Final Chapter!

ok, so this is it.
the last time i'll discuss my california trip.
i feel like this been a long, dragged out discussion and so this is my attempt to close the loop!

to make a really long story short = we had a blast!

despite our smiles, you could say that boarding our first plane with isaac was ....not cool. i guess you have to go through it once, to learn, but boy -- we were idiots.



let's start with the fact that we left the house about an HOUR later than we should have. gleefully unaware of how horrific the morning rush hour is. i should know these things by now - but i'm rusty, and unaccustomed to driving to baltimore at 8am. chad on the other hand should have known. and once we sat for 15 minutes w/o moving -- he recognized his great folly.

so.
cough cough.
we arrived with 45 minutes to spare, which doesn't sound so awful, unless you have to park the car yourself, and get through security with a baby in tow.

a screaming baby.

with that said, chad left me curbside with 3 suitcases, 4 carry-ons, and the stroller with isaac.
how hard could it be? let the carry-ons down, check in the suitcases and breeze through security.

well, it's hard when the weigh your suitcase and it's 54lbs.
4lbs overweight.
i swear, these scales are rigged, man.
SO, at the front of the line, i had to open all three of my suitcases on the sidewalk, and redistribute the weight. isaac had fortunately calmed down and looked quite amused, frankly.

so then.
THEN!
we attempted security alone. i was sweaty, flustered and convinced we were going to miss our flight. we get through and realize that daddy, who has now been gone far longer than is legal, is carrying the bag with ALL the food, bottles, sippies. so sure, i get through security, but am told they will not let him through with all the forbidden goods, if he doesn't have evidence of NEEDING IT. you know. the baby....

so rather than get in line or head to our gate or use the bathroom or feed isaac breakfast or any of THAT, we had to wait at the metal detector for chad to come through.

and wait we did for what felt like 47 lifetimes.

there was no breakfast.
there was no getting a good spot in line.

what i can confirm there WAS, was alot of pit stains and screaming.
chad and i do very little yelling at each other.
i think i can recall 2 times in our marriage where we full-on yelled and they are seared into my brain and i don't even like thinking about it.

well, mama full-on blew a gaskett as we were boarding, people were waiting, my arms were full, my back burning, and my HUSBAND STARED as i was kicking and cussing the stroller to COLLAPSE ALREADY PEOPLE HATE ME OMG I AM NEVER FLYING AGAIN CANT YOU FREAKING HELP ME!???????

he sorta helped.
and hid from me until we were at cruising altitude.

we played alot of musical chairs trying to find hiding spots for our carry-ons.
then we tried this cool "who wants to sit next to baby!" game.
where, well, i sat on the aisle, isaac sat by the window and a bunch of baby paraphernelia was in the center seat, while chad sat across the aisle.

it was our pitiful attempt to get an entire row PLUS one seat to ourselves.
it was brilliant.

i mean, who wants to sit in the MIDDLE SEAT next to a 13 month old....i'd rather fly 6 hours in the bathroom. we thought we had this in the bag. we'd even asked The People if the flight was sold out and there were 7 un-purchased seats...and we were convinced ONE OF THOSE SEATS would be ours for the taking.

i love how you can read people's thoughts as they assess the southwest seating system. they do all their mental calculations. let's face it, we were in the 2nd to LAST ROW. if you've made it that far toward the back of the plane, you must be desperate. but...that desperate? Rug Rat Screaming for 6 Hours Desparate?

apparently some dude WAS?!
"is anybody sitting there?"

Blink. Blink.
i felt like screaming at an even louder decibel than before, "YES, MY LAPTOP IS SITTING HERE THANKYOUVERYMUCH."
instead i felt my face flush and and i may have taken mental notes on all Mother In Law Ideas From This Point Forward.

needless to say, i hung my head low and moved to the center seat, while chad took the aisle...and well....we reshuffled all of our crap all over again.

did i mention i almost drank isaac's entire bottle of Benedryl at some point in the first 10 minutes of flying? or the xanax i had to eat bc i am deathly afraid of flying?

and so, thus began our vacation.
isaac, despite what you are waiting to hear, was an Airborne Dream.
he started crying around Hour #5, when he realized chewing on headrests and eating floor crumbs is old hat and that he was, quite truly trapped. i was glad at that juncture i had spared the benedryl. all in all, he slept for a total of 3 of the 6 hours and in our moments of desperation, the stewardesses did laps with him up and down the aisles!



we were received warmly at the security checkpoint in San Diego, with signs that read ISAAC! and i'm certain, after his 2 hour benedryl haze lifted (my bad on the timing it was administered, big boy), he loved La Jolla. :)



i mean, i love La Jolla.



granted, maybe isaac loves it because got to ride in the lap of luxury. literally. a FORWARD FACING toddler Britax awaited him. he was in Big Boy Heaven! and yes, he came home to an infant carrier, folks. it's a lesson in "all good things must come to an end." we're doing him a favor, really.



isaac's a bit weird with grass.
he eventually got over it, but not without great inspection and suspicion.



he would sit RIIIIIGHT on the edge of the towel. and no further.



these folks took great care of us! toys galore were at our disposal!



he met his great aunt toni for the first time!!!



Grass Alert.



Brave Boy.



i have more photos, but this is going to become quite long-winded if i continue.
isaac slept in till nearly 10am the first morning we were there (HELLO TIME CHANGE) and took to his envirvonment wonderfully. i truly cannot think of anything i would change! besides the obvious mentioned above. isaac charmed just about everybody and flew home asleep in my arms for the first 3 hours of the 5 hour return flight! he probably would have slept longer if we didn't fail greatly at the great Seamless Parental Switcharoo During Nap while standing because i had to use the restroom.

all in all -- it was a very relaxing and enjoyable time and i wish it weren't so darn far away and expensive!!!! because i'd CERTAINLY do it more often if i could!