The Birds and I are on a plane headed to Los Angeles, California for this year’s summer vacation. As usual, Little Chirp has the window seat, I have the aisle seat, and Brainy Bird has the middle seat. I wonder if the Birds will fight over the window seat on the way home. In fairness, it should be Brainy Bird’s turn at the window, but I have doubts that Little Chirp will see it that way.
We kicked off our first day of vacation this morning with the Jurassic World movie. This is the opening weekend, and we were all excited to see it. One of the few things that their dad and I have fought about in recent months is who gets to take them to the movies when big titles come out. This time around we compromised and all went together. Funny, I see where the Birds get it from, Dad can’t walk into a theatre without twenty-plus dollars in snacks and enough popcorn to feed a small nation. The three of them took out most of the popcorn while we watched a very enjoyable movie.
The critics are crushing this one. I will put our little family review together in my next post. This post is about our family vacation! I have done a bad job of planning this time around. Last year, I spent days surfing the web for things to do, and special places to eat. I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to take off work this time around, and I was worried I would plan everything, and then be really disappointed when I didn’t get to go.
Funny, I wasn’t looking at all forward to this trip. Early yesterday evening, I arrived home exhausted, and I felt completely drained when I got the email that said I could check in for my flight tomorrow. I just got off an airplane, I have to leave again tomorrow?
I drug myself out of bed this morning, and slept walk through packing. I normally plan everyone’s wardrobe to fit perfectly with each day of vacation’s activities. That is hard to do when you have no plan at all. I told myself that I could always buy clothes if we were missing something, and the boys could always re-wear clothes if need be. With three suitcases full; I doubt that will happen. The second that I zipped the final suit case closed, I was flooded with a sudden wave of excitement. I checked the clock every five minutes, anxiously awaiting the Birds and their Dad’s arrival. I have no doubt this trip is going to be amazing just like last years.
After the movie, we hurried to the airport. The line at both the bag drop and security was next to nothing. We searched the airport for a place to grab a snack, and enjoy some moon (A somewhat complicated domino game that is a tradition in my family.) As we were walking in the airport, there was an abnormal amount of time (probably no more than 5 minutes) that Little Chirp didn’t chirp as he trailed a few steps behind us. Every family has the little talker, and Little Chirp is ours. I felt a small panic, and I whirled around to find him, thinking he had to be lost at the exact moment that Brainy Bird did the same thing. We nearly ran into each other, and Little Chirp gave us a puzzled look, “What are you doing?”
My calm returned, and Brainy Bird and I both had a good laugh. We soon found a spot at the food court where we enjoyed some Pappasito’s chips and salsa, while Little Chirp beat us in a game of moon. I wasn’t ready to stop playing when the alarm on my phone went off letting us know that it was time to board. I never tire of the simple moments in life.
Last year, I had planned to write a blog post every day, and I achieved that zero times. Hopefully, I will do better this year. Vacation memories with my Birds are the sort of thing that I want to capture in my blog for my own reflection in the years to come.
California, here we come!