La Jolla

Chad and I were wanting to plan a little getaway before kiddo #3 comes along and due to earning flight vouchers as a result of this incident last May, we decided to take advantage of them before they expire and flew to California.  [yes, even though the flight was cancelled b/c of me, Chad's dad complained to United about having to sit in the airplane for 3 hours while it was being fixed and that's why the vouchers were earned]

We picked La Jolla (actually stayed in La Jolla shores) b/c I had never been to that area, we wanted somewhere that would be warmer than IN, and no one ever says anything bad about going to San Diego!  And it definitely didn't disappoint... the weather is so moderate, the sun shines, the food was delicious, the ocean is beautiful, and I loved being part of the little La Jolla Shores surf community for a long weekend.

We stayed in a little one bedroom room Chad found on Airbnb that was attached to someone's house.  It had it's own private little patio which was perfect for afternoon reading and was a block from the beach and some fun restaurants and shops.  Definitely a good find and I'm so glad we stayed in La Jolla Shores rather than La Jolla or San Diego.  It had a very non-tourist, family friendly feel - kids playing on the beach, moms changing diapers at the park, teenagers having bonfires on the beach on the weekend, surfers young and old were everywhere.  We did go into San Diego and walk around along the coast and downtown for a couple hours, but it felt a little too tourist-y for us so we didn't do much there.

There were activities I would've loved to take advantage of had I not been pregnant, like kayaking on the ocean, being more adventurous on our bikes, drinking wine on our patio in the evening, or maybe even surfing?  However, it was nice to get in lots of walking, a little bike riding, delicious food eating, and reading at the beach.  A little get-away is always a good idea.

                Some pictures of the street right by where we stayed with fun shops and restaurants:

Shore Rider - first meal upon arrival.  Had a yummy portabello  sandwich but I was so hungry I think anything would've tasted good!

Loved this display of succulents on the wall at Shore Rider.

our favorite breakfast place - loved being able to sit outside at all the restaurants

our walk to the beach - so nice to be so close!

beach reading... a very interesting book!

A hike that we did one morning at Torrey Pines:

really it was just a hike down!  we went down this hill and walked along the beach for 3-4 miles until it leveled out and we never had to hike back up... which was quite ok with the pregnant girl :) 

it was quite the deserted walk along the beach, just saw a few people here and there ... so peaceful

La Jolla:

Puesto - a taco place that was so good we ate there twice.  Amazing salsa and virgin mojitos too - could've drank them all day! 

the BEST gelato place!  If we would've stayed closer, I definitely would've eaten this everyday!! 

an amazing curry noodle bowl I had one night - maybe my favorite thing I ate on the trip?!

one afternoon we biked the 1.5 miles from La Jolla Shores to La Jolla and another night we walked it 

the time I cancelled a flight

So I just posted about our last month of traveling.  Turns out the trip to France didn't quite start out as expected...

We were scheduled to fly from Chicago to London on Friday, May 20th.  Let's just do a little timeline:

6:15p - departure time
7:15p - delayed departure time.  board the plane but after we left the gate we were informed that there was an indicator light on that needed to be resolved before we could leave, so we returned to our gate.  it sounded like it would be a quick fix.
11p - after the flight attendants saying we should be leaving in around 30 minutes about 5 times, our plane was good to go and we started to taxi to the runway again.  my stomach starts to feel a little weird.
[thoughts]  Am I getting sick?  My stomach is feeling off.  I knew we shouldn't have eaten airport Chinese!  Man, sure hope I'm not b/c this is a seven hour flight and I really do not want to be sick!  Maybe some digize will help... used that.  Still feeling weird, I think.  Just don't think about it and it will go away.  Should I tell Chad?  Oh it will probably go away.  Ok, starting to get hot and sweaty.  This is weird.  Kind of light headed and I think I really might throw up.  Time to tell Chad (who had been talking to Seth and hadn't noticed).  
Chad takes one look at me and tells me to go to the bathroom!  I go towards the back of the plane while the flight attendant is furiously shooing me back to my seat, as we were about to take off.

I fumble for the bathroom door and tell the flight attendant I feel sick while I'm starting to feel really light-headed.  I feel super weak and sit down.  The attendants rush towards me, help me up and ask if I'm ok... I fall down again and pass out for a little bit (I think... it's a bit fuzzy but Chad said I did).  I just remember feeling really weak and really wanting to lay down.

By this time they're calling for the paramedic and asking me all sorts of questions and giving me oxygen.  Chad realizes that it's me with the problem and comes to the back of the plane.  During all of this I remember just thinking it was all so weird.  Was it really happening?  This kind of stuff never happens to me!

They turned the plan around and went back to the gate.  On the way back a nurse on board kept taking my vitals and asking me questions.  By this time I was feeling pretty ok again, just really cold and shaking.

They took me off the plane in a wheel chair while Chad endured the glares of the annoyed passengers, due to the fact that the plane STILL was not on the way to London at 11:30pm.  I was taken to an ambulance to do another round of vitals and an EKG.  Everything checked out fine.

The guess was that I got dehydrated from sitting in the airplane so long while it was being fixed and needed some food.  Still seemed a little odd that I would have such a strong reaction to that.  The paramedics asked if I wanted to go to the hospital, but we decided not to, since I seemed ok.

