El Lay

This year's HaggisFam summer vacation took us to The City of Angels. We had DVC points that we had to use before the end of July, so we checked into Disney's Paradise Pier Resort and took advantage of it's central location to be turistas for a few days. We are hoping to be headed east next summer, so if we were going to go check out the glitterati and PCH 1, this was our shot.

Here we go!!!

Last time we stayed at the Paradise Pier there was a giant Christmas tree in this spot

We spent our first afternoon and evening enjoying the pool and shopping at Downtown Disney. A stop at Marceline's Confectionary for candy apples is always on Den's must-do list and was our first stop in DD.

Dinner at The Rainforest Cafe. I wonder how many more years Paige will humor me and wear these hats?

Lego Hulk!

The view of the fireworks at California Adventure is nice from DD

We were dragging a bit the next morning, so we trekked back to DD for a Starbucks fix before......

The ULTIMATE in cheesy Hollywood tourism - The Star Tour!

The Coliseum

 Staples Center

The Hollywood Sign

The view of the Hollywood Sign from Mulholland Drive

LA

Ben Stiller's house! He was on the porch!!! I am such a nerd.

 Katy Perry's house

After driving through the Hollywood Hills, we headed into Hollywood proper for some more cheesy touring.

After lunch in Hollywood, it was back on the bus and on to Beverly Hills

Mom, Chanel!!! Take my picture! How on earth Summer knows about Chanel, I don't know, but hey, at least she has good taste

Yo homes to Bel Air! For the record, Bel Air is BEAUTIFUL.

Looked at my kingdom, I was finally there. To sit on my throne as the Prince of Bel Air. Yep, you are looking at THE house from Fresh Prince

I'm sure I took pics of these houses because they belonged to a star I like, but I have already forgotten whose they are

Except for this one. This one belongs to Julia Roberts

And this one... Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Interestingly enough this house is right around the corner from the Fresh Prince house

 After a sufficient amount of Celeb stalking, it was on to Den's most-looked-forward-to part of the tour. Hello Santa Monica!

They only gave us and hour, and we jam packed it with ice cream on the Pier, a ride on the roller coaster, and our toes in the sand. 

Next and final stop - Venice Beach. Definitely not our scene. There was, however, a 70 year old muscle man in a red Speedo walking around with his own theme music playing

 This playground was our favorite part of Venice Beach

The next day, we hopped in the car and headed south to San Diego for a trip to Sea World. 

Our final day in Cali was spent in total relaxation at Huntington Beach. We love Huntington Beach. It was quiet and since it was a Wednesday morning, it wasn't even that crowded. 

It wouldn't be a HaggisFam beach trip without a sand car!

Last night in Cali and we had a beautiful view of Disney's fireworks from our hotel balcony

We had such an amazing time. It was so nice to get away from the Tucson heat for a few days and reconnect with the ocean. We came back so refreshed and rejuvenated. I already miss it.