Day 1: Friday
We left for vacation directly after school on Friday, drove to Moline, IL, and stayed in a hotel that night because our flight left at 5:30 or so the next morning. We are able to park at the hotel for free, they have a shuttle to the airport, so we save so much on parking that it makes sense to do it this way. Plus their pool was SO WARM! Get this: I went swimming, actually SWIMMING with strokes and everything, for the first time since…since…probably high school!! We had the pool to ourselves for a long time, and every time I swam I giggled manically. I really had so much fun!!!
Day 2: Saturday
We got up at 3:30am in Moline after everyone having a horrible, fitful night. The beds were too soft and no one slept well. Kevin and I both were up most of the night. The girls woke up great though, were a bit restless the first flight down to Atlanta because we wouldn’t get the video games out yet, but they all slept/played games the 5 hour flight into LA and were great. The motion-sickness medicine I took worked wonders and I was able to read no problem.
in LAX
driving down to Vista
Day 3: Sunday
After discussing itinerary with my grandparents, we thought we would take a train ride to San Diego today. We went down to the train station, discovered they did not go to San Diego on Sundays (except at 11pm), but since we were by the beach and it was our ONLY good weather day, went exploring. I’m glad we did.
Then my sister Lilly, husband Clark, and darling baby Violet joined us for lunch on Sunday and the cousins finally got to meet each other! The girls played “pass the sock” with Violet while we ate, then we hung out in our room and got to know each other while the men watched the San Diego football game.
Day 4: Monday
Monday’s weather was horrible, as was the rest of the week. We had planned on going to Disneyland this day, but because of the torrential rain Kevin found an indoor play area in the San Diego area and because it was a holiday, all the Ridges joined us.
Day 5: Tuesday
We went to Hollywood. The rain was supposed to let up in the afternoon, but it was raining as we drove there, it was raining as we parked the car, and it was raining as we got out and started to walk. I was quite upset as I didn’t see how we could do anything with it raining. However, the rain stopped and although it was still wet out, we could get from building to building and peruse the Walk of Fame and get around. Thank goodness!
The Chinese Theatre was closed for a movie premiere; Extraordinary Measures. Harrison Ford and Brandon Frasier were going to be there later. I was bummed we didn’t get to see/feel the handprints and signatures.
We went to the Hollywood Wax Museum and the Guinness Book of World Records Museum. The girls were fascinated with the replicas of the Worlds Tallest Man and Small Woman.
I will spare you all the pictures we took of the wax figures, except for one. Mmmmmm, I love me some Daniel Craig. Best. Bond. Ever.
I really loved seeing the Kodak Theatre, even from the outside. It was amazed at the ordinary street surrounding it; directly across is a tattoo parlor. I thought they really could spruce up the Walk Of Fame blocks. Some really smarmy businesses and store fronts.
We had ice cream at the Disney Soda Shoppe. The ice cream was really good.
The only 2 stars I wanted to take pictures of; Kevin’s next to Jackie Chan, and the girls are next to Kermit the Frog.
Day 6: Wednesday
Wednesday's weather again was prohibitive to much amusement. We took the girls to Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakuel in the best movie theatre I’ve ever been to. Then this is what the did the rest of the time:
Day 7: Thursday
Yes, it was also raining on Thursday. Kevin found a closer indoor play area like Playstation here in CR. Although it was much smaller, we liked it better! There were no hard plastic tunnels to crawl through; the floors were mesh and very comfortable. No crawling, a few fast slides, a closely monitored “Toddlers Only” area perfect for Violet, a coloring room, and a book corner we took advantage of.
Day 8: Friday
Friday, our second-to-last day, we went to California Adventure. The forecast said it would be raining on & off, but if we were to go, it had to be today. So we did. What the forecast didn’t say was how cold it was going to be with the rain; and that the rain wasn’t so much on & off but on.
Aladdin show; one of the reasons we wanted to come. It was a favorite.
Waiting for the Bug’s Life 4D show.
Getting ready to play the Toy Mania game.
Jessie & Woody.
Driving home.
Day8: Saturday
Disneyland! Finally! The weather was actually supposed to be nice – and it was!
I remembered that I had a picture of Claire outside of Minnie’s house when we were at Disney last time, in March 04. So I took another picture of her outside Minnie’s house.
We stayed at my sister's after Disneyland and I asked them to drive us to the temple. Bryn was fast asleep but Kevin Alaina & Claire & I got out to see it. Unfortunately it was too dark for any of the pictures to come out well.
Then Lilly made us a wonderful pulled pork sandwich dinner and treated everyone to shakes to curb Alaina’s ice cream craving.
Funny story: when we got up to leave, we did so quickly and quietly. We were leaving and Kevin asked me “Do you have everything?” “Yes” I said as the front door closed behind me. We were putting the girls in the car and I asked Kevin “Did you pack my bathroom stuff?” “That’s your stuff, I didn’t pack it,” so I guess I had left something behind.
I went back to their front door and it was locked. I knocked quietly. Nothing. Louder. Nothing. I called from my cell phone and heard the phone ring inside. Nothing. I knocked louder yet. Nothing. Kevin started flashing the car lights at me after 10 minutes of calling and knocking. I ran to him and said “They’re not coming to the door! What was in my bathroom stuff?” We determined my contacts (I was wearing my glasses), contact lens solution, and shampoo could all be replaced so we were just about leave them, when Kevin remembered Alaina’s glasses, which had a nose piece break the day before, were with my stuff. So I went back the door and started really POUNDING on the door. Nothing. Kevin got out to see if he could find their bedroom window behind the apartment complex. In the meantime, I lost my inhibitions and I began KICKING the door and pushing and pulling it to make more noise and making a HUGE racket. I thought someone may call the police before anyone came to the door!
This continued for a while, until FINALLY Clark opened the door. (And I mean finally – I was out there for about 20 minutes.) I could hear Violet SCREAMING from their room, so I just said “I’msorryIleftsomethinghere”, ran in to get it, and ran out back to the car. The entire time to the airport I kept saying to Kevin how awful it was that I didn’t do one last walk-through before we left, how loud and upset Violet sounded, how Clark didn’t look too happy, how I’m sure they would never want us to stay with them again, that I had ruined their day and was a horrible houseguest and how I would have to get up the courage to apologize but I didn’t know how I could because what happened was just too terrible.
Lilly left a nice message asking if we got home okay (we did, a day late) and I called her back and this is what REALLY happened:
Lilly usually tells everyone that stays with them that their front door locks automatically, but she didn’t mention it to us.
They really can’t hear anything from the front door and the phone jack in their bedroom doesn’t work.
Lilly was dreaming about drums until she woke up and realized it was me at the door, and hit Clark and told him to get it. He woke up, forgot Violet’s packNplay was in their room, tripped over it, and woke Violet up.
I felt SO relieved! Lilly took the blame like the sweet person she is and absolved me of any wrong-doing. The Beaman-Ridge relationship has been saved!
Day 9&10: Sunday & Monday
We arrived at LAX. Our flight was on time. We boarded and took off. The pilot said Atlanta was having weather problems but would try to make it there. No such luck. Atlanta closed before we could make it in; wind shears. We flew in a holding pattern in the air. Then we landed in Huntington, AL to re-fuel and wait for the weather to pass and Atlanta to open. 3 hours we sat. We had already been in the air 4 hours. We finally were able to take off and land in Atlanta, another 1 hour. Of course we were stuck there until the next day. We got a discounted rate at a hotel (NOT free, because this was a weather related issue), were back to Atlanta by 8:30am the next morning, flew out at 11, and arrived in Moline to a blizzard. Yes, we knew were were in Iowa once more!
