#TIMONTOUR - RANDOM SNIPPETS

There was lots of little bits that we did the first week Tim was visiting where we took some photos but it wasn't too many. So I decided to save you all the bother of having to read lots of posts by shoving them together into one. 




We took a trip to Famous Dave's, a BBQ restaurant. It is the most meat filled place ever and you know that everything you are eating is bad for you. Tim was so happy and excited about it, as you can tell! 





We went to see the Lancaster Jethawks play. It was absolutely freezing (for a May night in California) so we were pretty wrapped up. They lost the game but there was fireworks at the end so it was all worth it in the end. Plus Tim got a foam finger, so there's that....



We took a day trip up to Santa Barbara too whilst Tim was here. Its a beautiful place. We did a little bit of shopping and some sight seeing, but most importantly we had fish and chips! There's a fish and chip shop there called Macs. Its owned by a British guy. It was the closest thing to proper fish and chips that we've had over here, so it was nice to be reminded of home. Macintosh really enjoyed it!


So that's it for the random snippets, next week I'll be telling you all about San Francisco and Yosemite! Hooray!
H

#TIMONTOUR - SANTA MONICA EDITION

Santa Monica is such a lovely place to visit for the day. We took Tim down there mid-week so it was slightly less crowded. It was a coldish start to the day but warmed up by the end of the day. It was hilarious taking Tim round it though because Santa Monica is very typical California, with its white sand beaches, tall palm trees and very beachy look to it. To be fair though Andrew was quite giddy too! See below!


We did a little bit of shopping but spent most of the day along the beach front. For the first time we hired bikes so that we could cycle along the famous broad walk. We'd never done this before as we always seemed to have Macintosh with us, but we'd left him at a friends for the day so that we could do that. It was pretty fun. We managed to see a lot of the other famous beaches by cycling along the path.

Here are some photos of the day...












That last photo cracks me up so much! Now are we making you want to come visit yet?!
H

MACINTOSH MONDAY

So its Monday again so we're back to Mr Macintosh and his antics. This week he hasn't done anything too big. There were some pretty big sonic booms during the week which rather spoilt his days. It meant he spent too much time cowering under the desk or in the closet. One day hopefully he'll get over that fear so that he day won't be ruined so much. Its a pain because it means he won't go for a walk until he's calmed down and then when you haven't got time to walk him he's a pain because he hasn't had a walk yet. Typical dog! 

Anyway after showing you his weirdness over wet hair I did manage to capture the tail end of Mac rubbing himself on Andrew's hair after he lay down on the floor. Odd I know!


The other day he went for a walk with Andrew and had clearly had enough because he stopped and refused to walk any further. He just stood there being obstinate. Eventually he got him moving again, reluctantly. Here he is in his defiant moment. 


Anyway he is still the cutest dog ever. He treated us to some long snuggles on the sofa the other night. But wasn't looking too impressed when we came to take the photo. Apparently we are uncool dog parents!


So today its Memorial Day in the US which means I'm off to spend the day with the man and the dog. I am grateful that I get to do this and am aware that it is thanks to those amazing men and women who have given their lives in countless wars to maintain the freedoms that we enjoy in the Western world. Thank you. 
H

#TIMONTOUR - JAMES CORDEN EDITION

Those of you on social media will have noticed our rather insane posting about our trip to see The Late Late Show with James Corden. We had managed to get free tickets to see the show being taped whilst Tim was out here. We were really excited about and had told Tim. He was rather excited too and really looking forward to it.

Then whilst we were driving around LA with him on the first day my Dad sent us the most insane text ever! He knows James Corden's dad through the Christian bookshop he runs. When Dad knew we were going to the show he phoned James' dad and managed to score us an upgrade to VIP! Obviously this got us rather excited to say the least.

So on the Tuesday afternoon we went down to LA for the taping of the show. We stopped for coffee to calm our nerves, I know that doesn't quite fit right but hey. When we arrived that the CBS studios we were given a VIP parking slot with my name on it! I literally almost fell over in shock. Too bad someone was parked in our slot. Inconsiderate I say!



Anyway we got escorted up to the green room and were able to hang out there before the show. It was pretty surreal. The band OK GO were just hanging out in there and milling around whilst we were trying our hardest to act like it was totally normal! 



When it was time to go through for the taping of the show we walked past one of the dressing rooms and none other than LL Cool J popped his head out. As I was walking ahead of everyone else I casually said, "hi," almost without thinking! He say hi back all nice and polite but it wasn't until we rounded the corner that the other two were exploding with laughter! Apparently I acted a little too normal! 

