Mom Life with Adrienne

I went back to our packing cubes. We have used packing cubes for years. Sometimes each cube is per person, other times it is per day, etc. I can still squeeze a lot of clothes in them and they pack nicely in our suitcases. 

Let's talk about a stressful morning. We were out the door by 410am. Thankful for Brian's brother who is our early morning driver, he pack our van, he picks us up, drops us off at the airport, then takes the van back to our house. Don't have to worry about the stress if an Uber XL for a family of 5 will arrive on time. 

We got to the airport and the line to check luggage was so long. We waited almost an hour to just check our luggage. Thankfully we got TSA pre-check before this trip so we got through security quickly. 

Random fact- I always get extra checked. Whether it be just my hands swabbed, to full pat down. I am always the lucky one. One TSA agent said it was because I have Anna with me, but I don't know how truthful that is. 

We ordered coffee from Starbucks for the adults and grabbed breakfast of donuts and bagels from Dunkin. Then we headed for our flight. 

We flew Delta. Part of our flights were points, Brian has their credit card, and we paid for some. Somehow to worked out Brian, Austin and Ella were together and Anna and I were together. This was with check in and seating. 

This was my first time flying cross country. The landscape is beautiful. 

And a very blurry Hollywood sign. 

We got to LAX with beautiful temps, it was 30s and snowing when we left Ohio. 

The dads got us a Mercedes taxi van that holds 15 for us all to go in one vehicle to head from LAX to Long Beach. It ended up being cheaper than two Uber XL. Even with little sleep the kids were excited. We had a 45 minute drive to our hotel. 

We checked into the hotel, our room wasn't ready so they held our bags. Nearby was some green space, a little festival with food trucks. We walked over, grabbed some lunch and let the kids run around. 

I was just soaking up the sunshine and palm trees. 

After lunch our rooms were ready. We headed to our rooms to relax for a little bit then let the kids go swimming. 

I have two kids who love the water and one teenager who doesn't do water, sunshine, fresh air, or sun. 

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach. It was a gorgeous hotel with beautiful views. Part of our stay included the swan paddle boats so we did that as well. (I have a picture of us on the boat somewhere) 

Within walking distance was Queen Mary, the sister of the Titanic. If I would have known this before we would have tried to stay there as they changed it over to a hotel. They also some nights do paranormal tours, both of which some of my kids would have loved. 

Hence the one that would love this boat. I have to say the Queen Mary is very small compared to today's standards of cruise ships. 

On our walk there was a bridge of locks. Anna was fascinated with them. There was also a little store that you could buy a lock from as well and hang it up. 

Our hotel was part of the Grand Prix of Long Beach that happened in April. There was a prix car in the lobby Austin wanted a picture with. They also had started lining the streets with fences and barriers to prepare for the race. (We did end up watching part of the race in April and the kids pointed out the hotel and other areas we saw while in California) 

Beautiful California sunset.