Carlsbad

A 6-hour road trip with a feisty 1-year-old and three nights in a hotel room. Anyone could have guessed it would not exactly go smoothly. Gavin spent three days in a terrible mood and was a complete terror in every restaurant and at the hotel. I’m honestly surprised we did not receive complaints from other hotel guests about the incessant screaming and crying. It was as hot and muggy as I’ve ever experienced Southern California. Rather Florida-like (so gross). And to boot, we rented a big ol’ Silverado to haul our bikes, Gavin’s buggy, and all our stuff and then it rained…no, poured…both ways on all our luggage.

If I had it all to do over again, would I still go on this trip? You bet. It was a huge hassle and intensely stressful at times. I cried twice, and I don’t cry a lot. But, our family needed this time away together. Dylan’s airplane was parked out of state, and we were able to make plans for once, so we did it. After a very long and hot summer with not too much fun to be had, the change of scenery was more than necessary. And, between beach meltdowns, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and naptime meltdowns, and meltdowns of every kind all day long, we actually had quite a few high points.

So, I’m just going to focus on those. When we first arrived at the hotel on Saturday afternoon, Gavin was in a great mood. We went to the pool, and after watching the sunset over the ocean, we put him down for the night without a fuss. Dylan picked up some sushi to go, and we had an awesome dinner on our patio.

We kicked off Sunday with a bike ride on our beach cruisers. I lost Dylan and Gavin about 45 minutes into the ride, and I just kept heading down the coast. Before I knew it, I was in Encinitas, and I decided to head back up to the Hilton where I found the guys. We then made our way to the beach. It was a disaster, so I’ll spare the details. After a nap, it was back to the pool, where Gavin was a little bit happier. But the best part of the day was when we went to the park to meet up with Dylan’s aunt, uncles, cousins, and grandmother. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you there were hundreds of children in soccer uniforms playing games and running wild all over the enormous park. It was chaotic but also refreshing to see kids being wild outdoors and not cooped up in front of screens. Gavin found his good mood and was such a delight to his family that he’d never met. It was a highlight of the trip. After G went down, D and I ordered dessert from room service for dinner. A vacation-only indulgence, for sure, but completely awesome.

Stopping for lunch in Yuma

Hooray we made it to California!

Time for a snack!

Maybe he's outgrown this rashguard?

A very necessary nap

Dining with a view

Playing in the park on real grass!

Meeting Bam for the first time!

Monday was spent at the San Diego Zoo. It was a first for G and me, and it did not disappoint. Because Gavin is always relatively happy being pushed around in the stroller, it was a much less stressful day for everyone. We all enjoyed seeing the animals, although the Chinese food near the panda exhibit was the most disgusting food I’ve ever over-paid for…as expected. It was so hot and so muggy, just like the previous days, so we hit the hotel room to clean up before finding some pizza and beer for dinner and calling it a night.

We headed out early on Tuesday morning and made it home in time to take our dogs on a walk, unpack, and just hang out for a bit. I don’t know if I’m more disappointed or relieved to have missed the storm of the century. Our house was still standing and our dogs were still alive, and I didn’t notice any standing water near the house, so we fared okay. I hope everyone else can say the same.

Admiring the monkeys

Bike ride to breakfast

Hairy orangutan

Hungry hippo!

Finally lunchtime!

Mmmm orange chicken

Sky selfie. Gavin is not impressed.

As long as you're playing happily, I don't care what you get into!

Handsome!

Back at home getting some assistance with dog walking.

Our Carlsbad trip was the furthest thing from relaxing, but relaxation was not what I expected. Sure, I thought Gavin would have a little more fun than he did, and I was looking forward to taking him to the beach. I couldn’t have known he’d spend 94% of the time being upset about something. (Teething? A cold? Tummy issues? My best guess is a little of all three.) So yeah, I’m glad our family got out of town for a few days, and I don’t think Gavin would have been any happier at home. But I think we’ll wait for a second go-around until he’s a little bit older and can communicate his needs more easily. Especially if it involves staying in a hotel. I will have conniption if I ever have to deal with a screaming baby at 5:30 am in a hotel full of people ever again.