Trip to LA

On Thursday last week we set off for LA to see Amanda before she leaves for the Zandam. We arrived on Thursday at about 1230 LA time and got our bags and our rental. Then we went to the Raddison where we had booked a room for all of us. We got the car unpacked with all of our luggage and went in to check in only to find out that they had overbooked the hotel and we had no place to stay!! Right...so it is really like 3am to our bodies and Tyler is AWAKE! So we ended up being moved to another hotel down the freeway a bit. What an experience to get around in LA! We got there and they had a room for us. Mom and Dad checked us in and everything was good...so we thought! We walked in with our luggage and the guy says "oh are you all together?" "yeah, why?" "Oh that room only has one bed!"
Are you serious? Are you serious? Oh we were so annoyed and it was almost funny because the whole situation was so ridiculous. So it was straightened out and they just gave us 2 rooms! And let me tell you this was the nicest place ever! We even had breakfast in the restaurant . I guess it wasn't such a bad deal anyway. Free night of board at ta super nice restaurant, got our own room, and check out at 1. Guess God was watching out for us and gave us a few little blessings for the hard time we had to have at first!

Friday we went to Amanda's apartment and then to eat at Pacos Tacos and then to her rehearsal for the evening. We were there almost 4 1/2 hours but the time went by so fast. I wish everyone who has seen her dance would have the opportunity to see her in these shows. It was crazy sitting there at the studio thinking that we were with her at WORK! She was at WORK and she was dancing. It was like take your family to work day or something. But it was an incredible time. Tyler did so well. He was loving the music and the dancing and he was moving himself! And everyone knew that Tyler was the one that Amanda was glad to see!

One day we went to the beach. It was a cold hazy day and not really your idea of a day to spend at the beach. It was fun though. We bought Tyler the cutest little hoodie because it was so cold and the wind was blowing. I know it was warmer in Kansas than it was in California! Weird.
Tyler loved watching the birds and then even following them around. He loved the ocean too. He really was intrigued by everything. He took off on his own and just wanted to explore. It was a good time and a first that Jeff got to experience with him. Tyler's first time at the ocean!

Day at the beach was a time for fun and interesting people. There are always people on the sidewalks doing interesting things to try to earn money. There was a guy who kept blowing a whistle and telling everyone it was showtime. Yeah blow your whistle and then don't do anything except walk around and put everything in place and then blow the whistle again. Wow! Don't you wonder where those people come from? What are their families like? Do you think their parents are proud of them? Wow...that's all I can say about some of these folks. WOW.
So we walked along the Pier for a while, we took lots of pictures and did lots of exploring. I"m telling you Tyler loved it. Absolutely loved it! There were tons of people, tons of birds and tons of distractions. You will see in one of the pictures that there was even a roller coaster and Ferris wheel along the Pier. We really were going to do it but it was just too cold and we really weren't dressed to freeze!

The picture of Tyler and Paul and Jeff on the stairs had to be taken because again it was 2 men and a baby. Paul and Jeff are caught frequently with just the two of them and Tyler so we always joke about the two men and the baby.
And it was mom and dad's anniversary so there is a sweet little picture of the love birds by the ocean.




We also drove around in Beverly Hills and down Rodeo Drive (how do you spell it?) They had the trees lining the streets and decorated with lights. It was really pretty and fun to see a 'different world'



Then there was the fun at the hotel and Mr. Plumber here. He was so proud of himself for digging in a bag and getting a serving size box of cheerios out and then opened so we just let him chow down. But the plumber man...I"m not sure, I guess I didn't put his diaper on tight enough. Oh well...it gave us yet another thing to laugh about.


The next morning he had the cheerios on the bed to keep him occupied while we finished getting ready and packed for leaving the hotel to come back to Kansas. He was still cracking himself up that he was doing everything by himself.




Looking out the window as we take off from Houston to our final destination...KC. Tyler was the perfect baby on the plane. He is definitely a trooper. We are proud of him. It was definitely worth it to chauffeur him to LA to see his Aunt Suzy.


Hanging out in the airport for our 2 hour layover in Houston. Tyler wanted to be doing his own thing and was in his own little world. He loved the little moving walkways and really wanted to play on them the whole time. The little guy walked a mile around the airport on our layovers.

Good times were had by all on our trip to LA. We are so glad we went it was just hard to say good by again.