Our little family packed up some bags and headed to California. It was the boys’ first plane ride… and our first one in almost like, 8 years! We are definitely more ‘road trip’ type people and usually choose to drive, but we drove to Cali last time we visited (3 years ago when I was pregnant with Logan!) and it was a long trek. Too long to take with little guys. Maybe when they get older, because it sure is a fun drive. There’s so much to see in between here and there!
Anyway, a photographer that Chris follows was putting on a workshop in the mountains about an hour and a half north of LA. When we decided that he should attend the workshop, we decided that we would make a family trip out of it and go a couple of days early to have some fun together. Our BFF Hima lives in LA, so the boys and I stayed with her while Chris was getting his workshop on. And as usual, we took WAY too many photos so that’s what this blog is all about. M’kay?
We had been talking with Logan for a couple of months before the trip about airplanes and telling him all about our trip to try to prepare him. He was SO excited and just enthralled with the whole process. We parked at a lot near the airport and road a shuttle (or ‘big bus’ as Logan called it) over to DFW.
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I was SUPER nervous about our flight. I don’t like all the security stuff and trying to get through with kids (all while avoiding a cavity search) was making me cray. Luckily, everyone was super nice. They even let me wear Atti on my back through security. We made it through and then found a place that the kids could explore and get some energy out before the flight. We had a great view of the planes, too. The boys loved it!
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Our plane was definitely the smallest plane that I had ever been on. I thought there would be 6 seats in each row with 3 on each side of the aisle. So, in my head I was prepared for us to all be sitting together, preferably with Logan in between Chris and I so we could both work on keeping him entertained for our 3.5 hr flight. Well, I was wrong. This tiny plane (that barely had enough room in the middle aisle for my wide hips and giant ass) only had 2 seats on each side. And since I had Atticus, I was required to sit on the right hand side of the plane… next to a stranger. O_O Luckily, the lady I got stuck next to didn’t seem to mind breastfeeding, because that’s how I kept A entertained during the flight. There’s nothing quite like having your boob out when you’re basically sitting in a stranger’s lap. Logan was actually really good. We bought him some headphones for the iPad, so he was super excited about those– and the new games that we downloaded. He pretty much just played the entire plane ride. Well, except for when he decided to get obsessed with the bathrooms. Ew.
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Hima picked us up from the airport and took us straight to Pono Burger where we ate a couple of the best burgers we’ve ever had. We also had a couple of local brews.
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After our quick meal, we went back to Hima’s for bath and bedtime.
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The next day we went exploring and wound up in Long Beach. We stopped for some lunch:
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And then we went to explore the beach, which the boys were very excited about!
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So excited, that Logan insisted on getting in even though I didn’t bring a swimsuit. We went white trash style and stripped him down. This next photo is pretty much the best thing ever.
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We walked around the Long Beach area and stopped for some ice cream.
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Then we headed to the Griffin Observatory for sunset.
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The next morning we got up and took Chris up to Frazier Park for his workshop. Before heading out, we stopped at a Ramen shop and got some *real* Ramen. It was pretty amazing. AND we ate right next to the dude who played Paul in Desperate Housewives! I mean, I *think* it was him. I didn’t get confirmation because I didn’t want to bug him. 😉
The drive up into the mountains was incredible:
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After we got Chris squared away, we headed back down to LA and took the boys to the Santa Monica Pier.
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Logan freaking *LOVED* this guy:
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The next morning Hima and I took the boys to The Getty Center. It’s a museum up on a hill that has an amazing view of LA. We let the kids run around on the lawn while we picnicked. We also tried to check out the exhibits, but the kids weren’t too interested in art. And Logan kept jumping out of the stroller to sit in the antique furniture (which was not allowed!). Needless to say, we spent the majority of our visit outside in the garden area.
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After our fun morning at The Getty, we decided that ice cream needed to happen. Hima took us to Sweet Rose in Brentwood. I got a hot fudge sundae and Hima got an apple pie sundae. They were both amazing!
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While we were enjoying our ice cream, I was doing a little people watching. I realized that there was a woman with 2 kids inside getting ice cream who all looked very familiar. All of a sudden I realized that the lady I was looking at was Jamie Grumet! She’s the blogger who was on the cover of Time a few years ago breastfeeding her 3 year old. I know you’ve seen it– it went viral and was *everywhere*. Anyway, that magazine cover and the whole story surrounding it and attachment parenting was in the news when Logan was a tiny baby. I remember seeing it and thinking how amazing she was and that I hoped that Logan and I could make it that long. Seeing her (and her 2 beautiful boys!) in person was so amazing. Thanks to Hima, I mustered up the nerve to go talk to her– she was SO sweet. She asked to come to the table to meet Logan and Atticus and even snapped a photo of us and posted it to her Instagram.
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The next morning we headed back into the mountains to get Chris. It was rainy and there were rainbows everywhere.
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We stopped to eat and was greeted by a little squirrel.
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And then, the last photo of the entire trip… Logan playing games on the way home. We took a late flight so it was pretty dark in the plane. Luckily, our camera is a beast and can take decent photos in very low light.
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Our documentation of the trip obviously lost its momentum there towards the end. It was such a fun trip, but we were so glad to be back at home. Traveling with 2 kids under 3 is no joke.
Thank you so much, Hima, for being so amazing and letting us stay with you. We love you SO much!!