Mini Vacation

April 16, 2013

This past weekend we headed down to LA and OC for a long weekend. I've said this many times before but its never ever long enough to see all of our great friends and family down there. We hit the road bright and early Friday morning, first dropping Rufus off in Petaluma at doggie daycare. Minimal stops and light traffic made for a nice drive down. We were able to check into our hotel and freshen up before our busy afternoon of visits.

We first stopped by the Elmore's to catch up with Kerry (her hubby Todd was in Orlando for work) and her girls Madison and Libby. Its so nice to be able to go months without seeing or and sometimes not even talking to friends and catch up like no time has gone by. We've been so lucky to have had so many great hand me downs from them and Kerry loaded us up once again. Thank you!

Next stop was the Smit's. Stacey and Paul had a baby boy Sladien in January. After holding him its hard to remember Lily being that small. Again, so great to catch up with friends. Times have changed quiet a bit from our days of partying at the pier in Hermosa to holding our little ones and quietly drinking some wine!

Our third and final stop of the night was at the Thompson's. It was Brian's birthday so we partied hard by ordering in some pizza...yep crazy town. They have an adorable 6 week old, Chase. He slept most of the time which was good for them but we didn't get to spend too much time snuggling with him. Luckily Lily slept for almost 2 hours in his swing too.

Saturday morning the three of us walked to the beach and checked out our old stomping grounds (Rollie's apartment, the restaurant where we had our first 'real' date, and the restaurant where our rehearsal dinner was). Rollie and I then drove down to meet my Aunt half way between Redondo and Laguna to 'exchange' Lily in Seal Beach. We were all a bit nervous but excited to spend our first night away from our little angel. Things went super smooth and Lily was soooo good for my Aunt.

We headed back up to the South Bay to get ready for the Hyde wedding. My friend Deidre and I got our hair blown out while Rollie hit up one of our favorite deli's, Rinaldi's for lunch.

Our very good friends Ray and Tanya picked us up for the wedding which was just fantastic. Brian and Allyson both worked at Enterprise when we did but then they ended up meeting/dating after they both had left the company and they are just perfect for each other. The reception was at La Venta Inn up in Palos Verdes and it was so charming and beautiful with amazing views. The details were just incredible and it was the best wedding food we've ever had. We made it to the end but didn't make it to the after party...we are officially lame.

After sleeping in and not tending to a baby we took a walk down to the beach and met up with our friends Brady and Tiffany who are part of a free fit club that meets on the beach every Sunday. It was so neat to see what a great gathering they've created.

We packed up and checked out of our hotel and headed down to Laguna to relax for the evening and love on our little girl that we missed terribly in just a short 24 hour period. We took a nice walk to the park, played on the baby swings and went down the slide together for the first time. My cousin and uncle returned from Mexico that evening and we all celebrated Connor's 18th birthday with a great home cooked meal. We enjoyed the hot tub too!

Monday we packed up the car and headed back home. Traffic was horrible, even midday, but it was a great trip. We miss our friends and family so much in Southern California but luckily its not too far!