My Days In Sunny L.A.

It's always great to get away for a few days. I got to bring Easton back home after a week long visit to Utah while Teresa and Mitch were in Mexico. Here are some of the events of my trip.

• PHO 97 - We met Ami and Brandon for pho right after arriving. It always hits the spot. Poor Easton was having a rough time though, no doubt due to lack of sleep (we left at 6:00 am and he did NOT sleep on the plane). The poor kid just laid on the floor, spoon in hand, whimpering "help... help... help...". Cutest and saddest thing ever.
• MIA'S MISHAP - While at Fallon's soccer game, I get a horrible phone call from Kimmie. It turns out Mia, a.k.a. "Supergirl", was riding her bike and had taken on a SUV. The kid has some serious superpowers as she came out with only a few scrapes and a bump on her head. The bike and SUV fared worse than she did. All I can say is... "WOW"!
• THE USUAL - We have our usual "hot spots" we hit every visit that I look forward to. Pho 97 of course, Robeks for a smoothie (it's pretty much a Jamba Juice), In and Out, The Coffee Bean for a vanilla ice blended (so delicious), Indian takeout, and of course a Target run. It's nice to have a routine. Unfortunately we didn't have time to hit the Apple store, IKEA for meatballs, or play Sunday pickup soccer. :(
• THE MALL MASSAGE - Teresa had talked me into getting a mall massage with her. Fifteen whole minutes for $20. Well... it was more of a chinese torture session than a massage. At one point I almost cried "mercy". At times she would actually punch my body... is this really a practiced technique? I ended up being more sore coming out than I was going in, not to mention I couldn't move my jaw for a good half hour afterwards because my face was being pressed so hard into the evil contraption. I can honestly say 7 year-old Mia is far better, and she only costs a dollar. Never again!
• SKEWERS - Teresa always makes something memorable each time I visit. This time it was her lemongrass beef skewers. I have to say, it was the best ever! Unfortunately, she didn't make enough and left us all wanting more.
• AIRPORT ADVENTURE - I got to spend a good 4 hours at the Burbank airport. Due to the heat and wind, and the short runway, we were too heavy to take off. After 2 excruciating hours of sitting on the runway, they decided to head back to the gate as it would be 2-3 more hours before the wind died down. In order to be cleared for takeoff, they needed to de-plane 11 more people in addition to the 4 at the beginning, and the handful of passengers that had (now missed) connecting flights in SLC. At this point I opted out. There was no way I was going to last much longer, and hey... I get another day in Cali along with a $400 flight voucher. WIN-WIN for ME!
• EXTRA DAY - On my extra day, Teresa and I got to hit a couple more great stores after taking Fallon to school. Sam's Club and Office Depot! I am now the proud new owner of a label maker, and I can't wait to use it! :)

Pho 97

"Mmm... noodle soup!"

Stay tuned for my next adventure!!!