So, the part about the flight being cancelled.... since we had waited so long to take off, the crew had to change (something about a 4 hour limit) before we could take off again.  Since it was so late at night they had to cancel the flight.  Yea, felt really bad about that.  Everyone had to make new travels plans to London.  We all blamed United. :)  I had to trust that there was some reason it all happened and I was just thankful that the plane hadn't taken off before I got sick.

We had to stay in Chicago overnight and lost a day of vacation... but it all worked out.  I did end up throwing up in the trash can in the airport while waiting for new travel plans to be made.  The next day I just felt achy and had chills.

A few days later when we were in France, I got an email from work stating that a bunch of people got sick on Fri/Sat after a lunch meeting that we had and the Marriott on Thursday ... and I had my answer as to why I got sick.  Although after having gone back to work now and talking to others about it, it's kind of a mystery why 50+ people got sick b/c they inspected the food and it checkout fine??  I also learned that I had it "easy" as some people were throwing up all night and sick for days. Mine just turned out to be really bad (or was it good?) timing.

a month of travels

The last month has been full, full, full of traveling.  From April 21st to May 30th we were home for 16 days (to be exact)... I just counted.

It all started with a trip to Hilton Head that we planned some time during February or March when I was working extra tax hours and we decided that a family get-away was just what we needed post busy season.  My aunt and uncle have a vacation home there, making it an easy and affordable trip to plan.  And it was the first time just the four of us went somewhere together... the boys are finally at a good age where it sounds fun.  And it was fun... started with C being sick with a high fever and diagnosed ear infection, but there's no place like the beach to heal, right?!  Beckham golfed his way through the trip and C was finally in better spirits the last couple days.

Then in late March Chad's parents invited us on a last minute trip to France at the end of May, which we decided we couldn't pass up.  However, the trip to France was over Memorial Day weekend, during which we already had a trip to Arizona planned to visit Seth and Brandy... so we moved the AZ trip up a couple weeks and went before France.

Traveling is fun and each trip was special for its own reasons, but it is oh, so good to be home!  (until we go on a friends trip to California in July :)).  Lets just say I won't be bit with the travel bug for a while after this summer!

Hilton Head feels like it happened too long ago to talk about and France is too overwhelming and needs its own post, so here's a little of our trip to AZ:


This is the first year that the kids were "easy" according to me and B... which means they were all talking, older than 3 and [almost] all out of diapers (way to hold out Creighton!  haha).  Which means that the kids all played together much better this year and we could have a little more adult time.  Love that every trip to AZ is different and fun in its own way!

On the flight on the way to AZ.  I love this picture so much b/c it shows the boys personalities... Beckham gets on the plane and instantly buckles his seat belt and starts studying the emergency manual (although when I told he would need to tell me what to do in the case of an emergency he replied "mom, I have no idea about those things." :)) and Creighton is climbing all over me (see the flailing arm!), messing with the tray, and is far from buckled in his seat.  I believe he was standing up during takeoff and landing.  Southwest stewardesses are the nicest.

Our first family hike!  Beckham was complaining about it before we left, thinking that hiking wasn't really his thing.  It wasn't long into the hike before he changed his mind and made the following comments:  "I was born to hike!  Hiking is my life right now.  Yea."  Who says that?!  He was even giving me "tips" on when to slow down and when I could jump off the rocks.  Needless to say, he didn't want the hike to end. :)

just love the sweetness of this pic.

at the train park - super fun little place for the kiddos

the kids riding in the train car by themselves... they were locked in during the ride!

hiking with B and being very unsuccessful at a selfie shot that included the mountain

a nice lady noticed me struggling to get a pic and offered to help :)

more on AZ

my oh my... can't seem to find time to sit and write up a post these days..  I'm going to go with "better late than never" and finish my post on AZ :)

_____________

Another year, another great trip.  This was the first trip that we didn't go in the spring or fall, but in the Summer.  Hot. AZ. Summer.  Chad was on a mission trip in MX the week we were there and met up with us at the end of his trip, which is why we went in June and not October.  I kind of thought we would die in the heat, but it wasn't quite as bad as I expected... maybe b/c I had in mind it would be awful?!  I can't say I was in the direct sunlight for more than a few minutes at any one time, but we were still outside quite a bit.  We did some outings and swam in the pool.

This was also the first year (since those simple pre-kid days) that it felt like we didn't have any babies, making us feel more mobile and up for activities out-and-about.  My highlight is always time with B... when we go out for a late dinner, or a quick trip to a store while the kids nap (yes, we leave them home alone... ;)), or an early morning hike.

But since that's not usually what gets photographed, here's some of what does:

A day at the zoo

the jeep was very popular... as you can see by C's response to not getting to drive

not sure how little Norah is strong enough to pull Beck!

being monkey's at the monkey exhibit

C and See trying to get along... they had their share of friendly two-year old battles :) 

fireworks!

finger suckers :) 

fun at the children's museum

 And a play-by-play of the kids enjoying their donuts :)

And a few more memories that didn't get captured:

- summer movie at the theater - Penguins of Madagascar
- yummy dinners out, including the Best Vietnamese food ever... I've been craving it ever since we went!
- story time at the library [twice]

We will be back soon, AZ!