My first travel post! Yay!! Can you tell that I am jazzed? Get ready, this is a long one 🙂
Like most people, I love to travel. We definitely have slowed down since the arrival of our precious baby toddler, Gia in May of 2016. We actually took 12 trips in 2015! Then at the end of 2015 we found out that I was pregnant. That put the kabosh on most of our wild trips! We still do an annual family trip to Hawaii, which is so so fun.
Annnyyywwwayyyss, fast forward to November 2017. Richard (my fiancé) thought it would be a good idea to hop on a plane and visit my 97 year old Grandmother. He was able to book our tickets through his Alaska miles back in November, then we were off to the bay!!
R is an Alaska Mileage Club member, so we got to go to the swanky club lounge! G enjoyed this because there were complimentary English muffins and yogurt. Mama and Dada got to enjoy their free “special juice” as well. DRANKS! Nothing like a mimosa in the morning to gear up for your plane ride with a toddler! Parents, I know ya feel me.
G is a great traveler, for the most part. She is almost 22 months, so is settling into prime toddlerhood. She does need constant attention and stimulation, but otherwise she is very easygoing. Luckily our flight was only 1 hour and 48 minutes (SEA to OAK), so it was not too rough. We had a few screaming episodes (seeing how high her voice could go), but otherwise was a smooth flight! I will follow with a more detailed post with some of my favorite tips to entertain toddlers during flights. Basically, I force fed her airplane crackers, gave her pens for coloring and let her play games on my phone. Hey, whatever works, right?
*Pro-Tip: try to look for a row that has one open seat. Gives more room for the independent little muffins to have their own seat and tray. Gia LOVES the tray! Or even better, do like we did and bring baby’s grandparent!
Getting off the plane with babies and bags is always a fine-art form, but we managed to get off the plane unscathed. We rounded up our luggage and went to pick up our rental car. Gia even fell asleep on our way to grab our rental car.
**IMPORTANT WARNING AHEAD** Do not EVER rent from Fox Rentals. I selected our rental car through Expedia and we had the worst experience ever. They had overbooked the cars and there were 6 couples ahead of us waiting for cars. Did I mention that there were 5 adults and 1 toddler in our party? Color me unimpressed. They told us it would be an hour plus until our car was there. We ended up having to cancel our reservation and booking with Alamo, which was WAY better. We got the same mini-van as we had in Hawaii! Can’t go wrong with a Dodge Caravan.
We rounded the squad up and went straight to my happy place: In-N-Out Burger!! We don’t have it here in WA, so it is always a treat to go eat a delicious double-double. I was a good girl and only had a single. BUT MY HEART WANTED A DOUBLE.
After nomming on some burgs, we headed to our adorable AirBnB.
It was in the Piedmont Area of Oakland and it was in walking distance of a bunch of adorable shops, restaurants and bars. Perfect for my family! There were 5 of us in our 2 bedroom, 2 bath AirBnB, but it worked really well!
After we settled in, we made our way to my Grandmother’s house, which was in the Oakland hills, above East Oakland. We were so excited to see her and have her interact with Gia. The last time she saw her was when Gia was 4 months old, so a lot has changed.
We had the BEST time seeing Grandmere! She got to play and hold G’s hand. Gia even tickled her. It was so sweet.
My cousins and Aunt were there as well, so we had our whole family in one room. My grandmother kept commenting on how much of a flirt baby G is and how bring she was and it really got me in the feels because that is my girl. My little ham bone! The sunset was gorgeous as well.
I have been trying to live more in the present and I was just struck by the beauty of the sunset and how lovely the scenery looked. I just enjoyed sitting on the deck and letting the wind hit my face.
We planned on seeing my grandmother the next day, so we said our goodbyes and went back to the AirBnB. My mom agreed to watch Gia while Richard and I met up with his cousin in downtown Oakland. My cousin invited us to this amazing event called Trapxart. Richard LOVES trap music (well we both do) and we love art, so this was a blast for us. My sister and my cousin came along too, so we had fun dancing and buying a bunch of fun pins.
We ended up staying out WAY past my bed time and going out to the waffle house after the event. But dammit, I have no regrets! It is rare for us to get a fun night out together.
Needless to say, the next morning I was t.i.r.e.d.! I still got up around 8am and went with my mom to get some breakfast. I stumbled upon a juice bar that had the BEST juice ever. It was spinach, mango, passionfruit, banana. YUM!
We brought Gia back for her nap and then I got to take a nap. What a treat!! I had a really unrestful nap and kept on seeing all these weird images.
Richard woke me up from my nap in a panic. My grandmother had a heart attack. We had to go over to her house right away.
I did my best to get dressed, get Gia ready and get everyone into the car. It was the longest 20 minute drive ever. When we arrived, the house was surrounded by fire trucks and ambulances.
My cousin came out to greet us and gave us the news. My lovely Grandmere had passed away. My sister and I were just overcome with grief. I couldn’t help but feel responsible for giving her heart too much to handle.
The good news was that she died at home in a comfortable place and surrounded by family. She passed very suddenly and I could not help but think about the divine timing of it all. I KNOW she is up in Heaven with our Grandpa Chuck and her sister Aunt Anita. I am sure they are having the best time!
My grandmother was a very well known artist in the bay area and she did not live by anyone’s rules. She was an activist, artist, teacher, mother and role model. She was the first black teacher in San Jose school district and she marched with Martin Luther King in Selma. She was a HUGE role model for her courage and passion for life. In the words of Maya Angelou, a phenomenal woman! We are so sad to lose her, but so blessed to have her in our lives.
The rest of the trip ended in a haze, but we were able to meet up with our other cousin before we left. We went to a delicious salad/sandwich spot called Café Mecca. Home-baked bread and giant salads!? Count me in.
We were able to get on our flight on time, but we were all pretty silent and heartbroken. It was hard knowing that was the last time that we would see Grandmere.
Her death really brought things into perspective for me. The time for living is NOW! It is important to leave the petty stuff at home and live your life the way you want. That is part of the reason I named my blog “Stay Golden Mama”.
Find that thing that gives you that warm fuzzy golden feeling and go chase it!!!
Stay golden, my friends
xo
Simone
