Life in LA – Piggy Bunny Baby Blankie Cowie Chickie

(N gave me the title for tonight's post.)

Whew.

It has been a long day! But I want to make sure to memorialize what we did in LA before the rest of the trip continues. So here goes.

Our trip to LA was rough because A had the flu, we got to LA late at night, and it was POURING rain. The airport was a zoo and it took us 2 hours to get our rental car. Needless to say, we were exhausted when we got in and went right to bed.

Monday, A woke up still feeling lousy. Daddy stayed with her while M, N and I went to Manhattan Beach and met up with Griffin and Amy. We toured Jody's beautiful house, walked along the beach a bit, got acai bowls, and walked back. Then we returned back to the hotel, got Daddy and A, and got in the car. We fought LA traffic to get to Hollywood, saw some stars on the street at Grauman's Chinese Theater, then headed to Beverly Hills and drove down Rodeo Drive. We were pretty tired by that point, so we headed back to MB via UCLA to meet the Kinches for dinner. Sadly, A's fever was back up so she wasn't able to join us and I hung out with her instead.

Tuesday, Christmas Eve, we got up and by now, A was feeling better. So we headed over to MB again and went for a walk on the beach there. Our friend Jill joined us and it was great to see her and to have her meet the kids. After a few hours in MB, we headed out again and this time drove to Malibu to the Getty Villa. We got there an hour before closing and saw the building and a little bit of the collection. Then we drove back to MB via the Santa Monica Pier, where we experienced a sunset. A was starting to feel bad again so we didn't spend too much time there. We drove to a somewhat random place for dinner in MB (pickings were slim), had dinner, and then went back early to the hotel.

Christmas Day is a great day to drive around LA because there is no traffic! We went back to UCLA and this time got out and walked around. We followed a map and a walking tour guide from the website and got a slightly better sense of the (empty) campus. Then, after ogling the amazing homes in Bel-Air, we had dim sum with Jill and her family. Next we went to Venice Beach and walked among the canals. Then it was back to MB and to Jody's house. We hung out there a few hours and were heading out to catch a movie when they invited us to stay for dinner. We had a really nice dinner with the Kinches and Jonssons, which was an unexpected treat for us.

Today, we got up early and headed up the coast. We were waylaid by terrible traffic along the way and ended up missing our 2:50 tour time at the Hearst Castle. After some pleading with the ticket people, we were rebooked for 5PM. This jostled our plans around a bit – no drive to Monterey up Route 1, but it allowed us to see elephant seals (amazing) and to see the Hearst Castle, which we otherwise would have had to miss or return to tomorrow. The tour was at twilight, so we got an AMAZING sunset when we got to the top of the hill, and then got to see the house at night rather than during the day, which has its advantages. The tour was pretty cool, but it was dark when we finished and we still had a 3 hour drive to Monterey. We got here around 10 and are settled in at the hotel.

The best part of the trip so far has been seeing the Kinches and getting to meet Jill's family, and getting to know the Jonssons more. We've loved being in California and seeing the different sights and topography. Fun trip so far, minus the flu!

Some pics:

MB: