Cast: Clare (that's me), mother 42 years - Alex, father also 42 (41 at the time of the trip though) and our kids - Emily, big sister 10 years old - Harry, middle child 8 years old and Samuel, little brother 6 years old.
We arrived at LAX at 6.30am after a pretty uneventful couple of flights on QF from Perth via Sydney. We cleared customs and immigration without too much hassle and headed outside to jump on the bus to the National Car Rental depot. We chose our car, set up the GPS (affectionately named Tommy Sue by the kids) and headed off to Hollywood!
We arrived at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Hollywood Walk of Fame at around 8.30am. I had requested early check in but unfortunately our room was not ready yet. Our room rate included breakfast so we headed to the dining room and ate before changing clothes in the public restroom and heading off to the Hollywood Walk of Fame!
We were very excited to discover the first of many Mickey Mouses right outside our hotel!
We're in Hollywood!!
The hotel was in an excellent location, only a block from the Hollywood and Highland Centre.
Before we left, I'd explained to the kids that the traffic would be on the other side of the road and how important it was to look both ways (which is important anyway, but you know what I mean). Anyway, when we came out of the airport the bus was waiting and Alex ran for it, well all 3 kids just followed him out into the road without looking!! Luckily nothing was coming!We talked about it again but on the walk down to Hollywood & Highland, Sam (aged 6) stepped out after looking the wrong way and had to be pulled out of the path of an oncoming car! We both yelled at him, out of fear more then anger but that was the end of his good mood. We started our tour of the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a very grumpy, sulking little boy who refused to be in any photos. The other two were very happy to pose though!
We wandered up the Graumann's Chinese Theater but it was so crowded it was very hard to see anything or get any good photos.
We came across a display for the new King Kong ride at Universal Studios outside Madame Tussauds
And bumped into Shrek!
Then we discovered a sure fire way to cheer Sammy up - shopping! After popping into a souvenir shop and picking up his first souvenirs for the trip, his mood improved dramatically and he finally started posing for photos!
We wandered up and down the street for awhile and checked out all the stars. We popped into the Disney Soda Fountain Store but didn't order anything due to the copious amount of sugar in everything.
Unfortunately, Harry was diagnosed with diabetes earlier this year and we were really worried about his blood sugar levels. I could feel mine rising just looking at the food! At first we avoided all sweet treats but after a few days and a chat with his diabetic educators back in Perth, we increased his insulin and started letting him have a few treats.
By this stage we were starting to get tired but wanted to stay awake as long as possible and not waste the day sleeping. We stopped at McDonalds for a drink and a rest and talked about what to do with the rest of the day. We decided to head back to the hotel and get the car so that we could drive to an AT&T shop to get our US sim cards sorted out. We were halfway back to the hotel when we realised that we had lost our shopping bag of souvenirs! I knew we must have left it at McDonalds, so Alex turned around and ran back down there while the kids and I continued on to the hotel. The bag was not at the table where we had been sitting but luckily he asked and one of the managers had put it aside for us!
Our room was ready by this stage so we checked in. I'd recommend the Holiday Inn Express & Suites to anyone who wants to stay in Hollywood. The room was nice and a reasonable size and the breakfast was really good. But the location is what made it great for us. I loved being able to walk into the heart of Hollywood in minutes.
We got the car and drove a few blocks to the AT&T store. It was lunchtime so we decided to eat first. The first place we came across was Carl's Jr so we gave it a try. Our first experience of ordering fast food in the US did not go so well! Obviously they expect everyone to know their menu and know how to order from it, so the cashier was getting really frustrated with us reading the board and asking questions! We finally got our food though and it was okay. Not the most memorable meal of the holiday!
By this stage the jetlag had hit hard and we were exhausted. I was trying hard not to pass out while organising the sim cards. At first the girl said they couldn't do a sim for the iPhone but after some persuasion from Alex she figured it out and we eventually got our new US numbers and headed back to the hotel to nap. I had organised to meet a friend for dinner so I only wanted the kids to sleep for a couple of hours. They crashed hard though! We lay down as soon as we got to the room around 2pm and I set the alarm for 4pm. I was still trying to wake them up at 6pm! I finally got them up amidst lots of complaints and we headed down to Hollywood and Highland where we met my friend and her little girl. They had made reservations for us at California Pizza Kitchen where we had a really good night!
After dinner we wandered down to the Walk of Fame again. We stopped and watched the filming of a makeover show and checked out some shops in the Hollywood & Highland Center.
Another Mickey!
We hit the pillows about 9pm and slept well and that was the end of the jetlag!
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