Wednesday August 10, 2011

Have you missed us? Bob and Nancy spent August 3-10 visiting Stephen and family in Long Beach, Ca. It was a great trip. The following is a brief summary.

Wednesday August 3: Up at 0345, the taxi arrives at 0415. The plane to Chicago is on time. We are upgraded to first class on out trip to LAX. We arrive in LA about 1000. Hertz is having some major problems in LA. We wait 90 minutes for our car. When we get to Steve's house in LB we unpack and walk to the day care center to pick up Alessandra. She was all smiles when she saw her Grandma.

At 1600 we head to the LB Jewish Center (JCC)to see Lucas play water polo. Steve and Veronica meet us there. We all drove to TexMex for dinner.

Thursday August 4: Every morning while in LB I get up early and walk to the local Starbucks, about 1 mile. I have coffee and read the LA Times and WSJ. I ordered the LA Times as soon as I got to CA. Usually Steve will stop by on his way to work. The Starbucks must be one of the diverse stores in the USA. I see all ethnic groups. In fact I call it the third world Starbucks.

At 0830 I put Lucas in the rental and drive him to JCC. He has a morning martial arts class. At 1130 Nancy, Alessandra and I get in the rental and head to the JCC to pick up Lucas. We head to the Signal Hill park for a picnic lunch.

In the afternoon Nancy and the Grandkids make brownies. I later take Alessandra on a 60 minute walk. She slept for 55 minutes. Nancy grilled chicken breasts for dinner.

Friday August 5: We load the kids in the rental and head to a local water park. It is a great park and we spent about 2 hours in the water. Both Lucas and Alessandra had a great time. We had lunch at the water park.

For dinner Steve grilled hamburgs. It was a great meal.

Saturday August 6: Both Alessandra and Lucas have a gymnastics class. After the classes we head to a local Olive Garden for lunch. This is part of Steve and Veronica's normal Sat routine.

In the afternoon I get on Steve's bike and head down to the beach. I was surprised that Long Beach actually has a nice long beach. The beach was very crowded. My trip took about 2 hours.

Tonight Nancy and Bob are babysitting. Steve and Veronica are going out for dinner and a movie. Nancy fixes her world famous scrambled eggs. We also have waffles. The Grandkids really liked it. We watched a Phinius and Ferb movie and ate popcorn.

Sunday August 7: Today when I got back from Starbucks, Steve, Lucas and I head out to a kayak rental store. We rent our kayaks and paddle around some of the most beautiful waterfront homes I have seen. We spent about 80 minutes on the water. We had lunch in the upscale waterfront neighborhood of Belmont Shores. We ate at a Pizza place.

In the afternoon I go for a hour walk. We spent a quiet evening watching TV.

Monday August 8: Today is my sister's 70th. I gave her a call. Today is going to be an easy morning and afternoon. We headed to Signal Park for some play time. In the afternoon we put Lucas and Alessandra down for an afternoon nap. We were not very successful.

Tonight Steve, Lucas and I are going to the LA Dodger game. Nancy, Veronica and Alessandra are going to have high tea at an English Tea shop in Santa Monica. We leave for the ball park about 1600. The game starts at 1900. We get to Chavez Ravine, the ball park, about an hour before game time. We watch batting practice and I think Lucas is excited about his first major league game. A downside to a major league game is the cost of food. Steve ordered, 2 beers, three hotdogs and a lemonade. The bill was over $40. We saw the Phillies star pitcher, Roy H, and also the cousin of a neighbor of Steve's, number 27, who is the star for the LAD. In fact Lucas and I wore #27, Kemp, tee shirts. We stayed until the singing of "Take me out to the ball game" at the end of the 7th. It was a great evening and I was glad Steve let me be part of Lucas's first ball game.

Tuesday August 9: Today we take the kids and drive to a vendor so Nancy can purchase some scarf's for the gift shop. After we found a park in Cerritos Park and spent about an hour playing. Our plane leaves for Chicago at 2332. We head to LAX at 1900. Our flight was delayed and we did not leave LAX until 0032.

Wednesday August 10: The pilot made great time so we were able to make our flight from Chicago to GR on time. We get to GR before 0900. We unpacked and then took a short nap. I spent the afternoon cutting the grass. It was a great vacation but it is alway good to be back home.