California Dreamin'

We are back from a brief blog hiatus. It was for a good reason. We took our first family vacation! It was mixing business with pleasure for me; however, Tony and Anthony actually had a vacation the whole time, complete with sun, sand, and surf. Last Wednesday we flew to Los Angeles. Final destination: Newport Beach, Orange County. Luckily (and a little by design), Anthony flew from Lincoln to a 4-hour layover in the Twin Cities. I picked him up and we went to get Tony from daycare. He was SO excited to see Anthony and went running to him, arms open and yelling. We went to the airport and began the check-in process. 2.5 people and 5 bags. That doesn't include the suitcase Anthony already checked through to LAX. We started calling ourselves the "traveling circus." For two very seasoned travelers, we we looked like rookies. We speed-walked (sometimes jogged) to the gate and walked directly onto the plane. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. The plane ride went... well, it went. Tony didn't scream or throw a fit, but he was A.C.T.I.V.E. He didn't stop moving, save for a 30 minute nap that just seemed to energize him more! We landed and then had to get the car. I have nothing nice to say to say about that process, so I'll keep quiet. Luckily, Tony was so good the whole time. He liked to hear all the car horns and tried mimicking their sound. Since we hadn't eaten, we went straight to In N Out burger (a California must). Then it was off to bed. It was midnight after all, which was 2am Minnesota time.

The few days I went to my conference while the boys played. They went to the beach, the boardwalk, out with Anthony's co-workers for lunch, and hung out at the pool. I tried to see them when I could, but at night we went out for dinner. Night #1 - Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles. A classic. Tony LOVED the waffle. The following night - Vietnamese. Pho to be specific. Anyone who knows us, knew this would happen. Tony LOVED the noodles. It was sushi, tacos, and an ice cream cone on the Huntington Beach pier our last night in Newport Beach. The final night of the conference is a dance. I brought Tony to the dance to say good-bye to some of his new friends. Fate stepped in as we went to the dance. The dj played "Single Ladies." We couldn't believe it! Of course, Tony wanted to dance! He knows all the moves. He walked on to the dance floor all by himself and got down. People made a circle around him and watched him shake his groove thing. We said good-bye to the friends and took our leave. I mean, really, how can you top that?! I'm trying to track down the video that people took, but I haven't located it yet. *** UPDATE: video found! ***

Tony didn't appreciate getting hit by a wave.

Corndog and a banana on the boardwalk. 

Anthony's co-workers meet Little T.

Ginger was a hit. We still working on the chopstick technique.

Best sushi in the world.

Sunday morning we got up and drove to San Diego. We arrived at the San Diego Zoo around 11am, and left at 4pm. Tony didn't even nap! We saw it all (except the pandas, which is still a sore spot with me), rode the air tram, and took a bus tour. Anthony even got a new hat, a replacement for his favorite one that disappeared a couple years ago. It was a blast! To commemorate the occasion we had Tony do a "Handimal," an animal painting made out of his hand. We chose a lion. The weather was a bit overcast and cool. Just our luck that we were in San Diego the one day per year that it is cold and rainy there. We were told by the tour guide that the weather was actually good because the animals are active then.

Breakfast before the zoo.

Handimal - getting the hand painted

After the zoo we went to the harbor area, or Seaport Village. What a great area! The weather became sunny and warm and Tony got to run. Daddy and Tony got to play for a long time before our next car ride to Aunt Sheri and Uncle Amando's house. We got to the house and Tony got to explore another new place. He had a blast checking everything out and thought that Aunt and Uncle were really funny. At about 9pm, he finally got tired and went to sleep. What a big day!

We left Aunt Sheri and Uncle Amando's house around 6:45am to drive back to LAX. We went early because of the terrible LA traffic. Wouldn't you know that there was NO traffic that day and we got to the airport at 10am. Oh well - better early than late. We hung out and Tony made friends with the other people waiting. It was another long flight and we were all tired. Tony was happy to see his bed that night but sad to see Daddy go. Good thing he will be back at the end of the month. In the meantime, we have all the fun pictures and memories from our first Pledgeworth family vacation.