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Published: January 2nd 2008
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Christmas Eve - Brittany, Rebecca and Tianna
All dressed in their best to celebrate Christmas Eve. We had a great time with our little family all together here in Burbank for the holidays. Krista, Bill and children, Verne and I did a limo tour of L.A. It was quite good, but unfortunately the car and driver we had booked was not available and a substitute had to fill in. Consequently we did not get the tour we had hoped. We toured Hollywood (again) and the driver took us up as close to the Hollywood sign as we could get. What a view!!! We toured Olevera St. which is the historical Mexican district of L.A. We had a half an hour to spend winding our way among the stalls looking at all the wares from Mexico. It was very interesting and the dresses and shawls were out of this world! We stopped at Grauman's Chinese Theatre - putting our hands on hand prints of Marilyn Monroe, George Clooney, etc. etc. There were a lot of "characters" standing around - all dressed like pirates, Spiderman, Elvis impersonator, Batman and Robin, Marilyn, the Little Mermaid, etc. - all charging one dollar for a photo with them. What a place for people watching!!! Our tour was 4 hours - and the
More Food???????
Verne and I sharing an avocado and tuna salad sandwich at the Malibu Market. Hey, it was the best!!! kids were glad to get back to their cousins! One interesting place we stopped was the Beverly Hills Hotel, where Krista and Ryan took advantage of going in the lobby.l....VERY posh! and quite the place to see. And somewhere along the line Brittany lost her brand new digital camera...there were lots of tears! On the 24th David took the whole crew to the El Captiano Theatre (a very famous old theatre in L.A.) to see "Enchanted" which they all enjoyed. Before the movie, there was entertainment - an old theatre organ performance. On another day, we all went to "Pinks" the most famous hot dog place in North America!! Has been on the corner of LeBrea and Melrose since the 30's - everyone, but everyone goes there - the lineup is minimum 45 minutes....the hot dogs the best - yes Aunt Dot and Brenda - the BEST! You can have them with any topping you wish!!! Wonderful taste experience! And I am back onto cream soda!!! The Best!!!!
Christmas evening saw entertainment by the children...they all love to do their part! We wonder where all these "child actors, dancers and singers - and comediens" come from!! It was a
Malibu
Traveling along the ocean on the Malibu highway. lot of fun sitting by the Christmas tree, the lights of the valley twinkling below, the doors open to the warm air, the children full of caffeine and chocolate...and the adults full of rum, and Santa being tracked on the computer! We were all up early Christmas morning to see what Santa brought. He was very generous as usual. Santa was especially generous to Verne and I. First of all the funniest thing I received - I laughed so hard - I almost had a heart attack - was "Hillary Clinton nut crackers"!!! Need I say more!! We also received a new digital camera and a digital photo frame - and now instead of passing my photos around to bore one and all - you will just have to sit and watch my photo show!!!! Also, a new photo printer will soon arrive.....so technically, it was a fabulous Christmas!!!
December 26, Krista and Bill toured Warner Bros. lot - which is here in Burbank and had a great morning being on set of some of their favourite shows. We then left for another adventure in two vans - to Malibu for lunch, then a drive along the ocean from
What fun to play in the sand on Malibu Beach
Spencer and Ryan could have stayed here all day. Malibu to Venice Beach. What fun to play in the sand at the beach under a warm sun - Brittany went totally in the water - probably the only one to do so, except for the surfers! Venice Beach is an eclectic place with people of all eccentricities vying for attention!!! The eleven of us had a time all keeping together and in sight of one another!!! It was a great day, one which I wish all of you could have enjoyed with us! On the 27th, the day before the kids left for home, the two vans traveled to Palm Springs and Palm Dessert.....I thought we would be traveling over the mountains, to the desert and would see nothing but sand for miles. Was I mistaken! We traveled along the 134 Freeway - for 2 hours seeing nothing but malls, car lots, stores, more malls, eating establishments, etc. etc. Where is the desert?? Finally we hit open air, sand and the windmills. The windmills - thousands of them provide power for the area. They are an amazing sight to see row on row, standing ramrod straight in the sun. We stopped at an area of sand dunes and most
Who is this man walking on water???
Incredible beach where Verne was so busy looking, he forgot he still had the shopping bag in his hand! went "four wheeling" - although the "old people" just sat and watched!! Palm Springs is a lovely place - all gated communities - and quite lush. David would like to take us back to spend a few days at Intra West before we leave, but I doubt if we will have the time - it is going so quickly. We toured around a bit, had dinner and headed for home. It was a great day!
On Saturday, we tried to get into the Equestrian event held here in Burbank - but it was sold out. All the visiting equestrian groups here for the parade put on a show lasting nearly all day....too bad we didn't think of getting tickets earlier! We then drove to Pasadena to check out the route, our seats, our parking. I was so excited, I had David drive by the bleachers several times - I took photos of the empty seats!!! Lots of people, tent upon tent of media, TV etc. , souvenir shops ready, etc. etc. We checked out our parking - not too far a walk to our seats - but will be interesting early in the am.!! Apparently people camp out overnight,
Into the Sun
Interesting photo I took looking into the sun. party all night. My problem will be getting everyone out of the house at 4 a.m.!!! - Pasadena is a great city with wonderful old mansions, great historic shopping area - we will go back to explore another time when it's not so busy! We also had another stop at the "FairOaks Phamacy" soda fountain.....where we dined on "chocolate malts and chili cheese fries"!!! Oh my goodness - we WERE going to eat healthy!!!!
On Sunday, Howie, Rebecca and children as well as Rebecca's parents who are visiting from Australia came for brunch. Phil and Robin are from Northern (east side) of Australia. We had great fun - with another link - Phil went to school with an "Alsop" (Mom's side of the family) and said there are lots of "them" in Australia - yes more cousins to check out!! Also Rebecca's mom was in social services in the Salvation Army for years.......small world. As they were all leaving, Patti, Paul and Sarah-Jo arrived from SanDiego to spend a few days with us and accompany us to the Tournament of Roses Parade. It is now 5 p.m., the roast is in the oven, dinner, then bed - we have
to get rested up for tomorrow - but the fellows are talking about just staying up all night!!!!
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