Clark Otis Marsden: Clark goes to San Diego!

We had our first family trip this past weekend. Jason went to Comic Con. Clark, Molly and I stayed as far away from that madness as possible at the Catamaran Hotel in Mission Beach right on the border of Pacific Beach, which for the price is just OK...fyi...I don't think we would stay there again.

They did allow dogs at the hotel, so we decided to take Molly...great in theory, but when you are a mom flying solo for the whole day with a newborn and a dog on the 3rd floor...let's just say it was a lot to handle. But we had a great time. While Jason was out doing his thing, the 3 of us went for a nice long hour and a half walk on the beach walk on Friday and Saturday, which was filled with people walking, running, biking, roller blading and pushing strollers. Our dog, Molly is a GREAT dog...anybody who has met her can attest to the fact that she is super chill, super sweat, super smart and just amazing. What some people don't realize is that she is all of those things UNTIL she gets on a leash...and sees other dogs on a leash...and wheels moving by very fast and hears the loud sound of skate boards whizzing by...Holy Moly, it's like a different dog...the first 1/2 hour was pretty rough. But I hung in there...breathed super slow and deep, visualized her being really calm as all the chaos came and went...and she finally settled and just walked along side us...phew. It was mild (a little chilly for my liking) and mostly cloudy, so we didn't get in the water. We mostly just walked...and it was great. There were so many families. I find it fascinating how people just come right up and talk to us now because evidently newborns make you part of an exclusive club called 'parents'.

We got to soak up the ocean air and just take in the sights and sounds of the water which is one of my favorite things to do...it was so nice. And that night...our little Clark blessed us with 7 hours of straight sleep, woke up, ate and then slept another 3. I felt like a new woman, that was the most sleep I had had in over 5 months. I thanked him profusely throughout the day.

Clark and I went to a Luau on Friday night...check him out...

Then, on Saturday there was a small window of time where it was slightly warm and sunny. So, Clark and I chilled on the beach for about an hour...

Then, Sunday we had a nice brunch before heading home...he was pretty stoked about how cute he looked in his outfit...thanks Dori and Phil!

And he slept through the whole brunch...

Well...almost...he started to get a little hungry towards the end, and I prepared to take him back to the room while Jason settled the bill...and in classic Christy style...I karate chopped my mimosa, sending oj, champagne and glass all over me and the ground...luckily missing Clark...it was awesome...

Clark was amazing on the ride back to LA. He woke up about 45 minutes before we got home, really ready to eat...and since the traffic was pretty bad...it was definitely time. We had already been on the road almost 3 hours. However, we did talk to Clark and let him know that we understood he was hungry and would gladly pull off to feed him but asked if he would think about it for 5 minutes and then decide if he could wait till we got home or if he really wanted us to stop now. He thought about it for about 2 minutes and then started crying again...to which we said, that was not quite 5 minutes...give it the full 5 and then we will do what we need to. Now of course, Jason and I were simply buying some time trying to keep him calm as traffic was a beast and it would be a bit before we could find an exit. But it really seemed that he understood us...that's the way we decided to interpret anyway and isn't that the reality of what we created? So, in our eyes, Clark decided to wait it out...super calm, super chill. Forty five minutes later, we arrived home and were able to feed him in the comfort of home...then we all went outside, lied on a blanket and watched the wind move through the trees and listened to the sounds of nature for over an hour...the perfect way to ground after a trip...

This morning...my heart melted at this site...