No Place Like Home
First, I have to say that my husband is surely one of the world's best. Ever. Period. But that's another story for a different day.
Our trip started out with a delay at the airport. The flight turned out to be uneventful, but a mad dash was required to make our connection. It was tight, and we barely made it (with two kids in tow it seemed almost miraculous). We knew our luggage most likely would not make the flight but were pleasantly surprised to find it circling round the baggage carousel. The trip was off to a nice start!
Waking very early the next day (still on east coast time), we started our vacation adventure with a visit to Legoland. At the ticket booth we got another pleasant surprise. Paying with Amex, kids are FREE. A substantial savings. Then another 15 percent off at the Lego store (I just love a bargain). The park was nice, nothing to write home about, but our son was thrilled to have his life-long dream come true. That made the entire trip worth it. We all got a little sunburn (not realizing how strong the sun would be at 70 degrees), had a lot of fun, and enjoyed our time together.
The next day we went to American Girl Place in Los Angeles. Talk about traffic!! A nice place to visit, but.... We saw many older men, but mostly younger women. Hmmm. Daughter noticed "lots of big boobs." I haven't been to L.A. in many years, and I was surprised to see that, wherever we went, there were lots of overweight people. I thought everyone there was fit and trim. Another distortion from the press? Anyway, daughter and I spent a long time wandering around The Place. We looked at every doll so she could make the big decision as to whom to bring home. She finally decided upon Kaya and Addie, along with several outfits and accessories and a gift for one of her friends. She was one happy girl. The best part of the day, for me, was meeting up with a friend I hadn't seen in years. She just started a new job in production for a t.v. pilot for FOX. If it's picked up, it'll be on next season. I sure hope this one works out for her. Her last job was short lived as the show she was involved with, Smith, was cancelled after only three episodes. It's a strange way to live to me. Never knowing when you'll be working or for how long. Very daring. She was as wonderful and as beautiful as ever. The kids adored her, daughter commenting on how "hip" (can't believe kids are using that word) she was, especially for a friend of mine. Sigh. Mom's are never cool.
We spent one very long day at Disney. It was fun, and I'm glad we went. But, husband and I realized that our family is just not one of those "must go do things" type of family. Amusements and excitement aren't really for us. We're more the "take a picnic to the beach" type. To quote our son, "California's nice, but it's not Bermuda. It's not Westport either." We also spent a day traveling to (traffic, traffic) the beach where sandcastles were made. It was the kids' favorite day, according to them. We also went to the Aquarium of the Pacific. It's small but filled with all sorts of beautiful, exotic sea creatures. We all enjoyed ourselves there.
We spent some time hanging around the hotel, too. The food there was surprisingly good. And we all enjoyed some time around the pool and in the hot tub.
The trip home was the worst. We specifically planned our itinerary to not travel through the north. After all, who wants to get stuck in Chicago in the middle of winter? Not us. Guess who got stuck in Chicago in the middle of winter? But only for eight hours. One good thing about husband's traveling so much is that when our connecting flight was cancelled, we received a call from the airline saying they had booked us on a different flight later that night. There were others trying to make it to Providence who were told they'd have to wait until Tuesday (this was on Saturday). We ended up on a flight that was delayed for two and a half hours on the runway. We were finally de-iced and flew out of there at the start of a blizzard. It was the creepiest take-off I've ever experienced, and I've traveled a lot. As we blasted down the runway I wondered if I was crazy, allowing my entire family to fly in this mess, but we made it home safely. Our luggage took a side trip for three days to Charlotte. We then got two suitcases back on Tuesday. The rest was delivered yesterday. Air travel sure ain't what it used to be.
Now we're all happily back at home. I've always looked forward to returning home whenever I've been away. This trip was no exception. Happy sigh.
Be it ever so humble.
Our trip started out with a delay at the airport. The flight turned out to be uneventful, but a mad dash was required to make our connection. It was tight, and we barely made it (with two kids in tow it seemed almost miraculous). We knew our luggage most likely would not make the flight but were pleasantly surprised to find it circling round the baggage carousel. The trip was off to a nice start!
Waking very early the next day (still on east coast time), we started our vacation adventure with a visit to Legoland. At the ticket booth we got another pleasant surprise. Paying with Amex, kids are FREE. A substantial savings. Then another 15 percent off at the Lego store (I just love a bargain). The park was nice, nothing to write home about, but our son was thrilled to have his life-long dream come true. That made the entire trip worth it. We all got a little sunburn (not realizing how strong the sun would be at 70 degrees), had a lot of fun, and enjoyed our time together.
The next day we went to American Girl Place in Los Angeles. Talk about traffic!! A nice place to visit, but.... We saw many older men, but mostly younger women. Hmmm. Daughter noticed "lots of big boobs." I haven't been to L.A. in many years, and I was surprised to see that, wherever we went, there were lots of overweight people. I thought everyone there was fit and trim. Another distortion from the press? Anyway, daughter and I spent a long time wandering around The Place. We looked at every doll so she could make the big decision as to whom to bring home. She finally decided upon Kaya and Addie, along with several outfits and accessories and a gift for one of her friends. She was one happy girl. The best part of the day, for me, was meeting up with a friend I hadn't seen in years. She just started a new job in production for a t.v. pilot for FOX. If it's picked up, it'll be on next season. I sure hope this one works out for her. Her last job was short lived as the show she was involved with, Smith, was cancelled after only three episodes. It's a strange way to live to me. Never knowing when you'll be working or for how long. Very daring. She was as wonderful and as beautiful as ever. The kids adored her, daughter commenting on how "hip" (can't believe kids are using that word) she was, especially for a friend of mine. Sigh. Mom's are never cool.
We spent one very long day at Disney. It was fun, and I'm glad we went. But, husband and I realized that our family is just not one of those "must go do things" type of family. Amusements and excitement aren't really for us. We're more the "take a picnic to the beach" type. To quote our son, "California's nice, but it's not Bermuda. It's not Westport either." We also spent a day traveling to (traffic, traffic) the beach where sandcastles were made. It was the kids' favorite day, according to them. We also went to the Aquarium of the Pacific. It's small but filled with all sorts of beautiful, exotic sea creatures. We all enjoyed ourselves there.
We spent some time hanging around the hotel, too. The food there was surprisingly good. And we all enjoyed some time around the pool and in the hot tub.
The trip home was the worst. We specifically planned our itinerary to not travel through the north. After all, who wants to get stuck in Chicago in the middle of winter? Not us. Guess who got stuck in Chicago in the middle of winter? But only for eight hours. One good thing about husband's traveling so much is that when our connecting flight was cancelled, we received a call from the airline saying they had booked us on a different flight later that night. There were others trying to make it to Providence who were told they'd have to wait until Tuesday (this was on Saturday). We ended up on a flight that was delayed for two and a half hours on the runway. We were finally de-iced and flew out of there at the start of a blizzard. It was the creepiest take-off I've ever experienced, and I've traveled a lot. As we blasted down the runway I wondered if I was crazy, allowing my entire family to fly in this mess, but we made it home safely. Our luggage took a side trip for three days to Charlotte. We then got two suitcases back on Tuesday. The rest was delivered yesterday. Air travel sure ain't what it used to be.
Now we're all happily back at home. I've always looked forward to returning home whenever I've been away. This trip was no exception. Happy sigh.
Be it ever so humble.
posted by Elsie | 9:16 AM
1 Comments:
It sounds like a great experience - if a bit scary! Hope you're well relaxed and laid-back - in spite of late suitcases!
I love coming home too.
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