Home again, jiggity-jig

I am home, unpacked, mostly cleaned up, catching up, and getting in touch with all now about our trip to California this past week. The schools here have fall break so we had a week to go do some visiting. We haven't taken the girls to see Marce's family in four years, and we've had our new addition since the last visit, of course, so it was high time to take everyone to northern California.
One of my sisters-in-law works for US Airways so we were able to get very cheap standby tickets at the beginning of the year. It wasn't the ideal way to fly, but it went pretty smoothly, all things considered. We flew out on a light travel day, last Tuesday, and planned to come home Sunday. The flight out was incredibly smooth and easy, except that we had to leave home before 4 a.m. to get to the airport. But Sunday wasn't as simple. Flights got full and we couldn't get on the first one we had planned, so we waited six hours to get on the next one that had space. Then we couldn't get on the last flight from Charlotte, NC (the hub), to home, so we ended up getting a hotel in Charlotte and hanging out until almost noon, when the next open flight left. We finally made it home mid-afternoon on Monday. The girls were wonderful travelers and the crew and staffers with US Airways were terrific and most helpful. We were very pleased. Now, we probably won't be doing a big trip like that again any too soon, and not on standby, but perhaps Marce and I or just me could do a standby thing again sometime in the future. But it was MOST welcome for our limited budget this year.
So that was the flight situation. In terms of the actual trip, it went well except for us all getting colds right before we left home or right after we arrived in Cali. So we were popping Zicams and hoping for the best. It was surprisingly cold last week, apparently both here and in California, so we ended up buying the girls little jackets and some long pants. Charlotte also got a tooth while we were out there! Her first one. At only 5 1/2 months old. She did pretty well. We didn't really realize she was teething; the traveling and different sleeping arrangements had us all a bit unrested anyway, so we had no idea she was at all uncomfortable thanks to teeth. But she has been chewing and chomping on our fingers or anything else she can get her gums on!
We went into San Francisco, of course, and drove the girls all around. It was a GORGEOUS day for it. We went to Macy's at Union Square and let Brianna see some REAL shopping. The 8 floors impressed and delighted her. We all made some very nice purchases and got some good deals, as it turned out.
We also went to Ghirardelli Square, so we could eat at the soda fountain. We got the "Earthquake," the 8-scoop, 8-topping sundae that we love and had four years ago. We polished it off in about 5 minutes. Not a drop left. When the server brought it out, all the tourists and fellow eaters around us turned and stared, smiled, laughed, eyes popping wide open, amazed. We had a number of people stand and take pictures of our ice cream! It was great. Also purchased a few bits of chocolate to take home, natch.
Marce and I went to the Oakland Temple while we were there, where we were married. It was a nice visit and so great to be back somewhere familiar and very special/sentimental to us. We were exhausted and barely able to stay awake because of sleep deprivation, time zone difference, colds, etc., but it was nice.
Marce's brother and family came up to see us from Visalia, where they now live. We were SO glad they were able to do that. We enjoyed visiting with them and all the girls (and boy). The kids all had a great time together, playing like crazy all day Saturday in Marce's dad's backyard. Marce's sister came to hang out with us all too, and some friends, and it was just wonderful to all be together.
We ate the foods we enjoy out there -- big, cheap, yummy burritos; Fresh Choice and Black Angus. Had a fair amount of Chinese food... :)
Marce and I were able to go to the opera on Saturday night right before we flew out (we only got three hours sleep once we got back from it and before we headed to the airport). We saw the opening night of "The Magic Flute" by Mozart put on by the San Francisco Opera at the grand War Memorial Opera House. WOW! It was stunning. The house is beautiful, stately, ornate, amazing. The opera was really fun and the performances stellar. It was really an amazing experience. Marce was just sad he wasn't all there for it -- he was still exhausted, though I had managed to adjust and feel awake to enjoy it. It was really a great experience. We had gotten to see the SF Opera before, right before we moved to Anniston 9 1/2 years ago, but the opera house was being renovated at the time so we only saw the opera in a temporary location. Madama Butterfly was still amazing and absolutely heartbreakingly beautiful, and I loved it, but being at the opera house was an experience I didn't want to miss. Wow! again.
Let's see... that pretty much wraps things up. We're all home safe and sound again and I'm just getting caught up. Enjoy the photos of the trip on my SmugMug site.