Ok, so after the previous entry, I didn't take any notes while we were away, so I am going to post the "Cliffs Notes" version because, to be honest, most of it blends all together in my head now.
On Wednesday, June 3rd, we switched hotels since Paul was finished with his conference. Jacob was nice enough to drive us to the new hotel, after having a fabulous lunch at an In 'n Out Burger. Our new hotel, courtesy of Camille and Rob, was at the Towneplace Suites by Marriott. Let me tell you, probably one of the best places I have ever stayed. We LOVED IT. It was like a little apartment with a bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen. It was stocked with all you could need in the kitchen and so much storage!! We were so excited to get everything put away in it's place. We were located a little bit further from Disneyland this time, so we took a little shuttle bus to and from the park. Ashley LOVED to get on the bus. She had to get up the steps all by herself! Once we got to the park it was about dinner time, so we had dinner at Toontown (Daisy's Diner). That evening our main goal was to walk around some more and see the fireworks over the castle! We did just that and Paul and I went on the Indiana Jones ride which was a blast! Disneyland is so accomodating because they try to fulfill the needs of every family. Knowing that Ashley was too small to get on a lot of the bigger rides, they invented this thing called a "switch pass". That way, Paul was able to go on first, and I stayed behind with Ashley and then when he was done, I used the pass and got pretty close to the front of the line. It worked out really well.
The highlights while at Disneyland were:
1.) Ashley dancing in the streets and enjoying all the music.
2.) The stellar fireworks display complete with a flying baby Dumbo and Tinkerbell!
3.) Eating breakfast at the little Main Street Cafe, and topping off our evenings with a sweet treat at the ice cream shoppe.
4.) Riding Dumbo, the Teacups, and the carousel with Ashley! She was so excited!
5.) Getting over some of my ride "fears" by going on the Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain.
6.) Riding on the Toy Story 3D Arcade ride with Ashley wearing the 3D glasses.
7.) The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique when Ashley became "Princess Ashley Snow White"! It was absolutely precious!
8.) When we went to the "ball" after her makeover at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, for dinner at Ariel's Grotto and met all the princesses.
9.) Coming back to our hotel on the shuttle bus and Ashley telling us all about her whole day and all of her favorite things.
10.) The choo choo train ride that took us all around the park. Ashley just loved it! She says, "All d-board!"
It truly was a magical Disneyland vacation. After that amazing experience, we still had a day left to go to LA/Hollywood by limo! We got up the next morning in time to meet the limo driver at 9am. We were dressed to impress, you know, LA Style! :o) (well, we tried to look cool) Our first stop in the limo was to McDonald's for egg mcmuffins! That is how we roll - Mickey D's in the AM! :o) We hadn't had any breakfast, so that was the closest place and Ash was hungry.
As we were eating our egg mcmuffins on the way to Hollywood, we sat back and relaxed and enjoyed the drive - complete with Ashley's Disney Princess DVD playing on the TV inside the limo. How cool are we?! Our first stop was the Hollywood sign and we got as close as you could go and got great photos! Then we went to the Griffith Observatory which was amazing to view the city from way up there. Another great photo opportunity. Then we headed to Paul's cousin Margaret's house. She was kind enough to babysit Ashley while Paul and I went out to eat at the Ivy. Margaret and her husband, Aaron were so kind to do that for us, after not even meeting us. The last time she saw Paul, he was in grade school. Margaret and Aaron have a sweet little girl, Parker, with another little one on the way. We really enjoyed visiting with them.
The Ivy was awesome. What an amazing experience to eat the celeb hotspot. Unfortunately, we didn't see any celebs there that day, but it was still cool. We ate ourselves into oblivion! Paul ordered a mint julep, lime chicken, and tiramisu for dessert and I had champagne with crushed strawberries, a gigantic salad with shrimp and grilled veggies, vanilla and praline ice cream sundae for dessert and we each had a cup of coffee to finish off the meal. The coffee cup was like the size of a soup bowl, so I should really say a bowl full of coffee! :o) Sooooo yummy. After our glorious lunch, the limo picked us up and we headed to the Chateau Marmont for a drink at the recommendation of Margaret. The Chateau Marmont was gorgeous and you just felt like you were back in the time of Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers. Paul had a drink and toasted one to his Hollywood homies!
After the Chateau, we headed back to Margaret's house for a short visit and to pick up Ashley before we headed to Chaplin Studios ( now Jim Henson Studios). Paul couldn't wait to see the studios as Charlie Chaplin is one of his all time favorite Hollywood actors/directors/creators. It was neat because the face of the building hasn't changed at all (kind of looked like a cottage) and they had a painting of Charlie Chaplin on the front door. The topper was that Chaplin's footprints were in the concrete going up the steps and he signed his name in the cement. Paul even did a Chaplin strut down the sidewalk. It was neat!
We headed to the Hollywood Walk of Fame next and on the way passed by the Capitol Records building. We got out of the limo and walked up and down the Walk of Fame taking photos and getting photos next to Grauman's Chinese Theatre and Kodak Theatre. We also got tons of photos of all the signatures and hand & footprints of the film stars. I especially liked seeing Shirley Temple's and Frank Sinatra's prints. We also went inside the old Roosevelt Hotel and I got a photo on the steps where Shirley Temple took her first tap dancing lesson from Bojangles!! Pretty neat! We purchased a shot glass souvenir to add to our collection from our travels as well as a Hollywood sign magnet. About the time, we were stressing from all the traffic and were ready to get out of there! Craziness!
We drove to Beverly Hills and went down the red carpet and got a quick peak inside the Beverly Hills Hotel. Honestly, it wasn't that great. Kind of Miami Vice-esq with the pastel paint colors. Vintage I guess...but still, not as grand as I thought it would be. Then off to Rodeo Drive. By this time, it was later on a Sunday and all the shops were closed. It was a shame because they all missed out on me spending my millions there. :o) We took some fun pics along the strip and also got a shot of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (Pretty Woman!). After that, we were exhausted and headed back to Anaheim. On the freeway, we stopped at downtown LA and drove past the Staples Center while a Lakers playoff game was going on; so that was cool. (So that's where all the celebs were!)
We toasted a glass of champagne on the drive home while the sounds of Ashley's disney movies played in the background. It was a wonderful trip.
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