SO, I got all my courage up and packed my things in the car and began the adventure. Yes, I drove this time--even though I HATE to drive, especially alone, but I hate throwing up even more, so I was okay with the white knuckles rather than the nauseated stomach. Well, it started off alright--I drove down the day before labor day, so a Sunday, and thanks to Austin's IPOD I had plenty of 'church music' to keep me occupied. About an hour after I hopped onto the 5 I was really sick of driving and I still had 4 HOURS TO GO!! Ugh...The worst part was that I have a hard time keeping my speed steady, I would just follow the car in front of me, but there were a lot of cops out on the road so we would be going along and then all of a sudden, everyone would slam on their brakes. In fact, I started to count cops to keep myself entertained. Well, I stopped at 14 because it started getting depressing. I don't think I've ever seen double digit cops in one month's time, let alone ONE DAY! The good part was that I never saw one driving, they were all pulled over with victims looking sad in their seats. heh...I decided I should just set the cruise at like 82ish and not worry about them. Only one problem: I didn't know how to work the cruise in my car. I've only had this car a little over a year and haven't been on a trip ever in it, we've always taken Brian's more roomy car. Well, with gas prices as high as they are--(well, were on labor day weekend), my little Jetta would have to do. I looked all around for a 'cruise' button or switch and after turning on my windshield wipers, flashing my brights, spraying my windshield, and trying every other switch on the dash, I FINALLY figured it out. Whew...the car in front of me must have thought I was insane! Turns out it was on a wand right behind the bar in my steering wheel so it was well hidden. The rest of the drive was alright...boring, but okay--until I got onto the 405. Man, I've hated being a passenger on that freeway since I was a little kid, and have only driven it like twice before, once when I was an invincible 18 year old and once at night when it was quiet, so it was quite the white knuckle drive. The cars are going like 85 miles an hours and following behind each other by 6 feet! The crazy part is that they aren't just clunker bumper cars, they're $80,000 mercedes, bmw's, and I even saw 2 bentleys. CRAZY! Needless to say, I was happy when I finally got to Long Beach. My fingers needed a rest. :)
The week with Samuel was filled with fun...and lots of tears...his AND mine! On Monday I felt quite confident that I could help him form the habit of falling asleep in his crib rather than the car, but 12:30 rolled around and the munchkin was tired! I read him a story and plopped him in his crib...well, lets just say I gave up on that idea and we went for a car ride. ;) Sorry guys, but that's a battle I'm not patient enough to fight. I did get VERY familiar with the roads down there--no freeways of course--but I had a nice little half-hour and hour loop depending on how stubborn Sam-Sam was feeling for nap and bedtime. I do have to say, there aren't very many places I've been in the world, but the SoCal coast is one of the prettiest places in my book. From about Huntington down to Laguna, it's just GORGEOUS! There's nothing more perfect to me than 75 degrees and the wind, and the sand and the sound of crashing waves. Ahh...it makes me miss it.
Anyway, apart from anything related to sleeping, Samuel was a fun guy to be around, exhausting, but fun. And super smart! It was great to watch him little mind soak everything in. We read lots of books, played cars a lot, went to the park and the beach, waded in the pool, went shopping and fed the ducks a few times. Well, twice we fed the ducks...The first time he had a BLAST and there was a park close to their house so we went there and he would just say "quack quack" and laugh and clap and a couple times clocked the ducks in the head while throwing them bread. I put him up on a picnic table because there were some geese as big as him and I remember being little and deathly afraid of the big white ones. (they still make me a little nervous). So the second time it was hot and shaded picnic tables were all full so I decided we could be brave and feed the ducks on the ground...At first there were just little guys and Samuel was loving it! Then out of nowhere a swarm of both ducks and geese came over to get in on the food action. They started making me nervous so I helped throw some food farther away from us to keep a safe distance and then I felt a pinch on my leg! Not a light pinch either. A GOOSE BIT ME! Not a little goose either. He came up to my waste and got me bad! I think he was a baby ostrich. I totally screamed--one from the shock and two because IT HURT! He came in for another bite and I didn't know what to do so I kicked him! Yeah I know, I'm not proud of it but I was terrified! And I must have hurt him because the squawking got louder and weirder. I grabbed Samuel and ran for the car! He started crying because I'm sure my screaming scared him too. Whew, that was the end of the duck park.
We also had a lot of fun at the grocery store. I know how hard these Loooong bookstore days can be so I wanted to make the bookies this yummy Indian dish I just discovered. I was a little nervous to go with him because I didn't really know how he would react if he saw something he had to have and I didn't get it for him. It turned out just fine. In fact, it was pretty entertaining. I'd hand him whatever it was we were buying and he'd turn around and launch it into the back of the cart then he'd clap for himself with a huge grin on his face. It was cute. He even got some stickers from the check stand man. Score!
I don't really know what other entertainment to share with you since it's been almost a month since I've been down there, but I'm ready to go back. Sorry guys, not to watch Samuel, but to visit DISNEYLAND!! We were sooo close to it but there was no way I would take him by myself, just because I would be too sad paying for a ticket and not getting to ride all the fun rides. :) Soon....
Okay, I totally don't know what he's doing here, but it was so funny I had to record it. He would make funny noises with his mouth and fingers and if you did it back to him he would just laugh and laugh and laugh!
Having Fun at the Beach!
What's in the bucket?
Alright, this is an awful picture of me, but his face says it all...
1 comment:
oh man, that was a very entertaining account...my sides hurt from laughing. thanks for the help! that was a DIVINE indian dish btw.
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