Day One: Having barely unpacked from our recent house move, we gathered our belongings and headed to Dulles Airport at 6:00 am for the six hour flight to LAX. We worried about taking Henry on such a long flight, but he did remarkably well on the plane. To make things easier, we purchased a separate seat for Henry and invested in a portable DVD player. At first, Henry wasn’t too sure about the headphones, but after he got used to wearing them, he happily sat for 30-40 minutes watching his Barney DVD. A long nap and some of Henry’s favorite books (and corndogs for lunch), helped us survive the flight. Transferring from the airport to our vacation rental was a challenge, especially with our toddler accessories in tow, but we managed to arrive with no major problems.
For our stay in Los Angeles, we rented a condo on the beach in Santa Monica. The location was excellent: literally just across the street from the beach, boardwalk and pier. Unfortunately, the building was undergoing major renovations and, at first, looked uninhabitable. However, the interior was fine, and, in the end, it proved to be an ideal base for our explorations.
After settling into our condo and stocking up on groceries, we all stumbled into bed early.
Day Two: We were still tired from the flight out, so we decided to spend our first day relaxing at the beach. Henry was operating on East Coast time and awoke (very) early. To get through the morning, Bryant made some coffee and took Henry to the playground. This was to become a morning ritual. Henry has recently become very enamored of swinging. He is happy to sit and swing for an hour at a time! And it’s the perfect early morning activity, since a half-asleep parent can push a swing back and forth without too much energy or attention.
After breakfast and a long session of applying sunscreen (another daily ritual), we all headed to the beach (with our small caravan of towels, bucket, shovel, beach ball, water and snacks). Henry loved digging in the sand, knocking over Bryant’s sand castles, and chasing the sea gulls. The ocean was very cold, so Henry never got much further than sticking his feet in the water. It was July 4th and, by lunchtime, the beach was packed. When it got crowded, we headed back to the condo for some food and an afternoon nap. Afterward, we took Henry to the Santa Monica pier. There we rode the carousel, played in the arcade, and ate ice cream. We also took Henry on the Ferris wheel. He was fine (he wanted to stand up in the gondola), but mom and dad were leery of being so high up with a squirmy toddler. It was a wonderful way to spend the holiday. We had such a fun day, we all went to bed by 9:00 pm, just as the fireworks were starting up.
Day Three: The morning started off quietly: we took Henry to the playground and, during his morning nap, strolled along the pier. Bryant and Elise were able to enjoy a coffee (and some adult conversation) and even spotted a seal swimming in the ocean. Later, we met Elise’s cousins Mark and Tina Grossman for brunch in downtown Santa Monica. They took us to a wonderful cafe (Urth Caffé), and afterward, we all wandered over to the farmers’ market, which was hopping with people. Eventually we made our way back to the beach (and the swing sets) where we visited with Mark and Tina while Henry played.
In the afternoon we drove to Malibu for Desiree’s wedding. The ceremony was held at Saddlerock Ranch in the Malibu Hills. The ranch is a working vineyard and makeshift zoo, with many exotic animals on the grounds (zebra, ostrich, bison, peacocks, etc.). Desiree insisted that kids were welcome, and the outdoor location proved to be ideal (during the vows, Bryant and Henry went to look at the parrots). After the ceremony, Henry played lawn games with some of the other children and explored the gopher holes. As you might notice from the pictures, Henry’s attire (suit and bow tie) slowly grew more casual as the evening wore on. Desiree and Bryant worked together at A&O in London (and Bryant worked with Desiree’s fiancé, Eddie, at Citigroup), so it was a nice occasion to visit with old friends. The wedding itself was lovely and went on well into the evening.
Day Four: Having stuck close to Santa Monica for several days, we decided to explore some of Los Angeles. We braved the LA freeways and headed to the Hollywood and Highland Center to see a bit of historic Hollywood. First we visited Grauman’s Chinese Theater (which was crawling with tourists and street performers dressed as famous movie characters). We checked out the actors’ handprints in the courtyard and saw the makeshift shrine to Michael Jackson at his star on the Walk of Fame (the memorial service was the following day in downtown Los Angeles). We then walked over to the El Capitan Theater where Disney Studios holds its premiers. The theater itself is quite historic (Citizen Kane and Gone with the Wind both premiered there), but Henry is still too young to sit through an entire movie. Instead, we had lunch at the Disney Soda Fountain next door. Henry enjoyed climbing on the Mickey Mouse statute outside and, when lunch arrived, eating his Mickey Mouse shaped waffles (actually, more of the waffles landed on the floor than in Henry’s stomach).
