Weekend of Firsts for M and P!

First plane ride, first time at the beach, first time leaving the state, first time meetng my dad's side of the family, first highish fever, and mommy almost had her first melt down in public!

This past weekend my entire family flew out to Santa Barbara, California to celebrate my grandfather's 90th birthday. He and my dad's sister both live in SB, and my dad's brother lives in Malibu (my dad's mom passed away several years ago). It was very special to me for the twins to meet my grandfather. After this weekend, they have met all of their great-grandparents!

Our flight left Friday morning at 8:30 and we flew to Phoenix, where we met up with my parents (yes, we coordinated that layover!) and then the four (well 6) of us flew to SB. The twins did pretty good on both flights, we even got compliments!!! Both of them have colds and are teething, so they weren't feeling up to par. Presley snored so loud on the first plane ride that I'm pretty sure the people across from us heard her! Bless her heart and her snots! We got in to SB around noon and my sister and her family got in soon after. Needless to say the babies were a little off their normal schedule due to the two hour time difference! They took a nap when we got to the hotel and we just hung out there that afternoon. We went over to see my grandfather at his non-assisted living place and my aunt met us there as well. Let me tell you, his place is AMAZING! It's gorgeous and quite fancy...Kyle and I have decided we want to retire there, after we when the mega millions lotto! We went to eat seafood at a place on the water which had gorgeous views and yummy food. Presley had a fever and just did not feel well at all. So my meal was spent rocking her in my lap and walking around outside with her...with a few bites of ahi tuna in between. After we put the babies to bed, a friend of mine from Katy, Annemarie, who lives in SB, came to pick me up. We got a decaf coffee and walked around State Street (a shopping area). She is expecting a little boy soon and it was so great to see her and catch up!

Saturday after their naps, my parents and the 4 of us loaded up and took Kyle on a driving tour of SB since he'd never been there. My grandparents have lived there 10 years so they know the town pretty well. If you haven't been, you need to because it is just gorgeous there! We were all supposed to have lunch with my grandfather at the restaurant at his place, but Marshall fell asleep in the car and showed no signs of waking up. So Kyle stayed with him at the hotel and Presley and I went. He ended up sleeping for 2 hours! That afternoon my mom and Kyle and I took the twins to the dog beach. We thought it would be perfect because the weather was nice and they love dogs. Well, neither one of them really knew what to think about the sand. P was okay with it, but Marshall was not a fan. We took them to the edge of the water, and they both screamed at the exact same time when the water hit, it was hilarious! We stayed there about 20-30 minutes then headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. They desperately needed a bath after the sand!

We all went over to my grandfather's and met up with my uncle, who drove down from Malibu. We took (or attempted) a big family picture and then went to meet up with my aunt at a Mexican food restaurant. Neither one of the babies was feeling good, and Marshall took a nap in Kyle's arms. Presley, on the other hand, was awake and cranky! She didn't want to eat, didn't want to be held, but didn't want to be put down...not so cool. Then when Marshall woke up he was very warm, and fussy. Um...the dinner didn't go very well. I shoveled a taco in my mouth and downed my margarita, since by the end of dinner I was only halfway done with it! When we got in the car, Kyle and I noticed that Marshall's breathing was very short. We started to get a little worried that something was wrong, so my sister bought a thermometer and when we got back to the hotel we took his temp. It wasn't too high, 100.6, but he was lethargic and just not himself. But since his fever wasn't high we gave him some ibuprofen and put them to bed. Well at 3 a.m. they were both awake, and were off and on till 4:30. Finally we just got them up and gave them a bottle. This was obviously an omen of bad things to come later that day...

So they went back down for a nap at 5:30 and I woke them up at 7:15 so we could eat breakfast and finishing packing before heading to the airport. My parents were on our same flight again from SB to Phoenix. Presley sat with them in the row behind us on the plane. She did pretty good, then fell asleep at the end on my dad's lap...so cute! Marshall didn't nap either so we figured they would both sleep for a long time on the next flight. WRONG! Our plane was supposed to leave at 1:30 for DFW and my parents' left soon after that so we said our goodbyes when we got to Phoenix. We got lunch, changed diapers, and loaded the plane. And then sat. And sat. And sat. My parents were so nice to buy us first class seats so we could have more room with the babies which came in handy when we were sitting on the plane at the gate for AN HOUR AND 45 MINUTES!!! And no, the babies were not sleeping, they in fact, were fussy. Apparently there was a tail light out and at first they thought they would just change the bulb, which didn't work. Then they tried something else, then came on and said there was a faulty wiring issue and it would be another hour so we could deboard the plane and wait at the gate if we wanted to. Oh, and this whole time there wasn't any air blowing because they had to turn it off in order to fix the tail light (huh?) so there was just the supplemental, low air blowing. We hauled it off the plane and Prelsey had fallen asleep in my arms. So, I opened up her blanket and laid her on the floor at the terminal. She slept for about 15 minutes. Keep in mind, Marshall has yet to fall asleep and has been up since 7:15...it's now 2:45. So long story not short an hour later everything is fixed, we get back on the plane, and off we go! Marshall falls asleep about 30 minutes in, but not Presley!!! She cried for two hours and 15 minutes of the two and a half hour flight! Let me tell you how much those first class passengers loved us! However the flight attendants were very nice and helpful and allowed me to stand up for about 45 minutes rocking her and bouncing her to try and get her to sleep. When she finally did we were about to start our descent to DFW but the flight attendant gave me a margarita anyway and I sucked that thing down in no time! It seriously was the worst experience so far with the twins. It wasn't their fault, it was just a lot of bad things rolled in to one. Oh, and she screamed the whole way home from the airport. :)

So that's our eventful weekend. Sorry it's such a long post, but I'm trying to do better with describing things since this will be like a baby book for them eventually. I didn't get any pictures with my nieces, or even one family picture of all four of us and our spouses and kids. Wish we would have, but that will have to wait till Easter.

Oh and traveling with twins (or maybe just babies in general) shows you there are still good samaritans out there. Several people asked if they could help us carry our bags, fold up the strollers, hold a baby (one sweet flight attendant), etc. It was so nice to see that people actually still care about helping out others. :)


First plane ride!


Notice P's rosy cheeks...this was the beginning of her fever


I'm thinking to myself, "are we there yet?"


We brought their red hook on chairs just in case places didn't have enough high chairs. We had our own little restaurant going in the room.


This stuff doesn't taste good!


This stuff doesn't feel good!


Walking them down to the water. Presley practically ran towards it!


Family beach pic


Saturday night with my grandfather. Note Marshall's look on his face...it was the beginning of his fever and he was feeling no bueno.



It was a small couch :)


Sleeping on Papi


This lady sat next to me and helped to entertain Presley (voluntarily). She kept running her boarding pass over Presley's face which P would then stick out her tongue in attempt to lick it. Gross, yes, but it kept her occupied and not crying!


Soooooo ready to be home!