Home Again Home Again

We are now safely in Philadelphia. Apparently being on vacation kills my desire to blog. While I do still have some things to talk about about our time in CA, I'll take a minute to write about our getting here.

We flew out of San Jose and rented a car to get up there (about a 2 1/2 hr drive). While we are usually Enterprise people, they didn't have any cars for us so we had to go with Hertz. To sing their praises, when we got to the airport, I started thinking about how we were going to get all of our big, heavy bags on the little bus to the terminal. Fortunately, the woman checking our car back in had someone who worked there drive us over to the terminal instead! I was so glad because I couldn't see a way to do it. Then once we got to the terminal, after beating back the skycaps, we did get a hand in with our bags. The airport was pretty empty which was good because we didn't move too fast through security. Apparently, 10 am flights aren't that popular.

The first little flight to Las Vegas had a really bumpy take off. Poor Jason was really pale by the time we got in the air. After that, we all slept for a while. We had the shortest possible layover in Vegas, all of about 20 minutes. The gates were close together so we didn't have any problem going from one to the next. Unfortunately, we didn't have time (at least I didn't feel like we had time) to get food. This was a bad call. I had grabbed a few snacky things from my sister's house before we left but it wasn't very much. Again, we all did a bunch of sleeping on the next flight.

I had heard that flights were getting bare bones but didn't realize the extent. I was expecting the charge for food but paying for drinks took me by surprise. I was also not expecting not having music or movies anymore. That made me sad. I'm thinking from now on, we should only take international flights.

Online Quizes

Look how fun. Other than the Jane Austen heroine quiz, I found a site with lots of different quizzes. I thought I would keep to the food ones and just did a couple. There are tons more and they are kind of fun/silly. 

Take the Quiz here!

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you. But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft. You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily. You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

Your PB and J Says You're Demure and Dainty

Your eating style is reserved. You are a bit of a fussy eater, and you have very specific ways you like your food prepared. You have an average sweet tooth. While you enjoy desserts, they aren't exactly your downfall. Your taste in food tends to be quite eclectic and wide. You are an adventurous eater, and you like many types of cuisines. You are probably a fairly normal, upper middle class person. You don't rock the boat too often. You are a tough person who isn't afraid to live life fully. There isn't a lot that scares you. Precise and controlled, you can be a bit anal retentive when it comes to how you like things. You're definitely a perfectionist.

What Does Your Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Say About You?

You Are Toast

Old fashioned and a bit of a homebody, you totally go for comfort food. You're the type who loves to cook for friends, and they love you for it. You truly know what tastes good, and you can often pick out the best dish at a restaurant. You don't fall for food trends. You stick with what's been food for a long time!

What Kind of Breakfast Are You?

Gone too Long

The funniest thing happened at church today. We were in Sunday School and Anna was crawling around on the floor. There was a brown paper bag in the corner of the room near us but not really next to anybody. I noticed it when Anna was crawling towards it. My first thought was, "I hope that's not a bomb." Naturally, I told myself that it probably wasn't and just let her go to it. As she was playing with it, I thought about what it more likely was and realized it was probably a bag of lemons from the big bucket outside the door to the class room. Not long after I realized this, Jason looked over at her and said, "I hope that's not a bomb." I told him what I had figured it was and we both chuckled. 

This is probably a tragic commentary on the places where we have been living: when we see an unaccompanied package we immediatly suspect bomb. I hadn't realized my thought processes had been so skewed.

A Day at the Beach

Last Monday we went to the beach with Jason's parents and sister. We went to one called Avila which is not far from us. Between the freeway and the beach, there is a walking/bike path that winds along a little stream and next to a gated community and its golf course. We started we started with walking along that path. The weather was beautiful; sunny, warm but cool in the shade and not too breezy. Once we got to the beach, we had lunch at a restaurant and Anna learned how to drink out of a straw.

She took a few steps before realizing she was walking on something different.

After lunch, we went to the sand and water part. Apparently it's pretty common for babies to not like the sand. Anna had no such problems. I guess it's for the best that she gets that from Jason and not from me (I really hate the sand). Jason even walked her out to see what the water was like. Since we are relatively far north, the water is really cold so we stay out of it this time of year. Anna didn't mind getting her feet wet though.

Playing in the sand with Dad and Grandpa.

What's a trip to the beach without getting a body part buried?

After a little more time on the sand, it was time to walk back. I don't know just how far the walk was but it was a few miles. I had just started coming down with a cold (which I hope is almost over by now) and was pretty tired. Fortunately, Ann and Jason's dad went ahead to get the cars while we walked part of the way and waited outside of a deli. When we got home, we must have looked pretty tired because my dad shooed us into his bedroom (which is at the back of the house and well insulated from sound in the rest of the house) to take a nap. My sister with her 5 kids would be there soon. I didn't wake up for 2 1/2 hours even though Jason came to get me after only one. I felt better and was glad they had saved dinner and See's candy for me (I just had to wrestle it away from the kids).