Day Five: We said goodbye to Santa Monica and headed to Anaheim in preparation for our visit to Disneyland. Most of the day was spent packing up and relocating to our hotel. We stayed at the Homewood Suites just down the street from the Disneyland resort. It was much warmer in Anaheim (away from the ocean breezes), but fortunately the hotel had a nice, cool swimming pool. We played in the pool and went to bed early, ready to be at the Disneyland Main Gates at 8:00 am sharp!
Day Six: Our initial plan was to make a short stop at Disneyland. We planned to be there half a day, at most. After all, Henry tires easily and many of the rides seemed too elaborate for a toddler. In the end, we spent eight hours in the park. After reading up on various strategies for beating the crowds (and investing in a software program to help plan our day and minimize wait times), we decided to arrive as early as possible. We didn’t quite make it at 8:00 am (everything takes longer with an almost two-year-old), but we did get there early, and it paid off. We were able to ride most of our selected attractions (Peter Pan, Dumbo, Casey Jr.’s Circus Train) with little or no wait and even managed to take in a few extras (Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, The Mad Tea Party and Pinocchio). Henry’s favorite ride was probably It’s A Small World. The combination of slow boat ride, colorful costumes, and cheerful music was perfect for him. When the crowds picked up, we headed over to Toon Town and visited Goofy, Donald and Mickey’s houses. In Mickey’s house, Henry got to meet and have his picture made with the famous mouse. Henry wasn’t too familiar with Mickey Mouse before our trip (his favorite characters until now were Elmo and Barney), but by the end of the day, he was wearing his mouse ears and clutching his Mickey doll, just like Disney intended. Henry couldn’t quite pronounce Mickey, so he became known to us as “Emick.” After lunch, we tried a few older rides (The Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean) and finished off the day with some shopping (of course) and a train ride around the park.
Day Seven: We spent the morning at the pool and after lunch packed up (once again) for the last leg of our trip. We headed south along the Pacific Coast to Encinitas, just north of San Diego. There we visited with our friends Mike and Penny Hunt. Penny was Elise’s roommate at Albion College, the maid of honor at our wedding, and Henry’s godmother. She and Elise have been best friends for over 15 years. Mike and Penny live a few blocks from the beach in Encinitas, one of the best surfing towns on the West Coast. We checked in at a nearby hotel and spent the afternoon at Moonlight Beach before heading over to Mike and Penny’s for some homemade fajitas. Henry seemed particularly excited by his new surroundings and refused to sit still for dinner! Elise also was excited (as she always is) to spend time with Penny and catch up on life.
Day Eight: Mike and Penny were at work during the day, so we took Henry to the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park. The park is a companion to the famous San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park. It’s located in the San Pasqual Valley and exhibits animals in their natural habitats. The centerpiece of the park is a large enclosed area where you can take a tram ride to see the animals, as if you’re on safari. This was the eighth day of our trip, and we were all feeling a little tired. It also was extremely hot in the valley, with temperatures into the high 90s. Our first stop was the Petting Kraal, where Henry got up close with some deer and antelope. Then we visited Lorikeet Landing where you can purchase a cup of nectar and feed the birds. Unlike the deer, which were pretty laid back, the birds were completely out of control. As we stepped into the enclosure, they immediately swarmed us, landing on our arms and shoulders and fighting for the nectar. Bryant had Henry and Elise had the nectar, so Elise bore the brunt of their attack. At one point several landed on Henry’s head, which he did not like at all. Also, because the birds were eating nectar all day, there was a constant stream of projectile bird pee. We stayed for a brief visit and then went for lunch. By now, we were all really tired and hot. We jumped on the tram ride, but Henry was cranky and squirmy, and we spent most of the ride trying to keep him from jumping overboard. At this point, we figured it was best to head home, so we trekked back toward the parking lot. As we were leaving, Henry spied a statue of an elephant and began repeating “elephant” over and over again. He had just learned this word, so we figured we better take him to see a real specimin. So, we pulled ourselves together and hiked back to Elephant Overlook, where Henry got a great view of a large African elephant. Then it was really time to head home. Henry slept the whole way back, and we were all able to recuperate a bit before heading over to Mike and Penny’s for dinner.
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