Annie And Sean's Wedding, Prologue

    Last December my sweet, sunny niece Annie and her wonderful fiancé Sean traveled from Los Angeles to Seaford, Delaware for their first wedding, a Christian ceremony in honor of Annie's family  and to accommodate their location.

     Sean and Annie with my mother at their first wedding.

     They were married for the second time on July 28 in Los Angeles, where they live, in a Lao ceremony in honor of Sean's family, who are from Laos.

      Those members of Annie's family from the East Coast and Midwest who were able flew to Los Angles for Annie and Sean's Lao wedding ceremony, among them Tom, Claire, Theresa, and me.
      Tom and I were the first from our branch to arrive in Los Angeles.

     We took an early flight from Columbus and at 8 am we arrived at LAX, 

…from whence we proceeded to my daughter and son-in-law’s house,

…where we were greeted by our grand pups,

...Pinky Poo,

...and Tyson.

       As our daughter, son-in-law and grand children were soon off and about their day’s routine, Tom and I had a good part of the day to ourselves,

...a portion of which we spent shopping at Ralph’s,

…where I discovered this new item, and now feel some non-buyer’s remorse that I didn’t buy it. Just to  try it.

     When lunch time rolled around we decided to look around the area for some little mom-and-pop-style diner in hopes of perhaps finding a secret gem,

…comparable to our favorite LA secret gem, a little place we like called Mandy’s, where we never fail to eat at least once whenever we’re visiting.

     We came upon a likely-looking little place in Redondo Beach,

      The food was pretty good, made fresh and hot.

      I had a veggie burger.  

      However the overall experience lacked the je ne said quoi of Mandy’s.
      Later that afternoon we picked up our grand daughters from camp, drove them to swim lessons,

…then a piano lesson,

…and arrived home in time to play American Girl Dolls before dinner,

…and do some relaxing after dinner.

      On Friday morning Theresa and Claire arrived in Los Angeles,

…and made the acquaintance of their fur nephews. 

        Then we went out for lunch at Mandy’s

      Our server told us that a few days earlier a film crew had been in the restaurant shooting the scene of an upcoming movie (the name of which I can’t remember). He told us that once in a while a movie scene is shot a Mandy's.

     Well, it is a cute restaurant.

       As the wedding wasn't until Sunday evening, Saturday was free for some fun.
       Theresa had made plans to travel to Santa Monica to visit a friend.
       The rest of us decided to take the bus to Manhattan Beach.

  When we arrived  at our stop we waited to meet a friend of the girls' for a beach play date.

      Then we walked down to the shore. 

      While the others enjoyed the water, sun and sand,

....Tom and I strolled around the shore and the streets of Manhattan Beach while I snapped pictures.

    Towards the end of the afternoon we walked a few blocks inland for an early dinner at the Kettle.

...where I had the yummy veggie sandwich and hot, crispy, tasty fries.

     Theresa met us at the Kettle and after dinner we all walked back to the bus stop.

...from whence we took the bus home.

    By the time we got home everyone was pretty tired, but not too tired for a show.

    To be continued...