California Pink Tour: Our LA Home

Our LA Airbnb was the cutest little old house that was painted bright yellow and was surrounded by a lush garden and a white picket fence. It looked like a fairytale oasis on the small, ordinary street.

Moving in

The inside was simple and typical of an older house. The kids loved the big open space in the main living area and would dance or wrestle depending on their mood.

This was my room, nicely tucked away in the back of the house where it was nice and quiet.

This was Beth and the kids room, there was a little pull out bed in the closet that V slept on.

Our little backyard.

The night we arrived we were all exhausted from not sleeping well the night before as well as our drive from San Diego to LA. So we door dashed some dinner and watched the fantastical dance numbers of Ziegfeld Follies. Our favorite was the extravagant pink dance number with Lucille Ball. It featured lush feathers, white horses, glamorous girls and devilish black kitty cats. It was a feast for the eyes.

The next few days were really rough for Beth and the kids as they all had come down with The Sickness. We had an ever growing collection of cold medicines on the counter. They needed a lot of sleep and a lot of down time at the house.

In addition to The Sickness, Monty and V managed to get matching scraped knees... from different times and different places. Amazingly, they thought it was cool.

One of our days in LA was a comedy of errors, absolutely nothing went right. We spent a majority of the day at the house, Beth was in and out of napping and feeling awful. We finally decided to get out and attempt some activities. First, we stopped by Alfred's for some drinks and treats. We had been looking forward to their pink croissants and  were so disappointed when they told us they don't make them anymore. So we got some drinks and some other treats to try. ALL of them were not good, like not even a little bit. We are so confused why this place is so well known.

It is a pretty cute place, maybe that's the draw...? But again, it was so much smaller than we thought it was going to be so even the cuteness of it was kind of a let down for us.

Next, Beth really wanted to rent a vintage car and take pictures on a specific street with the Hollywood sign in the background. She was able to find one to rent and entered in her info for the reservation. We headed to the pick up place and no one was there, we  were super confused. Beth checked the reservation to make sure we were at the right place at the right time and noticed she had booked it for the wrong day.

We decided to at least go check out the picturesque, palm lined street. When we were getting back into the car, monty stepped into some sort of swampy area on the lawn and his foot and shoe got soaking wet and covered in mud.

When we finally found the street, the Hollywood sign was TINY, we could barely see it in our photos. Again, not what we were expecting.

By then the kids were tired, hungry and sick and were having a really tough time. So we decided to do something super simple and quick for dinner and pulled into the Wendy's drive through. We all wanted chicken and then we were notified that they were out of chicken. Of course they were, like what else could go wrong on this day?? They said if we waited a little bit we could get their next batch of chicken that should be ready soon. We waited forever, to the point where we thought they might have forgotten about us.

The kids were quickly losing it while we waited. Beth gave V her phone to play some games to help pass the time. A couple of days earlier I had taught V how to do the voice texting and she used that new found knowledge to send me this text message.....

It was a pretty bad moment. We finally got our dinner from Wendy's and could head home. We all couldn't wait to get to bed and start over again the next day.

California Pink Tour: San Diego

In August, Beth, the kids and I went on a road trip in California. We started in San Diego, visited L.A., San Luis Obispo and ended in Santa Cruz. This trip was unique in the fact that it had a theme, pink! Beth had been wanting to visit the famous Madonna Inn while she had pink hair, and she decided to turn the whole trip into a pink tour. We ate at pink restaurants, we stayed in pink hotels and we always wore pink. It was a fun idea and it made for the cutest pictures.

We began by flying from Utah to San Diego, Monty was so excited to ride on the plane.

After flying, spending hours at the rental car place working out issues and driving to our airbnb, we were all exhausted. 

It took us a while to figure out how to access our airbnb, it was in back of another house and is only accessible from a gate in the back. When we finally figured it out, we were greeted by this gorgeous mural. We were staying close to Barrio Logan and would discover these types of murals all over the neighborhood which was really cool to see.

Inside our San Diego home was bright, clean and modern. It was nice and cozy with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, perfect for our little family of four.

This was my room. It was so nice that each room had its own TV and ceiling fan.

After unloading all our things and resting for a short bit, we headed out to find some food. We looked up different places and decided on Salud Tacos, their food had amazing reviews.

I had dyed my hair pink with temporary color for the trip. We would try dying it several times throughout the trip, trying out different dyes. Keep an eye out for the pink journey my hair was taking. This first step was rather orangey and was only painted in like highlights, I wanted a more overall color. I eventually got there after a few tries.

The murals on the restaurant were so vibrant and fun.

We especially loved the one of our girl Frida.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and headed to bed early that night, travel days are always so tiring.

The next morning we unpacked a little bit, it was fun to see all our pink details come together.

Pink shoes and pink toes.

We spent the morning sleeping in. The kids took a bath with pink bath bombs, beth truly thought of every pink detail. Then we set up a salon for pink manicures and pedicures. 

I always love to wear press on nails during trips since they are so easy to fix if one breaks or comes off. I had lots of fun options to mix and match.

Monty painted his own finger and toe nails all by himself.

V also decided to join the press on nail club.

She felt very fancy and grown up.

We also spent time outside enjoying our colorful patio and the warm sunshine.

V wanted to try out a photography trick we saw online, she thought it was so cool.

After our morning at our homemade spa, we got all dressed up in our finest pink outfits and headed out to a late brunch.

Morning Glory, our pink restaurant of choice, didn't accept reservations so we had to check in and then kill sometime before we could be seated. We spent that time getting ice cream appetizers at a nearby ice cream shop.

Monty was beginning to show signs of not feeling well. We thought it might be a cold he picked up at daycare combined with the exhaustion of traveling. We would later find out it was something worse ... more on that later.

