Auntie Karen...err I mean Auntie Kristi's Visit...

 Auntie Kristi visited us this past weekend and we could not have had a more enjoyable time!  She got in late Thursday night after enduring a delayed flight AND a delayed airport pick up (it was as though carmaggedon occurred Thursday night, not over the weekend). 

Peter and Matthew were delighted to see Auntie Karen when they woke up Friday morning. Huh? For the first day, Peter pretty much referred to Kristi as Auntie Karen. He finally got it! But it was kind of funny. At least I thought it was funny.  

Peter swindled Kristi into several rounds of Peek a boo Friday morning and it was apparent rather quickly that even though he couldn't get her name right, he loved spending time with his Auntie. He pretty much had to know her where abouts the entire weekend. "Where's Auntie Kristi?" was quite the catch phrase.

This below picture hardly captures the fun that was had by all over the weekend. I only post it because some people have told me they don't believe Matthew ever gets upset. He does. :( This was taken this morning (Monday) and they were pretty exhausted and cranky from all the partying we did, and we had just informed them that Auntie Kristi would be going home.....a recipe for grumpy faces.  

Don't go home Auntie Kristi!!!

Friday morning we headed to Heritage Park in Cerritos to meet some old friends. It was great to see everyone and get caught up. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures, so you will just have believe me. 

Saturday was the perfect beach day. We spent some time building sand castles, wading in the ocean, and relaxing. 

Mike stepped on a large piece of glass while he was constructing sand castles, tunnels, and walls. It was gigantic! I was so thankful the boys did not step on it. He got a slight cut, it could have been a lot worse.

Fast Food joints were calling our name, so we left the beach early and went to McDonald's and In n Out because we couldn't agree on which fries were better. I find this humorous considering where we dined for dinner.....

Kristi has a pretty healthy obsession with Gordon Ramsay and mentioned to me that she wanted to go to his restaurant in Hollywood during her next visit.Kristi is probably one of the most amazing ladies I know, and she never really admits to wanting to do stuff like this, so I knew that we had to go to this restaurant! 

You might be surprised to learn that I myself do not have a healthy obsession with Gordon Ramsay and have maybe seen a portion of a Hell's Kitchen episode. I do love to cook and I love food, so I knew that I would enjoy our culinary experience--even if I didn't have the complete context of Ramsay cooking. 

There are 3 restaurants at the hotel: Gordon Ramsay at the London, Rooftop Dining, and the Boxwood Cafe. The Rooftop Dining didn't seem to have a name so that is what I am calling it. :) We ate at the Gordon Ramsay at the London, but we did sneak upstairs to get a glimpse of the view from the rooftop restaurant. 

As an aside, they have fake grass all over the restaurant on the roof and it does not look nearly as good as ours. :) I would have taken a picture but I think I might have looked tacky.

the view from the rooftop restaurant

The restaurant had pre-fixed meals so between the 3 of us, we got 2 3-course meals and 1 5-course meal so that we could enjoy all of the many foods!

I didn't get a picture of our starters, but I have to say my favorite was the Foie Gras with Cherry Brioche and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. I know. It sounds weird. But it was awesome. It was a great combo of savory and sweet.

Kristi enjoying her dinner

We also got a Lobster Risotto and an Octopus Risotto. Apparently, Gordon is all about the Risottos, so we thought it best to order those. They did not disappoint! I loved both of them.

quail eggs and scallops

veal loin and shrimp

chautebriand with potato puree

So, since Kristi was a huge fan of Gordon Ramsay, she was informing us of all the important facts about Mr. Ramsay. She mentioned that Gordon is very particular about the quality of the plates that restaurants use. He gets really angry on Hell's Kitchen when people serve customers with chipped plates. Which is what makes this picture all the more entertaining.


Kristi was aghast to see that her entree was served on a chipped plate. We are not so full of ourselves, so we didn't make a complaint. Speaking of full of ourselves, it took us about 20 minutes to figure out what to order. I thought that was a long time, so I asked the waiter if we had set a record or something. He informed me that some people take up to 2 hours to decide what they want to order. Crazy! That is so un LA! Everyone is always in a rush. Apparently Ramsay's dining experience causes people to stop and smell the roses.

I will have a chip with my Quail Eggs....

For dessert, we had an apple tartan (something else Gordon is known for) and a chocolate cylinder filled with bananas, peanuts, and other goodness. On the side was a scoop of peanut butter ice cream. Given that PB is one of my major food groups, the ice cream was in.cred.ible. 

chocolate cylinder with peanut butter ice cream

apple tartan with vanilla bean ice cream

You know you have changed too many diapers AND that your photography skills blow when you look at the above picture and all you can think of is your kids.

Needless to say, we scoured all the plates....

We asked the waiter to take our picture and he apparently thought this was a good shot.

He also brought us the wrong bill. Something else Mr. Ramsay would frown upon. We were honest and told him it belonged to someone else.

After we got outside, we attempted another picture....

 

Throughout the hotel, there were these statue dogs. They looked pretty real. I know they are English bulldogs. And the hotel is called the London. But it was kind of weird.

 

Sunday we went to church and spent the evening with friends and viewing a cinema classic.

All in all, we had a great visit with Auntie Kristi and can't wait for her to return. Hopefully next time with the rest of the fam!