Monday I woke up really early because we had to be at the WB studio early for the Warner Brothers studio tour. I picked up Grace and Matthew and headed towards the WB tower.
We had to go through the metal detector and then finally got into the main building. The main room had a big store of several different shirts, movies, dvd’s, key chains, and magnets. We waited in line for a while but since we were the first ones in the door, that wasn’t a bad thing. There was a guy who came in later and walked right in front of me while I was standing in the front of the line…as soon as the lady came out to take our order, I jumped in front of him and sort of ran him off the way to the lady. He was a little mad, but sorry, what was he thinking. We got the tickets…I wanted to pay for everybody, but Matthew wanted to do this for Grace for her birthday. So I paid for myself and he paid for Grace and himself. The tour wasn’t going to be for a while and so we left the place after we had tickets and went to try and find a store called CVS. We were on the lookout for flip flops for Grace. Grace and I had looked at SEVERAL places to find the right kind…but none seemed to meet with her approval. I picked up some circus peanuts and a root beer. Grace found a pair of flip flops that she could live with and we slowly made our way back to the WB lot. On the way back to the lot we past a few houses that seemed a little smaller than normal.
Matthew informed us that these houses were built to house the midgets that were filming “The Wizard of Oz” If you look you can tell the doors and everything are just a lot smaller. We got back to the lot and just did a little looking around at the small shop they had there…also picking up another magnet. They took us into the little screening room and had us watch a bunch of movies from the past…it was really cool to try and guess the films that they showed short clips too. After we left that room, our guide, Erin, took us to a golf cart and lead us off to the rest of tour. The first stop was a little alley that looked like a New York street. The cool part of this was that she told us that this was the spot that in the first Spiderman movie that Mary Jane and Spiderman had their amazing upside down kiss. 
We continued on and the first major place that she had us get out of the cart was the emergency bay for the show ER. I never knew that it was mainly filmed right there.
I got several pictures. A lot of the “L” train, where they go get on the subway was also right there too. One of the biggest things that Grace wanted to see was the things that had to do with the show “Gilmore Girls”. Erin, our guide, was also a fan of the show and took us to several spots where Grace was telling us what they were even before the guide told us. That was pretty cool. I think that Grace had a lot of fun seeing several of the sets from the show. 
There were a lot of places where they told us that they were filming there and that we had to lock our cameras under the seats of the golf cart. Some shots were sneaked and others we just have to use our memories of what we saw…for example they took us into the wardrobe building where they had several outfits and things from past shows like Friends and Harry Potter. In fact the entire upstairs was devoted to Harry Potter things and clothes. We got to sit on a seat JUST before having to get back into the car o leave where they put this hat over our head that told us what class we were suppose to be in at the Harry Potter school. Pardon me, but I’m not the biggest fan of Harry Potter. We also got to see a little garage that had harry Potters car, Batmobile, and several other vehicles from different films. The best part, at least for me was that they took us to this place that looked like it was at the end of a loading dock. The room was locked and our guide was struggling to open it and I was a little upset that we got off our cart when we could have been seeing other cool things only to find out that once she opened up this crate type door it opened to reveal the actual set from the show Friends.
We couldn’t walk on the carpet, but we got some really good pictures from the set, it was so cool to be able to be that close to something that was so popular. At the end we picked up our picture that we had taken with the penguins from the movie “Happy Feet”. We gave the picture to Matthew so that he would have something to remember what we did.
