to the 101 is where things started to go not-so-fun. The 101 was down to a crawl. This is also where Rhys woke up. We started giving her snacks and drinks, but by 11:30 she was ready to get out. We found a really cool park, so we went there and let the kids play, changed diapers, etc. Thank goodness Natalie didn't realize there was a splash park there...there were other kids playing, but she never asked to go in - it was certainly warm enough, but I think getting her to leave would have been tough!
We stopped for lunch and then got back on the slow moving road. And about 30 min later, both girls needed new diapers. So, we stopped again. Changed diapers, got gas, and got back into the traffic.
We pulled into the driveway around 4:20. After the great start we got, we thought we would make great timing and be home early. Somehow, it took almost exactly the same amount of time as it did with traffic last Saturday. About 7 long hours (with stops).
Vacationing as a family of 4 was definitely fun. No real schedules of places we had to be or things we had to do. No alarm telling us to go to work or chores to be done. At the same time, travelling with two small kids who need their routine of regular meals and naps made it challenging. Rhys did pretty good and was able to sleep here and there without being too much trouble. I wish Natalie would have taken naps - it would have made her much easier to deal with in the evenings. But, since she doesn't nap at home, it wasn't too much of a surprise. She did nap a little in the car travelling back from the parks, so at least it was something, I guess. I really thought that playing at the beach and/or playing at the pool would use up all of her energy, but somehow she found more!
And Rhys, like I wrote earlier, tried her hardest to be up and walking. She isn't quite there, but it's funny, it really does seem like she is walking because everytime you look, she is standing up. She liked to push the bar stools around the condo (or at least until one of us could catch her and convince her to put it back). And, while we were there, she GOT HER FIRST TOOTH! Finally! And it's totally not one that we expected. Her top left front tooth is poking through! On Monday (7/16) I thought it felt a little different, and when I finally got her to open for me to see, I can see the very tip of it poking through. Her bottom right tooth is also SUPER close, but not quite through. I'm sure she is probably working on all 4 of the fronts. For a teething baby, I have to say she really hasn't complained about it much - other than waking up earlier than usual in the morning, nothing seemed too out of sorts.
Overall, we had a great time! I think we'll consider going back when the kids are a little older and can enjoy the parks a little more.
0 comments:
Post a Comment