What a Long, Strange Trip

[I started this entry on Tuesday, our first day in San Diego; I didn't finish it until Thursday, so that's why it is dated Tuesday, February 27 when it should be dated Thursday, March 1].

Several months ago, in a flash of "brilliance" (more likely some sort of crazy thinking brought on by Mommy Brain), Mommy thought it would be a lot of fun for the whole family to accompany Daddy to San Diego on a week-long business trip. What could be more fun? Sun, warm weather, and visits with family and friends we rarely get a chance to see.

What Mommy didn't fully think through are the implications of a trip with 11-month old twins. To California. Where she'd be on her own, in a strange place, during the day with Alex and Ari. Where there would be little, if any, space in the hotel room for the kids to play. When (unbeknownst to us) San Diego would have it's worst weather-- rain, wind, and cold-- in forty years (according to Mommy's Great Aunt Vivian).

There were signs. The day we were scheduled to fly to San Diego (Sunday), we had 6+ inches of snow and our flight was cancelled and rescheduled for the following evening (Monday). Arielle had a mild fever, but it went away by the time we were rescheduled to leave. But then Mommy woke up with a horrible stomach virus at 2:00 am Monday morning, absolutely certain there was no way she'd be able to make the trip. But then she felt better! So the trip was back on! And despite all of the signs indicating that maybe it would be best for Mommy, Alex, and Ari to stay home, we went.

The adventure started off well-- the kids were wonderful in the airport and on the plane. We had these cool contraptions called GoGoKidz, which allowed Alex and Ari to cruise the airport in the comfort of their own car seats. They charmed fellow passengers and flight attendants, and we even managed to get an extra empty seat on the plane (did we mention we planned to fly all the way to San Diego with the kids on our laps? Again, chalk it up to insane Mommy Brain). Alex fell asleep before we even departed, and Arielle watched eagerly out the window before she fell asleep in Mommy's arms shortly thereafter (and after a brief, but powerful, crying stint). Even though she looks like she's crying here, Ari was actually laughing at this point:
Managing two babies in San Diego, however, proved much harder than the flight itself. With Daddy in meetings during the day, Mommy was left to entertain Alex and Ari, who quickly bored of the hotel room (or who were too tempted to get into lots of good-natured mischief) and were having too much fun to nap. Tuesday was a cold and rainy day, but we had to go out and pick up our rented stroller and make a trip to the store to pick up necessities, so out we schlepped into the cold rain (without a stroller at first). Did I mention we were on the second story of a two-level building with an outside walkway to the individual rooms? And that there was no elevator so any time we wanted to go to or from our room, the only option was for Mommy to somehow remove two babies from the car (or hotel room) and carry them both at the same time? In the rain? Needless to say, Mommy ended up a very tired, soaked mess by the end of the day.

After drying off, we ended up having a nice dinner Tuesday evening in La Jolla at a trendy restaurant where the staff was very (unexpectedly) child-friendly. We planned to get back on track on Wednesday; Alas, the best-laid plans... before that could happen, Daddy woke up in the middle of the night with the same stomach virus Mommy had just experienced. It hit him hard, and the reality of being cooped up in a tiny hotel room in a far-away city with a very sick Daddy hit Mommy even harder. In the immortal words of The Gambler, "You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run." So we decided to return home early and booked the red-eye flight out of San Diego for Wednesday night.

We tried to make the best of the situation, so Mommy took Alex and Ari out so that Daddy could rest and so that Alex and Ari could get some much-needed nap time on a long ride in the car. We drove up to Long Beach to the Aquarium of the Pacific where we met Mommy's friends Laura and Dean and their kids Brandon and Mischa. Mommy hadn't seen Laura and Dean in many years, and had never met Brandon and Mischa so we were all very excited to spend time with them. It was so much fun to see everyone and we all wish we lived closer so that we could see each other more often. We toured the beautiful aquarium and then enjoyed lunch together before we returned to San Diego for a visit with Mommy's Great Uncle Ray and Great Aunt Vivian. Here's the gang at lunch, after Alex, Ari, and Mischa created a mess of Cheerios and broccoli on the restaurant's floor:
Alex and Ari caught some more much-needed nap time on the way back to San Diego before our visit with Great Uncle Ray, Great Aunt Vivian, and Cousin Felicia (and much to Alex's delight, Ginger the dog!) The last time Mommy saw Uncle Ray and Aunt Vivian, she was only four years old...needless to say, she didn't remember that visit so essentially we were all meeting for the first time. We had such a wonderful time together, and Alex and Ari were very excited to have some space to crawl, cruise, explore, and chase after Ginger the dog. Here is a priceless family photo of Ray, Vivian, Felicia, Ginger, Alex and Ari:
After our visit, we headed back to the hotel to pick up poor Daddy, pack up, and leave for the airport to catch our 10:10 pm flight back to the east coast. Again, Ari and Alex were in good spirits despite the fact they were delirious with sleep deprivation. As soon as we boarded the plane (this time in two completely empty rows, which gave us more space to spread out), both kids sacked out for the duration of the flight.

So, here we are, everyone a little bit more than relieved to be home. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the brightest idea to join Daddy on his business trip to the West Coast, but we still had memorable highlights and we've seen how well Alex and Ari can do on a long flight, which is good...because we have a trip to Chile in our future! Thankfully for us, we'll have a lot of helping hands there, as well as much more space for the kids to spread out.

Somewhere in the last two days, Alex and Ari celebrated their 11-month birthday. Because they were born on the 29th of the month, they technically did not have an 11-month birthday, but we're so confused with time changes, anyway, that recognizing their birthday a day or two late won't make much of a difference to us. Stay tuned for official 11-month pictures...today was spent catching up on sleep, in pajamas all day, so we didn't have much of a photo opportunity!