Paul, Addison, and I traveled to California last weekend to celebrate my mom's birthday in San Francisco and my grandmother's birthday in Tulare. This was Addison's first vacation and trip on an airplane. We had a great time!
Here is Addison's first trip on the airplane... notice she is holding a bottle of Benadryl. Sweet Benadryl... helped Addie sleep for about an hour on the flight over to San Francisco. She actually did really well on the plane. I think because she has tubes in her ears, she didn't seem to notice the change in pressure. She started getting a little fussy when she became tired, but after taking the medicine she slept and everyone was happy.
Aunt Kelly (AK) and Aunt Jana pose for a picture right before we get on the tram to pick up our rental car at the airport.
This is Addison signing "train" she loved the experience, and really wanted to hold on to the pole like everyone else.
Our first stop in California... In and Out Burger... of course. Addie liked the french fries, and so did we!
When we checked into the hotel, Addison was enthraled with the telephone. We ended up unplugging it from the wall so she could play with it. She started putting it up to her ear and hanging it up just like she was talking on the phone. It cracked us up.
Next it was play time on the bed with Daddy. She LOVED jumping on the bed in the hotel, I guess just like any kid would!
We walked around a bit that night in San Francisco. Addie loved looking at the birds on the street and any people who were walking their small dogs.
The next day, we took a trip out to Alcatraz. Addison loved running after the birds while we waited to board the boat. Her Aunt Kelly and Aunt Tracy helped wrangle her as she chased all the pigeons.
We saw a sea lion in the water.
On the boat to Alcatraz, AK and Aunt T pose for a picture with Addison.
Alcatraz photos:
Baby on the loose at Alcatraz! Sound the alarms!
Addison finally tired herself out on the tour. Luckily, most people had headsets on listening to an audio tour of Alcatraz so it was eerily quiet and Addie fell asleep.
A view of San Francisco from Alcatraz.
After getting back from the tour, we decided to go get lunch on Fisherman's Warf.
Addison likes sharing her food with people... and can be pretty insistent on you eating her food.
We walked over to where the sea lions hang out all day. Addison could not take her eyes off of them. She LOVED seeing all of the animals on this trip, but especially these sea lions. We couldn't even get her to look at the camera for a second to take a picture.
Yup, it smells... pretty bad.
Addison still does not want to take her eyes off of the sea lions.
Paul put Addison's favorite show "Baby Signing Time" on our iPhones and it was a life saver for the long drive from San Francisco to Tulare (which took about 5 and a half hours after all of the traffic). Addie liked having her own little screen to hold on to while sitting in the car. This also helped on the long flights to and from California. I love technology!
The first day in Tulare, Addison woke up with pink eye... we went straight to Urgent Care to get her some medication. She was a little fussy, but did awesome!
Pink eye shot.
After getting some eye drops, the doctor said she was ok to go to my grandmother's birthday party and hang with the other kids. My cousins Brent and his wife, Melissa, as well as, Kristen and her husband Cody have babies only about 1 to 3 months younger than Addison. It was really cool to get them together.
Here is Addison and Giada (Brent and Melissa's daughter) she is only one month younger than Addie.
Addison really liked Giada's buttons on her dress and Giada's shoes. She kept pointing to them.
Addison tries to force feed Giada some mango. She's just an insistant sharer... I'm sure... not a bully at all. (sarcasm noted)
Cooper is Kristen and Cody's son, he is about 3 months younger than Addison. His first birthday was this week.
My cousin Brent and Giada pose for a picture:
My grandmother "grammy" it was her 90th birthday!
My cousin Kristen, Cooper, Addison and I pose for a picture in the courtyard. There was an orange tree close by and the kids loved playing with the oranges that fell on the ground. Addison is holding one of the oranges, which we called the "Zombie Orange" because it kept following us around and was a weird green and orange color. We found it in the rental car later and then in a bag on the way to the airport.
Giada and Addison checking out their shoes.
It was difficult to get all three of them to look at the camera... Giada has that dang Zombie Orange. The kids loved those things.
We had to eat out a lot while we were out there. Addison got really good at drinking from a straw and really wanted to hold her own cup.
The last day we were in Tulare, we went over to my uncle and aunt's place to celebrate Cooper's first birthday. It was a lot of fun to watch everyone play and have all of my cousins, uncles and aunts in the same room.
Cooper about to chow down on his cake.
My aunt Karen made the cake, it was very good and had Elmo on it! Cooper was satisfied with his piece of cake... he got it all over himself like a good birthday boy.
A picture with all of the cousins and their partners and kids... Addison wouldn't cooperate. The only ones who are missing are Cooper and Tiago. Cooper was taking a nap and Tiago was in London!
From left to right starting on the top: Paul, Cody, Nick, Jana, Giada, Brent, Melissa, Derek, Tracy, Kelly, Addison, Mandy, Miguel, and Kristen.
Halloween 2009:
