Wednesday, August 15, 2007

californication

We had a fabulous time. We packed each & every day with so many things that our week-long vacation was over before we knew it. But we missed the girls so much, and we were so glad to be home.
I'd have to say that my favorite part was the gorgeous weather. Can't stand the traffic, but I suppose it's a trade off to have perfect weather every single day. It was always about 78, breezy. It was just beautiful.

The girls had a great time in Stedman. Cailyn wasn't very excited to see me, but she's warming up to me.
She was weaned over the last week, which went better than I had imagined. It's bittersweet moment, but also freeing at the same time. No more baby :(


So, here's a rundown, complete with pictures. enjoy!!!!

Monday - we landed at LAX about 10:30 PST - we had to get our rental car , something to eat. By the time we made it to bed, it was actually 5:30 EASTERN time - we'd been awake for way too long. We were so tired.

Tuesday - Still on East coast time, we awoke way too early - we only got about 4 hours of sleep. Trevor graciously showed us his city and some surrounding beaches and a park near Laguna. We had brunch at the Sugar Shack in Huntington Beach. Yummo! We toured to area - Huntington, Laguna, Newport beaches. All wonderful. By 3pm, we were exhausted & tried to catch a little nap. For dinner, we ate at Beni Hana - so tasty!

On the Huntington Beach PierA seal feasting on the schools of fish off the pier
Um. This sign actually says that my safety is not guaranteed.
And rattlesnakes too? Yea, we didn't stay long...

Wednesday - We had to wake up early to make a drive out to Pechanga Casino. We caught a wine tour shuttle there, and spent a little time in the casino itself. The wine tour was amazing! We love wine, but really didn't know too much about it. It was interesteing to see the different wineries and taste the same varieties of wines and their subtle differences between vineyards. Out wine tour adventure ended right before dinner, so we ventured into Old Town Temeluca for a quick bite. I'm happy to say I had a fish taco - and didn't think I would like it at all. Trevor always said they were great - and I totally agree. It was delish! We got back to Trevor's & crashed.

at Bella Vista Winery, our 3rd stop on the tour

Leonesse Winery & Vineyard. GORGEOUS!

Toasting with Ice Wine at Key Ways

The beautiful grapes at Leonesse. They were so small, but sweet.
We were there a few days before the harvest - peak time. It was perfect!

LONG horns! Can you believe that???Fish taco at Rosa's Cantina

Thursday - Kind of a blur. We woke up kinda early again and drove up to LA for a taping of Chelsea Lately. We had to wait in line forever - but the experience of being in a studio audience was fun. The special guest was Holly Madison from the Girls Next Door - you know, Hef's #1 girl...we were like 30 feet from her. She was pretty funny. I won my very own E! clipboard for knowing useless trivia. The question was something about Danny Pintauro's character on what show? I knew it was Who's the Boss - hello!?!? I am an 80s kid!
Finally - the pointless celeb news in my head paid off. Ha!
Thursday night - we met up with some friends & went out on Sunset Blvd. We tried to get into Skybar, but it was a no go. We started at the Standard, and ended up at BOA. Fun times - we had a really fun night. We all stayed at the Beverly Hilton - so nice! We actually had a mix-up with our room at first and Chad & I got a deluxe suite - that suite was sweet! We ended up in a double with our friends though.


The beautiful flowers at the Hilton in Beverly Hills.
They were HUGE! I couldn't stop staring at them.

Friday - We briefly toured Hollywood and took some pictures - we had to head to Mission Viejo for tuxedo fittings and the rehearsal dinner. The dinner was so nice - it was outside at a really lush state park near the beach. However, our area was not equipped with lights, so we were trying to see each other all night in the darkness. It was hilarious to spend some time talking with someone and not know who they were when you saw them the next day in daylight. We stayed the Marriott Laguna Cliffs at Dana Point. Gorgeous!
Saturday - We slept in, went to brunch, and had a lazy day by the pool before getting ready for the wedding. I tagged along with the groomsmen when they had their photos taken at the train depot. The wedding was simply gorgeous and elegant. Trevor and Kathy looked stunning, and we all had a great time. The party stopped around 10pm, so a group of us trotted up the hill to a bar called Swallows Inn for a few hours.
Sunday - We checked out around 12 and had the entire day to kill since our flight didn't leave until 10:30 that night. We ate breakfast with the bride & groom, and then we drove back to Hollywood to walk the strip and see everything we wanted to do earlier in the week but didn't have time. It was so crowded, and very hot - but I saw most everything I wanted to see. I didn't get to go down Mulholland Drive, and I didn't get to compare my hand prints with Marilyn Monroe's...but I did see a ton of stars on the Walk of Fame.
We left there, and headed to Target of all places, because Carys had asked us to bring her a green turtle from Cawiforna and we just hadn't found one.
We then returned our rental car, made it to LAX, and ate a late dinner. We boarded at 10:30, but were delayed, so were about an hour off schedule. We caught a little nap on the plane, but not much. I think we'll be in a sleep deficit for some time. But it was so worth it!


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow!! Sounds like fun! Beautiful pictures....

Anonymous said...

whoa. that looks like fun Lanfords.

Amanda said...

Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. I love pictures....

Christine said...

what a great recap! it sounds like it was a fun BUSY trip!!! The pictures are great!!!