Mom & Jerry's Visit

We were delighted to have Laurie's mom, Linda, and stepfather, Jerry, visiting for a week and a half at the beginning of February. At the start of their visit, Laurie had to work and Eric was performing (see next story), so they rented a car and got around just fine with Jerry's keen sense of direction in the Los Angeles traffic. They even took a day trip up the coast to Santa Barbara. Then the fun began as we showed them around some of our favorite spots in the city.

Eric took them to the La Brea tarpits, and Laurie took them to Hollywood and Griffith Park. We spent a day with the "Dodson Family West" which includes many of Mom's cousins whom she hasn't seen in a long time. We ate at some great restaurants, saw the beaches, worked on scrapbooks, and grilled out by the pool. Our favorite day was one spent south of the city. We drove to Long Beach and took a tour of the Queen Mary, an old ocean liner which is now a hotel and museum docked at Long Beach. Then we continued south to the mission at San Juan Capistrano. It's one of the oldest standing missions left in CA, and has beautiful gardens and an impressive chapel.
More Pictures Here

Midsummer Night's Dream

While Mom & Jerry were in town, we saw Eric perform at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He played the role of Philostrate with many of the actors who also were in Hamlet last summer. It was another top-notch show! Laurie is impressed that tickets to the show could be purchased through TicketMaster!

V-Day Party

Instead of fighting the hoards of couples going to restaurants on Valentine's Day, we opted to have friends come to our place for a party. This also offered the perfect opportunity for our LA "adopted" family to meet Mom & Jerry. A gift from Mom & Jerry, the fondue pot was a big hit: seafood fondue for dinner, chocolate for dessert. After a lovely dinner, we visited and watched the winter Olympics on TV.