The Reardon Adventures: October 2009

Oh California... sweet California...

So I remembered that I haven't blogged about my trip to California yet. As most of you know, back in April I bought tickets to a Dave Matthews Band concert in San Diego. The reason for this purchase was because Switchfoot was opening for them... I know... AMAZING. If I had to name my top 3 bands, it would be DMB, Switchfoot and Hillsong/ Hillsong United - so to see 2 of them together was just incredible. I immediately called Amber and TOLD her she was coming with me. No kids... just us girls. Our friend Amy decided she had to experience this with us so off we went! It was so weird packing JUST for myself. It actually felt quite odd and a lot harder than packing for a family of 4. So off I went - 1 carry-on, 1 purse, and 1 breast pump!

I'm trying to recall every event in which it happened so please excuse my jumbling! First off, this was my first ever trip without my kids. Eden is 2 1/2 and Uriah is almost 11 months. I was a bit sad to leave, but excited for the adventure. It made it a lot easier to leave knowing that they would be there with home with their daddy. So, off I went.

It was so weird being at the airport by myself... sitting at a cafe, eating a hot breakie all by myself... crazy! Then the madness started ** ANY MALE READERS THAT HAVE A HARD TIME WITH NURSING MOTHERS STOP READING ** I was about to explode. Into the bathroom I went to find a stall with an outlet... wait... there were ZERO outlets... not one in 1 of the 20 stalls. Then I saw the only one... right on the middle of the sink counter... so I took out my pump and started pumping. I had many women come in and give me that look... some smiled and said, " Oh, I remember those days honey..." and continued to tell me how back in the day they nursed their kids until age 5...WHOA WHOA WHOA... hold the phone! As soon as my child can spell or say mimi's, milk, mommy, that's where I draw the line! So first pumping session over. I have to admit when I was pouring my milk down the drain, it felt as though I was dumping gold down the sink. For any mother, I think breast milk = gold!

So I made it to my connection - Dallas, TX where I got on the same flight with my sweet friend, Amber! We were so excited that we were on the same flight to San Diego! Woo Hoo for us! There was only 1 problem. It had now been 4-5 hours since my last pumping session. All along I was assuming I would get to Dallas, pump, then be okay until we landed in SD. Well, there wasn't enough time during the connection. Now nursing mom's, you know that feeling... you feel like you are about to explode and it's starting to make you sick... We boarded and I started talking to the sweetest African American stewardess. I asked her if there were any sort of plugs/ outlets on the plane. She told me no and asked why I needed one. I told her my reason and she told me how the same thing happened to her when she went to an airline conference. I asked her what she did and I still can't believe she told me. She told me she did the only thing she could think of... (by the way, she acted out what I'm about to say)... She said she practically milked herself and spit it out... OH MY WORD~ My mouth was to the ground... I was mortified! I don't know why, but the only thing I could think of to say was, "how did you get it in your mouth?"

So I went into the bathroom to give myself some sort of relief. Don't worry. There was no way I was even going to attempt what she said! I tried milking myself and it was aweful. Milk everywhere. All over the mirror, floors... I was squirting myself in the eyes... I was SO embarrassed to walk back out of the lavatory. I felt as though I had been in there for 30 minutes and I knew Amber would be cracking up... Note to self: Do NOT take a girls trip until your children are weaned!

So we made it to sunny California! We hopped into our rental car and drove to meet Amy at the house we were staying at. It was amazing and we were very blessed. We drove to the beach and hung out, watched the sunset, and had an amazing dinner.

Saturday we started driving down the coast to the Venue in Chula Vista, CA. We stopped at a In & Out Burger (where I got food poisoning and was sick the rest of the night... at the concert...) and then stopped at a Trader Joe's to get some snacks for the pre-concert festivities.

So all pre concert, I was sick... puking in a port a potty.... gross! Bad burger... anyways, Switchfoot was AMAZING! I saw a side of Amber that I have never seen before!!! She went up to every security guard she could find and proceeded to tell them why they should let her through to the stage....! It was so awesome! She told them how she flew all the way from Texas to see Switchfoot! It was classic! I love you Ambie!!! I seriously was preparing to watch her just bust through security and run to the front!!

Then Dave started and it was amazing. His latest album is maybe the best yet. Anyway, the first note started and I think the 3 of us were high instantly. I have never smelt weed like that. It was everywhere. The 3 of us were laughing so hard... then I started puking. We had to leave and there we sat on the shoulder of the 805 with me puking my guts out...

All in all the trip was so wonderful. We had so much fun - lots of laughs, good food, and relished in the Lord's beautiful creation.

The second thing we learned was if you are going to travel half way around the country to see a concert, pay the extra $30 for seats instead of the lawn!

I'm sure I'm leaving some funny stuff out, but my brain is fried at the moment!

Oh! I remember one more thing. I was at the SD airport doing one last round of pumping in the bathroom and bless her heart, an employee at the airport came up to me and asked me if anyone could do what I was doing (make milk come out of you...) and I said, "Yes, if you are a woman, have kids..." I was thinking she had a small baby... I asked her how old her child was and she said 8... OH MY WORD! Could you imagine if she went home and was like, come here son...!

Enjoy the pics!

Love,

Erin