Last day.

 20 January

Always check the weather the day before your plans, and not depend on Steve's comments from 4 days earlier.

Today was our last day in LA - we were intending to check out of our hotel and then spend the day completing some of Belle and Steve's check list of things to do (not Disney), before heading to the airport around 6pm.

On waking, it was overcast and raining (or what Isabelle's watch indicated as misting). We had talked about heading out to Venice beach, but some of you may remember from our last holiday, that Venice Beach pretty much shuts down in wet weather and is a pretty scary place to be. While rain didn't rule out a walk along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the idea of sitting in a plane for 17hrs in wet clothes didn't make it sound too inviting either.

We actually went with an alteration of Joshua's initial request, purchasing a DIY homes of the stars tour. I had initially eliminated this option, feeling it to be an intrusion of privacy, but thought a diy might be a cheaper and less invasive option and a dry way to spend the day.

I'm not sure I would rave about the tour as sometimes you would see nothing more than a hedge surrounding what was possibly a ginormous property, or you would miss the house because the picture didn't quite match the description or the cited number. What the tour did do though, was take us on an amazing adventure through parts of Hollywood, Bellaire, Beverley Hills and the LA Hills/Mountains that we probably wouldn't have gone to otherwise. Some of the areas and homes were spectacular and mixed amongst old bungalow and low key homes.

No we didn't see any stars. We did see a guy working on Keanu Reeves porche in an open garage which Steve and the kids freaked out thinking it was the star himself. There was also an uncomfortable moment when a security guard stepped out from behind a wall at Leonardo DiCaprio's home at the end of a cul-de-sac. If I am correct, Robert Pattinson didn't appear to live in a palatial home, in fact, it looked a little small and run down (relatively speaking), but based on glimpses of view from other nearby homes, I am sure that the other side of the fence was a completely different story. The idea of the "Star Tour'" I thing made us all a bit uncomfortable. None of us wanted to hover around the homes, particularly in the very very wealthy looking areas, and often the roads in the hills were tight and small so there was no time. But going out of our way to see these areas was definitely worth the $20 we paid.

The tour finishes on a spectacular view of the Hollywood sign.

At Joshua's request we finished the day with a last Shake Shack burger and then off to the airport for our last leg home. 

We are all very ready to be home and the kids cant wait to see Willow and Sammie. Joshua mentioned a little over a week ago that while he wanted to make the holiday go longer, he also really wanted to be at home and wanted to know how you can have the best of both worlds. That's what you call bitter sweet!