Los Angeles Trip

We are exhausted but had a great time in LA this weekend! We left yesterday afternoon and drove the 4 hours to LA (yes it's 4 hours not 3 like people said). We stopped on our way into town at IKEA because the Babe was restless. What a fun store! Neither of us have ever been there before and besides their weird layout and confusing way to find things, it's kind of a cool place! The hubby says it's very European. Anyway we ended up picking out a dresser for little Lily McKay (or Gondwana we'll see).

We then drove like mad to make it to the 3rd inning of the baseball game. We saw the Dodgers play the Cardinals. Couple of fun things at the game. We'd just been there a few minutes when two guys 8 rows in front of us stand up and just start punching each other! It was crazy! Well actually one of them was doing all the punching the other was taking it. But 1 guy left with a few nasty bloody cuts and the other left we think for good. The other funny thing was the Babe saw for probably the first time a lot of people with cups of beer. We of course don't drink and haven't been to too many sporting events where people were drinking. So we were confused when he kept asking for apple juice but finally putting 2 and 2 together realized that he thought everyone was drinking apple juice instead of beer. Now that's an advertising slogan.

We exhaustedly checked into our hotel at like 11:00 but the place was pretty fun! We booked out room at hotwire.com and didn't really know what to expect. It was this cool skyscraper downtown called the Westin. We were on the 26th floor (of 32) and our room had floor to ceiling windows on one side the looked out to the other skyscrapers downtown. This morning, the Babe and hubby watched the people washing the windows on the skyscraper next to us (that's a job I don't want).

This morning we ventured across town some more to Santa Monica beach. I love the beach! I could seriously live close to the beach (not in So. California though). We played in the water, built sand castles and walked on the pier. I am sad to admit that we didn't fish on the pier; it was pretty much all homeless people fishing there. I will admit it was hot and we all got a little to much sun. The only drawback is driving 4 hours (which turned into 6 with shopping and stuff) with sandy bums. Note to self: if we make this mini-vacation again flip flop the days and go to the beach when you have a shower to go to at the end of the day and do the baseball game just before you go home.

We were blessed on our trip home. Just outside of San Bernadino (in San Bernadino national forest) there were forest fires that came very very close to the road. They were on the other side of the freeway from us but when we drove by they had come within 10 feet of the road but had been put out. The flames that were burning were close but not that close. The other direction of driving was grid locked for 15 miles!! We were sure glad that we weren't going that way. We wondered if they finally just closed down the freeway or what.

But we home and safe and tired. Tomorrow is the big lesson at church and so I better go get my beauty rest.