Our December 2012 Vacation To Long Beach!

Usually we go to Long Beach as a family for two weeks during the summer, but because Joel and Annabelle were invited to compete in US Skate Challenge in early September, we put off our vacation until December since Dan's nephew, Adam, was getting married on December 7 and we thought it would be nice to go to his wedding.

It was a bit different traveling to southern California in December, since it was really too cold to go swimming, but we still had a wonderful time. Dan and Joel (and our dog Duchess) drove, and Rebekah, Annabelle, and Jo Ann flew on Southwest Airlines. The plane left the Springs on Tuesday, December 4 from Denver. Uncle Mike picked us up at the airport and the Annabelle and Rebekah had a wonderful time visiting with their Grama Farris on the Tuesday we arrived. As usual, we enjoyed riding scooters through Belmont Shore and on the beach, buying candy at the candy store, eating out in the Shore, walking on the beach, flying kites, and visiting family. Dan and Joel arrived in Long Beach Wednesday night (with Duchess, our dog) and Jo Ann's dad flew in Saturday morning.

One night we walked through the canals in Naples and saw the beautiful decorated houses that were decorated for the holidays. We got to see Kathie Fry twice. Once, we met her for breakfast and another time she joined our family with my dad in Belmont Shore. We had planned to see holiday thing that was advertised for 2nd Street, but it didn't seem to happen, so we all just enjoyed ourselves and had dinner.

On Monday, 12-9, we took the kids to Knott's Berry Farm. We planned to just drop them off, eat at the Chicken Dinner Restaurant with my dad, and come back to pick up the kids, but it turned out the Ghost Town section of Knott's Berry Farm was free on Mondays through Thursdays in December, so we ended up staying for the whole day, seeing shows, and displays, and having a wonderful treat. Rebekah did some skating too. She skated at the Westminster rink early Monday morning 12-9-12 and had a freestyle lesson with Dianne Deleeuw. Then, we went out to the Toyota rink in El Segundo for her to work on her dance with Peter Dalby on Tuesday 12-10 and Wednesday 12-11.

We reunited with longtime skating friend Richard Ewell when we went to the Toyota rink. Billy, Lynnellen, and I skated with him way back in the 1960s when we skated in Culver City! It was so wonderful. On Wednesday, Rebekah took a freestyle lesson with Richard. It was great for her.

On Thursday, we went to Belair to see the home we lived in from 1963 to 1972. I was taking photos of the house and when the owner asked what we were doing, I told her we used to live there and she invited us in! We got to see the whole house and the backyard and our view and everything! That was a major highlight of our vacation that we'll never forget. We also drove by Bellagio Road School, my elementary school! We then took Rebekah to our friend, Janine's house, in the Fairfax district and then went back to Westwood Village and ate lunch there and then saw Emerson Junior High where I went to Junior High School. Thursday night was neat too since Dan and I took Joel and Annabelle to Chill at the Queen Mary where there was an outdoor ice rink and tubing on an ice slide.

Dan and Joel left Saturday morning, but we got to spend some quality time with Dan's family Friday night. During the day Friday, it was really cold in the Shore, but the kids and I and my dad went all the way to the area near Belmont Pool on our scooters and ate at Chuck's Coffee Shop. There were sales all over the shore and I even bought Rebekah a coat for $15 since it was so cold in Belmont Shore.

It turned out that when we were there, Marion, Bruce, and Paul Curtis were in Seal Beach, so I got to see Marion twice too. We took a walk with them through the canals and saw Bruce's dad's house. It had completely changed.

We got to see all of Lynnellen's family this time. We had dinner with Lynnellen a couple of times. Cori joined us when we ate at Outback Steak House at Shoreline Village. Drew dropped by the condo. Cody and his family also dropped by to say hi.

On Sunday, 12-16-12, we went to Iceland, Paramount for Rebekah to have another lesson with Peter Dalby. The whole family came! Daddy, Dan's cousin Jim, Mike, Dan's mom, Annabelle, and I were all there! We all went out to eat afterwards at Spires. Then, the girls spent time with Grama and Uncle Mike. My dad and I rested a bit at the condo and then the two of us went out to eat at a place called Lucille's in Belmont Shore.

That night, I came down with a horrible stomach flu. It was so bad that I couldn't travel. I had to cancel my return flight to Colorado, but the girls went home. My dad stayed with me. I'm writing this while I'm still in Long Beach on 12-18. My dad and I just walked to the Small Cafe in Naples and had lunch with Kathie Fry there. Hopefully, I'll be able to travel home at the end of the week if the weather permits and my health is okay.