Ryder with headphones

The flight into LAX was relatively uneventful. We’d purchased (after previously borrowing and losing a critical part of our friend’s DVD player) a portable DVD player to keep Ryder busy during the flight, and for the most part, it worked like a charm. Other than some resistance to being buckled in during takeoff and landing, he was a real trooper. We smoothed over some of the seatbelt tension by telling him about how the pilot was “in charge,” a concept which he’s since become fond of.

We’d rented a mid-size car in advance for the week of our trip, but the gentleman at the rental counter pulled the super-hard-upgrade-sell on me, and I caved. (I get the sense that the employees really must have some significant bonuses built into their compensation for getting people to upgrade, because it always seems like there’s a strong push made for that). After lurking around in the car lot, we offered a choice to Ryder between a few different Toyota Highlanders. Ryder selected the electric blue version. After piling all our stuff into the car, we headed to the In-N-Out Burger, which, thankfully was 5 minutes from the airport. Typically, the Double Double is a mandatory upon arrival in Cali.

Ryder in Sand, with Auntie Mayme.

We headed over to Hermosa Beach to Amy & Tim’s place, a lovely joint a few short blocks from the water. It was great to get to hang out with them in their natural habitat. Amy, Ryder and I went for a quick walk on the beach where Ryder experimented with the physics of throwing handfuls of sand into the air. Amy and Tim cooked us a great dinner and Amy’s friend Tricia and her husband, Eric, came over. Tricia introduced me to a sweet iPhone game called Peggle, which she tells me will soon begin to change my life once I actually purchase it from the app store.

At night, Ryder got snuggled into his very own “bed” on the floor, which was really just some blankets surrounded by pillows and Maisy girl slept in a pack-n-play Amy had borrowed for us. We were all tuckered out after a long day of hustle and bustle.

In the morning we got all our gear packed up and started our road trip to Grandma and Grandpa Rubles’ house. Stay tuned.