Los Angeles, California: With the 3-day holiday weekend and no school Monday, Dave and I spent the weekend with the kids in Los Angeles. Since Leo had been quarantined with COVID recently, we had been banished. All well now.
Lisa and Lenny surprised us by inviting Angela and Bryan - and baby Sebastian - to meet us for a dinner Leo had asked for at a Korean BBQ restaurant to celebrate his break from quarantine. This is the first time we had met Baby Bash! So adorable. Hard to believe he was a preemie, as he is now a normal-sized 7 month old with two teeth! So cute. He was not shy around us at all and let me hold, bounce, sing, and basically make a fool of myself.
Leo and Lucy are in love with Baby Bash and get to spend a lot of time with him. Lucy is a bit too small to hold him safely, but Leo lugs Bash around like he's been doing it his entire life. Bash was getting a little tired and it well past his bedtime when DT finally took a turn. Sebastian made a face, so Dave joined:
One morning, we walked to a restaurant for brunch. It was so chilly in Los Angeles all weekend. High 60s, and we never saw the sun.
Another activity was a field trip (via Uber) to the Alamo Theater downtown Los Angeles to see the new Disney film The Little Mermaid. The theater is part restaurant, part bar, and mostly theaters. Twelve screens, each with a small seating capacity. The seats are all recliners with a tray at each chair to hold your snacks and drinks, which are brought to your seat by servers. Usual film fare, but pizzas, burgers, etc., are also available, including cocktails (thus the Uber). Prices are very high.
Before the show, Lucy wanted to pose in a giant Barbie box in the theater lobby. A Barbie movie is coming to theaters near you very soon!
Prior to the film starting, the Alamo Theater played a short film with clips of over 25 different versions of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid story. There were animated versions from all over the world in so many languages, ballets, plays, films, and even a 60's movie starring Shirley Temple. It was so fascinating.
Part human acting, part CGI, The Little Mermaid it is a re-make of the animated 2008 Disney Mermaid film, with the same music (one new song) and a bit of other small changes. (See the trailer here - YouTube.) After hearing two kinda-poor reviews of the film on NPR, I wasn't expecting much. The critics were not happy with the quality of the CGI (computer generated imagery), but everything seemed tip-top to this old lady. There is a change in the words during the song, Kiss the Girl, where the prince should ask permission before kissing the girl, but I didn't even notice. The film's music is simply outstanding, especially Kiss the Girl and Under the Sea, and Aquafina as the animated bird, Scuttle, is hilarious. Melissa McCarthy plays the evil Sea Witch octopus, Ursula. Fantastic CGI with her tentacles flying about. Everyone knows how the story ends, the girl gets the boy and some legs. The boy is, of course, a kind-hearted future king, Prince Eric, and ridiculously handsome, as movie-future-kings always are. The singing was lovely and Bubbe was teary at the end. Fun night! As we left the theater, a big round of Drag Queen BINGO was happening in the bar.
The grandchildren headed back to school Tuesday morning and we headed home - where we have safely arrived.
Until my next update, I remain your weekend correspondent.
Your hair looks fabulous!