So the show was hilarious, we laughed the whole way through and absolutely loved it. Once the show was over we were escorted back to the green room to wait so that we could meet Mr James Corden himself! In the interim I managed to get a quick photo taken with Dan the drummer from OK GO. 



Then Mr Corden appeared! He was absolutely lovely and very keen to hear about what we thought of the show. He talked to us about why we were out here, how we knew his dad and just talked with us like he was a friend. He then used my phone to take some selfies of us all. It was quite surreal. He also amazingly recorded a video message for my brother-in-law who would love to come out and see the show but can't right now. I was blown away by how kind he was about doing it. He didn't even give it a second thought. He just did it! 



We then got escorted back out of the building ahead of all the others, back to our cushy parking spot and spent the journey home from LA looking at each other in utter disbelief! If you want to view some of the show you can see clips here. 
Utterly amazing!
H

#TIMONTOUR - LA EDITION

We pretty much hit the ground running with Tim's tour as we took him straight into LA to explore Hollywood and the Beverly Hills area. There was lots of walking around and staring at big houses, or stars on the floor. Think it was probably a bit surreal for him as you never really expect to end up in Hollywood strolling around with the two of us! The place gets pretty crowded so it can be hard to take good photos, especially of the stars on the floor. We didn't get any good ones of that but we do have some here. 

We also went to visit the Griffith Observatory. It gives you insanely good views across the whole of LA and we were able to have a wander around and tire out Mr Macintosh a little bit.  Obviously we aren't going to show you all the coffee shop stops we had but there were a few! Haha!


The Hollywood sign is behind Andrew and Tim, its just pretty hard to see in the light. Unfortunately Tim is not pointing directly at it, so don't follow his finger to work out where it is! Its slightly more to the left of him. 

 Macintosh was fascinated by these water fountains and kept trying to drink from them, however they were on a random setting so they would suddenly spurt up in his face and cause him to panic! Was quite funny to watch.




Now this photo cracks me up because we have no idea what Macintosh was busy doing, but it was the best of the photos we took and it shows you how lovely and warm it is out here! 

It was a good first day for Tim even though he was slightly jet lagged and had no idea whereabouts in LA he was really. He got to see the famous bit that all the tourists want to see. As for what else we did, keep checking back this week and next to see some pictures! 
H

MACINTOSH MONDAY

As you can tell we have been absent from the blog for about two weeks, this is because our friend Tim came over for a visit and we were rather busy showing him all the sights and doing some exploring that we didn't really have time to post anything on here. We did however post a lot on Instagram, or rather I did, so if you click on the Instagram section on the right hand side of the blog you'll be able to see some of what we have been up to. We will be writing some blog posts to show you more pictures and fun details, so be prepared!

Macintosh loved having Tim to visit. For the first week he got lots of fuss and attention, Tim even bought him a toy over, which he promptly attempted to destroy within the first five minutes of having it. He probably would have succeeded if Andrew hadn't intervened! Then for the second week he got to go stay with a family whilst we went further afield on our travels. I can assure you he was loved and snuggled with and had so much fun that as the family sent pictures through I was pretty convinced he wouldn't want to come home! But thankfully he seemed rather glad to see us when he arrived back. 


This photo cracks me up! Macintosh has an obsession with wet hair. He absolutely loves the smell of it and if he gets close to it will sniff it for ages before rolling his head around (and body too sometimes) on your hair. Knowing this I very often avoid drying my hair at Macintosh level, however on this occasion I could only use the lower plug socket which meant he took full advantage of the sniffing and rubbing. Andrew snapped this photo but didn't manage to capture him rubbing himself. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to show it on the blog though as my face can't look too attractive!



Mr Macintosh also got to enjoy a piece of battered sausage on one of our excursion days. We found a fish and chip shop run by a British guy so obviously ordered fish and chips! Macintosh was salivating so I gave in and let him have a bit. Obviously it had nothing to do with the huge American sized portions and me being unable to finish it...

Now this photo just makes me laugh. I was trying to capture Andrew and Mac walking but as I crouched down to take the photo someone thought it was an invitation to run at me for attention! The result is this shot. Look closely at his face and you'll see his skin and ears flapping all over the place!


We'll end with this rather good looking photo of Mr Macintosh staring across the aqueduct at two other dogs. We love you Mr Macintosh! So much!