Scott and I went to LA to visit my sister, Marisa, and her boyfriend, Garrett, for a long weekend in April. It was our first trip together that was more than a drive away from home since the kids have been born and probably our last trip that we'll be able to take together before the baby is born (...and for a while after she's born, too!). We were very excited to be able to spend some quality time together and also to spend some quality time with Mar and Garrett, but I was also pretty nervous to leave Tycen and Shaylie. I knew the kids would be in great hands, but I couldn't help but have a little anxiety leaving them.
Grandma Kathy and Papa took care of the kids while we were gone.
Here they are just before we left for the airport:
We left on a Friday morning and returned on Monday morning. They stayed the whole weekend at Grandma and Papa's house; I wasn't sure how this would go with sleeping since they hadn't ever spent the night anywhere without mommy and/or daddy, but they ended up doing great. I'm pretty sure Grandma got much less sleep than she's accustomed to, though! ;)
Grandma Kathy sent us this picture on Friday afternoon. It was so sweet to see their happy, smiling faces :)
The kids also got to spend a lot of time with their cousins, Gracie and Brianne, which was very exciting and special for them.
Scott and I were in a bit of shock to be traveling without kids; we had forgotten how easy and relaxing traveling can be! We even both took a nap on the airplane...at 11 am...amazing! :)
On Friday afternoon, Mar drove us around to explore the area they live in mid-city LA. We also stopped at Garrett's work and the local Whole Foods where they do their grocery shopping. It was fun to see all the places Marsie goes in her day-to-day routine :)
After Garrett got off work, they treated us to dinner at a really nice sushi restaurant. We then headed to 'The Grove', which is very close to their house, and watched a movie that started after 10 pm! I hadn't stayed up past 1 am for many, many years...well, not intentionally anyway, certainly I've been up with little kiddos well past 1 am :). The Grove is a really cute outdoor shopping center.
After Garrett got off work, they treated us to dinner at a really nice sushi restaurant. We then headed to 'The Grove', which is very close to their house, and watched a movie that started after 10 pm! I hadn't stayed up past 1 am for many, many years...well, not intentionally anyway, certainly I've been up with little kiddos well past 1 am :). The Grove is a really cute outdoor shopping center.
On Saturday morning, we went to a very yummy breakfast in Beverly Hills. We then walked around Rodeo Drive a bit and window shopped.
I love spending time with my sis...wish we lived closer!!
This bugatti is a well-known landmark on Rodeo Drive. It's owned by the owner of a clothing store and people often take their pictures with it. I'd have never known it was so special, but for those who have a love for cars, I guess this one is really nice :) ...It should be pretty darn special for the cost of over $100k!
After spending some time in Beverly Hills, we drove to Santa Monica. I was hoping to get some sun-bathing time in, however, the weather didn't quite cooperate. We still had a lot of fun just being near the ocean in good company, though!
We had to take this picture for Tycen and Shaylie :)
On Saturday evening, we went to dinner at Universal CityWalk:
I loved having another double date night with Marsie and Garrett!
On Sunday morning we went for a hike up to the Griffith Observatory:
After our hike, we headed to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They were setting up for a big private event when we got there and the red carpet was already laid out...
I'm a big Michael Jackson fan :)
We had many celebrity spottings while in LA and had to get some pictures for Tycen and Shaylie. We sent these to them by text message and I'm sure they were pretty confused as to what exactly we were doing on this 'vacation' of ours :)
After spending some time in Hollywood, we went for a drive to check out the city some more and get a closer look at the Hollywood sign:
We stopped at an open house in the Hollywood hills and got some pictures from the backyard with views of city center and mid-city (...I think :):
On Sunday evening, we met Garrett's parents and his brother for dinner at their family restaurant, Canter's. Garrett's great-grandparents opened this restaurant in 1931(!) and they have a lot of family memories growing up there. The food was delicious, I especially enjoyed the desserts :)
After dinner, we headed back over to The Grove to walk around:
The weather back at home was in the mid 80s and the kids had a blast playing with Gracie in her backyard on Sunday:
We cannot thank Mar and Garrett enough for amazing hospitality. They completely dedicated their weekend to showing us a good time in LA and we are so so grateful! We got to see so much of LA and do so many fun things in the few days we were there. Thank you both so much for making our trip so much fun! We love you guys!!
And we also want to thank Grandma Kathy and Papa for taking such great care of Tycen and Shaylie! It's so nice to be able to leave our most precious gifts on earth with people that we know love them so much and will take good care of them. I know that they felt an even stronger bond with you both after having spent quality time with you and they've been asking about you and wanting to visit you more since their stay with you. Thank you for loving our kids so much, they are lucky to have such wonderful grandparents!
