Long......Long Beach

Well, I've finally distanced myself enough from "The Long Beach Trip" that I think I can talk about it. It was A LOT of work, but worth the stories we have to tell now. We knew we were in for it when we got the "SSSS" on our airplane boarding passes. We nicknamed it the "Super Special Secret Search" as we were part of the few lucky passengers to get the pat down massage by our lovely airport security. (Speaking of, Jerry Seinfeld does a hilarious bit about them...he calls them "A crack squad of savy motivated personnel." And boy did he hit the nail on the head!) So, we get to Long Beach, barely in one piece...I got a little woozy about halfway through the flight and was glad not to lose my lunch. So we walk off the plane...Literally walk off...there's not a terminal to pull up to, you take the stairs of the plane out to the tarmac. I've never done that before. The airport there is like a bunch of high school portables thrown together. It's hard to believe you can call it an airport!
So, we got there safe and sound and were ready for a week of fun with little Samuel. He apparently had different plans. Morning #1 was grand...the sun was out...we had a happy baby...and lots of big adventures looming for the week. That didn't last long. He was a great kid when he wasn't tired, but boy when he got tired he needed his parents! We didn't know what to do! Lets just say we took lots of car rides, walked the beach, and practically cemented a baby bjorn on me everywhere we went. By the end, we needed a vacation from what we thought was going to be a vacation!
I don't mean to make it sound like a total disaster because we managed...and notice I say "we"...my mom and I went down together and it's a good thing because neither of us could have done it alone...it was a two woman job!
We had lots of fun with Samuel when he was happy, and man, that little guy was even a happy camper while we went shopping! We did treat ourselves to one luxury while we were there..Wicked was playing up in LA, so we went one night just the two of us to go see it. It was sooo good! One of the best in my book. I decided I'm not a fan of the super heavy, dramatic stories, but more of a light, feel good, make you laugh kinda girl. I can't say enough about it except that I'd love to see it again...(shhh...I'm taking Brian for his birthday, but he doesn't know...hah!) It's more of a from: me, to: me present via his birthday, but I think he'll enjoy it as well.
Well, Thursday afternoon rolled around and I think we were both anxious to get back to our beds. So we hopped on over to the portable airport and yes, got the "SSSS" search again, we sure were lucky ducks! This time the "savy motivated personnel" turned out to be not so savy...or kind for that matter, in fact, I almost lost my lip gloss because it wasn't in a "sealed quart size ziploc bag." It might not seem like a big deal, but I'm a little fanatic about lip gloss. Anyway, onto the plane we went, lip gloss in hand...well, in the ziploc bag I was so graciously given and back to Sacramento. This time the flight was surprising pleasant. We had working TV's, began watching "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," and then about 20 minutes before we were about to land the pilot decided to take us for a RIDE! And I'm not talking a little bumpy, we're talking full on jump you out of your seat, up and down, then side to side. (Can I just say it makes me a little queezy retelling this now...) This went on for about 10 minutes (it felt like 10 hours), and with every jolt of movement the whole cabin quietly gasped and help their one allotted armrest a little tighter. It was then that I used my complimentary barf bag. (Can I say something else--It's not fun to lose your lunch when you've only got 2 square feet of private space...) Worse than the feeling of throwing up was the embarrassment of having strangers hear you all around and then having to hold onto the bag until you land. (Which by the way, the attendants wouldn't even take, they told me to throw it away in the "lavatory.") pssh!
Once I was lunch bag free, I was happier than I had ever been to be in Sacramento. And although we lost the beach and the sunshine I was happy to be home.