We woke up around 10 am and the first thing that we wanted to do - is get some In N Out. So, I take Bella with me...actually Bella AND her backpack. She's wheeling that backpack all the way to the car and it's nice because at least she doesn't need to be carried. We're walking toward the car and Bella goes, "Daddy, where's our car?" As I say that, I unlock the car and she sees the lights flashing and she goes, "Oh, there it is." So we already mapquested directions to the nearest In N Out which was about 8 minutes. Of course, I took a little detour since my middle name is NOT Rand McNally. After getting the food, I look back and Bella is sound asleep. That makes sense since her naptime is around that time. We get back to the hotel and Bria's asleep as well, and like I like to joke around with - "A sleeping baby is the best baby." So we ate in peace and quiet.
We pretty much chilled the rest of the day, until about 330 where we decided to make a trip to Universal Studios to try and catch a glimpse of Bella's best friend Dora (Bella's pronunciation - Due Ra). However, we've heard the horror stories of LA traffic, but we said what the heck - we can always turn back if the traffic gets too bad. The traffic wasn't bad - it's supposed to take us an hour w/o traffic and we got there in less than an hour. As we're driving down the 101, I see a sign that reads "Old Filipinotown." We decided to drive by it on the way back from Universal. We get to Universal and we've been to the Citywalk before when we were here for work. We pull up to Universal Studios and all the ticket counters are closed except for one near guest services. "It's about 615 now and the park closes at 8," but we figure there's not much at Universal to warrant a whole day. We grab a map and sure enough we were right. It's more for the avid movie goers. We weren't about to take the girls on a tour where Jaws or King Kong rocks the tour bus. However, there was one thing that could possibly benefit one of us in the party and that's Bella. They have a life size character of her best friend that walks around periodically throughout the day. Now, Bella wasn't a fan of those at Disney a while back and I doubt that she's changed her colors. Unfortunately, Dora was already sleeping for the night and was nowhere to be found. We go to a gift shop and buy Bella two Dora shirts and one Dora cup and Bria a Curious George onesie. That's about it, we walked around and took some pictures and we were pretty much done with the park at 745. We're kind of hungry. We go to this great Japanese place called Wasabi that has a great Shrimp Tempura roll (Crunchy Roll on the menu). Then we walk around to buy Bria her first Laker T-Shirt and Bella a Laker thermal hat and gloves. I wondered why a place would sell hat and gloves but it does get cold at night.
We drive back to the hotel with one stop to Old Filipinotown, and after about 2 miles thought we were in Manila - hard to explain, but you'll know it when you see it. We then look forward to a good night’s sleep until 3 AM, when jetlagged Bella decides to wake up?!?! Next up - Day 3 @ Disneyland.
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