L.A. Vacation
What a great time we all had on our Southern California vacation. Kelly and Kate had been setting this up since we were all together in North Carolina in February. Kelly wanted Kate and Parker (sorry Frank!) to fly out to see her in So Cal. Ever since Kelly and her room mate Heather became aunties, Kelly wanted to share Parker with all of So Cal! So when Kate booked her flight, we made plans to drive down to see them all. A nice Friday thru Tuesday in the land of 24 hour freeway grid lock.
We hit the road early (and I mean EARLY!) with the plan of picking up Kate and Parker when they arrived at LAX around 11am. We packed up (and I mean packed!!) the Mazda with not only our luggage, but stuff (stroller, car seat, pack and play, toys) for Parker and a few things for Kate and Kelly. Somewhere around Buttonwillow on highway 5 I realized that there is no way we will be ablt to fit all of Kate and Parker’s luggage in the car. We high tailed it down highway 5, and were able to check into the Embassy Suites LAX early. Dropped off all the stuff in the room and made it the Airport with a few minutes to spare! Not bad scheduling for a 369 mile airport pickup!!
Needless to say, it was so good to see Parker and Kate. He has grown so much in the two months that we last saw him. Happy baby boy. LET THE VACATION BEGIN!!!
First stop was Kelly’s work and then to lunch. We went up to her office, and of course Parker was the center of attention. I could see why. Kelly had her office plastered in Parker pics!! Parker smiled. Parker walked. Parker was being Parker, all to the delight of Kelly and all her co-workers. Ok, we were ALL delighted!
A beautiful day in Santa Monica. Sunny and warm. We walked across the street to have lunch. Heather joined us and we had a nice meal as we all began to unwind from the travelling it took to get here. Ahhhh. Kelly went back to work while we went back to our suite. The room was pretty perfect for us. We chose the “two double beds”. Worked out great when Kelly stayed. Barb and I in one bed, Kate and Parker on the other, and Kelly (she spent a couple of nights) on the pull out couch.
We went over to Kelly’s the first night and had Thai food ordered in Yummers!! Since Kate and Parker were on east coast time, their bio clock was all messed up. They were tired. We were tired, so we went back to Embassy and called it a night. Saturday was mostly chill. Took advantage of the complementary breakfast downstairs and spent most of the morning just hanging with Parker and Kate and Kelly. We went for a drive in the afternoon and ended up on Hollywood Blvd. Got a great parking spot and walked up and down checking out all the starts on the walk of fame. There were plenty of stars where we were saying “who is that?”. Kate wanted to find the John Wayne star and send the picture to Frank. Theres an App for that! Kelly found out it was a couple blocks down on Vine. Along the way we checked out all the people, both that were tourists like us but also all the “street” people. dozens of “characters” in every concievable costume you can imagine. I think I saw 2 or 3 spidermans. There were also plenty of musicians and dancers on the street all looking for “donations”.
Sunday we hooked up with Matt Flaherty. Kelly and Matt had made the plan. Party at Matt’s place in Santa Monica. Turns out Matt has quite the place in Santa Monica. He and his buddies are renting a place right on the beach, just a rock throw from the Santa Monica pier. It was a great time. We met Matt’s room mates and his girlfriend Katie. All great people. Deli sandwiches for lunch and great bbq for dinner. It was so great to see Matt. He is doing well and we are very proud of him. It was also a cool day because it was the NEXT generation of Flahertys that put together the party. Way to go Kelly and Matt.
Monday was a down day. Hung out at the hotel most of the day. Went swimming and basically played with Parker all day. It was Parker’s first time in a swimming pool and he did great!! He loved the water and was playing around and happy the whole time. Parker is happy and healthy and growing bigger, stonger and smarter every day. Can’t get enough of that kid!!
Tuesday was get away day. Packed our stuff and dropped Kate and Parker at LAX just after breakfast. We hit the road soon there after. The end to a great Great GREAT vacation.
