Say what?
Our family: mom (me) dad (Mike), 4 year old son (G) and 22 month old son (Lo) are about to embark on a 15 day adventure that involves flying to LA, renting an RV, driving around the southwest for 2 weeks camping and ending in Las Vegas for two nights before flying home. We have a small RV, meaning no rooms with a door. Let me just preface this with saying I am NOT insane, nor was I "talked into" this trip by my husband. For some reason most couples presume a camping road trip full of roughing it in the great outdoors is somehow a "man idea." If so, I have a testosterone imbalance because a camping adventure is my jam. That being said, my expectations for the trip are pretty low. I know it won't be relaxing. I know we will have the everyday challenges of life with small children. I know we can't hike, raft or kayak like we used to. And I know my husband's super long itinerary is going to get shortened (but why tell him that now?). Regardless I am pumped and ready for the challenge! Bring it Southwest!
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| My backpacking pack. She's seen 16 years of adventure with me and tens of thousands of miles. |
Beverly Hills, that's where I want to be...
We take off wicked early, on Mother's Day of course. Happy mother's day MIL! You get to drive us to the airport at 6 am! We get to the airport with no drama and stand in a super long line for baggage check. We are very happy we were there early. We have 4 ginormous bags to check, a stroller, 2 bags and a car seat to carry on. It's an insane amount of stuff- and I had already shipped two enormous boxes to Mike's cousin in LA full of stuff for the RV. It's kind of hard to fly to a camping trip. I would be super set if I could just pack the car right from my garage, but it's not going to work this time. I make up for it with an insane amount of excel spreadsheets and an aggressive use of the Wunderlist app. Mama's prepared.
One thing I was not prepared for was for Lo to not sleep THE ENTIRE FLIGHT. As in 5.5 hours. G didn't either but he was a peach. Lo... was not. He kicked the person's seat in from of him for roughly 4.5 hours. All while smiling and laughing wildly. The other hour was broken up into 15 minute bouts of screaming and crying. And he pooped himself twice (airplane bathrooms aren't exactly roomy for diaper changes on a super sized toddler). Fun times. We left the place pretty beaten down and it was only like 11:30.
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| The good traveler! |
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| Lo closed his eyes for 5 minutes of peace on the flight. I documented the miracle. |
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We go to rent the temporary car and the boys turn the Alamo waiting room into a playground. I let them tear the place up. They are jet lagged and un-napped and out of their minds. Have at it kids! As soon as we put them in their car seats and pump the AC they conk out on the way to Mike's cousin's house. We decide to take a scenic drive on Mulholland Drive since we've never done that before. What an awesome view, but man, I did not like driving that ridge. I can't imagine doing that at night!
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| Thanks Alamo for having hollow coffee tables! |
When they wake up we head to the cousin's place and the boys have fun with their big-kid LA cousins. They have a trampoline so that's an awesome bonus. Cousin in law decides that the mothers in the room need to go get a Chinese foot massage- which I had never had before. I mean I don't want to be rude so I happily abandoned my rag tag crew 8 hours into our trip to get a massage. Mother of the year! I regret nothing. I'm handed me a glass of wine as soon as we get home while my children happily play with big cousins. I may never leave LA.
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| Brother bounce |
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| early bedtime banana jam |
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