The Mr., The Little One and I went to California for the holidays! We spent three days soaking-in the Word of God, at a Bible conference in Burbank. It was such a great time of fellowship as well! After the conference we got to spend several happy days with family. We are very thankful that we were able to go down this year and here are just a few of the photos I caught along the way.
The Little One was quite the trooper. It can't be easy sitting buckled into a car seat for so many hours. The Mr. and I made a last minute decision to drive through the night and thankfully we didn't regret it. The Little One slept well and The Mr. and I took turns driving. It was nice to get to the hotel in Burbank so much earlier than we would of had we spent the night in a hotel somewhere along the way. We checked into our room before noon!
On Saturday morning we went out for a J family breakfast at Denny's just across the street from the hotel.
The desk in our hotel room became a changing table. :) It's so much fun being a mommy! For some reason unpacking and setting up in the hotel room felt just like back when I was a little girl playing house.
Auntie Kim came up to our room for a visit after lunch one day. It was so neat that we got to see her. Side note: I am glad a snapshot of this outfit was caught, because it's not going to fit him for much longer! The sleeves are already an inch too short, so I just roll them up. I can't resist argyle and pinstripes on a little boy.
A self timer shot!
This is a momma and baby shot to go along with a maternity shot we did together before our babies arrived. It was so fun to be together again. C and J's little girl is such a doll!
On Monday we walked over to Starbucks with the C's and The Little One ended up having his first sips of COFFEE! I think it was on accident while someone was letting him chew on the straw of his iced americano, but it ended up being quite the show as the Starbucks was full of people we knew and the trick was repeated a few times. I tried to ignore what was happening, as I am generally very strict about his diet! It was funny though. Aunt Char took some videos and I would share them here but they were taken on a cell phone so they are sideways. It is so cute to see him reaching out for the cup and now he knows what straws are for!
Tuesday morning it was time to say goodbye to our lovely suite at the Mariott. Isn't this outdoor area at the front of the hotel just beautiful?
We made it down to our car with all of our stuff in ONE trip, which was quite the feat actually. In/on the stroller is a cooler of gluten-free food and baby food, books, a pillow, several baby blankets, a package of diapers, a bag of dress shoes, a bag of books from BTP, more dress shoes, ice packs, the diaper bag, two bible cases and probably more that I can't think of at the moment. Let's just say that the stroller was hard to steer and looked a little like a bag-lady's cart. Oh, and I almost forgot.... The Little One was in there too!
Oh, hello there Little One.... there you are! What a tight squeeze, his feet are actually resting on a package of diapers. :) Eventually we got everything packed into the car and even had room to give Kim a ride, as we were on our way to the beach party at Zuma Beach in Malibu. I didn't get any photos because I packed my old camera for the beach but brought the wrong memory card, but it was a beautiful day! Clear blue skies and warm weather. Just perfect.
That night we went to San Diego. Here is The Little One with his Great Aunt M! Aunt M adored The Little One and often asked about him if he wasn't in the room with her. I was so happy that they got to spend time together. Visiting with Aunt M was one of my favorite parts of the trip!
The backyard at the W's house is so beautiful. The perfect place to lounge and relax!
In N Out "Animal Style" burger for The Mr.
In N Out protein style for gluten-free me!
We visited Boomers for Josh's birthday! Here he is with his Aunt L in front of him and his mom behind.
We visited a friends home that is in the middle of the city but is actually off the grid. Check out their website. We were invited for (a very yummy) dinner but were able to have a tour as well and it was extremely interesting! The Mr. even got to go for a drive in their electric Nissan Leaf.
Stay tuned for part 2!
Makes me miss L.A. conference. I'm curious how the Mr. liked the Nissan Leaf, considering he likes cars.
ReplyDeleteMan, looks like fun! I'm glad for all the memories I have of going :) Little One looks so much bigger than last time I saw him!! Must be all those teeth :)
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures! It was amazing to see you guys, even just for a couple days! I love that little guy. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Little One=Always smiling!! So cute. That outfit is so handsome. :-) Sad that they outgrow their tiny stuff so fast.
ReplyDeleteSo, tell me this. Was it worth it to make it in one trip with all that stuff? I'm a class act at that--I always try, and usually do make it in one trip with a ton of stuff. About halfway to wherever I'm going, I'm wondering if two light trips would have been easier. :-)
It's always fun to read about others time at CA conference, as we won't be doing that until after Garrett retires. :-)
Naomi- One load is definitely worth it, because you can pack everything into the trunk in the puzzle order that it needs to be in order to properly fit! I prefer to go get one of those carts from the lobby though! Oliver won't always have such a ginormous stroller, so in the future we'll have to go the cart route I guess! I would also hope that in the future I also learn to pack better because I know there were a few things we packed that we never used.
ReplyDeleteIn answer to your question, kdk, I'd have to first say that the Nissan Leaf is grossly over priced - $41,000, in this particular case. That's a lot of money to pay for a fancy, over-sized golf cart. However, it's simplicity is impressive. Almost no fluids, resulting in no oil changes, radiator flushes, etc.; no transmission; no exhaust system, among others. And man, is it quiet! It's like driving in a coffin. And best of all, if you don't plan to drive more than about 40 miles, each way, from home, you can do so without using a drop of gasoline - a fairly impressive accomplishment. If they figure out a way to extend the range to several hundred miles, I just may jump on board.
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