Sunshine

Well, #44 is officially checked off of the list.  On Tuesday morning I woke up, Rusty's fever was gone-only to have his illness return on Wednesday night ending up in a ruptured ear drum on Thursday night but that is all beside the point-and he seemed chipper, so Kev said he really wanted me to still hop on that plane and head to California, so I did!

I drove myself down to Seatac and caught my flight to LAX, where my cousin Jayme picked me up and we proceeded to enjoy a whirlwind of activities in about 36 hours.

The goods:
First we drove straight to Hollywood Boulevard, where we parked, grabbed a bite to eat, and then got in line with our free tickets to Jimmy Kimmel Live.  I had never experienced anything like that and it was so much fun.  It is a pretty small group of people that get to go and watch it, and it is really intimate in its setting.  We got amazing seats and I absolutely loved seeing how it all takes place!  It is a lot of work to tape a live show!  The guests were Randy Jackson-who was very funny!-and Dermot Mulroney.  Mostly Jayme and I just laughed and clapped a lot, and we felt it was an awesome and unique experience.  Next on our list??? To see a taping of Ellen!  Someday.  I don't have any pics of this because we weren't allowed to have cameras and they made us shut off our cell phones, but it was a great experience.

After this it was only 8:30-they tape live for the East Coast-so we drove down to Santa Monica Pier and enjoyed some dessert and food at Bubba Gump's.  I missed that place.  I forgot how fun and pretty it is on the wharf.

Wednesday morning was sleeping in-yay!-followed by a long, leisurely shower and getting ready and then heading to Newport Beach.  I had never been there before and it was so great!  Newport is a fun sleepy little town-at this time of year anyway-and we loved it.  We were totally chill and relaxed.  The day was warm enough for just a light jacket and the sun, the GLORIOUS sun.  I love sunshine.  When it is beating down on me all is well in my world!

We had tickets to go whale watching so just browsed around the village first, enjoying some shopping and then off on the tour.  The tour was unbelievable!  We had two fin whales following our boat for almost half an hour or more!  They kept diving and coming back up, shooting water.  It was amazing!  There were also hundreds of dolphins-I am NOT exaggerating!-swimming all around our boat and out in the water around us.  Lastly we saw two grey whales, a mom and her baby.  I would have paid just to ride around on the boat with the sun on my face and the wind in my hair for two hours, the whales and dolphins were simply an incredible, added bonus.

We followed it up with a wonderful dinner of appies and wine at a nearby restaurant overlooking the ocean.  We sat and talked and laughed for awhile and then enjoyed a gorgeous sunset, before going to Downtown Disney to find some special treats for my little guy.

Overall it was such a wonderful few days.  I was totally relaxed, missed my boys a ton, and came back recharged and ready to go!