December 19, 2015

Tanya's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 20 DAYS

Festive Fun, Charitable Events, and the Hover Board

WELL, WELL, WELL, it's gonna be another GO GO GO type of day.
But I kinda figure that everyday until Christmas will be GO GO GO types of days!

Today we'll be going to the farmer's market, and then the kids have 2 performances in Long Beach for the Christian Outreach in Action Christmas Party Event; which they perform for every year on the weekend prior to Christmas.

We are thrilled to help support the COA which provides such generosity throughout the year in ways such as:

• COA provides a warm meal, twice a day, five days a week to anyone at their doorstep. In 2008 COA provided meals for 84,000.00 and 2009 increased to 98,000.00, with the demands increasing on a daily basis.
• COA provides groceries twice a week, eight times a month, every month, to many families. Clothing is available once a week and furniture provided upon availability.
• COA provides a Thanksgiving Meal and Christmas Meal, for approximately 260 to 270 at each event. They also provide Thanksgiving and Christmas Baskets for families with either a turkey or ham and all of the trimmings for a Holiday meal for 75 to 95 families.
• COA hosts a Christmas Party every year. In 2008, 783 children received a substantial toy and in 2009 the number grew to 1300.

As you'll notice that all of the stats are from prior to 2010, and the numbers have just grown each and every year.

Last year at this very same event there were in the upwards of 2,000 people and a line wrapping around the block. And each child walked away with a special gift from Santa.
​This is their Christmas. They won't be getting one at home (if they have a home).

To bring a little joy into someone else's life is really so rewarding!

These kids/ambassadors and all that they do to make this world a better place are truly like angels sent from above.

After the performance we'll grab some lunch and then Dave and the kiddos will drop me off to go on a little Christmas shopping spree for little ol me, while I stay behind and continue my wrapping efforts.

And once they get back, we will all pack up and head out to The Grove of Los Angeles, for some festive fun and to see the BIGGEST TREE in the southland, before heading to dinner at Moby's new restaurant 'Little Pine'.

​It's sure to be an eventful day which is following yesterday's very eventful day - again filled with plenty of shopping,
​the Newport Beach Boat Parade and me beginning to tackle the mountain of gifts that I need to wrap!

One thing we noticed was how much more crowded the event was going on a Friday night (we usually go on either a Wednesday or Thursday).

From the Award winning decorated homes, to the elaborately set up train-sets, and the spectacular lit boats, there was song and dance, and plenty of cheer throughout the night...

EVER WONDER...

How many boats are in a boat parade??
​It varies from year to year, but as many as 100 boats of all sizes, shapes and colors make up the parade. Everything from kayaks to over 100-foot super-yachts participate each year.

When did this all begin??
2015 marks the 107th year for the parade, making it one of the oldest running holiday traditions in the country.​

And that was the festive fun time we had!

I'm just finding out about what happened with Elisa and her scheduled departure to Florida yesterday - I guess she packed a HOVERBOARD...
Which is Illegal to take on flights - they have been know to self combust!!

So I suppose that it is a good thing that this happened to her - because we can mention it to you - I bet she isn't the only one who was unaware of this policy and the fact that these boards have this scary issue.

The plan is to have the boards manufactured in the USA rather than China so to avoid this problem - but until then it certainly is a problem...especially around the holidays when the HOVERBOARD is the hot (no pun intended) item of the season!

Oh and NEWSFLASH for the airlines who suggested to Elisa to ship the HOVERBOARD via Fedex...
Dave C. works for Fedex and they are certainly not allowed to ship HOVERBOARDS either.
​UGH... But as the saying goes and definitely our family motto SAFETY FIRST!! 

On that note - I've gotta run! Catch ya back here tomorrow with more festive fun events from the southland!

Ciao,
​-T

Elisa's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: Boca Raton

West Palm Beach - Take 2

Hey folks.  Hope your Saturday is going well!

Okay, this is a good one for you - a travel first for me...

Yesterday afternoon me and the girls could not have been in a better position to leave for our Florida Christmas vacation.  We were packed well in advance, the house was clean, we had our car pick us up on time. 

We even made it through check-in and security in record time, once at the airport.

Our flight had been delayed by about 35 minutes, which was not a big deal, so we just hung out at the gate, had a snack and waited with baited breath.

All of a sudden, they call my name over the loud speaker to come to the gate.
"Hmmm,"  I thought - what could this be about.

Apparently, there was an issue with one of our two suitcases.  

Now, let me backtrack.  Gianna begged me for a hover board for Christmas.  So, like any good mom, that's what I got her. 

This thing is rather large, but I was able to fit it in the suitcase.  It was also very heavy, but I figured, well, once I check it, no biggie.

Cut back to the gate...apparently, new airline policy does not allow hover boards on planes.  Something to do with the lithium battery, blah, blah, blah.

I'm further told that the airline does not have a place to store this (temporarily) until someone was able to pick it up.  

My choices at this point were the following:
* Throw it out (I don't think so!)
* Bring it over to FedEx and ship it (it was close to 8pm, I didn't have a car, so this was not a good option)
* Get someone to pick it up (My sister and family were at a show last night, so they were unable to pick it up till today and the airlines would not hold it more than an hour or so)
* Leave the airport and bring it home.

Well, guess which one we wound up going with...
Yup!  Half hour before the flight was boarding, me and the girls proceed down to baggage services to claim the bag in question, leave the airport   head home.

Now our other bag was going to be en route to West Palm Beach, so we would have to claim it upon our arrive on Saturday (today).

It felt rather surreal.  So, back in a cab, out to Long Island, and back home.

The good news is that the airlines were very amenable and got us on an early morning flight, no change fees and even waived the baggage fee (obviously, since I had paid once) for the next day.

Our flight was at 7:20AM, so by the time we returned home, took out the hover board and settled in, it was close to 10 and we had to be up and at 'em again at 4:45AM to get to the airport or the morning flight.

The kids were great - no complaints - real travel troopers.

There were some tears last night when I told them we had to leave and come back.  But, all was good in the end.

As we approached the gate, it was as if we found an oasis in the desert.  The kids spotted the outlet station! Excitement filled their faces and they raced to stake their claim on this valued airport commodity.

As for me, I took advantage of the free wifi (only 30 minutes complimentary) and wrote my blog.

In the end, I feel better that we were able to arrive into West Palm Beach in the daylight.  It just makes things easier driving and navigating.

I'll fill you in on more tomorrow when I'll be writing you from Boca Raton, Florida as my time is running out!!

Have a great Saturday!!

-E
xoxo