Baby's First Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! We had a fun first Christmas for Anna. We woke up with the Kleinmans (surprisingly not too early) and had Christmas morning. It took Anna a little bit to realize what she was supposed to do with these brightly colored paper packages we were giving her but once she did, she was good at opening them. We got her a couple of small toys, a pair of cute, black maryjanes and some darling brown boots. Jason's mom took us shopping a couple of days before and bought Anna a bunch of clothes (including another pair of shoes - lots of shoes this year) so I wrapped up one outfit and she had fun opening those.

I have to say, I thought Christmas at the Kleinmans (they have 7 boys with the oldest being 14) would be a crazy, frenzied affair. It was not. They take turns opening presents so you can see who got what and people had to be reminded that there was another one to open. They kept wanting to play with what they had just opened. We could have let it take all day at that rate.

After a bit, we went over to Jason's parent's house. We were able to join them for a yummy waffle breakfast. Then we went down to visit Jason's grandma. She is in a place in Orcutt (small community south of Santa Maria). It seems like a nice place. She had a lot of fun with Anna and it seemed like a good visit.

From there we drove back up to visit with my parents. It was a bit earlier than we expected so we just hung out until dinner. We had a turkey dinner. It was funny because we had a big ham dinner with the whole family on Monday and that was supposed to be the big dinner. Apparently we can't not have a turkey on Christmas. With just a handful of adults (we didn't even have to use all of the seats at the table) we were able to use my Great-Grandmother's china and the stemware. It was relaxed and nice. Anna discovered she likes turkey and had a good meal too. We had more presents to open there including the CUTEST bows from my brother's wife Megan (technically from Josh too but we all know who does the shopping). They even stay in her hair well and she generally doesn't pull them out.

Then it was back up to Paso Robles for the night. It was an exhausting day with a lot of driving but we were able to see everyone and it didn't feel frenzied which was my fear. A good Christmas all around.

Cousins!

After following the boys outside. Cold but excited to be one of the kids.

Anna is discovering her cousins. As Jason put it, she is simultaneously interested in them and scared of them. The first time she met them was on Monday night when the Andersons and the Kleinmans came down for dinner. There were 11 little boys running around. It didn't take too long for Anna to learn to follow them right out the door. The boys are so cute with her and like to bring her toys and carry her around.

Hilary's youngest, Brennan (2), pointed out she was a baby when he first saw her. They also played together in taking the tupperware out of the cupboard. At one point in the evening, Dave was playing "Row, Row, Row your oops" with Brennan and Anna wanted in on that. So, Hilary and Dave did both of them side by side. It was so cute. Then they had them play patty cake. The really funny thing is that they are about the same size.

This week we are staying with the Kleinmans. The boys are so cute with her and she does pretty well with them. This morning Eric (Kristen's youngest who is almost 3) said she could have his green blanket. This is a big deal as this isn't just any blanket that happens to be green, this is his Green Blanket. The type that gets carried everywhere and helps him feel better. Jacob also really likes carrying her or walking her around.

Anna likes them too and doesn't get overwhelmed like I thought she would (heck, I get overwhelmed some times with these boys). This morning, the boys were playing with Eric's present of a little person train set and Anna was having a fun time watching them play. Then they moved on and she was upset that her entertainment had left. Fortunately, she realized that she could play with the trains on her own and was pretty happy about that. Maybe I need to rethink our minimalist toy policy.

First Illness

Quite a while ago, Anna had a bit of a cold. After it had finally cleared up, I had a sneaky suspicion that she had developed an ear infection. Naturally, as I wasn't quite sure, it didn't affect her behavior too much. She was having problems sleeping but it could have been a tooth coming through (lots of drool and chewing indicated as much). She often wouldn't eat dinner but there were lots of other reasons why this would be (usually I was trying to feed her while she was tired) and she ate plenty of breakfast. And occasionally she would press her ear to her shoulder.

With all of this ambiguity, I was thinking of just waiting until we got to CA and have Hilary and Dave take a look at her. It seemed much easier than trying to find a doctor in a system that I wasn't too familiar with. The longer I put it off, the stronger my suspicion grew and one night at dinner Jana pointed out that if she does have an ear infection, the plane ride would be a total nightmare.

With the fear of a screaming baby on a 10 1/2 hour flight, I started looking for a GP (general practitioner) to take her to. I found one just up the hill from our place and made an appointment for her on Wednesday morning. I was a little concerned about getting her in but Jana said that for a baby they have to fit them in that day. I stopped by in the afternoon on Tuesday and they gave me the number to call Wednesday morning. There was a little bit of confusion about my needing to register but once they realized we were leaving the country on Friday, they waived that. Because I wasn't registered, I had to pay for the visit. They were all very apologetic about this but when I found out it was only 30 pounds I kind of chuckled to myself.

The doctor checked Anna out and sure enough, she saw some redness. We got a prescription for an antibiotic and went to the pharmacy. One funny thing about the British medical care is that all the medicines for children are free. So when I went to pick up the prescription, she just gave it to me and I walked out. This was so strange. I felt like I had to walk fast past the store security guards and was getting away with something.

So with the help of her medicine, which she takes happily, I'm pretty sure she is getting better. Since her symptoms weren't very blatant to begin with, their passing is just as subtle but I think they are passing.