I packed way more than I needed to, but I didn't know what the weather was going to be like. We had to pack for wedding, wedding rehearsal, 70 degree weather and 90 degree weather.
SATURDAY 7/13/2013: Drive and wedding rehearsal
It is a 6 1/2 hour drive to Redondo Beach, CA which is where the wedding was being held. We woke up and we were out the door at 4 am. We figured that the kids would fall back asleep for a while, but we were wrong. Ava did for a bit, but all the lights leaving Phoenix kept Noah awake Noah did some quite reading with all the new books we brought along (Thanks Mom). Noah had a moment about 2 hours into the drive where he was super tired and started to melt down. I just rubbed his leg and he eventually passed out. Ava got to read the books then and we also brought the DVD player for them to watch videos. We made 3 stops and overall everyone did pretty well.
We arrived around 10:30 am, checked in, grabbed a quick bite to eat and then it was off to the rehearsal. The location of the wedding was absolutely beautiful. It was on a Palos Verdes Golf Course. Noah and Ava practiced walking down the aisle as ring bearer and the "number one" flower girl. That was what Ava was calling herself and number one flower girl she most definitely was. (More on that later).
This is the view from where the guest sat.
We all met up at El Torito afterwards. It was right on the pier and beautiful. Unfortunately Noah was complaining of some problems and crying so we had to cut it short just as our food arrived. We headed back to the hotel and got a short nap in.
SUNDAY 7/14/2013: The beach and wedding day
The sleeping situation had me a bit nervous too. Noah has never slept anywhere but his crib. He ended up sleeping in a bed with Mike that was closest to the wall and we put a comforter in between the bed and the wall as a buffer and Ava and I shared a bed. As always, sleep was an issue. They did pretty good, but Noah was up at the crack of dawn (5am) despite the black out curtains. I think Ava could have slept another 2 hours, but she got up too. After we woke up, I had to find the nearest Starbucks because none of the restaurants opened until 6:30am. We met up with Grandma Nini for breakfast that morning and then headed to the beach.
Noah and Daddy sleeping.
The kids have mixed reaction to the beach at first. Once they got into it, they really enjoyed it. The weather was still overcast and not warm at all, which was nice. Noah was a bit scared of the noise the waves made at first, but Mike took him down to the water to look for shells and he warmed up to it. Ava on the other hand, was having a blast running and jumping face first into the sand and making sand angels. What a weirdo!
There she is running down into the sand as if it was a slip and slide.
And down!
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| Ava and Noah playing with the shells |
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| Noah and Daddy collecting shells. |
Ava making Sand Angels
Noah trying it too!
They were so tired from the lack of sleep and the fresh ocean air that they fell asleep in the stroller on the way back to the hotel (which is how they spent a lot of this trip), so we took them for a walk to Whole Foods too so that they could sleep longer.
We went to the hotel pool for a little bit after that and a lot of people that were there for the wedding were just hanging out, including the groom.
Then we got ready for the wedding.
So stinkin' cute
With Mama!
There was a bus that took everyone to the golf course and home. Ava was so excited to ride without her seat belt.
Then it was wedding time!!! OMG. Noah and Ava were so cute. I really didn't think that Noah was going to walk down the aisle, but he did.
Then the flower girls followed... Now, let me tell you.... There are 4 flower girls, but if you look in the next picture very closely, you will see 3 in the back ground...all but Ava. My immediate reaction was that she wasn't going to come...
Now you can see them getting further down the aisle and still no Ava...
Ahh, here she comes. She was taking her sweet, sweet time very specifically placing the rose petals down.
Still coming down and still placing each petal down...
still placing them down...
So stinking cute!!!
I was laughing so hard. She took her job very seriously and she did a great job! She gave Troy a high five when she got to the end.
Mike's dad giving Susan away to Troy!
Such a beautiful ceremony and we all had a blast. It was a 6 o'clock wedding and there was a cocktail hour after. So by the time it was dinner time, Noah was dunzo. He was covering his ear to drown out the noise. He finally fell asleep on me with me covering his ear for a little while. He woke up just in time to have some cupcakes and chocolate!
MONDAY 7/15/2013: MIKE'S MOMS HOUSE
Monday morning we checked out of the hotel and headed back to Mike's moms house. His mom's side of the family was coming over that afternoon to visit. There was family from Germany in town, so everyone wanted to visit. This is where Noah started going downhill fast. There were about 30 or so people there and Noah doesn't like being around big groups. He was whiny and tired. He just wanted to be held, but when we would hold him, he would cry and whine and want the other parent to hold him. It was all just too much over the past 2 days. He said that he wanted to go home a number of times. Poor thing.
These kids were tired because we went to bed a lot later than normal every night and even though they napped here and there, they didn't sleep a full ten or more hours of sleep each night.
TUESDAY: 7/16/2013: MIKE'S DADS HOUSE
Tuesday we had a low key day. We hung out at Mike's moms house in the morning and headed over to his dads house in the evening.
WEDNESDAY: 7/17/2013: HEADED HOME
By Wednesday we were all ready to be home. The ride home always seems longer and of course both kids fell asleep within a hour of being home.
Besides the sleep issues, Noah is a really picky eater so trying to find something for him to eat a restaurants was a challenge. We just stopped ordering him food and made sure to load him up on snacks that we stocked up on at the grocery store. I don't think he ate one meal. He just snacked. As soon as we got home, he finally had his first meal and was a happy boy.
That first night home, Noah woke up a couple of times and I suspect it was because he had 4 nights of sleeping in the bed with Mike and when he would wake up, Mike was always there to comfort him and tell him to go to bed. But by Thursday night, he was back to normal.
It was a great trip. I think we all do better with short trips and having Noah in a different room. I think next year will be better because they will be older and there won't be as many people so many days in a row.
MONDAY 7/15/2013: MIKE'S MOMS HOUSE
Monday morning we checked out of the hotel and headed back to Mike's moms house. His mom's side of the family was coming over that afternoon to visit. There was family from Germany in town, so everyone wanted to visit. This is where Noah started going downhill fast. There were about 30 or so people there and Noah doesn't like being around big groups. He was whiny and tired. He just wanted to be held, but when we would hold him, he would cry and whine and want the other parent to hold him. It was all just too much over the past 2 days. He said that he wanted to go home a number of times. Poor thing.
These kids were tired because we went to bed a lot later than normal every night and even though they napped here and there, they didn't sleep a full ten or more hours of sleep each night.
TUESDAY: 7/16/2013: MIKE'S DADS HOUSE
Tuesday we had a low key day. We hung out at Mike's moms house in the morning and headed over to his dads house in the evening.
WEDNESDAY: 7/17/2013: HEADED HOME
By Wednesday we were all ready to be home. The ride home always seems longer and of course both kids fell asleep within a hour of being home.
Besides the sleep issues, Noah is a really picky eater so trying to find something for him to eat a restaurants was a challenge. We just stopped ordering him food and made sure to load him up on snacks that we stocked up on at the grocery store. I don't think he ate one meal. He just snacked. As soon as we got home, he finally had his first meal and was a happy boy.
That first night home, Noah woke up a couple of times and I suspect it was because he had 4 nights of sleeping in the bed with Mike and when he would wake up, Mike was always there to comfort him and tell him to go to bed. But by Thursday night, he was back to normal.
It was a great trip. I think we all do better with short trips and having Noah in a different room. I think next year will be better because they will be older and there won't be as many people so many days in a row.
