Family Vacation -- Day 1

We left for California on the 6:45 a.m. flight from Champaign to Chicago on Sunday. I was really worried about getting X-man up and to the airport, as the last time we left that early to go to Philadelphia, he was a complete mess on the short flight.

This time it was light when we woke him, which helped a lot. We got a kid who firmly believes in sleeping when it's dark and waking when it's light. My body agrees with him. He was very excited to pull MacTroll's new cow suitcase all the way to security from the parking lot. When we got into the terminal, MacTroll gasped. In front of us was a brand new X-ray machine for luggage at the airport. Now, MacTroll flies out of Willard every other week. Upon seeing his happy surprise, the TSA agent (who immediately recognized MacTroll) struck up a conversation with him about the new addition. I lead X-man over to the check-in to keep things moving.

Between flights we hung out at the Children's Museum display between the American and United concourses so X-man could play. He ran a lot of sillies out before we boarded our plane. We road in the business class. MacTroll had gotten X-man and I seats at the very back, so X-man couldn't annoy people behind us, and MacTroll got upgraded to the seat in front of X-man in case there was any kicking. I think I annoyed the flight attendant with my constant refusal of food, since I'm on my restrictive diet. I packed a fruit salad, several apples and a couple of the approved Benefit bars for the trip.

X-man didn't sleep the whole flight, which was a tad annoying. He settled down with the iPod to watch Shaun the Sheep for 40 minutes. And the rest of the time he and I were playing space shuttle and cars and coloring together. He was very fond of all the trays he could pull out and put things on.

When we got to San José, we rented a car and drove to visit MacTroll's brother's family in Belmont, Calif. Within 15 minutes of pulling out of the airport, X-man fell asleep. He ended up napping on one of the beds for 2 out of the 3-hour visit. So he didn't get much playing in with his cousins.

Afterward, we drove into the city and checked into the Westin St. Francis. We got a junior suite with points with a rollaway bed. It's an old hotel with smaller rooms that have been updated. But it's close to everything. We walked over to the "show" (WWDC) and then to dinner at a California Pizza Kitchen (because I can eat there) and had dinner with one of MacTroll's colleagues from D.C. Then we played at he Yerba Buena Play Place, which had a number of large slides, a huge sand and water table and a climbing area.

Coming up: Day 2 and Day 3 -- Trolley ride to Fisherman's Wharf, the 3-hour nap and why I hate Chevy's.