Fun with Family and Friends in California!

My parents, Noah, Callison and I recently headed down to Los Angeles and San Francisco to visit family and close friends.  Daddy had a ton of deadlines at work and is taking a prepartory class for his Professional Engineering exam so he couldn't make the trip.  This was the last trip we do without daddy.  He was dearly missed the entire time.  Wes has the magic touch with Noah.  Noah listens best to him out of all of us and seems to always be on best behavior when daddy is around.

The kids did relatively well on all three flights (ANC to LAX, LAX to SFO and SFO to ANC). Callie was a dream and super delightful, smiling and flirting with all the passengers on the plane.  I love traveling with babies this age.  Noah was pretty good also and he enjoyed his sticker books and Mickey Mouse coloring activity books.  He put his seatbelt on all by himself and  loved the take-off and landing when the plane zooms fast down the runway!  However on the way home, our flight was delayed and we had literally no layover in Seattle (i.e. a chance for him to run and get out some energy) So he did get antsy several times on the flight back to Anchorage and at one point Noah even reached over and pulled the headphones off the passenger's head who was seated in front of him!  The guy was not impressed. I was mortified. This was one flight where I couldn't wait to get off the plane and swore to never travel without dad again.

Noah is still potty training and did suprisingly well the entire trip but he is scared of public restrooms and is utterly and completely terrified of the airplane bathroom.  After Noah had a meltdown in the airport restroom, crying that he wanted to "use the potty at home!", a woman came up to me and asked if she could give Noah something.  Unsure, but curious, I said ok.  She handed him a bag from the gift shop and in it was a little stuffed puppy toy.  She told Noah she hoped the puppy would bring him comfort during his travels.  Noah and I thanked her profusely and I made a mental note that the next time I see a mom struggling in the airport with two kiddos, I am going to pay it forward.

This was a whirlwind trip where we got to spend time visiting my mom's family and my dad's family in Los Angeles.  We got to meet the beautiful new Ella (my cousin Mark's daughter who is one month older than Callie) and spend Super Bowl with all my cousins/relatives on my dad's side of the family.  Very fun filled day!  The next day, we drove up to Anaheim for a few days and Noah got to meet Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and a bunch of other characters at a few of the "character dining" restaurants.  All the characters came around to each table and signed Noah's little book and posed for pictures.  Unfortunately for me, my camera battery died right before we had "dinner with Goofy" so I had to rely on my iphone which isn't as good. Mommy fail.

In San Francisco, I met up with my very dear college friends Christina and Danielle for dinner at this great Italian restaurant.  We didn't have the kids so it was really nice to just catch up and have a girls' dinner out without any distractions.  The next day, we met up with Danielle, her three kiddos and her parents at the Discovery Bay Kids Museum and had a blast!  The highlight was meeting her sweet daughter Madison who is just a few months younger than Callie.  We had fun taking pics of the baby girls together in their matching hair bows and catching up while the boys explored the hands-on kids exhibits.  The weather was super sunny and warm which was perfect since there was this great outdoor park/playground there.  Later that night, we had a great visit with my cousin Albert who is a doctor now and is doing so great!  Wonderful to catch up with him.

On Friday we went to visit our very good and long-time family friend, Christine, who is recovering from several surgeries and brain cancer/lymphoma.  She is an amazing woman and it was a joy seeing her again.  She has been through so much the past 18 years healthwise and her endless courage and strength are such an inspriation.  It was wonderful to have Noah and Callie meet her.  Later that night we had dinner at our condo with Tim, Helene, her gorgeous and sweet daughter Janae and my godfather.  Janae and Callie had a lot of fun playing together.  Great night!

My parents (especially my mom) were so amazingly helpful the entire time with the kids.  I am truly spoiled by the amount of help they give us with the kids all the time. During this trip, Noah loved the opportunity to sleep with his Pao Pao and begged her to sleep with him almost every night.  Poor Gong Gong almost got the boot when Noah asked to sleep "just Pao Pao, not Gong Gong".  I think my mom actually considered his request for a few seconds, but thankfully there weren't any other beds for Gong Gong to go to and my mom held strong.  hahaha.  My dad jokes he is being replaced by a younger, cuter guy.

Fun in the sun!

Callie met her cousin Ella for the first time!  Ella is one month older than Callie and my cousin Mark's daughter.

Noah loves to play with the iphone/ipad. Ryan was nice to show Noah and Jack (his son) all the cool kid apps and games on there!

Erica and Callison



Callie and Ashley



Me and my Mickey fan

Breakfast with Mickey & Friends! Mickey signed his autograph book

Pluto came over to say hi!

Callie liked playing with Stitch

Noah wanted to give Daisy a high five!

I was so excited to meet up with my dear friend Danielle and her new baby girl, Madison!

my little scientist at the Discovery Bay Musuem. they had little lab coats for the kids to wear!



The boys had fun with all the hands on exhibits





We had fun taking pics of our baby girls together



matching flower headbands were a must



We had some laughs trying to get both girls looking forward at the same time.  Danielle, this is for you!

the weather was so perfect this day! I think Callie is a sun girl just like her momma.

My cousin Albert and Callie



More fun in the park! Can you tell that I have been deprived of warm weather for five months?



My good friend Helene - we have been friends since we were babies!

 

Helene, her beautiful daugher Janae and Callie girl