From December 2nd.....

BEFORE I GET THIS STARTED, THIS WEEK WE WENT TO LA. IT WAS A GREAT WEEK, BUT UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE READING FOR HOURS I AM GOING TO CONDENSE THE WEEK. Saturday We all got up, I starting getting ready to go. The boys did the usual sitting around watching TV until we left, which in the end was around 11.00. That wasn’t too bad considering we wanted to leave around 10.00, Bruce packed the car while I grabbed some extra stuff and got into the car and WE WERE OFF!!!! We drove and drove etc, etc. You know the drill, mum got some pictures and the boys slept on and off. We stopped for lunch at (of all places) McDonalds, for the second time since we got here. We jumped back into the car with the boys holding their new DVD players. The only problem was that with the bumping and no holders (yet) the battery kept slipping. So an hour or so down the road I stopped and plugged them into the lighter outlets and we were off again. We were nearly halfway there, so it was good. My butt was not even sore! I thought it would be by then. We saw some beautiful countryside and went through mountain ranges, so there were some boring parts and some really gorgeous parts. We hit the outskirts of the San Fernando Valley, (Elise – Cinderella Story) That was a bit of an exciting part for me, we were nearly there. I had driven to LA by myself, big day for me. We stopped for some petrol and kept driving along the freeway. We drove past Magic Mountain, (Huge Theme Park), the boys were very impressed. We cruised along the freeway and past LA on our left. Then, we pretty much stopped, and spent the next hour in LA traffic. We finally got out of it and continued down the freeway, we got into Oceanside, this is a town in between LA and San Diego. Then the Fun (NOT) really happened. We got lost to say the least, we drove around Oceanside for around an hour, I asked for directions 3 times. You can imagine my mood, after driving for 8 hours. We finally made it to the resort and had some dinner then dragged our butts into bed at around 10.00, exhausted was an understatement. Sunday We all woke up and chilled out for the morning. We went and checked out the resort and the facilities, then we all chilled out and the boys went for a swim. We had some lunch and went got ready for out afternoon in Orange County. (Elise – I thought of you the whole time), we picked Bruce up from the airport and went for a drive around Newport. (Bruce had to conduct the very first USA BillyBounce program in the local gym – it went very well.) It was like St Kilda, we went down and walked along the beach for a bit, took some gorgeous photo’s and jumped back into the car and checked out some of the real estate and drove back to Oceanside. We had some dinner, watched some TV and were in bed around 10.00. Monday Happy 8th Anniversary Bruce and Belinda. Happy Birthday Taylor We decided to take today and just chill before we started with the big week ahead, and Bruce was just exhausted after all the traveling he’s been doing over the last couple of months. So we chilled out in the early morning and then in the afternoon, the boys all went and played around the resort, swimming, spa, tennis, basketball and playing pool in the activity room. Mum and I hit the outlet mall, we got a couple of things and had a nice time. We got back and got ready to go out for dinner. We went out to Olive Garden (Italian) for dinner, just the two of us. Can’t remember the last time that happened. It was really nice just to sit and chat and be adults. We finished up our dinner and went into Macy’s and bought some gorgeous Christmas decorations. That was our anniversary day; we had a great day. We got home and they had had a dinner fiasco, the place didn’t deliver then they finally got it and they wanted to watch a DVD’s that Grandma had hired them. We were all in bed too late, considering the HUGE day we had tomorrow. Tuesday We got up and got ready for our day. We are going to Disneyland!!!!!! We got into the car, the kids slept and we arrived around 9.30. We parked the car (Daisy Level) and caught the shuttle into the Theme Parks. I’ll make a very long story as short as I can. We walked around the park for the day, didn’t go on a lot of the rides, and still didn’t see everything. It was the most amazing day, the place really is a fabulous place to go. I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids did. Mum took hundreds of photo’s and we took video, so we have lots of memories. The day ended with the parade which was GREAT and then the fireworks over the castle. It was the perfect end to a dream of everyone’s. Mum had such a great day, it made the trip even more than seeing us. Which I don’t blame her, Bruce said that they have done some upgrades since he came in ’97. The place was just phenomenal. There are no words. We had the BEST DAY EVER!!!!!! Wednesday We got up around 7.30 and pottered around until around 11.00 when we jumped into the car and made our way down to San Diego for the day. Our first destination was the World Famous San Diego Zoo. It was beautiful and huge. The only thing was that it was on a hill, so you had to walk up and down, they even had escalators that you could use, cause the hills were so steep. We stayed there until around 3.30 and decided to go and have a look around San Diego itself. We drove around the city then parked the car in the city centre and checked out a shop Bruce loves Steve and Barry’s. The mall was beautiful and they even had some ice-skating across the road, which was cool to see. We came home and had some dinner, leftovers out of the fridge and cupboard. Then will just chilled out and I went to bed, a head cold is trying to take me over. It was another great day in Southern California. The weather was lovely again too; it was a beautiful 73F today. It’s like Queensland here. Thursday The end of the week and mum’s trip has come, but we had another really busy day planned. I organized and tidied the apartment while Bruce went down and did some work and Mum and the boys went down to the beach to check it out before we left. We checked out around 11.00 and made our way for the last time up the freeway to LA. We arrived at Hollywood Blvd around 1.00 and parked the car. We went and saw the hands and feet and Graumans Chinese theatre. Then walked next door the The Kodak Theatre (Home of Acadamy Awards) and walked up the stairs and into and around the shopping centre there. Had some photo’s taken with the Christmas trees and Hollywood sign in the background. We walked up and down the street checking out all the Vic market like stores. It’s definitely a tourist spot. Lots to see, on the sidewalk too. We stopped and had Macca’s. We have officially had it more this week than all the time we’ve been here. We got into the car around 3.30and headed to Rodeo Drive. Driving through Beverley Hills to get there. We parked the car (Bruce thought it was hysterical, the Ford Van sitting there with all the expensive cars). We walked up and down the street then went to Nike town on Wiltshire Blvd and checked out the Beverley Wiltshire, famous from Pretty Women. By this time it was dark and went had to get into the car to get to the airport on time, not sure about the traffic. IT wasn’t too bad and we got to the airport, mum checked in and we had some dinner. We walked mum to the gate and said our goodbyes, not enough time to get too upset and off she went through the doors. We walked to the car and started our drive home. Jamieson slept pretty much all the way; Conner slept on and off, me of course, nothing. We made good time and got home at 1.30am. I wasn’t too tired considering the lateness, Bruce was exhausted. I called Trudy to tell them what time to pick Mum up. Got off the phone around 2,00am and off to bed. Friday We all woke up around 8.30, which was good considering. The boys hung out in their PJ’s all morning. I did washing moved Jamieson’s things into his room and did cleaning and tidying. There was stuff everywhere; you would think that it wasn’t too bad considering we weren’t home for just under a week. By the time I finished all that it was after lunch then by the time the boys got ready it was around 2.00pm. We got into the car and went to get a tree and decorations. We’ve decided not to go to Seattle for Christmas. We got home from shopping with lots of stuff and had some dinner. Then around 7.00 we put the tree up and decorated it. The boys went off to bed around 8.30, kind of. I finished off the tree and decorating and Bruce and I sat down with a cup of tea. Mum called to say she got home fine. It’s raining here, we can hear it through the skylight. Off to bed around 10.30, still tired and hoping to get some rest. Not a lot planned for the weekend, basketball on Saturday and Billy Bounce on Sunday.