the only picture we got of all three of us.
we just got back from a weeklong vacation in southern california. this was actually the first vacation that charlie and i had taken together that wasn't to visit family or 'just' a long weekend. we stayed for 7 days and 7 nights all thanks to some awesome credit card points. all the traveling that charlie does for work is finally paying off. :) we originally had plans to go to hawaii but changed that once we found out that i was pregnant since neither of us thought that a 7 hour plane ride when i was 7 months pregnant was the best idea. my doctor had actually said it was fine to go, but i was more comfortable with the shorter trip anyway. it's a good thing that we did because a 7 hour plane ride with avery would have been miserable. i'm pretty sure we won't be making that trip until all of our kids are old enough to entertain themselves on a flight like that.
the flight out was sort of painful. all avery wanted to do was to sit in the seat and buckle and unbuckle the seat belt. unfortunately, she didn't have a ticket of her own and therefore had to sit in my lap during takeoff and landing, which she threw a huge fit about. the woman sitting next to us wasn't very happy but there wasn't much that we could do about it. she was actually pretty unhappy and restless the whole flight, which made me very happy that it was only a 2.5 hour flight and not a 7 hour flight.
we landed late on saturday and had just enough time to get our car, drive to the hotel, and grab something really quick to eat before attempting to put avery to bed. we got a portable crib from the hotel but i think both charlie and i were hoping that she would just sleep in the bed with us as putting her to sleep and keeping her asleep would have been so much easier. but that first night she made it pretty clear that she was not going to be able to sleep with us at all and it took us over an hour to get her to sleep.
the view of the beach from the hotel.
walking down to the beach.
we had plans to just take it pretty easy the next day. we went and got breakfast and then stopped at target to stock up on a few things for the week before heading back to the hotel and just hanging out at the beach that day. one of the reasons that we picked the hotel is that we wanted something right on the beach so we could just walk down whenever we wanted. that part of the hotel was actually really nice. they had everything that we needed, beach chairs, umbrellas, toys for avery, water, and even sunscreen since we forgot to bring some. the beach was actually a public beach (i can't remember the name of it now) and was pretty crowded on the weekends but really empty during the week. they did have a surfing competition on friday and saturday but it still didn't seem to get really crowded, there were just a lot of surfers in the water. both charlie and i are beach people and if we took a vacation sans kids all we would want to do is sit on the beach all day. since avery loved the beach in june we thought this would also be a pretty good option for her, too. although going to the beach with a toddler isn't exactly relaxing.
overall, i think this part of the trip worked out really well. it was nice to be right on the beach so that getting there wasn't a big deal and we didn't feel pressured to spend hours there once we got there. if avery wasn't in a great mood and it wasn't working out it was no big deal to leave and come back later that day.
avery was pretty happy with the beach situation most of the time. she really liked digging in the sand and was really into having charlie dig holes and then sitting inside them and covering her up with sand. the beach toys that the hotel had were great and she really liked playing with those, too. there were definitely times where for no apparent reason she would decide that sand was horrible and insist that i wash all of the sand off of her and then freak out if she had to touch the sand. this happened maybe twice during the trip and it was actually pretty funny to watch her attempt to play on the beach without touching the sand.
she also really liked going into the ocean with charlie. he took her out there quite a few times and she had a great time watching the waves and getting splashed. the water was definitely cold but not as cold as i was expecting. sort of like maryland in june.
the ocean was pretty calm until our last full day when the waves were huge. even at low tide the random wave kept coming up and pretty much soaking the entire beach, which pushed everyone up against the edge and soaked more than a few people's things. it also created this tide pool that ran parallel to the beach that avery had a blast running circles in. i walked around with her for what seemed like forever until my back hurt too much from bending over.
he dug her a hole and then she insisted that he get in it.
it was a good thing that bunny and tiger made the trip with us. she brought them everywhere.
