Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
SmithfamilyOz
It was an early start in the morning (6am pick up) but an easy 40 minute drive from Park City to Salt Lake City airport.
An easy check in and flight (getting tired of being in the back row - don't think we'll Fly Delta again.
Landed in LA mid morning and picked up our hire car and drove to our apartment near The Grove. We've got a great SUV, a Ford Flex, which has three rows of seats - a godsend for the kids after three weeks of travel. We went straight to the Farmers market for lunch - the kids had Churrasco from Brazil which they loved and I had a some delicious proper Mexican.
It was a little overcast so I drove the car to the apartment and unloaded with the kids while Leigh did some shopping on her own. from our apartment in La Brea it's a quick walk to the Grove. We decided to see a movie in the afternoon - I took spencer and Eleanor to see Rouge One while Leigh and Campbell saw Sing.
We released in the Apartment for a little while and then drove to Jon and Erin's place for dinner. It was great to see then in their lovely house. Their boys, Miles and Declan loved playing with our kids - it was as if they were always best friends.
The next day Leigh and I were up early and went to Whole Foods to grab a coffee (Turkish coffee was not a great choice!) and some pastries and juice for the kids. Whole Foods is an amazing grocery store - lots of "in store" prepared food - would love to have one in Sydney.
Once the kids were up we drove to Malibu along the Pacific Coastal highway. It's a great drive, past the Santa Monica beaches and into the beautiful houses of Malibu. Jin and Erin had recommended the cafe at the end of the Pier for brekkie and it was a great choice. The sun was out but it was a little cold but the kids wanted to play so we drove into the Malibu beach reserve and threw the baseball, football and frisbee on the beach - it was great to do after a week of being in the snowy mountains.
We decided to drive back to LA via the Canyons - it's amazing to be in LA but driving through the raw canyon countryside you wouldn't know it. We drove back down into LA via the Laurel Canyon drive passes on the amazing houses with their view of LA and then into Hollywood.
We drove back to the Grove and had a delicious lunch at Blue Ribbon Sushi - it was very special and great to see the kids enjoying their food (and a lovely Rose) We wandered back to the apartment and relaxed for a bit. I then went to get the kids dinner at While Foods and had them fed and watered before Maria the babysitter arrived.
While the kids were being looked after Leigh and I went out to Mardi restaurant in west Hollywood with some Highfields parents (Amanda and David Hassib). It was really fun night, especially driving them back to their hotel in the SUV. We had a few wines so back to the apartment and off to bed!
Our last day of the holdiday was a beautiful sunny LA day (tough for winter - very much like Sydney). We went to Cafe Du Par at the Farmer a Market for breakfast (great pancakes for the kids and Corned Beef Hash and poached eggs for me - yummo!)
We wandered around the Grove a little (the kids loved Dylan's Candy Store) and then back to the apartment to pack for the last time!
With the car all packed and checked out of the apartment we drove to the Topanga National Park - the largest national "wild land" with a large city limits. We took off on an our bush walk up to the mesa views - which were amazing. We also saw some deer which made Eleanor very happy. A couple of hours later we were back at the car driving back into LA for our last lunch of the trip - this time to Mercado for some delicious Mexican (best guacamole and corn chips I've ever had - plus amazing slow cooked pork - can't wait to cook more Mexican when we get home (shredded chicken for the kids).
Suitably stuffed we drove over to James Pearse to look at all the lovely clothes (alas didn't buy anything) and had a play with the kids in the West Hollywood park.
It was now around 5pm so we drove to LAX - the traffic on the 405 at dusk was a sight to behold. We dropped off the rental car and then passed through security and onto our Virgin Australia flight home. It had been almost a month away and we were all looking forward to being home!
An easy check in and flight (getting tired of being in the back row - don't think we'll Fly Delta again.
Landed in LA mid morning and picked up our hire car and drove to our apartment near The Grove. We've got a great SUV, a Ford Flex, which has three rows of seats - a godsend for the kids after three weeks of travel. We went straight to the Farmers market for lunch - the kids had Churrasco from Brazil which they loved and I had a some delicious proper Mexican.
It was a little overcast so I drove the car to the apartment and unloaded with the kids while Leigh did some shopping on her own. from our apartment in La Brea it's a quick walk to the Grove. We decided to see a movie in the afternoon - I took spencer and Eleanor to see Rouge One while Leigh and Campbell saw Sing.
We released in the Apartment for a little while and then drove to Jon and Erin's place for dinner. It was great to see then in their lovely house. Their boys, Miles and Declan loved playing with our kids - it was as if they were always best friends.
The next day Leigh and I were up early and went to Whole Foods to grab a coffee (Turkish coffee was not a great choice!) and some pastries and juice for the kids. Whole Foods is an amazing grocery store - lots of "in store" prepared food - would love to have one in Sydney.
Once the kids were up we drove to Malibu along the Pacific Coastal highway. It's a great drive, past the Santa Monica beaches and into the beautiful houses of Malibu. Jin and Erin had recommended the cafe at the end of the Pier for brekkie and it was a great choice. The sun was out but it was a little cold but the kids wanted to play so we drove into the Malibu beach reserve and threw the baseball, football and frisbee on the beach - it was great to do after a week of being in the snowy mountains.
We decided to drive back to LA via the Canyons - it's amazing to be in LA but driving through the raw canyon countryside you wouldn't know it. We drove back down into LA via the Laurel Canyon drive passes on the amazing houses with their view of LA and then into Hollywood.
We drove back to the Grove and had a delicious lunch at Blue Ribbon Sushi - it was very special and great to see the kids enjoying their food (and a lovely Rose) We wandered back to the apartment and relaxed for a bit. I then went to get the kids dinner at While Foods and had them fed and watered before Maria the babysitter arrived.
While the kids were being looked after Leigh and I went out to Mardi restaurant in west Hollywood with some Highfields parents (Amanda and David Hassib). It was really fun night, especially driving them back to their hotel in the SUV. We had a few wines so back to the apartment and off to bed!
Our last day of the holdiday was a beautiful sunny LA day (tough for winter - very much like Sydney). We went to Cafe Du Par at the Farmer a Market for breakfast (great pancakes for the kids and Corned Beef Hash and poached eggs for me - yummo!)
We wandered around the Grove a little (the kids loved Dylan's Candy Store) and then back to the apartment to pack for the last time!
With the car all packed and checked out of the apartment we drove to the Topanga National Park - the largest national "wild land" with a large city limits. We took off on an our bush walk up to the mesa views - which were amazing. We also saw some deer which made Eleanor very happy. A couple of hours later we were back at the car driving back into LA for our last lunch of the trip - this time to Mercado for some delicious Mexican (best guacamole and corn chips I've ever had - plus amazing slow cooked pork - can't wait to cook more Mexican when we get home (shredded chicken for the kids).
Suitably stuffed we drove over to James Pearse to look at all the lovely clothes (alas didn't buy anything) and had a play with the kids in the West Hollywood park.
It was now around 5pm so we drove to LAX - the traffic on the 405 at dusk was a sight to behold. We dropped off the rental car and then passed through security and onto our Virgin Australia flight home. It had been almost a month away and we were all looking forward to being home!
- comments