LA Sightseeing tour, Sun, Sept 5th

Lovey & booked our final excursion with Royal Caribbean for a sight-seeing tour of LA. Our return flight to SLC wasn't until 6pm that night, and we had to disembark by 10 am, so it was a good "filler" for us. The excursion was to start @ 8:30 am. We were instructed to meet in the Savoy Theatre at 8:15 am w/our bags in tow, and we'd disembark the big boat as a group. Oh, not so, not so. After waiting in the theatre for over an hour, being treated by Becca & Mary-Gail's pretend play, we finally wheeled our luggage out, said good -bye to the big boat, and entered the customs station. Can I just say that Becca & Mary-Gail are such good playmates! They humored me and Lovey, as well as several other passengers, while we waited in the theatre: Becca was the Mommy, and Mary-Gail was the baby, and the baby had to take her medicine, but she didn't want to...(seems very close to the real life scenario).

Climbing in the tour van

Don't know if you can read the writing on the blockade in the background - it says 5,000 lbs. I told Lovey that I felt like I weighed 5,000 lbs...and with that he blew a surprised whistle

Beautiful architecture. The dome looks like a bell my Grandma Next Door had in her china collection

According to our guide, this was a standard looking home for the early 1940's

Ritz Carlton (I love that name, "Carlton")

This is the Philharmonic Concert hall. It's a crazy design, but it's said to have the best acoustics. The sheets of stainless steel had to be "dulled" because the reflection from the sun was blinding.

Some famously delicious breakfast house (I didn't get a picture of the famously delicious hotdog establishment called "Pinks" either. The line at Pinks longer than this line, and it was only 10:30am)

hot! hot! hot!

"Dragnet" building

These designed were etched on the cement barriers along the freeway. Pretty cool

Seriously?

Hollywood stars. I desperately wanted to find Judy Garland's star, but was overwhelmed with just how many stars there were = both sidewalks were covered with them for miles & miles

The "Rat Pack" would convene at the Pig'n Whistle to discuss business, but would rarely order anything. The waiters would get angry b/c the Rat Pack would stay for hours and hours. The waiters began to argue with the Rat Pack and would try and kick them out; in turn, the Rat Pack would taunt the waiters...turned the establishment famous.

I would have liked to hike up to the "Hollywood" sign...perhaps another time, and definitely another dollar

Kodak Theatre

That way to Hollywood

Mary-Gail walked on the glass-tile-brook road, and Becca practiced her cat-walking skills. She gets it from her Daddy :)

And Mary-Gail gets her sweet tooth from me. Lovey spotted a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and got us 2 Carmel apples to share. Well, he got him and the girls a Carmel apple to share, and I got my own. He knows me so well!


"Departed" won the Oscar for Best Picture of 2006 - the year the girls were born

Next Stop: the farmer's market

Gilmore gas station

Aboard the double-decker electric trolley for a ride through the market

Beautiful, clear blue skies - matched Mary-Gail's eyes perfectly

Mary-Gail announced to everyone on the trolley, "Ma - I have to go poo. I have to go poo now." So we got back off the double-decker trolley, waltzed into World Market to use their bathroom. Becca & I found this awesome reddish-orange papassian chair. Becca loved it and was terribly disappointed that Mary-Gail did too.

Becca lovin' lounging on the chair

Becca completely frustrated that Mary-Gail loves the papassian chair too

After everyone had their turn in the clean, air-conditioned bathroom at World Market, we walked back to the entrance of the Farmer's Market
.

Please, won't you be my neighbor? I have my sister, Kristie, to thank for my early introduction to M A C. I love their lipstick - simply the best ever!

Becca was leading Mary-Gail as they walked hand-in-hand

They take good care of each other

Back @ the entrance I got distracted at a booth with some fabulous scarves. Lovey was with the girls and when I turned to check on them, this is what I saw:

Rebecca & Mary-Gail - fishing for money

Did you know that Lovey used to do this also? Only he wasn't 3 1/2 years old; he was a teenager who acted 3 1/2 year old :)

Sat, Sept 4 - at sea

Last Day on the Big Boat
Random pictures from our random day at sea

2 ragga-muffins

"Agent Mary-Gail Destructo" destroyed the towel creation Mr. Lukmann made for them the night before. Seeing how sad (pretend) I was, she gave (read: threw) it to me and wanted me to fix it. Since I have no skills whatsoever, and could not repair the momma cow, I made up a story of how the baby calf discovered that she had wings and flew to heaven to met the momma cow who now lives with Jesus. Can you follow that from these pics Lovey took?

Baby calf flying away...

Mary-Gail was satisfied - phew! - and she showed me her skills as she flew from one bed to the other

Just in case you didn't know what day it was, the elevator floor can tell you.

We headed up to Deck 12 to play the arcades and used up the rest of the arcade $ Lovey put on his card. Mary-Gail & Becca gravitated to the driving arcades - Lovey helped out with the gas pedal

Becca tries the virtual surf board

I grew to love these windows as much as Mary-Gail & Becca did. They were perfect for a little "sit & snap"

Watermelon art

"Princess Becca" walking down the stairs.

She has killer legs. I'm jealous!

The girls hugging

This was/is a common sight. The girls hugging. They would race each other down the hallway to our room (our room was at the end, turn right, 1st door on left) and then whomever was the victor would run to the other and catch her in her arms. Loved it then; Love it now. I'm sure the other guests didn't love hearing them @ 7am though. But, hey, this is our vacation too, and a little laughter never hurt anyone.

And neither did a much needed siesta. Love the hair Becs

Cookies and milk and milk and milk. Who wants some more milk? I do!

(Not fair that Lovey snapped this while we weren't looking. Just proof of how much milk I did drink)

"Ta -dah!" Becca's one-legged stance w/out-stretched arm. Definitely a performer, that one

Hanging out in the window sill again. Oh, I love this picture!

Mary-Gail would see just how many steps she could jump down. I think she mastered 5!

More jumping - Mary-Gail in mid-air

Crazies!

There's my girls on their big boat, The Mariner of the Seas

Lovey, can you put on your "angel face" for me next time...

Just like that. Thank you Mary-Gail & Becca for showing Daddy how to smile.

Such sweet angels. Thank you!

More pics from Deck 12 and the Arcade. How do you win at Skee-Ball?

Watch the pro:

You use your legs and run up the ramp with the skee-ball in your hand

and drop the skee-ball in the 100 point slots. Duh!

Some photos just take your breath away. This is one of those for me.

Saturday was so, so, so windy and so very cold! I lost Becca's jacket, so we couldn't stay outside for long. We ventured through the boat and got a few pictures we wanted to take. Then we headed back to our room, ordered room service (we finally got the hang of it) and watched the show "UP." Lovey & I took the girls to this show last year, and can you believe it - they remembered. They also said they remembered me crying in it (the beginning is so sad for me), but I don't really think they remembered that.