by the end of the week we had sort of developed a routine for our beach days. we would get up, usually very early thanks to avery, and then walk to this little breakfast place which was pretty much the only thing within walking distance of the hotel. after breakfast we forced avery into her stroller and walked along the path by the ocean in hopes that avery would fall asleep. the few times that she did were really nice. it gave charlie and i a little bit of time to talk and the views were really pretty along the coast. i love colorado, but i really do miss the water. after avery woke up we'd head back to the hotel and get changed for the beach. we spent most of the morning there and then packed up, put her in the car and then drove around for a bit while she napped again. then we'd head back to the beach for a bit before grabbing dinner.
the balcony at the bar.
a stolen rose.
dancing.
the hotel was pretty fancy, not really the best place to bring a toddler, but had this one bar/lounge area that was outside and overlooked the ocean. it was the most low key place to eat in the hotel and the only place that we attempted to eat with avery. there were roses everywhere, which avery loved to smell and there were elephants everywhere that she was totally into. they each had names and karma was her favorite. we had to stop and say hello to this elephant a lot during our trip.
it was actually a really nice trip. the only few downsides were the everything was so expensive, avery got a sunburn on her head because she refused to wear a hat for 95% of the time and then was pretty upset about the fact that her head hurt, and she hurt her arm in sort of a freak fall one evening resulting in an er trip. thankfully everything was fine, and the assumption was that it was a supinated elbow, but i'm not looking forward to getting that bill in the mail. we also didn't sleep well because avery's loud at night! and therefore returned home pretty tired. i think that next time we'll definitely look to stay in a place that is at least a one bedroom so that we can sleep separately from her as i think that may have made it easier to sleep at night. however, it was really nice to spend an entire week as a family even when avery was being a cranky toddler.
the ocean was pretty calm until our last full day when the waves were huge. even at low tide the random wave kept coming up and pretty much soaking the entire beach, which pushed everyone up against the edge and soaked more than a few people's things. it also created this tide pool that ran parallel to the beach that avery had a blast running circles in. i walked around with her for what seemed like forever until my back hurt too much from bending over.
he dug her a hole and then she insisted that he get in it.
it was a good thing that bunny and tiger made the trip with us. she brought them everywhere.
by the end of the week we had sort of developed a routine for our beach days. we would get up, usually very early thanks to avery, and then walk to this little breakfast place which was pretty much the only thing within walking distance of the hotel. after breakfast we forced avery into her stroller and walked along the path by the ocean in hopes that avery would fall asleep. the few times that she did were really nice. it gave charlie and i a little bit of time to talk and the views were really pretty along the coast. i love colorado, but i really do miss the water. after avery woke up we'd head back to the hotel and get changed for the beach. we spent most of the morning there and then packed up, put her in the car and then drove around for a bit while she napped again. then we'd head back to the beach for a bit before grabbing dinner.
the balcony at the bar.
a stolen rose.
dancing.
the hotel was pretty fancy, not really the best place to bring a toddler, but had this one bar/lounge area that was outside and overlooked the ocean. it was the most low key place to eat in the hotel and the only place that we attempted to eat with avery. there were roses everywhere, which avery loved to smell and there were elephants everywhere that she was totally into. they each had names and karma was her favorite. we had to stop and say hello to this elephant a lot during our trip.
it was actually a really nice trip. the only few downsides were the everything was so expensive, avery got a sunburn on her head because she refused to wear a hat for 95% of the time and then was pretty upset about the fact that her head hurt, and she hurt her arm in sort of a freak fall one evening resulting in an er trip. thankfully everything was fine, and the assumption was that it was a supinated elbow, but i'm not looking forward to getting that bill in the mail. we also didn't sleep well because avery's loud at night! and therefore returned home pretty tired. i think that next time we'll definitely look to stay in a place that is at least a one bedroom so that we can sleep separately from her as i think that may have made it easier to sleep at night. however, it was really nice to spend an entire week as a family even when avery was being a cranky toddler.
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