We had to go through the metal detector and then finally got into the main building. The main room had a big store of several different shirts, movies, dvd’s, key chains, and magnets. We waited in line for a while but since we were the first ones in the door, that wasn’t a bad thing. There was a guy who came in later and walked right in front of me while I was standing in the front of the line…as soon as the lady came out to take our order, I jumped in front of him and sort of ran him off the way to the lady. He was a little mad, but sorry, what was he thinking. We got the tickets…I wanted to pay for everybody, but Matthew wanted to do this for Grace for her birthday. So I paid for myself and he paid for Grace and himself. The tour wasn’t going to be for a while and so we left the place after we had tickets and went to try and find a store called CVS. We were on the lookout for flip flops for Grace. Grace and I had looked at SEVERAL places to find the right kind…but none seemed to meet with her approval. I picked up some circus peanuts and a root beer. Grace found a pair of flip flops that she could live with and we slowly made our way back to the WB lot. On the way back to the lot we past a few houses that seemed a little smaller than normal. Matthew informed us that these houses were built to house the midgets that were filming “The Wizard of Oz” If you look you can tell the doors and everything are just a lot smaller. We got back to the lot and just did a little looking around at the small shop they had there…also picking up another magnet. They took us into the little screening room and had us watch a bunch of movies from the past…it was really cool to try and guess the films that they showed short clips too. After we left that room, our guide, Erin, took us to a golf cart and lead us off to the rest of tour. The first stop was a little alley that looked like a New York street. The cool part of this was that she told us that this was the spot that in the first Spiderman movie that Mary Jane and Spiderman had their amazing upside down kiss. We continued on and the first major place that she had us get out of the cart was the emergency bay for the show ER. I never knew that it was mainly filmed right there. I got several pictures. A lot of the “L” train, where they go get on the subway was also right there too. One of the biggest things that Grace wanted to see was the things that had to do with the show “Gilmore Girls”. Erin, our guide, was also a fan of the show and took us to several spots where Grace was telling us what they were even before the guide told us. That was pretty cool. I think that Grace had a lot of fun seeing several of the sets from the show. There were a lot of places where they told us that they were filming there and that we had to lock our cameras under the seats of the golf cart. Some shots were sneaked and others we just have to use our memories of what we saw…for example they took us into the wardrobe building where they had several outfits and things from past shows like Friends and Harry Potter. In fact the entire upstairs was devoted to Harry Potter things and clothes. We got to sit on a seat JUST before having to get back into the car o leave where they put this hat over our head that told us what class we were suppose to be in at the Harry Potter school. Pardon me, but I’m not the biggest fan of Harry Potter. We also got to see a little garage that had harry Potters car, Batmobile, and several other vehicles from different films. The best part, at least for me was that they took us to this place that looked like it was at the end of a loading dock. The room was locked and our guide was struggling to open it and I was a little upset that we got off our cart when we could have been seeing other cool things only to find out that once she opened up this crate type door it opened to reveal the actual set from the show Friends. We couldn’t walk on the carpet, but we got some really good pictures from the set, it was so cool to be able to be that close to something that was so popular. At the end we picked up our picture that we had taken with the penguins from the movie “Happy Feet”. We gave the picture to Matthew so that he would have something to remember what we did.Once we got done with the Warner Brothers tour, we figured that we would have a great chance to head to the beach. We piled into the car, and headed down to Santa Monica Pier. Matthew thought that he knew a short cut, so I followed the directions that were told to me and I think we got lost several times. It was a lot of fun…we would go up a hill and Matthew would say I think the beach is just over this road, and when we got to the top of the road we would see nothing but more roads and trees. We finally hit the freeway and then followed the 110 towards the beach. The freeway ended and veered to the right and we found ourselves right at the Santa Monica Pier. We pulled into a parking lot, which was pretty empty, got out, put our brand new beach walking sandals on and headed towards the pier. It was a pretty good hike to the pier. Our hope at this point was to find a restaurant to eat. It was getting pretty late and Grace was getting hungry. We had talked prior to coming out that I was hoping to find some good cod. My favorite fish is cod, and the reason that I was looking for some was for a couple of reasons. A few years back my father and I took a trip and we found this amazing all you can eat “Fish & Chip” place. It was right on the beach. From then on I was hooked on cod. I also wanted Grace to join me in that memory, kind of like becoming a part of that memory. But alas we couldn’t find any fish and chi places on the pier. This is part of my problem, I like to surprise people rather than discuss things, and that is what usually gets me into trouble, that and thinking I can read into things. Matthew suggested that we go up and into the city and see if there was anything throughout the small city that we could find. We walked up the huge hill, across the freeway and into the city. We were all pretty hungry by now and tempers were starting to escalate. I never meant to act like all of this searching was about finding something for me, like I said, it was more about trying to find something nice and special that I wanted to share with Grace. And for the trouble that caused you have no idea how sorry I am. We did get to walk across Santa Monica Blvd., which was something that Grace had wanted to do. I remember her saying something about the song which goes…”When the sun goes down over Santa Monica Blvd.” But back to our walking, we walked and walked but found nothing. I caught up with Matthew and basically just told him that we should find a place pretty quick, even if it meant going back to the pier. At this point we were a good 15 minute walk from the pier so that was what we did. On the way back we took a different way. We walked right along this cliff, and Grace looked incredible in front of the beach like that, so I asked her to stop so I could take her picture. 
