FLIGHT
We will fly Delta Airlines from Reagan National to Los Angeles.
Tues. Apr.18th: Depart DCA at 9:15AM. Arrive LAX at 12:01PM
(Duration: 5 hrs. 46min. Nonstop flight)
Sat. Apr.22nd: Depart LAX at 12:30PM. Arrive DCA at 8:17PM
(Duration: 4hrs. 47min. Nonstop flight)
Grandma D took us to the airport. Andy only slept about 1 hour during the
flight to Los Angeles. He started to get fussy the last hour of the flight, but overall he was a good little boy! Jaku picked
us up from the airport when we arrived home. We were welcomed home with balloons, dinner and dessert. Andy was thrilled
to see Baba and Grandma D - who couldn't wait to begin spoiling him again! We are glad to be back home in our own
surroundings and back to a normal routine. It was obvious throughout the trip that Andy missed his "sports bears"
room decor and his own bed. The 62 dissolvable stitches should come out in 5-7 days and in 4-6 months the scarring should
be minimal. Each day we can see improvements with the swelling and bruising. Andy seems to be taking all of this in stride
and has proven to be one tough little boy! We still feel that we made the right decision to go ahead with surgery. During
our stay in California, Joe took in a Dodgers game (only a few rows back from the field), and we took Andy to Venice Beach,
Mahanattan Beach, Hollywood, and Beverly Hills. We remain grateful to God, and thankful to Dr. Reinisch and the staff at Children's
Hospital Los Angeles for their awesome bedside manner and dedication to helping children.
HOTEL
We will stay 4 nights at the Ayres Hotel
Manhattan Beach in Hawthorne, California. The hotel is 3 miles from Los Angeles International Airport and about 15 miles
from Children's Hospital. If you would like to check out the hotel, click on the link at the bottom of this page. This was
appealing to us because the rooms are spacious, include buffet breakfast, free parking, and have refrigerators and microwaves (helpful
with baby bottles and jars of baby food!). The immediate area surrounding the hospital can be sketchy at night. We wanted
to stay somewhere in the suburbs of L.A. that will allow us to go for walks and also closer proximity to the beach!
GETTING AROUND
We
thought about relying on taxi's, but decided that renting a car will work out best for us. We want Andy to be buckled in
a child restraint seat while inside a moving vehicle. Most cabs don't have car seats or even seat belts for that matter.
We have arranged to rent a car seat through the rental car agency, which will be picked up at Los Angeles airport. We will
also bring along a very compact, lightweight umbrella stroller. This item can be used in the airport, at the hospital, and
can be carried onto the plane with us. At 18 lbs. Andy is too heavy to carry around for long periods of time!
