California

Mom and I flew to LAX in Wednesday afternoon. Dad stayed home to do taxes and to babysit Shadow. Dad took us to the airport and said goodbye to us at security. We ate lunch at the Boar's Head Deli inside the airport and our flight took off at 2:20 pm. When we landed we took the shuttle, to where we rented a car through Advantage in Inglewood. Then we took the 405 down to Costa Mesa, where we didn't get to the room until 6 pm. We stayed at the Super 8 in Costa Mesa during the week we were there. We drove to Ryan's girlfriend, Sara's house in Sunset Beach. She made us Chicken Cordon Blue, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli, and Molten Lava Cakes for dinner. We brought her an album of photos of Ryan when he was young, so she could see what their boys are going to look like. She gave us a tour of her house, which is right on the beach and has amazing view of the coast. After we left her house at 11 pm, we went to Ralph's to get groceries for our hotel room.

On Thursday, we ate breakfast at our hotel, since it was complimentary. It was only bagels and cereal, so we didn't go back. We went to Grower's Direct and got some fruit. Then we dropped it off at the hotel and drove to the South Coast Plaza. We went into two of the buildings and ate lunch at the Boudin SF Cafe, where we got Clam Chowder in Bread Bowls and a cookie. We then drove over to the Metro Pointe to go to Old Navy. After our nap, we watched TV. Ryan and Sara came to pick us up. We went and ate dinner at the Crab Cooker in Newport Beach. They took us past Sherman Library and Gardens to show us a possible venue for their wedding dinner. We drove down to Laguna and ate gelato at Dolce Gelato for dessert. I had one that was half Pistachio and half Birthday Cake. By the gelato shop, there was a huge mosaic of a sea scape that was gorgeous.

On Friday, we ate fruit for breakfast at the hotel. Dad texted us, saying he had slept upstairs and Shadow had walked over his back in the early morning. We went to the Bella Terra Shopping Center, going into Kohl's and Barnes and Noble. We went and ate at El Torito in Westminster for lunch. We went to the Goodwill in Costa Mesa and I bought a leather messenger bag for 6 bucks. After our nap, we went to Target and Sprout's Farmers Market. Mom bought some Australian Licorice, cherry flavored, while we were there. Ryan and Sara came to pick us up. We walked around the Anaheim Garden Walk while we waited to get into the Cheesecake Factory. One man was nice enough to give us his beeper, so we could get in early. While we were there, we all split a slice of the Red Velvet Cheesecake. Afterwards we went over and walked through Downtown Disney. This man held out his glow in the dark laser gun and ordered mom to give him all of her kettle corn. Weird!

On Saturday, Ryan and Sara had to go to one of their best friend's wedding during the day. We went to the Westfield Main Place mall in Santa Ana. Then we drove up to Buena Park to go eat lunch at Mrs. Knotts Chicken Restaurant at Knott's Berry Farm. We then walked around the shops next to the restaurant. Ryan got the flu that afternoon and was unable to hang out with us that night. We went to Vons to get me some cold medicine, because I was starting to get a sore throat. I watched a couple of episodes of the British Version of the Office on my ipad and I finished reading, Reading Lolita in Tehran, a memoir about a female English professor in Iran.

On Sunday, we ate donuts for breakfast at the hotel. We went and found the Balboa Pavilion and drove past the pier. We walked around the dock by the Balboa Fun Zone. We drove to Tustin and ate at the Crab Cooker. It started raining on the way home. We went to use our keys to get into the room and they wouldn't work, so we had to drive back to the front desk. After our nap, we went and used the computer in the lobby to print off our boarding passes. I watched some more episodes of the British version of the Office. Ryan came over, feeling better. He drove us to a condo he wants to look at in Laurelwood. It was kind of dark when we got there, so we couldn't really tell what it looked like, but the highway noise just sounds like rain behind it. We drove past the District at Tustin Legacy and then back to the hotel, where we said goodbye to Ryan.

On Monday, we ate breakfast at Randy's Donuts in Inglewood and we drove back up to Advantage car rental, dropping the car off and taking their shuttle to the LAX. We flew home in the afternoon. Dad picked us up at the airport, and met us at baggage claim. We came home and unpacked both of the suitcases.