The beach and going home - Day 5 & 6

Sunday was going to be the relaxing day. We were staying on the beach but had been so busy that we had hardly seen it. When we went to eat at Mr. Chow on Thursday night we didn't take any pictures so we first wanted to go back down to Beverly Hills and walk down Rodeo Drive and take some pictures.

We grabbed a bite to eat at a fish restaurant right up the street from our hotel and then headed over to Hermosa Beach. The beach was nice and not crowded. Cirdan and I sat on the beach and just took pictures and relaxed. There is something very nice about listening to the waves crash. We walked a bit on the beach and of course took our share of pictures.

Then we went right next door to Redondo Beach (where we stayed) and walked the Boardwalk. We stopped for ice cream. Cirdan was wishing we had come to the pier more.....there was tons of fresh fish. He loves fish and fish tacos!

We cleaned up at the hotel and headed out for a movie. We ended up at an indoor/outdoor mall...we got our tickets and had about an hour to kill. We went to Starbucks and got some caramel apple drink that was a little too sweet but still good. It was nice to do the little things and not worry about the kids! (Thanks Mom)

The next morning we woke up and headed to the airport. Since we took an earlier flight to make it to the Ellen Show we thought my mom would appreciate us getting back on Monday as soon as we could. We made it standby on a morning flight. It was so good to see the girls. Ella's hair seemed to grow in the 6 days that we were gone. We are so thankful for my mom. She was so wonderful to help us with the girls while we were away.

Day of Days - Day 4

We headed out to the Day of Days event but first stopped at Noah's bagels. The bagel I ate was so delicious!!!! It was a pumpkin shmear with a pumpkin bagel. 

The Days event was held at the City Walk outside of Universal Studios. It started at 10:00 and we ended up getting there around 11:00. I didn't know how many people would be there...I didn't think that many people that are fans of soap operas did that kind of stuff. I was wrong. We checked in and got our giveaways they were handing out (bag, raffle ticket, hand sanitizer, autograph book with all the actors pictures and a magnet) and headed over to the first line that we saw. It was to meet Lucas, Nicole and I cant remember the other person. At this point I was seriously wondering why in the world I would go to one of these things. Cirdan urged me to stay so we got into line and waited and waited and waited. About 4 hours later we were finally at the beginning at the line. During the 4 hours we met and got to know the people standing around us pretty well. The people there were pretty...unusual but they kept us laughing. By the time we got up to the line we were able to meet Sami, Rafe, Will and Mia. I just really wanted to meet Alison Sweeney who is also the host of the Biggest Loser. They were all really nice (especially Sami and Rafe).

We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, right next to the event. I had just returned from the restroom when all the sudden all of the actors came walking through the restaurant to take a break before their next scheduled event. After standing there for the 4+ hours I realized that all I needed to do was hang out in the restaurant all day! They all walked past us...Lucas stopped to chat.

We stayed for the Q & A session and then walked around for a bit. The original plan was to go over to Universal Studios to go on a couple of rides but by the time we were done the park was closed. We left and ate dinner at Chili's. After that we drove around and looked at some of the houses right there on Hermosa Beach. Some of those houses are amazing.

I was so thankful to Cirdan and what a wonderful husband he is. Not many husbands would put up with their crazy wife's ideas for soap opera events...or even stand in line with them for hours! He's the best!!

Universal Studios - Day 3

We decided to go to Universal Studios on Friday. One motivation for going there was The Simpsons ride. This is one that Cirdan and I agree is one of the best. We started out our day stopping at the post office right next to the hotel to send Kaiya and Ella a postcard. We stopped for our morning bagel and made our way to Universal. When we got there it looked like we picked a good day...no big crowds!

There was a board which showed what they were taping that day...

We made our way right to the Simpsons ride. After that we went down to the train and went on the tour. We were thinking about doing the VIP tour that lets you walk around on the sets but since they were taping Desperate Housewives that day we wouldn't be able to walk down Wisteria Lane which was one of the main things I would have wanted to see. The tour was good but once you have seen it its pretty much the same ol stuff! The only cool part about the tour was that we saw Teri Hatcher driving off in a car.

This is a set that they are currently building. Very big and cool!

Airplane crash from 007...this part of the tour always takes my breath away. So real looking...its creepy.

Cirdan then convinced me to go on The Mummy ride. It reminded me why I don't trust Cirdan when it comes to amusement parks. When he says..."the ride isn't scary at all!" He is probably just saying that to get me to go. Then while on the ride he is saying (while I am closing my eyes ready to cry)..."I don't remember that part!!" I am glad that I did go.

We ate and went to the Terminator 2:3D show. We were not impressed. It was pretty lame. Then we headed over to the Shrek 4d show which was great!! I didn't get to see it last January but Cirdan and Kaiya had really liked it. We stayed there until 5 when the park closed and headed over to Universal City Walk. For some reason we never went over there in January so I had no clue they had a ton of stores and places to eat. We looked around, took some pictures and headed back to the car.

We thought about heading back to our hotel until we realized the freeway was jammed packed and we would sit in traffic forever. Cirdan had wanted to look around for some new shoes so we decided to go shopping. We first stopped at a Ross...which was kind of scary...not the best part of town. Then Cirdan wanted to try Nordstrom Rack. He had heard that the California Nordstrom Racks are picked over but the 1st one that we went to had so much more stuff than Seattle. It usually takes him 6 months at least to find the jeans he loves in his size. The Rack here had a stack of jeans! Cirdan found some jeans and some shoes but still wanted to try another Rack. The last one we went to had a good selection also! Cirdan was in heaven. We then went back to Redondo...tomorrow we were going back to Universal!



On a side note...I tried to take a pictures of the escalators at Universal. The pictures don't do justice. There were about 4 flights of these stairs that take you down to the lower Universal level. They feel like they are straight up and down. When you are almost to the top and look back down its pretty creepy.