The Trip to California

Me, Elora and my mom at her house. Lake Oroville in the background. What a view!

I decided to go to California for a quick weekend trip to see my mom, my sister and other family. I left Friday at 6am which was very hard in itself. I took Elora and we used my mom's buddy pass (she is retired from United Airlines) for the flight. The first flight was great, we even got first class and nobody seated next to us. Elora kept playing with the sweet flight attendant and we got to San Francisco in no time. Once we got off the plane I realized that I had to go to the bathroom, but wait I didn't bring a stroller and I don't have Elora in the car seat carrier anymore so what was I going to do? Well remarkably I was able to do everything one handed because I was not about to put my baby on the disgusting bathroom floor of the SFO airport. After that we went to the gate to find out that our flight was delayed. So 2 1/2 hours past and we finally were on the little 30 seater plane headed for Chico. The flight gave me a headache but Elora did well once again, thank heaven I am still nursing, she had no problems with her ears going up or down on all flights as long as she was sucking. So we finally got to Chico and saw my mom. We went to dinner and just hung out the rest of the night. On Saturday it was my sisters birthday so we drove to Sacramento which takes an hour and a half to get there. I got to see my sweet nephews and my new little niece Helena. She is a doll and is a cute chunky little monkey and weighs as much as Elora who is 13 months old. We all went to dinner at Cattlemen's and then had frozen yogurt and chatted for a little while then it was time to go. I planned on going back up on Sunday but Elora cried every time we were in the car, remember the drive is 1 1/2 hours each way and she screamed the entire time. Let me just say that I could not handle it anymore and I didn't want her to stress out so bad again so I had hoped to meet my sis 1/2 way but she was unable to come. So my mom and I hung out and went to visit my aunt who had a baby 5 months ago too. Tony is such a cute little boy. He looks so much like my aunt and he is always smiling. After visiting them, my mom and I went to a Chinese restaurant since there are no good Chinese restaurants here in Utah that I know of. After dinner we went back to my mom's house to look at the flights for Monday and saw that they all got booked full. I needed to get home so I decided to buy a ticket on US Airways (AKA ghetto airlines). Both flights were delayed and packed to the maximum capacity possible. I had to fly to Phoenix then to Salt Lake City. While in Phoenix they boarded the flight only to tell us that the air conditioner wasn't working and we would have to wait in our seats for 10 minutes, which turned into 30 minutes in a very hot, stuffy and packed airplane. I almost lost it a couple of times because I was feeling very claustrophobic. I made it and I was so happy to touch down in SLC. I was able to get my suitcase, huge diaper bag and car seat while holding Elora to the shuttle to take me to my car. I felt so much relief to be home. I loved seeing my family and I am grateful to have been able to spend time with my mom and family. I will not be doing that for a long time though. My mom is already planning the next trip out here and that will be wonderful. One thing I found on this trip was that people, I am talking about strangers, are so nice. I don't know if it was because I have such a cute baby or what but I ran into so many nice people who were so willing to help me. I love seeing people genuinely caring about others.

While I was out there Jon did a fantastic job taking care of the boys and the house. I am so lucky to have him in my life. I got home Monday night at 9:30pm to a clean house, freshly vacuumed carpet and mopped floor and he had a load of laundry going and a beautiful pot of Oriental Lilies waiting for me. It was really nice to be able to relax and recover from the trip on Tuesday without feeling like I had tons to do. By Wednesday though I was back to the normal life that I love. I love my family, my home, my friends, my neighborhood......I love my life.

Hayden, Blake holding Helena and Lil Paul.

My sister Amy and Helena

Little Antonio

Elora in the car seat. Crying away.

I love how my mom and Elora are looking at each other.

Elora did really well with my moms dogs. I was worried since they are bigger than her.