christine's blog...: our trip to the bay area

we went to the bay area for jimmy's brother's wedding. and we extended our stay there and had a little vacation and visit with friends. i was a little nervous to fly with ellie. this was her longest flight. those who know our beloved ellie know that she can be a little wild and stubborn and determined. and to add to her already spunky personality, she is at the lovely terrible two's stage.... where sitting still for more than 5 minutes can be a daunting task. AND she was suffering from her cold still so she was a little extra fussy. but we needed to do this. i stayed calm and determined.. well, at least at the beginning. ;) i came prepared for our journey with lots of snacks, drinks, and a bag full of tricks (every electronic device we own, toys, books, etc)! addison is a breeze with traveling. give her a couple coloring or activity books, a video on my iphone, and jimmy's ipod with a justin bieber song on repeat and she's good to go! ellie ended up doing okay on the way. we had a minor meltdown the last hour of the flight but i knew it was because she was tired and just wanted to sleep. eventually, jimmy soothed her to sleep somehow. and then voila, we landed to sunny california! yay! we got our rental car, drove to the hotel, and met up with my sister and her boyfriend (they came up from LA to meet us!). we basically hung out at the hotel the rest of the day because everyone was really tired. fortunately, everyone got acclimated to the time difference fairly quickly. the kids woke up the next day early, but not excruciatingly early. we ventured into san francisco to lunch with my dear friend, sandy. i haven't been into SF in so long. it was so nostalgic being there. so many memories from when i used to live in the bay area. all was good, but then later that day, addison complained that her ears hurt. i was hoping it was still the pressure from the flight and dreading that it was anything more. but she said she couldn't nap because it hurt so bad. jimmy ended up taking her to the hospital to get her ears checked and low and behold she had an ear infection. i knew it. the last time she said her ears hurt like that she had an ear infection. that hospital trip took a few hours. but the antibiotics helped so much. the next day, we headed to the oakland zoo. my friend, cindy and her kids met us there. i really like this zoo... it's not too big and the animals are so visible. and then after that we took my sister to the airport. later that day, we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner (at a really good chinese restaurant in berkeley! i'm still salivating over it!) and then saturday, we lounged near the hotel at a nearby outdoor mall and then got ready for the wedding and the girls' big debut as flower girls together. they looked great and did great! they made it down the aisle without a hitch! i was proud. :) i wish i had video footage. darn. we couldn't stay long after the ceremony. it was challenging with the kids, especially ellie. they were hungry, tired, antsy and it was crowded. we had been at the church since 3pm. jimmy and i felt like the best decision was for me to take the kids back to hotel and have them call it a day while he stayed back. it worked much better that way. and then the remainder of our trip we headed to our friends house, who are practically family... the yun's. addison and their daughter bella have seen each other 2-3 times a year since they were born. they were instant friends from the beginning. and this time was no different. they immediately bonded at first meeting and were inseparable during our stay there. :) so great to see that! our stay at the yun's consisted of lots of squealing from the kids, some partaking of some mommy/daddy juice, great bonding time with the grown ups. we love seeing them and it's always sad to say goodbye to such close friends. so long bay area... so long california sun... it was a blast! til next time!! :)