With no immediate family in the Bay Area the arrival of Thanksgiving usually means travel. This year was no different and with Iris being still new to the world we chose to drive to LA. So, this past week has been a lot of 1sts. 1st road trip, 1st time sleeping away from home, 1st Thanksgiving, 1st time seeing a lot of family and friends and maybe the biggest of all the 1st time sleeping over 4 hours.
When we 1st decided to drive to LA I was going to work on Mon and part of Tues. and then drive down Tues. night. After looking at the work schedule I decided to ask off Mon & Tues and got it. So on Sunday night we started packing. Leaving home for a week is always a little stressful. You want to make sure everything is packed but you also want to leave the house in order. (Heat off, sprinklers off, ask neighbors to take out trash, etc.) Traveling with a baby was obviously a new experience for us, let alone packing for an infant ! It was a fun challenge to figure out what was essential to bring! What do we really need? Since we had to fit everything into"Camille the Camry" that kept us from getting too crazy. Taking the dog meant we had to pack her crate and leave room for her in the car. Thank God we had taken her to LA before! Overall we did pretty well. We didn't take much that we didn't use and Grammy Jo Jo was more than prepared for our arrival! This included her restoration of Alisa's baby carriage. It was italian made Pram and was classic, sturdy & Iris loved hanging out in it indoors!
On Monday morning, Alisa was up at 4:30 to nurse Iris and I was up at 5 to start packing the car. We headed out at 7:30 am with Alisa driving and me in the back between Iris and Soleil. We managed to only stop twice however, our stops were lengthier than we were used to. We stopped at our usual 100 mile stop at Anderson's Pea Soup since Alisa insists they have a good bathroom. Pit stop has a new meaning! Wally walked Soleil while Alisa nursed Iris in back seat. Then Alisa walked Soleil while Wally changed Iris' diaper in backseat. It was quite comical! Changing a baby diaper on a slanted backseat with minimal space was tricky. SO at the next stop , Alisa took Iris into the ladies room . Ick! However, it was faster and she was thankful for the "Koala Care" changing station. After a short 7 hours we arrived in West Hills.
Just like at our house, our schedule completely revolved around Iris and her needs.We tried to keep daily plans minimal & efficient. On Tuesday , a dear friend Barbara Chenen came by to meet Iris & again, it was so much fun to introduce her to someone who has been in Alisa's life since she was a kid. On Wednesday, we visited with Alisa's teacher from when she was in the 8th grade, Sister Mary Bernadette. She is a dear friend and it was a joy to introduce her to our daughter! Godmother Dani & her son Christian also joined us for the visit.
That night, it was pie making time! Alisa made two pumpkin pies a one vegan pumpkin pie. Wally & Iris were team assist!
Thanksgiving Day arrived and Iris watched (Ha!) her 1st Macy's parade!Well, she was in the room where it was on tv. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at Aunt Joanne & Uncle Jim's and Iris met more cousins!! Wally sported his Dallas Cowboys jersey, took some heat for it and they still lost:(
As you will see in the pictures, Iris was snuggled by many cousins & loved ones. We love seeing her so loved by others! On"Black Friday", we shared Iris with family friends who stopped by the Rasera's to visit. Iris also got to celebrate Grandpa Lou's birthday for the 1st time. Saturday arrived and it was already time to get back in the car for the return trip home.
We managed to get ourselves on the road by 8am and made it back to Alameda in 6 hours with only one stop.
Pictures and videos on her site as usual. If you don't remember the password then email me.
