Saturday

The hotel had been the Brandwood but recently changed its name to The Brand Plaza Hotel.

My morning work station.  

We walked down the street to Muffin Can Stop Us.  I had a English Muffin breakfast sandwich and George and Nathan had muffins.

Then we drove over to Sharon & Michael's

Ella was on her bike and Nicole was on her scooter.  They are both pretty fast.

We walked up the street to a near-by coffee shop, Toasted.

Nicole, Ella

Sharon, Nathan

Pam

me, Jamie

After having our morning coffee/treats we headed to the Huntington Gardens.  What an amazing place.  I have been there before but it was a long time ago.

Misting area in the Children's Garden.  You can almost see the rainbow.

Fun tunnel

Nathan in the tunnel.

The Chinese Garden was next.

Then the Japanese Garden

It was all very pretty.  I was surprised that it was not very crowded. 

it was time for lunch so we tried to find the quickest way to the restaurant.

Nathan and Ella

We could all pick different things.  I was not very happy with my chicken shawarma wrap and tomato soup.

After that we headed straight to Sharon and Michael's.  Nap time for everyone (MDT time for us).  George, Nathan and I walked up to the Unique Bakery.  We sat there and played 10, 9, 8 and Bananagrams.  Then we went to Trader Joe's to buy a brownie mix and other "essentials." WE saw Ella work on some of her homework for kindergarten.  Very complicated stuff.

After Nicole woke up and Ella had her quiet time. We went to an ice cream place. Part of the group did Moo Moo Mia and the othe part did Tutti Fruiti 

Cute little doors near Moo Moo Mia's.  (Stuart Little's homes)

I still was not feeling well from the lunch so I did not have any.

When we got back to S & M's we ordered take-out from Giuseppe, Italian.  We had walked by it when we went to Toasted.  I still was not feeling great.  Michael went to get me some ginger beer.  That really helped but I still wasn't hungry.  What I had was delicious. 

Bath time for Ella and Nicole and then some relaxing time.  We headed back to the hotel when it was bed time. 

We have to remember that time change is tonight. 

Glendale, CA

Nathan, George and I were going to Glendale to visit my brother Jamie and family.  We left our house at 8:15 am, picked up Nathan and then picked up Rebecca from her work at the Amazon Distribution Center.  This did get us to the airport early but we did not have to pay for parking because Rebecca took the car home. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 11:45 am but it ended out being 1/2 hour delayed.  Not too bad.

Airport art

Our plane

View from Burbank airport.

When we got to the car rental place, they told us that they had no cars available.  We could have a pick-up truck or pay $200 more for a larger vehicle, or wait 1/2 hour for a vehicle to be ready.  We opted to wait.  I don't understand this.  We weren't the only ones who got this same message.  What a pain.

After we got the car we drove to our hotel.  We were in a hurry so I did not take pictures.

The front door of the Brand Plaza Hotel.   We checked in and put our bags in the room and then left to go to Jamie and Pam's place.  Grandma Pam is the after school childcare person.  Ella (5 years old) is in kindergarten and Nicole (2 1/2 years old) is in a preschool program.  Ella's kindergarten is in a Japanese immersion program elementary school.

Ella, Pam, Nicole.  

Ella and Nicole were thrilled to see Nathan.  He was a new toy to play with. 

Then we all went over to Sharon and Michael's for dinner.  It was delicious Indian food from Cardamom's.  

Lots of choices.  What a feast!!

One toy Nathan bought for Ella and Nicole to share was this pony that you were supposed balance the sticks on its back.  I did the one on the right. Ella (on the left) found a way to keep them all neatly stacked.  It can also be played kind of like Jenga,  

Reading time. Ella, Pam, Nathan and Nicole.

After the kids were in bed some of us walked around the block.  Then we headed back to Jamie and Pam's to visit for a short time.  We headed back to the hotel.

Our room

Front desk

Lobby