On Monday Hayden and I took a Ferry boat ride to Coronado Island. I wasn't impressed with Coronado, at least all the little shops right off the ferry landing were tourist traps, but the view of San Diego was incredible. I ate lunch at a little Greek restaurant right on the bay, and then we took the Ferry back. This was Hayden's first time on a boat and he really loved it. He was clapping the whole time!
On Tuesday we went to the San Diego Zoo with Great Grandma Ruth and Great Grandpa Doug while Phil had one final day at the Fancy Food Show. The weather was perfect and Hayden even napped in his stroller for a little bit. He seemed to like the birds, monkeys, and koalas the best.
Tuesday evening we ate dinner in a restaurant in the Little Italy district of San Diego. It was pretty challenging to find an Italian dish that didn't have cheese involved. I was definitely jealous watching my family eat their mozzerella-smothered pasta dishes, while I had plain spaghetti with meat sauce. Hayden also got way over-tired at the restaurant so it wasn't a peaceful meal for us or the neighboring tables. What can you expect from an 8-month old who only had 2 short naps that day? Back at the hotel, he went right to sleep and we were able to watch some tv on low. My grandparents were appalled at American Idol. It was funny!
On Wednesday we all went to Sea World. Again, perfect weather until later in the afternoon when it got pretty chilly. Hayden REALLY loved the aquariums and put his hands and nose right up against the glass and loved watching colorful fish swim around.
He didn't seem to be very interested in the Shamu show, except when people clapped. I think it was a little too far for him to see what was going on. Plus, he had only taken a brief morning nap in his stroller so he was tired. Luckily, he napped for over an hour after the show. Unfortunately, that meant missing the beluga whales, polar bears, penguins and shark exhibits. I was really disappointed with Sea World's unfriendly stroller policy. Although every exhibit is equipped for the disabled, they do not allow strollers inside most exhibits. This was fine when Hayden was awake. I wore the Moby and he enjoyed that vantage point better anyway, but when he was asleep, we had to take turns going in or one person would stay out with the stroller and miss out.
Wednesday after Sea World we drove 80+ miles to my grandparent's home in San Jacinto (which took about 3 hours with all the traffic!). Hayden stayed awake the entire trip and I had to sing him every song I could think of to keep him from fussing. My throat was getting a little sore by the end!
That night, my grandpa slipped on the ladder into the camper and cut his hand pretty badly. He went to the doctor on Thursday morning and had to get 5 stitches. Worst of all, he won't be able to golf for at least 3 weeks, which will probably drive him crazy.
We took it easy on Thursday and I got Hayden to take 2 long naps. What a relief! That night, Phil and I went to a movie and my grandparents babysat Hayden. They really enjoyed that! Hayden fell asleep in my Grandma Ruth's arms as she sang him "Three Blind Mice" over and over in the rocking chair.
On Friday Phil played golf with my grandma (taking the place of my grandpa) and they tied! Phil is getting pretty good! Hayden, Grandpa Doug and I went on a walk to the Starbucks and enjoyed yet another day of beautiful weather. I had hoped to get Hayden into the pool at their community, but no children under 4 yrs old are allowed. I guess they're afraid of a potty incident and I don't blame them, but it sure would have been fun to see Hayden's reaction to a swimming pool.
Saturday we left San Jacinto just after Hayden's morning nap and drove to Palm Springs to catch our departing flight at 3:30pm. We enjoyed driving around Palm Springs a bit, having lunch there and going to a nice park with an infant swing and slide. Hayden hasn't been swinging for a few months since the weather has been so cold and rainy, and he got a huge smile on his face when I put him in the swing. He also really enjoyed the slide (I lightly held onto him the whole way down).
All in all, it was a really nice vacation with a good mix of activity and relaxation. It was so wonderful to see my grandparents. They plan on coming back up to Washington in May for the summer, so the next time they see Hayden will be right around his first birthday. I bet he will have changed a ton by then! Might even be walking!
The worst part of the trip was our flight home. After walking Hayden in his stroller around the airport for about a half hour, he finally fell asleep, only to wake up about 20 minutes later to noisy people. We tried to get him back to sleep. It was about 2pm and his morning nap was only from about 9-10am, so he had to have been really sleepy. Our flight was about a half hour delayed and by the time it took off around 4pm, Hayden was getting loopy. We tried EVERYTHING to get him to sleep. Everytime I would even lay him down on the seat between me and Phil (which thankfully was empty!) he started SCREAMING. It was so unlike Hayden to be that fussy. People around us were definitely giving us dirty looks. One lady in the seat across the aisle from us even had her fingers over her ears. We tried his favorite toys, reading, nursing, walking, everything! He'd calm down for a little while and then rub his eyes and get all squirmy so we'd try to lay him down again and that would set off another screaming session. It was unbelievable. Basically, my worst nightmare of how flying with an infant would be. He just got way too overtired and then refused to fall asleep. It was painful to watch.
Even after we landed in Seattle around 6:30pm, he stayed awake all through baggage claim, all through the car ride to my dad's (who picked us up), and only finally fell asleep in the car about 10 minutes from home. What a day! I am so sad that the trip had to end on such a horrible experience. I guess the bright side is that we made it home safely and Hayden slept really well today.
One final note: Hayden now has 7 teeth - 4 on bottom and 3 on top. And I think a 4th on the top is just about to pop through. Poor guy.
1 comment:
Really cute Blog guys!
This is Jenny, Phil's coworker ;)
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