Bathrooms Make Great Bedrooms

Bad news: Jason had to work the week in between Xmas and New Years in LA, which we normally both get off.

Good news: He only had to work 2 days, and his worked paid for us to stay at Shutters for 5 days. Free hotel on the beach with expensed room service? How can you pass that up?

We've travelled with Tanner in the past, but it was always back east to visit family, staying in houses with kitchens, separate bedrooms and extra hands to gladly entertain Tanner. No one quite set my expectations about vacationing with a toddler and staying in a single room hotel room. Not really a vacation, other than room service. It's a challenge. When we vacation, we're constantly on the move, only using the hotel as a place to pass out at night and store our luggage. With a toddler who still takes 2 naps/day, goes to bed at 7 and refuses to sit in a high chair at restaurants (and boycotts by vomiting all over the table), you're pretty limited. After a few days of getting used to being holed up in a hotel room for most of the day with the TV volume and lights on low (shhhh sleeping baby), we were the ones that adapted. Check out the pics below of the hotel bathroom, I mean Tanner's bedroom/kitchen/tv room. Parents can be pretty darn resourceful when they need to be. I guess living in a city apartment helps. Don't get me wrong, we still had a lot of fun, and even got out for New Year's Eve, after paying Mrs. Doubtfire $180 + room service (for only 4.5 hours) to babysit. We did a lot of beach walking, checking out the Santa Monica aquarium and boardwalk, Venice beach and Santa Monica promenade. I even showed Tanner Henri Bendel, where he can get me future Mother's Day gifts.

50 minute plane rides are so much better than 6 hour ones.

At the Venice canals:

Racing over the bridges

One very overdone house. No one actually lives in it during the holidays.

Again, this is only one house.

My old friend, Sara. We were camp counselors together at Holiday Hill 18 years ago, and she looks exactly the same!

We turned the bathroom into Tanner's bedroom, kitchen (he's eating clipped onto the sink) and living room. (note the TV).

On Santa Monica Pier on a rainy day.

With Tanner's bud Claire at dinner.