Visitors!

Well we have had a super busy week compared to our normal day to day lives. Last Thursday, Emily Gray flew in to LAX to stay for the weekend before heading out to Australia to visit her sister. I picked her up from the airport and after sitting in LA traffic for 2 and 1/2 hours, we made it home. That night we made a pizza and funfetti cake and just hung out at our apartment. On Friday, we got some strawberries from the strawberry man and then took Molly to the dog park. We also had to find a Pinkberry (frozen yogurt place) since it was one of the things on Emily's list to do while she was here. We found one in Westlake Village and then headed back to Simi for some "arts and craft corner time." Ha! Ok so really what we did...my friend Courtney had given me some white onesies and some really cute iron ons to do myself, so Emily and I decided to do those while she was here. We just watched movies and did the onesies until William got home from work. We went out for Mexican that night and just relaxed and hung out pretty late the rest of the night. On Saturday morning, Barbie Jo and Marc E Gray (Emily's parents) flew in and drove to Simi for the day. A couple of Emily's friends who live in Longbeach came over to join us for lunch at In and Out Burger. After a big lunch, we went back home to relax before having to pick mom up from the airport. The Grays were flying out that night so we had decided to all go to dinner (mom included) before they left. William and I picked mom up from the airport and then met the Grays at BJ's Restaurant and Brewery in LA for dinner. We had a great dinner and then went our separate ways - the Grays to the airport and William, Mom, and I went home to Simi! 

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Mom's visit was tons of fun and I actually felt like I was on vacation too since I got to do a lot of things that we hadn't done yet. Saturday night after dinner, we got back to the apartment and got to show mom all of the baby stuff we had gotten so far and just visit for a while before bed. Sunday morning we got up and went to church where mom got to meet most of our friends and see our church. Sadly, our pastor was sick this week, so she didn't get to hear or meet him, but what can you do? After church we drove around Simi to show mom around the town and give her an idea of what our lives are like here. We had lunch at home and took a nap before going to night church. After the evening service, we went to the Kaiser's for my baby shower that my friends had planned to have so that mom could be here for it. The shower was really fun and we got a lot of fun things for the baby boy. I was glad that mom got to hang out and meet my friends in this sort of setting because now it makes it easier to talk about who people are and what they do, now that she can picture a face! William went out with the husbands and some other guys while we were at the shower, which was fun for him! 

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Monday we had planned on going to the Getty Center (a huge art museum) in LA, but after getting some more strawberries, before heading to LA, mom and I were heading back to our apartment to drop off the strawberries and the clutch pedal seemed to just disappear in the middle of trying to shift. The car wouldn't go anywhere without the clutch! We were on a street where there was only one lane open and were right about to pass a left turn lane, so in a state of panic, not really knowing what to do because I didn't want to block all of the traffic, I asked mom if she could get out and push! (This later became quite the joke - asking mom to get out and push the car!) Well we weren't going anywhere, so I got out and pushed from the driver's side door so that I could steer too. We finally got the car pushed out of traffic into the turn lane where we put on the hazard lights and called William. Right as William was pulling up, a police officer stopped and pushed us so that we could turn left onto a less busy street and have a place to park by a curb. Needless to say, he had an easier time pushing than a pregnant woman and her mom! William came up and figured out the problem was not a big deal and could easily be fixed. We had AAA tow us home and William fixed the car later that night. What an adventure! Since that had taken so much time, we decided to stay around Simi for the day since we wouldn't have had time to make it to the Getty. We went to the Golden Spoon and then to a couple of fabric stores. Mom had brought some smocking stuff to teach me how so that I can make some clothes for the babe, so we just worked on that the rest of the afternoon. I cooked dinner that night and we watched The Perfect Man at home. After dinner, though, we went to Babies R Us to get our crib mattress which mom and dad were giving us!! It was quite exciting to get that since it was one of our big purchases we still needed to make to complete the nursery! We brought it home and after William researched it a bit more (usually something you do BEFORE you buy it, but oh well haha!) we opened it up and put the sheet on it and put it in the crib. It's quite cute! Thanks again mom and dad! We love it! 

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Tuesday we decided attempt number 2 to go to the Getty. When looking up the hours of operation, I noticed that the center is not even open on Mondays! That's why God didn't let us drive all that way!! We did have to sit in traffic for quite a while (like it took almost an hour to go 3 miles!) but we made it to the center with plenty of time to look around and enjoy a picnic lunch outside in the gardens. We enjoyed the art and just spending time together! After getting back to Simi, we ran into the grocery store to grab a few things, so mom got to see our grocery store (exciting, no doubt!) That night we went to get sushi when William got off work. It was yummy! Then we went to see Benjamin Button at our $3 theater! It was pretty good and definitely worth $3 of entertainment! 

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Wednesday we got up and headed over to Hollywood for the day. We parked at the Kodak Theater and walked down to find where we could take a tour of Star's homes and Rodeo drive, etc. We passed a taping of a show and saw some host (not exactly sure who it was, but they're famous). We found a tour and bought tickets. We had time for lunch before the tour so we went back to the Hollywood and Highland center (next to the Kodak Theater) to find a place to eat. We ended up at a place called The Dip, that had good sandwiches. We enjoyed lunch and then stopped by Starbucks to get some warm coffee before taking our open top bus tour. It was pretty chilly outside, so we needed something to keep us warm! We made it back to the meeting place for the tour and waited a few minutes before loading up on the van. We sat next to two guys from Holland who were pretty entertaining themselves. We drove all around Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Bel-Air. We got to see a ton of different stars' homes, clubs and resaurants from several movies, clubs that stars own, walk down Rodeo drive (where our main goal was to find a restroom!) and ended with Hollywood Blvd. Besides being a bit chilly, we had a great time and just enjoyed seeing around the area. Afterwards, we read all of the names on the stars on the sidewalk and went back to the H and H center to take a couple of pics of the Hollywood sign. We stopped at Coldstone Creamery before heading back home. When William got off work, we drove down to Malibu for dinner and some sightseeing. We ate dinner at Malibu Seafood and sat out on the patio where we could see the ocean and watch the sunset. It was pretty awesome (even though, yet again, kind of chilly)! After dinner, we drove down the Pacific Coast Hwy to see the ocean and several homes in Malibu. We stopped at the Pier and walked out on it for a big view of the ocean (even though it was already dark). We got back home around 9 and put in a movie and just hung out before bedtime on mom's last night!  I had started to get a cold on Tuesday and was really starting to feel it by Wednesday night, so I wasn't up for much more after getting home from Malibu, so it was nice to just relax and hang out. 

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This morning we got up and I drove mom to the airport, where we made it without much trouble from traffic. I dropped her off and she was on her way! It wasn't quite as sad as it could be because I'll get to see her in just a few weeks when I make my trip to Memphis! So, it was more of a "see you in a little while" goodbye and Molly and I headed back home for some much needed rest and relaxation to get over this cold! It was a great week and so much fun to have Emily and then mom here to visit! We're looking forward to more visitors in the not-so-distant future!!