California, Day 1: We arrived!

The day to start our two week trip to California was finally here! We were packed and ready and headed out the door around 3pm to make it to the airport for our 5pm flight (I like to arrive early with kids so it isn't crazy). My friend Thelma took us to the airport since CK was in the middle of a meeting. We said goodbye to Thelma and made our way to the Spirit Airlines counter where where left our two suitcases and then headed through security. Walking to our gate we passed by a kiosk and both girls immediately wanted stuffed animals and toys. I convinced them we didn't need another thing to carry, but we did buy two blankets for our trip. We usually travel with blankets and it helps both girls sleep on the plane. Sofia chose dark blue and Olivia picked out pink and then we waited. Our flight was actually delayed by 45 minutes so it felt like we were at the airport forever. They both found a spot by the window where they played and pretended they were horses, enlisting another boy their age to play (he was the only other kid there not glued to an iPhone or iPad). By the time we were ready to load onto the plane, we'd eaten all the snacks we packed for the plane and I was still a bit hungry, although the girls said they weren't.

Finally we were on, our three backpacks were stowed under our seats, girls were strapped in and blankets were covering them. Olivia actually fell asleep first before take-off. I noticed she was leaning toward the aisle and when I looked at her, she was completely sleep, so I pulled her toward me and she settled in for a long nap. Just after take-off Sofia put her head on my leg and also fell asleep. The nice part of flying Spirit Airlines is that they charge for everything so they end up walking down the aisle asking if you want to purchase food or a drink rather than pushing that food cart down the aisle. Olivia's feet stuck into the aisle a bit and they didn't bother her about it, which was nice.

It was a smooth flight and before we knew it we landed in LAX. We picked up our bags with Sofia pulling the smaller black suitcase and me pulling the larger red suitcase and off we went to find the Dollar Car Rental Shuttle. On the shuttle, Olivia kept saying "WEEEE, Weeeeee." I think she thought it was a ride or something. We got off the shuttle just at sunset and it was a breezy 75 degrees out which made Olivia say "Mommy, I need a sweater. I'm cold." Yep, we are raising a true Texan! We loaded into our Jeep Compass and drove the 35 minutes to Chris and Jackie's cute house in Palos Verdes. Bryson was already asleep but their dog Tatter was happy to see us and the girls were so excited to see him. It was already around 8pm (10pm TX time) and the girls were wired! We enjoyed some pizza Chris and Jackie ordered for us and the girls played with all of Bryson's toys. I tried to get them settled and in bed but finally gave up around 10pm and just went to bed with them. It's an absolute miracle they didn't wake Bryson up! Once asleep in Chris and Jackie's guest bed, we all slept well.

All set to go!

All settled on the plane and ready to fly to California

The girls about 15 minutes after take-off!