15 November 2010

family vacation (a double meaning)

Mommy's cousin Gina & baby Ava; Mommy & Aven
Daddy & Aven in La Jolla/ San Diego, Ca
Aven & Ava with silly hats
Cousin Ava at the park, San Diego Ca
Aven's first slide w/Daddy
Great Grandma Bates
Mommy, Aven & Linda P.
Daddy, Great Grandma Bates, Mommy & Aven
Aunt Elisa, Uncle Bryce & Aven
Aven & Mommy

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Well, we just arrived yesterday home from our first official family vacation. The trip was filled with lots of firsts.....Aven's first long car ride down to So. Oregon; first flight; first visit with Great-Grandma Bates; first visit with new cousin Ava; also first time sitting up on her own; and first taste of banana. It was a very busy trip but all survived, baby, Mommy, Daddy & doggies.

the itinerary

Sat:
drive to Portland & see Uncle Bryce & Aunt Elisa
Sun:
drive to Medford & have baby meet & greet- stay at Grandma & Grandpa Bates
Mon:
visit with Grandpa Glen and have dinner with Great Aunt Linda & Great Uncle Gary
Tue:
drop off baby with Grandma Ilene and have massages in Ashland, drive to Grandma & Grandpa Grimm's Ranch
Wed:
hang out a the Ranch and then get on a plane bound for So. California; spend the night at Great-Grandma Bates' house
Thur:
meet up with family friend Linda for a snack; having dinner with Great Uncle Guy, Great Aunt Linda and Daddy's cousins Jenny & Sarah (and get lost!)
Fri:
have breakfast with Great Grandma Bates & drive to San Diego, spend the night with Mommy's cousin Gina, hubby and baby Ava
Sat:
drive from San Diego to LAX, take plane to Medford and drive from Medford to Portland
Sun:
drive home!
whew!......we made it.

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the highlights:

food:
Portland OR: Pine State Biscuits, Random Order Coffeehouse (amazing pie)
Eugene OR: Mucho Gusto (great healthy & fresh Mexican food)
Medford OR: Kaleidoscope Pizza, Senor Sams, Pony Espresso (Jacksonville)

what we loved:
Aven's temperment, although she didn't sleep that well, she was never grumpy during the day because of it (thank goodness)--she was great at being passed around from person to person and being schlepped around and being in so many different environments; also she took some really great long 2 hour naps...almost better than at home!

the sun: gosh, although the home prices are insane in CA and it feels like a bit of a busy rat race, the 75-80 degree weather was awesome....no shoes for baby and guaranteed blue sky every day--we could get used to this although I will admit it didn't feel like November, I did miss it when I got home to drizzling rain

cheap flights: Allegiant air was awesome....$29 tickets each way from Meford to LAX...can't beat that for savings of time and money--1 hr 20 minutes, heck yeah!

family: it was really great to see Abe's Grandma and have her meet Aven--she thought she was so cute and sweet (because she is); it was nice to spend time with my cousin in San Diego and get to know her better & see her baby who is only 1 month older than Aven; always wonderful to see my brother & his wife and they just adore Aven; great to see all of the So. Oregon Grandparents and have them see how much Aven is changing; great to see Abe's sister and her little 1 year old: Asha.

my phone: thank goodness for Sprint Navigation and free GPS on our phones....got us out of a whole lot of binds when we were driving in circles in Orange County, made our trip super easy

the trip: for all of its hecticness, it was a great time to see and catch up with family and well worth the effort of going all over hill and dale to see everyone; that said, glad we are home

what we could have done without?
sleeping so many places, I miss my bed when I am on vacation

being sick, on any given day, one of us was sick--this of course made things stressful and not as enjoyable as they could have been (thanks for taking care of me Abe & Mom when I was sick)

having to get to the airport so early before only a 1hr 20 minute flight! luckily Aven was super chill and this wasn't a problem but it could easily have been another stresser!

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Overall the trip was great. It was wonderful to see family and meet new people and catch up with others. The doggies and Aven were super flexible and went with the flow making a busy trip less stressful. Thanks too to all of the family who made arrangements for us and hung out between other engagements just to see us. Happy fall and a happy Thanksgiving to you all.


1 comment:

Elisa said...

What great pictures Vale!!! Looks like you guys had a great time. I'm sad that I missed you guys on the way up. I was feeling under the weather but I'm looking forward to Christmas with you guys!!