The Lohreys: California: Getting There.

I like to travel. Scratch that. I LOVE to travel. Anytime, anywhere. Thankfully I have been blessed with a kid who does quite well traveling. Now he's had his fair share of moments, but for the most part is a stud when it comes to strutting up the aisle to his seat. I am actually pretty amazed at how helpful other people/workers are too. They offer to put my bags above our seat, they try to move us around so Kai can have his own seat free of charge (always a bonus), they always want to play with him, hold him, feed him, talk in ridiculous baby voices to him and they ALL comment on his red hair...as if I didn't know :o) Now, this being said you would think I would know when the best times to travel would be as far as Kai's attitude/time of day/nap time/meal time/etc was concerned, but boy do I NOT think when booking our tickets. My travel experience from my college/single/kid free days says to book the earliest flight going and the latest flight returning. Seriously? Am I crazy? Yes...yes I am. But by doing so you get the most out of your trip, right? Right. Plus if it's an early morning flight Kai is bound to sleep during some of the travel, right? WRONG. Crap. Somehow I have yet to catch on to this truth. Every time I book I think, 'no he will DEFINITELY nap this time' and every time he proves me wrong.
Our trip to California was no different...

It was Tuesday night, 11p and I was just getting into bed. Brian had overnight camp and was staying in the dorms so I made sure to set every single alarm possible. A short 3hrs later about 5 alarms went off. I'M UP I'M UP DANGIT. 2am. What in the world was I thinking booking ANOTHER 6am flight? Clearly someone else booked my ticket...or did they? No, no, that was me. Shoot. I scurry around trying to get ready in as little light as possible...aka the light from my phone - the light, it stings my eyes in the morning and I wasn't ready to face it. I finish putting all our stuff in the car before I quietly creep into Kai's room trying to gently wake him up from his deep sleep. Obviously he's in the middle of his REM cycle and I feel terrible watching his eyes roll into the back of his head. His eyelids literally look like they weigh 50lbs. I feel ya buddy. I don't even change him hoping he'll fall back asleep once he's buckled into the seat. Not a chance. We go get Brian and are off to the airport. 3am.

I'm not going to lie. I know we travel a lot, but every time we get closer to the airport I still get major anxiety about flying with a 'lap child'. I'm pretty sure you can see my heart pounding out of my chest and little droplets of sweat running off my head. Seriously. MAJOR ANXIETY. I pray and pray and pray that the flight isn't full and that he (we) will be fortunate enough to get his own seat. Not the case this time. Flight to Salt Lake: completely booked. Flight into San Diego: same. Boogers in a bowl, that stinks. I have found that it is much easier, for everyone, to just go with the flow on a booked flight with a high energy 2 year old sitting on your lap. Admittedly I have tried to "force" Kai to fall asleep, but now it's just as easy to look like an idiot and keep him laughing and entertained. No joke, the things I do on a plane to keep him from freaking out...I've seen the looks. Pretty sure people are wondering who let me have a kid. God did people, so turn around and mind your own business before I knock your teeth out ;o) However, he did fall asleep on our first flight (can I get an AMEN), but it was literally the last 15 minutes of the flight (amen rescinded).

We land in San Diego and it is complete chaos. Construction at the airport + California drivers = oh boy I'm going to die. Thankfully the crossing guard/rent-a-cop loved my little redhead (exact words: I love me some ginger. my thoughts: this guy is crazy) and made some people move so Rachel could pull right in. Rock star parking. We quickly got situated and were on our way to Coronado beach. A couple hundred yards later Kai is passed out in the back. Seriously buddy? It's only 9am. We have a whole full day planned and you fall asleep now?!? Gosh I'm selfish. Enjoy your 5 minute catnap kid.

Coronado is AMAZING. I love it. I want to move there. Except, not really because it's oober expensive and I'm on a ding-dang budget people. So really I want someone to buy me a house there. Any takers? No? Maaaaan. We parked, got a quick little bite to eat at this ritzy bagel place (didn't even know it was possible to have ritzy bagels...) and walked around. Mainly we just walked around on the beach for a bit, went to the ferry pier, got some ice cream and I tried to keep my sanity while Kai had moments of insanity from being so tired. I wonder if they were his moments of insanity or mine? Huh. Anyway, Kai was NOT liking the sand, but loved loved loved watching all the helicopters and planes from the naval base. He would point up and say WOOOOOOAAAAAH. So cute. We eventually made our way to the car and onto our journey to El Centro...

Get this sand off my hands and feet...STAT.

"WOOOAAH copter"

Not sure exactly what he stepped in, but I love his little footprints
(sidenote: his little toes are still stained from whatever this is...might wanna have that checked...)