Then it was time to be seated for our meal. This fabulous restaurant was the entire reason we made a stop in San Diego, and it was definitely worth it, it is such a fun place.

We went a couple of hours before it closed, so after our leisurely meal, we had the place to ourselves to take all the unobstructed photos we wanted. We need to remember this tip for next time.

We were seated out on the patio, it was lovely and a little quieter than inside with the blaring music.

V looked like a movie star

This gorgeous restaurant is full of funky, little details. It was more than a meal, it was an experience.

Our sweet little man was not doing too well. He never complained about how he was feeling, he just seemed lethargic and didn't feel like eating anything. So we didn't really know what he was sick with.

In keeping with the pink theme, V ordered a strawberries and cream hot cocoa.

It was pinker than it appears

I got a peach Bellini, sans alcohol since I don't drink.

Not only was it one of the prettiest drinks I have ever had, it tasted divine, very peachy.

Then it was time to eat!

Beth and I split a classic eggs benedict and a baked blueberry skillet pancake. 

Something savory and something sweet.

Everything was absolutely delicious.

A meal at Morning Glory wouldn't be complete without a trip to the restroom.

First of all, this is the wallpaper in the waiting area, cockroaches and strawberries.

Then the restroom itself was like being inside a '90s themed disco ball.

When it was time to go home, we took the elevator down to the parking garage. V used this walkway as a catwalk to show off her sparkly, pink frock.

When we got home, Beth made a trip to the store to pick up some cold meds to help Monty feel more comfortable. I stayed with the kids and we watched Bluey on the couch. While Beth was gone, I noticed Monty's breaking became really labored, I could see his little chest having a hard time moving up and down. He was also burning up with an intense fever. When Beth got home, we gave him some meds and headed straight for the Urgent Care just to make sure he was ok, we didn't expect to be there too long.

After waiting a fairly long time, we had to wait outside since it was a respiratory issue and Covid is still quite prevalent. Luckily we were close to the airport and on the direct flight path so we got to see lots of airplanes coming and going. They were soooo close, it felt like we would be able to reach up and touch them. That kept Monty entertained while we waited. 

When they were finally able to see him, they listened to his lungs and said it didn't sound good, it sounded pretty crackly. They tested him for Covid, which came back negative and they told us we should go to the ER at the children's hospital. That was a scary thing to hear. 

We headed over to the hospital and waited in their waiting room for a while. When they took Monty back to see the Dr. only Beth could go with him. So V and I had to stay in the waiting room. I tried my best to help her feel safe and keep her spirits up, we watched cartoons, ate M&Ms from the vending machine, had dance parties and watched animal videos on my phone. She was a good sport, but even though she was being so good, I could tell she was nervous.  She asked me if Monty had died at one point and it broke my heart into a million pieces. It was just a small insight into what her mind was trying to process, she must of been so scared but was trying not to show it.

Beth would occasionally facetime us to let us know how things were going. They were giving Monty breathing treatments and were waiting until he could breathe normally on his own. They had tested him for several things and the test that came back positive was for Rhinovirus, which apparently is a sister infection to the common cold. Monty has asthma and that is why he was having such a sever reaction. We waited hours and hours. He would get really close to being discharged but then his oxygen levels would drop and set off all the alarms.

Monty was terrified and didn't want to keep the oxygen mask on and was sobbing. Beth was terrified and was also sobbing. It sounded like it was a horrible, traumatic experience.

They were able to get small moments were he didn't mind the mask which was good.

At about 1:00 am, they decided to admit Monty to the hospital overnight, and I decided it would be good to take V home so she could get some sleep, her tiredness was only adding to her fear.  When I told her we were going home without Monty and her mom she started panic bawling and I still cry every time I think about it, it was a devastating moment for both of us. I held her and let her cry to help regulate her emotions. I told her we would come right back to the hospital first thing in the morning and she eventually agreed it would be good to get some sleep. We took an Uber home and left the car at the hospital in case Beth needed it during the night. When we got home, we watched cartoons in bed for a while to help calm us down, V eventually fell asleep around 3 am.

Meanwhile, they didn't have a room for Monty at the children's hospital so they transported him in an ambulance to another hospital in the middle of the night.

After having breathing treatments all night and all morning, things started looking up. They just had to wait for him to maintain a 90 or above with his breathing. He was excited that he got to eat popsicles while they waited.

I slept from 3-7am. Then I had to wake up and pack up the entire airbnb since we were checking out that day. I packed everyones suitcases and cleaned the entire house. Then V and I had to uber to the new hospital to get the car keys from Beth, then Uber to the children's hospital to pick up the car. Then V and I went back to the airbnb and packed up the car which wasn't easy since we had a ton of stuff, there was some major tetris playing while packing. Then we drove to the hospital and waited in the parking garage until Monty was discharged. It was exhausting and unbelievably stressful. Not to mention, V woke up with The Sickness, so she wasn't feeling too well during this entire process.

When Monty was finally discharged in the late afternoon, he was all smiles and was as happy as could be. You would never guess the trauma we had all endured the night before by looking at him. They sent him home with a play stethoscope that he thought was so cool.

Since Beth hadn't slept at all the night before, I drove us from San Diego to L.A., during rush hour... 

Not the best way to start off our trip. Thankfully everything turned out ok, we had to give Monty breathing treatments every four hours for the next few days, but otherwise he did great the rest of the trip. The Rhinovirus would work its way through all of us during this trip and that illness was no joke. I have never felt so sick or been in so much pain EVER in my entire life. This was not just the common cold, it was something much, much worse and it sucked to have it while on vacation. We still tried our best to have fun despite being deathly ill.

Next up, L.A.