It started on Wednesday April 21st. We left for Southern California from Oakland at about 11 a.m. It dawned on us as we were about halfway down I-5 with babies crying in the back seat, that MAYBE this trip was a little ambitious. Since we were already committed, we now had no choice but to proceed. Susan squeezed in the back seat and entertained the boys, while I drove the car (another adventure, since I normally don't drive stick shift). I took my turn between the car seats which was cramped to say the least! Oh, and towards the end, Susan discovered that Leroy was cutting a third tooth. We arrived at Grandpa Doug and Great-Grandpa Warren's home in Tujunga at about 7 p.m. They wanted to go out for dinner. We suggested a night of take out since we didn't have the heart to stuff the boys in car seats again. We had Chinese, showered and went to bed.
The next day, it was down to San Diego to meet with babies and moms on my September Moms mailing list. The weather forecast had promised highs in the 90s earlier that week, but now we had nothing but overcast with intermittent showers. Needless to say, we had not packed for this. We met folks at the outlet mall near the flower fields in Carlsbad. First there was Becca and Sabrina. Sabrina is a big girl and has gorgeous eyes with long lashes. Also, the most pinchable cheeks in the planet. She looked fetching and fashionable in a flowered dress and hat and beautiful light chartreuse sweater. Mic showed up next with her sister and the lovely Denae. It looked like the boys (Leroy and Sean) were going to be outnumbered today! Diane and Christine arrived and we went out to lunch at Ruby's Diner. Christine also has very pinchable cheeks and incredible eye lashes. All the babies were so sweet natured and sunny (even if the weather wasn't. We opted for shopping in the Carter's Outlet over risking the rain in the flower fields. It was fun for me to spend time in the girls section (lots of cute stuff). To avoid traffic, we had to leave soon after that so we said goodbye reluctantly. Becca was very down to earth and quite pretty. Mic and her sister have gorgeous blonde hair (Mic's sister is quite the dish). Diane was subdued and sweet in person.
Susan, the boys, and I then drove out to Fallbrook to spend the night with Kypris and Terry, two friends of Susan and her husband Roger. Roger's brother Dave's girlfriend, Jean, is also living there while she finishes her doctorate. Kypris is in the first trimester and has been tired and nauseous. We shared all our tricks and I settled in to "mother hen" her which she, fortunately, enjoyed. We had a nice dinner of chicken parmesan and pasta with garlic bread and tucked in early. The next morning we were reluctant to leave, but our schedule was ambitious. Fallbrook is a rural community, with all of the lots at least a 1/4 acre. Terry and Kypris' home is on one acre of land. Is was so peaceful and pleasant there and all we had to look forward to was two hours on the freeway to L.A.
We finally left at about 11 a.m. and went to the South Bay to visit with Susan's friend Beth and her daughter Jenna who is about 9 months old. Leroy and Jenna had a great time playing together. Jenna stole his pacifier, and much to her surprise he grabbed it back. We shared mommy stories. We then had to make a much needed errand to pick-up some keys to the place we were staying the next night in West L.A. This was NOT a pleasant drive. Rush hour, with babies screaming. Then we got lost. UGH! When we finally got there we were NOT happy campers. We spent some time resting and feeding the babies before heading back to the South Bay to spend the night with some more friends of Susan.
Susan and Roger lived up the road from the guys (and one gal) on Amberleaf when they resided in Torrance. Andy, David, Deborah and Charles are all teachers in the Torrance who share a large house in Rolling Hills. They were delighted to see Susan and Sean cause Susan stayed there for about 2 months at the beginning of her pregnancy while finishing up the year teaching and Roger moved up ahead to Santa Barbara. The house was full as David was having an SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) sewing bee. The next morning we went out for Dim Sum (YUM!).
Then it was off to the San Fernando Valley again! This time we were meeting with the Los Angeles area September Moms at Bob's Big Boy. We got there a little late (parting from the South Bay was sweet sorrow -- and the traffic was really sucky!) It was great seeing Connie and Andrew, Marci, Katrina and David, Adrienne and Matthew, and once again...Mic and Denae. Even though we were stuffed from Dim Sum, Susan and I managed to share a Big Boy Combo and a Brownie Fudge Sundae! I showed off Snappy Clips to my fellow cloth diaper users Adrienne and Connie. Matthew was soooo cute and such a happy boy. Susan declared that Andrew was her "boyfriend" and who could blame her? He was beautiful and really sweet. Katrina was so good with her little brother David. I can't believe there is a baby that STILL fits his infant carrier! He was a doll.
After a long parting, I was off to visit my mother with the boys. I was NOT looking forward to this visit since I rarely get out of there without a squabble. It went surprisingly well for the adults, but both the boys were really cranky after a full day. I made a date to visit again the next day.
We went to West Los Angeles to visit with some former teaching colleagues of Susan's. The guys were griching still but it was nice to swap shop talk about elementary school with Angela and Alison. We also got to check out Angela's new boyfriend who was very nice. We all decided that the new SAT-9 test for public schools is awful and swapped horror stories about how bad it is.
We spent the night with my former High School English teacher, Ms. Rasmussen and her husband. There home is, thankfully, an oasis of calm which we badly needed. She had a wonderful brunch for us the next morning. Susan left to visit some other friends Matthew and Lisa and show Sean off to them. I spent the morning with the Rasmussens playing with Leroy. After a delicious lunch of artichokes and chicken, we headed back to the Valley to visit with my mother.
Susan opted to come this time, which was potentially uncomfortable since she had not seen our mother in close to 10 years. Things went smoothly and the boys were marvelous for grandma. That evening, it was back to Tujunga with my dad and grandfather. This time we met Dad's new girlfriend Lyn, who was very nice. Later Susan's and my cousin Angela came by with the family tree she had worked on (very impressive) and matching outfits for Leroy and Sean. I must say this was a very thoughtful gift. No one else had thought to give us matching outfits (although we have bought a couple of our own), so we were touched!
Next morning it was back up I-5 to Oakland. This trip went much smoother, although by now we figured out that not only was Leroy teething, but so was Sean (no signs of the tooth yet, but lots of drooling and chewing). I stayed in the back feeding and entertaining the little ones. We stopped at Pea Soup - Andersens on the way and tanked the boys up. We were home (and quite tired) by 7 p.m.
Leroy's and my traveling was not yet done. The next day we were up early and off to Sacramento to lobby for library funding. The weather was just right, not to hot (which often happens) and not rainy (which occurred last year). I took a long lunch between meeting legislators and sat in the garden at the Capitol then went to the State Library to nap and read. Leroy had his picture taken with State Senator Don Perata (a true kodak moment).