Vacation Day 4 - Robertson, Sunset, Melrose & The GRAMMY's

Day 4 was a busy one! We went and walked all the major high-end shopping/celebrity areas. We started off driving up to Hollywood to take some pictures of the Hollywood sign, walked by the Roosevelt Hotel and then headed over to the Sunset Strip. In the movies and my mind the Sunset Strip always seemed way more glamorous than it really was in person. There were a few restaurants -- Ketchup was one of the few I recognized but it wasn't open for lunch. So we kept walking and went by the Viper Room, a popular club. But nothing major appealed to us for shopping or eating so we moved on.

Good thing we picked up that stroller at Target -- well sort of L, wants to be carried half the time so at least we have something to push the diaper bag. Robertson Blvd was the next stop. We found parking $1.00 every 30 minutes, not bad around here. We walked in a few stores, Kitson, Rock & Republic, & 7 for all Mankind, tried on some cute & not so cute jeans! I think I still need to run before I get a pair of those jeans! We walked by the Ivy - a popular celeb hangout. It was packed, but everyone has big sunglasses on so who knows if you're a celeb or not! Maybe I should get bigger glasses, ha! L had a bottle in the plaza and then we decided to look for lunch... Auntie O brought her GPS so we looked up restaurants (other than the pricey Ivy) and it said there was a pizzeria a few blocks away. So we walked and walked and walked...only to finally realize when we arrived at the address where there should be a pizza place the address belonged to Cedar-Siani Hospital, agh! We walked back past a few very pricey, fancy restaurants - none appropriate to bring a baby and good luck finding Auntie O something to eat :-)

So off we went to Melrose Ave. We drove down instead of walked since my feet had blisters (Auntie O is a full size to size and a half smaller feet than I) and we were hungry. It looked like a lot of fun shops and they actually had eateries! Oh well next time. Paramount Pictures is on Melrose - amazing that a bunch of big plain buildings can create amazing films on the inside. I really wanted to tour a studio or two, but FYI no studio allows babies that I found. :-(

We headed home and had some pizza. Then Auntie O lives close to the GRAMMY Museum so we headed over there since it was $2 off after 6PM. The GRAMMY museum was very cool! They have TONS of interactive displays. There are lots of original songs writings, albums, grammy costumes, etc. on display. You can go to a series of different booths & each teach you the different methods of creating and producing a song - Lo and I worked with Jermain Dupri to do a rap - Steppin' on my J'z! Uncle F you would love this place!

After that we headed back and L went down for the night. We watched Death at a Funeral - probably one of the funniest movies ever!

L is pretty adjusted to the time zone - she actually did it with ease on the first night. Aside from she wakes up for about a half hour in the middle of the night, just to play or cry because she doesn't know where she is...she's doing great! I wonder what it will be like when we get back!

Well L is pulling on the desk to see what I'm doing so it's off to start the new day!

Vacation Day 3 - Zuma Beach Malibu

Day 3 we woke up and Auntie O made French Toast...yum! Then we loaded up the car and headed to Zuma Beach in Malibu. It's one of California's most well known beaches. Driving up the Pacific Coast Highway we saw lots of nice beach houses and mercedes seem to be an everyday car around here. Saw Julie Andrews house right on the water. I recognized some other houses that I've seem on TMZ but don't know whose they are. You can tour Barbra Striesand's old house for $30/pp - no thanks!

The waves were about 8 feet, very high for this area, so the surfers were out in full force. It was really fun to watch them; I saw a few do flips. L had here first time in the ocean and loved it. She played in the sand and had some snacks. The high today in Malibu was 92...pretty hot, so we've been trying to get L to drink as much water as possible.

Had lunch at the Beachcomber Cafe on the Malibu Pier, overpriced but good food. J had swordfish tacos, O a Kobe Burger, and me a caesar salad. Then we walked down to another portion of the beach by celebrity homes where you can walk on the beach, but the waves were so high there really was no beach to walk on.

When we got back we sat around the pool at Auntie O's place. A group of people were playing volleyball, L wanted to join in -- she was clapping and watching them intently. She was hysterically laughing as J would go under water and come up in front of her, so cute!

Good day at the beach!

Vacation Day 2 - Hollywood & Highland

Day 2 was Hollywood & Highland! I had worried how L would adjust to the time difference of 2 hours, but she proved again that she's a natural traveler and woke up at 6:45AM -- actually sleeping in 45 minutes! L played for awhile and then took her morning nap, so I took advantage of the sleeping time and walked across the street to Ralph's for some groceries and then checked out things to do in Hollywood.

A 12noon L got up from her nap so we headed to Target in West Hollywood to get a stroller and some baby supplies. In the 10months L has been around, she's been to Target and other stores lots --- yet never have I had to change her diaper in a store. As soon as I walked into Target, J smelled poop...DANG!

After that we headed to Hollywood & Highland. We had lunch at Mel's Drive-In and Celebrity Bar (where Jay Leno is known to hang out at night with his cars). Had a great burger and fries...L clapped for our waiter every time he walked by and with her coy smile made friends with another table. Maybe I should look for an agent, ha! Then we walked around looking at the stars, saw some street caricatures, went to Grumman's Theater, Kodak theater, played in the fountain, went to the disney soda fountain for a scoop of ice cream. I let L try ice cream, cookies & cream, this would be her first time with ice cream -- I didn't want her to have sweets so young, but she's on vacation too!

It was really hot out, after a few hours, L was getting hot and sweaty so we headed home for the day. Grilled burgers with Auntie O and B. We joked they were slow-smoked b/c the grill took about 45 minutes to cook them. After that L took a bath and went to bed - out light a light! We had some mudslides and watched a movie - He's Just Not That Into You. Good movie! They were filming out on the side walk in front of Auntie O's place...didn't see anything.

Vacation Day 1 -- Flying with an infant

July 23 was day one of our trip to Los Angeles to vacation and visit my sister. We picked a late flight so L would sleep on the plane -- I hoped! I spent the afternoon running to Target and getting last minute snacks for back up in case of a meltdown. I found every favorite toy of L's and put it in the back pack, just in case. Since you have to pay to check luggage we were carrying everything on, except a car seat which we checked -- side note Sun Country checks car seats for FREE! yes!! So we had 2 wheeled carry-ons and 2 backpacks for a while week, now that's what I call a Master Packer!

We arrived 2 hours early just in case...it's a lot of work going through security with a baby. All her baby food and formula had to be in one container for the bomb dog, then liquids in a another, then our luggage, and shoes. Luckily there was no one at security so we were able to take our time. We played games with L while we waited, she now can flick her lips with her hands to make noises. L's normal bedtime is 7PM, but she was "too excited to sleep " I say and stayed up until we departed at 9:45PM.

Once we boarded I gave L her bottle so she would be drinking during take off, several moms said this is a great trick so their ears don't hurt -- it worked! L was asleep within 10 minutes of taking off. Holding her proved to be too uncomfortable to sleep so I spent most of the flight awake...but aside from a couple cries to change positions L slept the whole flight!

We landed at LAX where Auntie O picked us up and we headed back to her house for the night to unpack and sleep at 1AM