Game Time

We aren't much of a boardgame family, as much as I wish we were. Every once in a while I can convince Diana and Ledger to gather around the table and play a game or two, but it's usually just a card game or something that only lasts about 15 minutes. Even though I know this, I still keep trying to entice them to play games with me! I keep finding different games to try, either unusual ones that I have never heard of before but have some strange and fun twist, or I like to get themed games of stuff I love. I got a Stargate SG-1 game, but it looked super complicated, so I knew better than to try and get them to play.
I recently picked up an unusual game based on Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and convinced them both to give it a try with me. It was pretty fun! There were a bunch of trivia questions that were a part of the game, which kind of puts Ledger at a bit of a disadvantage, but we had a good time with it none the less. The next game up is a Gargoyles cartoon themed game. Wish me luck getting them interested...

Bee Sting

Look at this sad boy! While we were hanging out on our deck in the back yard, Diana and I noticed Wiggins wandering around chomping at the air. We looked a little closer and realized he was trying to bit a bee that was hovering around him. Well, it looks like he got it, because then he started scratching at the ground. A second later he yelped! He immediately came scrambling over to us, hoping on three legs. This poor dumb dog got stung by a the bee he was pestering! I picked him up and went inside to examine his arm, and sure enough, it was starting to swell a little bit. He then proceeded to give me this look as he held him little paw up to me as if to say 'make it better!' Sorry buddy, you are going to have to deal with that pain... I held him for the rest of the afternoon, poor little guy.

Goodbye, Cali!

Morning came way too quick! What felt like two minutes after falling asleep, we were back up and getting ready as fast as we could. We packed up our last items, double checked the place to make sure we hadn't forgotten anything, and off we went to LAX for our return trip.
Our layover in Denver was pretty frustrating. We tried to grab some lunch, but the food took too long and by the time we made it back to the plane, there weren't three seats together anymore! Argh! So all three of us had to sit next to random strangers. I was pretty angry about it, but Ledger didn't seem to mind, and he made some friends who he got to chat with the whole way home!
Finally back in Grand Rapids, we got our luggage and went out to the car pick up. And what glorious vision awaited us there? Why, my beautiful wife! Diana picked us up and got to hear our stories all the way back. We dropped off Aaron, said our goodbyes, and returned home exhausted! It was a long trip, but so much fun to spend all that time with friends! It was a strange element having Ledger there, but the guys were so great with him and he did an amazing job of fitting in and being one of 'the guys'. 
We will have to do it again some time! 

Last Night

Sadly, our California trip is coming to an end. We had a ton of fun and spend the last night just chilling out and enjoying our last hours together. One of Ledger's favorite parts of the trip has been playing a drawing game with everyone. He was able to convince us all to play one last round together. It is a super fun game and we had a really fun time each of the times we played!
Finally, it was time to call it a night. We had an early morning ahead of us, and a long day of travel. We packed it in and headed to bed for the last time in Adam's awesome house. 

Hangout and Brewery

When we got back from Downtown, Ledger and I were exhausted. That worked out just fine because Adam, Aaron, and Cousin Aaron all wanted to do some micro brew beer tasting. So they went to go do that and Ledge and I stayed back at the house. It was nice to just sit down and enjoy a little peace and quiet after our long and adventurous week! He played on his tablet and did some animating while I caught a quick nap on the couch.
A couple hours later, both of us refreshed, got picked up by the boys to join them for one last bar stop for dinner. It was a pretty cool place with some good food, so all of us were quite happy!

Downtown Hollywood

Adam had a few other work things to do, so Aaron, Ledger, and I decided to do the most touristy thing possible: we went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame! The Uber dropped us off and we walked down Hollywood Boulevard, taking in the sights. We checked out the different stars on the sidewalk and the Dolby Theater. We went up through the outdoor mall and got to see the Hollywood sign!
After a quick stop in for a chili dog at one of the restaurants, we made our way past the Mann's Chinese Theater where they were having a world premier! We didn't see anyone famous, but they were setting it up a red carpet for the premier of the movie Monkey Man. We got to see a bunch of street performers dressed up like different movie characters that you can take a picture with (we didn't). All the really touristy stuff like the wax museum was just too darn expensive. So after wandering around and taking in the sights, we headed back to the house.
(more pics)