The last one, I promise!

So here we are - sitting at LAX - we checked out of our hotel at midday. We came to the airport via our two favourite American icons. You guessed it, Walmart and In-n-Out Burger. We went to DL and Cali Adventure Park for some rides before our check-out. 

                Space Mountain

We managed a few old favourites including Cars & Space Mountan before a lunch stop at Flo's V8 Cafe in Cali Adventure Park. This was the last of the birthday gifts given to each of the kids since this extravaganza was announced last Christmas. Lunch today was Charlie's gift. 

      Look - some veggies (and a coke)

Melt down immediately preceded this photo - William a speck on the far left 

We have worked very hard to sort out our luggage. Complicated somewhat by my insistence on stopping at Walmart for a Kryptonic long board (skateboard) at Walmart. We also bought 2 new bags along with the new case we bought yesterday. 

We took about a thousand wrong turns trying to find the In-n-Out Burger located right near LAX. Worth the trouble and not difficult to find if you know where to look. Did heaps of U-turns between the Anaheim and LAX. 

Dropped off the minivan and got dropped at the Qantas check-in. Plane now delayed. 

             Major re-pack underway

Major catastrophe was forgetting that the girls had amassed some lovely perfumes and moisturisers which were all above 100 ml. They had been bought with much love, thought and consideration. Our only options were to turf them or battle our way back through hundreds of people in the customs line and try and check them as baggage. Amid floods of tears and gnashing of teeth, they went in the bin. 

This is the security guard we needed - we would have got all the perfume through on this bloke's watch

Now killing time and gearing up for our flight home. 

Disney, shopping & baseball

Today was our last full day in the USA. We started with breaky in our room (thank you Walmart for our vast array of cereals) and then we headed off to Cali Adventure Park. We started the day with 3 rides on California Screamin. 

We then had a go on the 4D Buzz Lightyear shoot-em-up ride. This was much more fun than I anticipated. 

Then another ride on Mickey's giant Ferris wheel. This time Charlie & I opted for a non swinging carriage. The others went on a swinger again. Ours was much more relaxing. 

The  Cars ride was busted which was a shame. We settled for some synchronised driving with Luigi. 

By around 11.30 am the heat was unreal and nudging 42 C. We decided to venture back to the Hotel by way of a well known American eatery for some fizzys. I think a few chicken nuggets went down as well. I managed a salad from Panera Bread. 

We kicked back in our aircon at the Hotel for an hour or two before hitting the pool. This outing was mildly successful. The boys wrestle non-stop in the pool and do their best to dunk each other. They love it but it's very unsettling to watch. I spend my entire time reprimanding them. Gracie hit her head (only a bit of blood) and Hannah was cranky with me for a range of reasons.

After this, we had (yet another) trip to Walmart and surrounds in the arvo for those all-important final bits and pieces. Lara hit Ross' Best & Less for another suitcase. We looked a bit odd walking into this fine establishment with a floor panel section for a 1956 Cadillac. We needed to make sure it fitted in our new case. It did. Exit stage left with said floor pan. 

A little aside, while waiting for the family to emerge, a lady was loading her car with an odd assortment of homewares from the aforementioned Ross' store. What got my attention was her ride. Talk about fully sik. A 1937 Auburn boat-tail speedster. She looked like she'd car-jacked Jay Leno and taken a wrong turn or two.  A crazy site - such an expensive & exotic car and here she was grabbing some bargains from Ross. 

We dropped our goodies back at the Hotel before heading to Angel Stadium. This was a massive highlight. We met our great friend Saman at the game and it was fantastic catching up with him and his boy Jayath. He treated us to the genuine baseball experience by getting each of the kids an Angels cap and shouting us to an Angel Dog. Not content with hot dogs, William (with Hannah in tow - quite reluctantly) scoured the stadium to find corn dogs. Sadly the kids were unimpressed. They didn't live up to their expectations. 

The atmosphere at the game was awesome and the national anthem (sung by a girl who was about 14) was incredible - complete with  fireworks at the end. We got certificates because it was our first time at Angel Stadium. As soon as we took our seats, a waitressy looking lady introduced herself and said she would be waiting on us and just to give her a wave if we needed anything. 

Service to your seat despite having $9.00 general admission tickets.  What a blast. 

