Yes, we have been missing for the past few days. Apologies for not giving any warning. A few days after Christmas, we got up early and headed to the airport.

Early enough to see the first glints of sunrise over the Bay.

Ever his perceptive self, August pointed out that we were no longer on the ground.

And when that got boring, sat way too close to the in-flight entertainment.

Five or so hours later, we were landing over California.

It was fascinating and new, like so much is when you are not yet six years old. Or not yet four, as the case may be.

As we got off the plane at LAX, it was Kato’s turn to pull the Woody and Buzz suitcase.

It was the first visit to LA for all of us. But as far as the kids were concerned, we could have been in any city that had an escalator.

Not long after, we got our first glimpse of the sea.

We were there for a conference, but the real treat was the palm trees and clear skies.

And the hot tub.

August decided that the hot tub was even more exciting than escalators.

 

After all, you can’t jump into an escalator.

At least, you shouldn’t.

LA was beautiful any time of day.

Everything was different. From the temperature to the roofing tile.

To the silhouettes at sunset.

We had fun. How much fun? This much fun. When this photo was taken, it was approximately 6:30pm.

Which means that Kato slept in August’s stroller while the rest of us roasted marshmallows.

Early the next morning, he was up for a walk, and so we went.

We followed a trail by the cliffs.

It was a nice break from east coast late December.

As much as I love the view from the barn window just past sunset, it doesn’t look like this.

At one point, I misplaced August for a while, but then I remembered where I’d left him.

Our time in LA went far too quickly. Before we knew it, we had to head home.

Here is a view from the window of our taxi as we drove back to the airport.

And here we are waiting in security line at LAX. Look how happy and full of energy we are, anticipating an easy, carefree journey home.

A few hours later, we landed at O’Hare, which, if you don’t know, has amazing rainbow tunnels between concourses.

We arrived at our gate only to learn that our flight had been canceled, along with all other flights to and from Reagan National Airport in DC. We asked if we could get onto another flight to another airport. The answer: no. Not until January 3.

This was January 1. The thought of two days at O’Hare was not appealing.

And so we decided to get creative. Or foolish. I’m not sure which. While Alden and Kato had a cat nap…

…Robbi and I rented a minivan and set out toward home. It was 5:00pm in Chicago and Google maps informed us that we had 15 hours to go.

Somewhere in the middle of the night, somewhere in Indiana, I stopped to snap this photo.

It was a long drive, and a hard one. We spent the first six hours battling blinding snow.

But things got better after Cleveland. And by the time we got to Breezeway (that strange oasis of garish roadside commerce to be found at the intersections of I-76 and I-70, we could tell that we were almost home.

We hit the Bay Bridge a few hours later.

The trip took 16 hours, but as we rolled over the Chester River Bridge at 10:00am on January 2, we were happy to be home.

And now we are back. And will get back to our regular blogging schedule. Including the answers to Matthew Draws, which I absolutely promise will go up on Monday.