I took a couple and then we crossed a small walk-over bridge that led to the other side, the side with the beach on it. We actually passed the car again and took a direct line towards a place called “Bubba Gumps” It was this cool looking shrimp place right on the beach. The reason that we didn’t stop in before was because we read the menu, and there was no cod. This time they took us down the stairs and to a table that was right near the window and the beach. We sat down and read the menu. When the waiter came to talk to us we asked him about the missing cod. He said ‘no problem’. They actually had some. So I ordered it and Grace, I believe, ordered the same thing. The food felt so good going into our bodies. We were tired and worn out form all the walking but we really enjoyed getting a bite to eat.
We paid, and headed back up to the top of the pier and took a bathroom break. After that we walked along the pier playing some carnival games here and there. We started back and saw a game where you lift up the sledge hammer and slam it down, trying to lift the ball to the bell at the top of the tower. This was all electronic tough...the cheaters. Just a couple of weeks ago we had been at Everland in Korea and they had a smaller version that I also played in front of Grace and set the new record. So I felt that I could have a good chance at winning something. I took my three swings, feeling more and more stronger each time, but the lights said I was getting weaker and weaker each time. But in the end I did still win a teddy bear that I could give to Grace.
Oh well, I was hoping for the huge teddy bear. But then again how would we ever get that on the plane, we still had all of our luggage from Korea with us. We headed back to the car, stopping to take a picture of Grace and her brother near the statue of a dolphin.
While they were looking at a table with several craft items for sale, I headed secretly into the Bubba Gumps gift shop and bought a sprit and yet another magnet from our journey to add to Grace’s collection. This was becoming kind of a cute game. We even bought another magnet before heading back to the car.
I took a couple and then we crossed a small walk-over bridge that led to the other side, the side with the beach on it. We actually passed the car again and took a direct line towards a place called “Bubba Gumps” It was this cool looking shrimp place right on the beach. The reason that we didn’t stop in before was because we read the menu, and there was no cod. This time they took us down the stairs and to a table that was right near the window and the beach. We sat down and read the menu. When the waiter came to talk to us we asked him about the missing cod. He said ‘no problem’. They actually had some. So I ordered it and Grace, I believe, ordered the same thing. The food felt so good going into our bodies. We were tired and worn out form all the walking but we really enjoyed getting a bite to eat. We paid, and headed back up to the top of the pier and took a bathroom break. After that we walked along the pier playing some carnival games here and there. We started back and saw a game where you lift up the sledge hammer and slam it down, trying to lift the ball to the bell at the top of the tower. This was all electronic tough...the cheaters. Just a couple of weeks ago we had been at Everland in Korea and they had a smaller version that I also played in front of Grace and set the new record. So I felt that I could have a good chance at winning something. I took my three swings, feeling more and more stronger each time, but the lights said I was getting weaker and weaker each time. But in the end I did still win a teddy bear that I could give to Grace. Oh well, I was hoping for the huge teddy bear. But then again how would we ever get that on the plane, we still had all of our luggage from Korea with us. We headed back to the car, stopping to take a picture of Grace and her brother near the statue of a dolphin. While they were looking at a table with several craft items for sale, I headed secretly into the Bubba Gumps gift shop and bought a sprit and yet another magnet from our journey to add to Grace’s collection. This was becoming kind of a cute game. We even bought another magnet before heading back to the car.We were getting short on time since we had to be at the Grey Hound bus terminal to pick up Ms. Cheryl Ayres at 5:00. We hopped back onto the freeway and headed back to Matthews house, the bus stop was nearby. We were running low on Gas so we got off the freeway and actually made better time on the frontage road beside the freeway. Even after stopping for gas, I think that we still were ahead of some of the cars that we were stuck in traffic with. We got to where we needed to be, but had some extra time and so we saw a costco. We pulled in and just took a quick look around. Grace was still looking at doing some serious shopping. We didn’t have a long time to look so we got back into the car and headed to the bus stop. We waited there a good time past the normal time that the bus should have been there, but then we remembered the traffic that we had just been in and figured that she must have gotten stuck in it as well. The bus finally pulled in and we all hugged and piled into the car and I took them all back to Matthews house. I didn’t stay, I figured that the girls needed some girly time and so I dropped them off and headed home. This ended my Monday.
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