We left around 9.00 pm as I was meeting a bloke in Whittier to inspect a car I'm quite keen on. I dropped the girls at the hotel, watched the Disney fireworks and then set out for Whittier - about a 20 ish km drive. Arrived at a Workshop in Whittier around 10.15 pm. Checked out the car and then hightailed back to our beautiful hotel. 

A quick comment on the hotel - every time I enter the sliding doors, I smile. I can't help it. It's beautiful and it smells nice and everyone says hi and smiles. I'm thinking this is what heaven will be like. 

Home now - the room is quiet, save for the occasional spooky noise from Space Mountain which has been transformed for Halloween. Just a bit of background noise. 

Early start tomorrow to get through our massive list of things to do before heading to the airport around 4.00 pm. We've had so much fun, we've loved each other's company (most of the time), and we've remained in awe of Lara's organisation and attention to detail. She's been amazing. From directions to finances, phones & shopping, she's knocked it out of the park (to use a baseball expression). 

To my lovely little family, I will cherish these memories. This funny little holiday blog is my gift to you. Pull it out and show your own kids one day. Remember kids, we're the Simpsons - we love each other, we have fun and we do stuff. Until our next adventure.  

I got weary feet

Well it's Sunday night here in LA and this is the second last night of our grand USA adventure. It's been a busy couple of days with lots of activities. 

Yesterday morning we set off to chase down some car related stuff. First thing, we went down to Long Beach to check out a couple of cars I found on-line before we left Australia. Sadly they looked much better in the photos than they did in real life. In realty, they were both rubbish. Full of bog. A bit disappointing. There was, however, one of the Eleanor Mustangs built for "Gone in 60 seconds," but at $700,000, I decided to pass it up. 

We then went to Original Parts Group to get some floor pans for the Caddy. Still not entirely sure how I will get them home. While I was there, the bloke told me that there was a massive hot rod show at the Orange County Fairground. What timing!

Original Parts Group is like Bunnings for             Petrol Heads

Home via Walmart for a massive stock-up before dumping the family and getting to the OC Fairground. 

The highlight of the day for William (possibly the whole holiday) was catching a rare Poke only found in America. The evasive Tauros was captured outside Walmart, using their free wifi. Bonus. Much jubilation was had. 

The OC Fairground was only about 20 mins drive from our Hotel. A bloke I met there told me it was the biggest single day car show in the USA. Around 3000 very muscley cars. Lots of super custom & modified. I spent so much on parking that I didn't have enough for the entry fee. As I was trying to talk my way in, a lovely lady took pity on me and slung me a few bucks. No busking required. 

50's F-Truck with late model Powerstroke and full Harley Davidson F-Truck interior

While I frolicked in my happy car place at the OC Fairground, Lara & the kids mucked around in the pool.  I joined them on my return. The pool and waterpark at the hotel have been fantastic. 

We caught the end of the parade at DL and stayed for the fireworks. It was jam packed. I've never seen so many people. We did sneak in an ice-cream and a quick go on the autopia go-Karts. 

Today we hit Six-Flags again. It was super hot at around 37 degrees. The day was s bit mucked up. The first ride of the day misfired and Gracie & I got stuck on it for around 10 mins (at least we weren't hanging upside down). When the "kids"running the ride pulled out the manual, I forbade the rest of my family from getting on it. We got a few rides done, but we (Phil) were on each other's (Lara's) nerves a bit. 

I stupidly accepted William's invitation to join him on the Green Lantern ride. Terrible decision. I nearly lost consciousness and in the minutes following I had trouble walking in a straight line. I thought that Lara would need to drive home. It was absolutely awful. Quite possibly the worst ride I have ever been on. 

Home via In-n-Out Burger (we're giving up burgers after this trip). Stopped at Citadel outlets on the way home and did some damage in the Nike & Adidas outlets. Home by about 6.00 pm and then off to DL for the parade. We snuck in a turn on the massive Mickey Ferris wheel before we left. It was actually a bit full-on with lots of swinging. I thought Charlie was going to have a panic attack. 

The boys bought helicopter spinning things from a bloke on the way home. Back to our hotel for a swim & a spa before bed. 

We've walked so many km's over the course of this week and our feet are feeling a bit weary. Looking forward to the next couple of days and still have lots of things we want to tick off.