Coming Home!

And all too quickly, this trip is coming to an end.  These are not good pictures--but I took them for my other Little (Bigger) Guy.  This art exhibit at LAX is called Elevate and is made of many paper airplanes or all different types of materials (fliers, colored, book pages, etc.)  I wanted to look up the artist and read more about it. (We were standing in the Babies and Families Line at LAX--anxious to get through TSA, again with breast milk--some frozen after our hotel freezer melted out stockpile and we had to get creative to fly and have food for Little Guy.)

Nice flight aboard Allegiant to Provo where we left overcast but sunny Cal--for blustery, freezing, rainy Provo Airport!  A quick drive home and we are HOME AGAIN!  SO great to hug kiddos and give little gifts.  (We didn't do much shopping--only for snacks and a bathroom visit on the way in from the desert).

Samples of "Skybar" with chocolate covered vanilla, caramel, peanut butter, and fudge.

Slide whistle for Big Guy.  He loves it!

Zany glosses for the gals!

Sweets for my sweethearts! (Old Fashion taffy, old fashion Violet flavored mints, "Snowballs Gumballs--with real sugar crystals inside! Mexican poprocks, Ocean fruit snacks, Mango mini juices, and Quava-nectar of the gods.)

Little Guys Parole Officer! 

P.S.  Tuesday evening we showed the children White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Donny Kaye.  The song, "White Christmas," was written by Irving Berlin while staying at La Quinta Hotel in California!
Joe read to me from Wikipedia under the title White Christmas (Song)
"Accounts vary as to when and where Berlin wrote the song.^[4] One story is that he wrote it in 1940, in warm La Quinta, California, while staying at the La Quinta Hotel, a frequent Hollywood retreat also favored by writer-producer Frank Capra, although the Arizona Biltmore also claims the song was written there.^[5] He often stayed up all night writing — he told his secretary, "Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I've ever written — heck, I just wrote the best song that anybody's ever written!"^[6]"

The first verse is typically skipped, but goes as follows:

The sun is shining, the grass is green,
The orange and palm trees sway.
There's never been such a day
in Beverly Hills, L.A.
But it's December the twenty-fourth,—
And I am longing to be up North—

—Verse dropped from original version^[14]

Day Four--Evening at the Beach

Little Liam loves his Daddy, yes he does!

(Hampton Inn, Hermossa Area--Coastal Hwy.)

Dr. Seuss had cactus inspiration?

Hermossa Beach, Southern California.  Balmy, overcast, soft wind, wet fun!

Quick Sand!

Sunset!

Day Three

Ahh, Day three and my first "real" day here.  Yes, breakfast and pumping were early and I so like the fact that I can cuddle back to bed with little guy, seriously, no phone calls or other little friends waking me.  Heaven!  (One fellow at the conference said, "It's a shame you don't get to really enjoy California.  Don't you have anyone who could watch your baby so you could have some fun!?")  ?
After an excellent lunch (Mexican fare) on the Main Lawn,  returned to pump and then Joe joined us for a delightful walk around the HUGE resort.

The following pictures are from Lollipops--a local candy store.  (Bring back Honeydukes thoughts?)

Can you spy the hummingbirds we did on the walk to lunch?

Ahh, what would chocolate be without BACON?

Yes, those are ripe (and delicious) Clementines over on that tree.

Cactus Garden

Water fountains fascinate Little Guy..."Ohh, to get down and dip my hands in that!"

Day Two (La Quinta, California)

 So, what did you do on your vacation to sunny Southern California!?  

I cuddled up next to the sweetest little man and slept.  It was heavenly.

 I opened the shutters that over look our gorgeous poolside, gated garden and spa and let in the LIGHT!

 Liam is SO happy after his nap.

 "Mom, enough Selfies all ready!" And "I'm outta here!"  

Off to explore the bathroom tile and rustic carpet...

Also dealt with "Shopping Emergencies" (Hannah is having a "jeans crisis" and came home with new boots), and played with little guy in a Pak N' Play while I pumped, pumped, and attended meals with Joe's Business people.  Met gals from Rhode Island, fellows from New York and even a guy with two children from Jersey that when he heard I was the mother of 6 said, "I have a cousin back in Ireland who has 14 kids and they live on a farm!  Where are you guys from?  Utah.  Of course!"

^{Twilight comes early here.  By 4:30 the shadows are long and by 5--the} dark curtain has closed on the desert and the twinkly lights are on!

Retreat to a Desert Resort (La Quinta, California) and Back

Joe recently had a business conference (medical community/IT) in California.  It was one of those invitations that said they would pay his airfare, hotel, and food accommodations if he came but if he did not come, his company would be charged.  Hmm.  Sounds kinda like blackmail to me.  But who can refuse a trip invitation to sunny California in November?

Accepting an invitation to go on a trip with Joe and the baby was easy, preparing eight people's laundry, packing, cleaning the house, and leaving meals while we were gone, was NOT! 

We flew Allegiant Airlines out of Provo Airport to LAX!   (While we have traveled with many babies, the unique part this time was traveling with a crawling baby, a breast pump, and frozen/fresh breast-milk through TSA.)
After pulling another all nighter, I was thankful to be on the road towards the nearby (tiny) airport.  It was quite a chilly morning (sunny but below freezing outside).

 Sitting at the terminal/gate at Provo Airport:

A (very) short nap on board. 
Cuddle bug loves to be held to sleep.

Ahh.  An early reader.  College by 2?

In Los Angelos, we rented a Kia Optima and drove a couple of hours into the desert past Palm Springs to La Quinta.  (I know you might be thinking what I was thinking originally--all this fuss for an economy hotel?  No, we went to the original La Quinta Resort now owned by Waldorff/Astoria Hilton Corp.  It was so popular as a respite for the Hollywood and Beverly Hills Stars that they named the city after the hotel.  This has only happened twice in California's history...The first time it was Beverly Hills--also after the Hotel.)

We pulled into the gated resort in the city La Quinta and discovered a flowering paradise (complete with a small army of staff who tend the burgeoning citrus tress, waterfalls, pools, and small "casitas")

You might also be wondering, "what does La Quinta mean?" aside from the feminine form of the numeral five.

[According to the web site of the city of La Quinta the name is archaic. It refers to a type of hacienda or rest-stop reached every five days on a long journey.]  Others suggested it means a garden and home plot, similar to a plantation.

Source:  http://www.laquintachamberofcommerce.com...

Lunch stop where little guy tries a curly fry.

This was our "block" of the hotel.

 

Yea.  No more carseats!