jamie d photography

It is already December. I know that I am stating the obvious. I had goals of blogging our vacation while on vacation, but by day four my plans to blogging our trip quickly changed to when we arrive home. And now September is long passed. I hope to blog all ten days and will start with day one of our trip.

Our trip to California came at the perfect time for us. It was good to take time away from the office, paying bills, and make time for us as a family to make memories together. I love planning; however this whole trip planning is credited to my amazing husband. He planned it all, booked the flights, and planned what we were doing each of the ten days we would have exploring California.

Our first day consisted of my parents driving us down to BWI airport. Once through security and we arrived at the gate to learn that our flight was delayed. And then delayed a little more until they finally flew in another plane for us. It poured and poured as we waited. Finally, we boarded the plane and the timing actually worked in our favor as it was Myla’s nap time. You have already seen most of the images below of her sleeping as I learned a costly lesson.

We arrived at the rental car pick up and the first question I remember hearing was, “Are you guys moving here?” In mind mind I was thinking how to respond. . .yes there are a lot of bags. I confess I did not attempt to pack light. A pac and play and car seat were both included on this trip. I simply answered “No and smile”. I am guessing he never traveled with a three year old.

Before we left Lyndon research a place for us to eat dinner once we arrived. All we had to do was plug in the address to our GPS. It turned out that the GPS was one the best things we packed. It made traveling so much easier whereas in past trips I was loaded with any possible map potential helpful for our trips from AAA. We ate at a local Mexican restaurant, La Costa on some side street in San Jose. The food was amazing however a little too spicy for Myla.

This night we drove down to Monterey, about an hour south of San Jose. We arrived at the hotel it felt like mid-night to us and after a day of traveling I could barely keep my eyes open. Remembered how i said it pour and poured. Well, I opened Myla’s suitcase to get her into her pajamas and her clothes were soaked. Not just damp, but soaked like someone dipped her bag into a pool of water. I started to hang up her clothes anywhere I could find space. I was running out of room quickly when I discovered that my bag too was soaked! So I started to hang up my clothes on the only space left-on top of the curtains. Lyndon seeing the room covered in clothes came to my rescue. The clothes would no way be dried by morning, so he loaded all the clothes into a bag and headed for the local laundry mat. In that moment I realized this was one of the hundreds of reasons why I married this man. This concluded day one in California.

Not every year since we have been married have we had a Christmas tree. Of course the first year we did have a tree and then there were a few years we didn’t and attempted to justify it for one reason or another. At night as we drove bye I would always admire verbally out-loud the homes with Christmas tree and lights during the holiday season. However, we would then return home to a Christmas treeless house. Thankfully when Myla arrived three years ago our home is now filled with a Christmas tree during the holiday season.

This was the first year going to Elizabeth Farms just a few miles north of where we live. Upon arriving you get a ticket with your name on it for your tree that you will cut down. You wait in line for a horse drawn wagon to take you into the middle of the field surrounded by hundreds of Christmas trees. As we stepped off the wagon, we headed in the direction of the Frasier firs on a mission. A mission to find the perfect Christmas tree for our home. We searched, examined, even wandered in the Douglas firs for a while; however returning back where we started. Myla wandered through the trees running and hiding, while I was criticizing the height, width, and checking for the best side of each potential tree. I know it should not be that hard to pick a tree. It is not a huge decision in life, but my personality will not settle for second best. So we search a little longer. The mission was accomplished as Lyndon’s eye picked out a beautiful and I might add perfect tree. And now it is in our home decorate with lights too.

below is a favorite of Lyndon walking with his little girl. . .

Bebe and Gigi joined us on our mission.

 a family picture by the tree before it was cut down!

since myla has turned three silly should be her middle name.

instead of fighting it, I join her in making silly faces at the camera.

an unexpected surprise was to see the Tomato Pie Cafe has a food stand there!

Their food is so full of flavor, it is so good!