So, we packed our bags, suited up and hit the beach for 2 hours or so. Andrew loved playing in the sand but he stayed clear of the water. I think what bothers him about the ocean is that the waves have the appearance of chasing you as the creep further and further up the beach as the tide comes in. If Andrew noticed the water coming in he would run further up the beach, even when he was no where near the water. I was really hoping to get some good pictures of him playing on the beach, but he was not even remotely interested in looking at the camera. Note to self - must have bribery materials with me when I want Andrew to cooperate for pictures.
Andrew not cooperating for pictures
Tyler's favorite beach activity
Andrew & Mommy
Doug dug a 2 foot hole and then stood in it ... apparently this was his favorite activity growing up. We also enjoyed just watching the surf. The waves were great and it was neat watching the waves hit the pier. With timing running out on our parking meter, we said goodbye to the beach and to California and went back to the hotel to shower and finish packing. Except, when we got back to the hotel I realized that I was missing a flip flop so my dear sweet husband begrudgingly went back to the beach to find it for me after I guilt tripped him into it. Thankfully, he found my flip flop on the beach, so it was not a wasted trip.
Doug standing in his hole
Waves hitting pier
Andrew - my future lifeguard
As you can see, the fear of sand is behind him now!
We checked out of our hotel at just shy of 1:00 p.m., about 30 minutes later than we intended to check out and then it was off to the airport. We got to the airport at 1:10 or so and did not see a skycap anywhere. So, I went inside to ask if it was possible to do curbside check. I explained that I was traveling with 2 small children and that I had 2 car seats and a lot of baggage and the rude guy behind the counter said, "the curbside check closes at 1:15." I looked at my watch and it was exactly 1:15, and I had been there for 5 minutes already. I stressed that I could really use the help (I didn't tell him that I was also traveling with my husband and mother-in-law), but he was unimpressed with my dilemma and said that I was out of luck. Talk about bad customer service! So, we got a smart cart and lugged all of our bags in ourselves, and got ourselves checked in at one of the kiosks while Doug went to return the rental car. It was only at this point that an employee came over to tag our bags. As we were tagging the last bag, the woman realized that the scale she had been using was broken (it was stuck at 37), so she had us move the last bag over to another scale to weigh it, and of course it was over weight by 4 pounds. Doug was seething (the woman did not have the sunniest of disposition to start with), so he took out a pair of jeans and a shirt and moved them (threw them is more accurate) to another bag and then we reweighed the over weight bag and it was exactly 50 pounds. With all of our bags tagged we had to reload the smart cart and take all of the bags to TSA to go through the x-ray machine. Whew - the process was more than a little frustrating.
With our checked bags taken care of, we went through security, which is a big ordeal in and of itself and then we were off to our gate ... to find that our flight was delayed! Urrrghh. We were all pretty frustrated at this point, except the boys who were being very good. We decided to have some lunch while we waited for our plane to arrive. The selection of food was not very good and it was all way over priced (hence my previous comment about price gouging at the airport), but we were hungry so we ate our overpriced food that was largely lacking in flavor.
We finally got on our plane about 1.5 hours behind schedule and settled in for a short flight. The flight home is faster because of the tailwinds. The flight crew was so nice (a stark contrast from the ground crew we dealt with earlier in the day) and the boys were on their best behavior, so it made for a great flight. Andrew actually slept the entire flight! We didn't make it to the gate until after 9:00 (since we lost 2 hours in the air) and by the time we got the stroller (which was gate checked), went to baggage to collect our luggage, found the correct bus to the parking lot where we parked Doug's truck, located Doug's truck and reinstalled the car seats for the boys it was 10:30! We didn't make it home until 11:00! What a day!
We started the day at the beach in California and ended the day in our own bed at home ... all in a days work! We had so much fun on our trip, but it is always nice to come home.
Next trip ... somewhere we can stay put and relax!
With our checked bags taken care of, we went through security, which is a big ordeal in and of itself and then we were off to our gate ... to find that our flight was delayed! Urrrghh. We were all pretty frustrated at this point, except the boys who were being very good. We decided to have some lunch while we waited for our plane to arrive. The selection of food was not very good and it was all way over priced (hence my previous comment about price gouging at the airport), but we were hungry so we ate our overpriced food that was largely lacking in flavor.
We finally got on our plane about 1.5 hours behind schedule and settled in for a short flight. The flight home is faster because of the tailwinds. The flight crew was so nice (a stark contrast from the ground crew we dealt with earlier in the day) and the boys were on their best behavior, so it made for a great flight. Andrew actually slept the entire flight! We didn't make it to the gate until after 9:00 (since we lost 2 hours in the air) and by the time we got the stroller (which was gate checked), went to baggage to collect our luggage, found the correct bus to the parking lot where we parked Doug's truck, located Doug's truck and reinstalled the car seats for the boys it was 10:30! We didn't make it home until 11:00! What a day!
We started the day at the beach in California and ended the day in our own bed at home ... all in a days work! We had so much fun on our trip, but it is always nice to come home.
Next trip ... somewhere we can stay put and relax!
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