Topic: The States
Paula dropped me and Ryan off at the airport (MCO) in the early hours of Dec. 12. Ryan and I got through security in a wonderfully short amount of time. However, that left us with quite a bit of time on our hands before our flight boarded. There just happened to be a Starbucks right there... :D They had a maple latte on their menu board. I'd never had one, so I went ahead and tried one. Not too bad. At the very least, it was something different.
(Just a little segue on the comparative availability of various Starbucks beverages: The SBUX (the stock market abbreviation for Starbucks) at MCO is the only place I recall seeing the maple latte during my entire Stateside visit. The SBUXs in England (that I've seen) had the big three Christmas drinks: peppermint mocha, gingerbread latte, and toffee nut latte. However, they did not have the pumpkin latte, or the caramel apple cider. Interestingly, the UK SBUXs had and still have Signature Hot Chocolate (with caramel and hazelnut varieties in addition), which I didn't see in the States. Finally, Stateside SBUXs replaced their Christmas drinks with the cinnamon dulce latte. Yum! Such an animal does not exist in the UK.)
The flight went pretty well. Joyce and Norm picked me and Ryan up at LAX. Joyce suggested we take Ryan to a nearby beach to let him run around. This was an excellent idea! We went to El Segundo beach - not exactly one of SoCal's nicer beaches, but after being cooped up on the plane, Ryan had a blast running free, which was the whole point!
From there we had lunch at IHOP, then stopped in the Diamond District. Joyce had an errand to run there. It was interesting to me, since I'd never been. I had no idea so many jewelry stores could co-exist in one spot! :) After that, it was the long drive back to Indio, with a quick stop at WalMart before heading to Joyce and Norm's house. Joyce and Norm really made their home welcoming for us. Joyce put up an adorable Christmas tree covered in peppermint candy themed ornaments. There were also toys and books to keep Ryan entertained.
Joyce and Norm live in a Del Webb community, which is gated, private, and very nice. They have a golf cart to tool around in. It was a nice evening, so Norm took Ryan and me to go feed the ducks at a nearby pond. There was a bag of stale Cheerios for the ducks. We opened it up, and showed Ryan how to throw Cheerios to the ducks. Ryan, with a very intent look on his face, reached into the bag, looked at the ducks, and shoved a handful of Cheerios into his mouth! We just could not get him to throw the Cheerios for anything! We figured he must have been pretty hungry to eat stale Cheerios...
Later on in the evening after I got Ryan down to bed, Joyce and Norm and I took a dip in their pool. That was nice and relaxing.
Ryan slept pretty well, but his tossing and turning kept waking me up. We'd gotten him a ReadyBed, one of those all-in-one inflatable mattress/sleeping bags. It would have been perfect, except that Ryan tends to sleep all over the place, and being zipped up (even a little) in a sleeping bag was too restricting for him. Oh well. Hopefully next year... Joyce improvised by taking a huge cushion off a chaise lounge style couch, and making a bed for Ryan on that. That worked pretty well. (We wound up taking it with us to my parents' house.)
The next day, Norm very kindly watched Ryan while Joyce and I went to lunch (Islands!) and shopped. God bless Norm! He took Ryan to the park, fed him lunch, changed a very dirty diaper (happily!), and took Ryan back to the duck pond (where Ryan finally decided to share the Cheerios with the ducks). I was thrilled that Ryan seemed to bond with Norm right away, and it was great to have a nice afternoon with Joyce.
In the evening, we brought Ryan into the pool with us. (The pool was heated!) Ryan loves the water, and has a very powerful kick! He had a great time splashing around.
On the 14th, we took Ryan to two different parks, both of which he really enjoyed. The weather in Indio was great! It was sunny and very warm, almost hot. In the evening, we took Ryan to get a picture with Santa at the mall. Ryan still is not crazy about Santa. I wound up having to get in the picture with him. Afterwards, we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. They have to-die-for avocado egg rolls. Yum! After dinner we went looking at Christmas lights. I always enjoy that, and I think Ryan did, too.
The next day, Joyce had an appointment, so she dropped me and Ryan off at the Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert. http://www.cdmod.org/exhibits/tour.php It was a really neat place, with lots of interesting things for kids of all ages. I was quite frustrated at first, because all Ryan wanted to do was run around, and I had to chase him to keep track of him! After a while he settled down a bit though, and then we both had a fun time.
Later on in the afternoon, Joyce and Norm watched Ryan so I could have a bit of time to myself. That was wonderful! I went to Old Navy and got some things, then went over to the mall. I went to my favorite store, New York & Co., and got three pairs of jeans and a belt for $69! They had some great sales, plus they give discounts to the military. After that, I made a mandatory Starbucks stop, then got a 15 minute chair massage. All in all, a very enjoyable and relaxing afternoon!
(That afternoon was the first time I'd driven a car since I got to the States. It was weird for literally only about ten seconds. After that, it was just like I'd never left.)
In the evening, we all went to the Living Desert to see their light display. We went last year and had a good time. It was neat this year, too.
Saturday the 16th was my last full day in Indio. Joyce and Norm and Ryan and I met a bunch of Norm's family for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was a fun time! At the end, a Mariachi gave Ryan a personal serenade!
Ryan and I had a great time visiting Joyce and Norm!