Vacation!  The thought of vacation, for many, summons visions of basking on a beach.  Or maybe an action-packed theme park.  To me, a vacation includes books and naps.  My two sons, my sister and I got all these on our 5-day trip to Los Angeles.

I always wanted to take the boys to Disney World.  Life got in the way and by the time the boys were at a “perfect” age, their Dad was fighting cancer.  Disney didn’t happen.  This year I decided it was time for a real vacation with the boys before they got away from me!!  My sister was brave enough (naive enough?) to add this trip to her many travel adventures.  My husband used the excuse that “someone had to stay home to feed the animals” to not join the fun.  And it was fun!

The Disney trip morphed into something more “edgy,” as one lady we met in a restaurant put it.  Venice Beach is not Disney World.  However, we saw more characters than even Disney can provide. 

So sorry it’s blurry. But, I was laughing and kinda’ nervous he would turn around and catch me!!

We country folk from central Illinois were the novelties!  We enjoyed our breakfasts at a sidewalk cafe along the boardwalk.  The street vendors and, uhm, people that make their homes sleeping under the stars, were better than any reality show I’ve watched.  We even had a cab driver that seemed determined to give us a thrill ride.  As I pondered telling him, “Sir, you have four people on board that are all highly susceptible to motion-sickness!” my sister let out a sigh of frustration that only a high school teacher can emit.  It didn’t work.  Pretty sure that his language didn’t translate frustrated-sigh.  The sigh had the effect of morphing me into a fit of the giggles, which I decided were the anti-venom for motion-sickness!  Bonus!

Another bonus was the discovery of a bookstore nestled behind our fave breakfast cafe … complete with a big, fluffy cat that would saunter out to greet us.  We visited the bookstore and cat every day.  While the boys surfed and sunned, my sister and I read and sunburned.  The boys were amused that I missed spraying sunscreen to the backs of my knees.  For the remainder of the trip it looked like I squished tomatoes while doing knee-bends.

Good times in LA.  We may never be the same!

Loved Marina del Ray as the sun was setting. 🙂

Santa Monica Pier in the background.

A GREAT driver makes all the difference. Thank you, Mr. Banks!!