You must know I love to play tourists, so knowing that my friend Belinda and her family were coming to stay with us for a wedding in Sierra Madre, I took those days off so I could entertain them and also entertain myself! Heheh. I swear, they’re coming to town was as much fun for me as it was for them, aside from a few mishaps — like a collapsing futon and a neurotic cat. Yeah, that’s a long story.

Having them over, despite the slightly crowded feeling in our little place and Kip’s tantrums, was so much fun. Seriously, why do all our friends live so far away? Anyway, I was originally going to take them to Malibu for lunch the day they arrived, but their flight was delayed so they didn’t get to Agoura Hills till about 3 and they were dog tired from waiting at the airport, then flying, then getting through 405 traffic. Heheh, that’s L.A.!

Now, this picture is especially funny because 1) I rarely get Trinity to the beach, 2) Trinity hasn’t been around too many babies before. Kayden had been passed from person to person as we all trekked to Pt. Dume, but only fell asleep as he ended up in Trin’s arms. Heheh. Anyway, after this vigorous walk, we ended up at Neptune’s Net on the Ventura County border, which has amazing steamed clams. I’m going to try their crab legs next.

Because they were in town for a wedding, with plenty of adjacent events — bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner, BBQ/pool party — there wasn’t time to check out other spots that I swear are must-sees on your first trip to L.A. — like the Getty Center! But Thursday, being the human map that I am, I was able to take them on a pretty comprehensive tour of L.A. — a studio lot (mine), a cupcake shop, past Hollywood and Highland, taking pictures of the Hollywood sign from Gower, up Sunset, along the ocean and out to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. We even stumbled across Michael Jackson’s rental in Holmby Hills and I swear I was not looking for it. We ended the night at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in Hollywood — another must-see. Er, must-eat.

It was seriously fun having them, and I was totally pouting that Belinda scheduled their flight to Sacramento to visit her mom on Sunday morning, rather than Monday like she told me before. But I can’t begrudge her mom wanting to see her grandchild.

Thank goodness they’ll be back for the convention in L.A. next year!