We left home immediately after trick-or-treating and dinner and arrived in LA around 3am (I think) after enduring (and slowing down for) some pretty rough stretches of hard rain on the 5. Luckily, the kids slept 98% of the way (there’s always a little stirring back there as sleeping upright ain’t exactly the coziest!). They love seeing family, though (and showing off their costumes, apparently!)!
The big highlight of the trip was, of course, Eli’s Bar Mitzvah. We (or rather I) was surprised and honored to find that the big kids and Tom and I would also be part of the ceremony.
It was a wonderful celebration all around and, although, it was the first Bar Mitzvah I’ve ever attended and therefore have nothing to compare this to, it seemed Eli did a phenomenal job.
Dylan was extremely interested in every aspect of it and tried his best to follow along.
Eli’s drum performances were some of my favorite parts of the celebration–he looked so happy overall, though, so it’s hard to pick a real favorite part!
I had a hard time getting pictures because of the little one climbing all over me…so many of my pictures just ended up blurry, too! Sigh.
Sadly, we couldn’t stay long because Cameron still had Nutcracker obligations! So, shortly after the evening party, we had to head home (got home at 3:30 am with time change! Time enough for a nap before getting ready for the next day).
The evening party was a great way to tucker out the kids! They did spin art, ate cotton candy and pretzels, did a little dancing (Cameron was so cute on the dance floor! I wished I’d known how interested she was in getting out there and boogeying! I would have taken her out earlier!), and Cameron got a beautiful henna drawing on her hand.
Poor Chloe is very, very sensitive to loud noises!
Oh, my gosh. I nearly forgot. Tom made Dylan’s costume again…and at the very last minute. We were awake at 5am on Halloween morning and he started cutting the material and making that carrot-top hat! Dylan (and everyone else) loved it!! In case you didn’t know, by the way, he is Olaf’s nose!
Anyway, this trip to LA was very short but also very sweet. We were hoping to have more time the next time we visited–I never did get that family photo I wanted–but time is just not our friend these days.
