The Wilsons are in Hollywood - Day 12

Helloooo!

It's so so hot here in LA, but it's great.
Walking outside at 10pm is like walking into a heated room.

It was warm from the get go this morning, back in San Diego.

I went down to the fitness centre before everyone got up and went for a quick jog on le treadmill. There was this real weird guy in there doing weights and he was breathing real strange.

I was trying not to give funny looks.

Mum, Dad and I went over to the dining area for brekkie.

You could make your own waffles with the waffle batter and waffle irons there.

There were also pancakes, potatoes, eggs, cereals, porridge, fruit, yoghurt, bagels, and toast. I got chocolate milk with my breakfast, of course.

We said goodbye to the hotel and went for a San Diegan cruise.

Along the way, we had a run in with the law:

But that didn't hold the Wilsons back.
Also saw a Navy ship, if you squint your eyes you can probably make it out amongst the bush:

Our first stop was at the Seaport Village which was a cool little collection of shops on the waterfront. 
The heat + the cacti made it feel like a desert.

Look, it's a desert:

 Dad made a ladybug friend:

Beaut water:

Refreshed ourselves with ice cream at Ben & Jerry's:

Then we were on our way to see the sea!
We went to Ocean Beach and the sand was so perfect we just couldn't resist.
So we changed into our togs and frolicked over the hot sand.
At this point, it was well above 30 degrees. But I was wearing my Tiffany bracelet, so I stayed super cool.

A surfer dude going out to catch a wave:

Dad, me and Jack after having a quick dip:

(I only went up to my bum, it was reeeeally cold!)

Then I made my own ladybug friend!

There were shops right by the beach and the street was filled with hippy stores.
One of the streets was called Bacon Street.

There were t-shirt stores, smoothie bars, tattoo stores and weed stores.

I got a delicious pitaya smoothie, never heard of it before, but it sure was yummy! And pink!

Once fuelled for the upcoming journey, we set off to Los Angeles.

The drive was about 2.5 hours.

We made a detour to Walmart and bought some essential lollies, lip balms and make-up as it was so cheap!

When we made it to LA, we saw the Hollywood sign on the hill. It was quite far away so I didn't take a picture, but hopefully I'll get a good one tomorrow!

Our hotel is quite nice, it's in North Hollywood, but there were a few complications because there weren't enough beds.

So Kate and I have now moved into our own room, and we're living it cray cray.

The pool:

We had dinner at the hotel's restaurant, Warren's Blackboard.
Mum thought our waiter was a guy from Lethal Weapon.

I got the grilled veggie lasagne "à la minute".
It was so so yummy.

I got a strawberry fields cocktail as well which was also mmmmm mmmmm!

Kate got a burger:

Mum got a New York steak:

(my photography was not on form here)

Jack got fries and Dad got crab toast things and salmon.
For dessert, Jack and Mum got ice cream and Dad got a raspberry eton mess.

Outside our hotel:

So now Kate and I are in our room watching Jimmy Kimmel with Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler-Fergusson.

Kate's turning herself into a burrito:

Like I said, having a crazy time.

I think that's all for now. Can't wait to look around LA tomorrow!
Might get my big break in Hollywood.

Later!

Madeleine
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

San Diego Zoo! (Day 11)

Heeeelloooooo!

Oh man, on the best buzz at the moment.
Had a very wonderful, magical experience this evening, but I'll get to that later.

We woke up at a reasonable time this morning.
Mum, Dad and I went across the road to Mimi's for breakfast and we reminisced about the good old times when it was just us three. Ahhh, I remember it well.

At Mimi's, Dad had toast and coffee, I had a banana and strawberry smoothie and Mum had s muffin to go. But this was average, she said.
We brought back some breakfast for Kate and Jack.

Not long after that, we were packed up and ready to leave Anaheim. 

Straight to San Diego Zoo it was!

Us kids with the lion:

San Diego Zoo is amazing.
They've got like, every sort of animal ever.
It was very hot today and I think we may have got a tad burnt..

They had grizzly bears:

The bears getting a little frisky:

There were koalas:

All sorts of monkeys, and I was reunited with my orangutan family:

 "Papa, is that you?"

"Yes Madeleine, come home baby" 

This was mama orangutan getting some food:

Resemblance is amazing:

Dad, Kate and Jack got these cool ice creams that were in a little cup and they were just like, little individual balls of ice cream. V yummy.

We saw turtles:

And a hippo called Funani who was very, very graceful:

There were cute little red pandas:

And real pandas!!

Apparently there are only 50 pandas in the world outside of China.

And there were two here.

We got our picture taken and they edited it so it looked like we were holding lil baby pandas. That was a keeper.

I forgot what these things were called (tall antelope things), but they just kinda held onto trees and stood up:

Jack with a lion:

Jack riding a cheetah (?) :

A lady lion:

Next up were the polar bears.
They were actually massive.
The one on the right was waiting for some action but the other one was sleeping:

Apparently he got lucky last week so maybe there'll be baby polar bear cubs in the way!

Kate and her funky cup filled with lemon slushy:

Kate being cool man:

Elephants!!

To get back down, we caught gondolas and got a pretty good view of the zoo and San Diego:

Cool church:

Back at the bottom, we found the naked mole rats!
Ugly.
But cute.

We were all done and over animals by that time so we headed to our hotel.

After checkin in, we settled in and stuff.

Dad and Jack checked out the pool and Dad checked out the free beer on offer.

We all went down to the dining area for dinner.

There was a free all you can eat buffet!

It was great.

They even have a chocolate milk dispenser.

Defs hitting that up at breakfast tomorrow.

Dad returned to his free beer and then he joined Jack in the pool.

Mum, Kate (reluctantly) and I went to Fashion Valley for a quick squizz at the shops.

Woooo weeee.

There was everything.

Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Emporio Armani, Carolina Hererra, Louis Vuitton, the lot.

I headed straight for Tiffany & Co.

We were served by the wonderfully fabulous Marc (i'm assuming he spells his name with a C).

Everything about him was fabulous; his hair, his nails, his suit!

And he put necklaces and bracelets on me and kept saying how cute they were.

Eventually I decided on what I wanted and left with a necklace and a bracelet.

Marc wrapped them up into beautiful Tiffany-blue boxes, tied with a Tiffany-bow. (It's not just a normal bow! He had to take lessons.)

Both in a blue Tiffany & Co. bag along with a couple of Tiffany books about diamonds and jewellery which Marc put in there.

This is how you get your receipt:

In a Tiffany & Co. envelope!

He honestly gave us the best Tiffany's experience ever.

Omg, I felt like a princess.

Marc's actually coming to Auckland next year and then heading to Sydney for Mardi Gras.

He doesn't have his costume yet, but it's gonna be crazy.

Après that experience:

(not a very good photo sorry - it was night time)

Then we popped over to MAC where I made a couple of purchases :)

Kate got a Haagen-Daazs ice cream while she waited for me.

She was very very patient.

I wandered to a few other stores and a guy on his phone like, stopped being on the phone and was like, "Excuse me?"

And I was like, "Yeah?" Thinking he was gonna ask directions or something.

But he was like, "You're pretty"

And I was like "Um, thanks."

And kept walking.

LOL

What a night.

This is mine and Kate's bedding arrangements for this evening:

I'm at the bottom in the little cave.

Oh, one last note:

The toilet here is great.

No jet-powered sucking force.

Just a gentle swirl and everything's washed away.

So I'm a very happy girl today.

Very tired though!

Off to sleep now, and to dream about all the Tiffany & Co. jewellery I could have.

Byeeeeee!

Madeleine

xo