A couple of Benners and a Baumann come to visit

That's right folks. Grandmom, Aunt Marge and Dad/Ray came to visit us in LA last month. Here's a slideshow of their visit, followed by some of the many highlights.


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- The first night they came, we visited the original Bob's Big Boy in Burbank, CA, where they hold classic car shows every weekend. You'll notice Dad in the photos standing with a bright yellow Charger that he just might have stolen if he weren't with his mom at the time.

- There was an obligatory stop at Rodeo Drive, where Dad stood next to a bright yellow Ferrari. Something about bright yellow cars and that man.

- Grandmom, Marge and Dad went to a taping of the Ellen show, after which Rhianwen took them on a tour of the Warner Bros. backlot. They got to see the spots where many shows and movies were filmed, including parts of Spiderman, ER and Pee Wee's Big Adventure. That's where those photos with the statues of Bugs and Daffy happened.

- Dad and I went to see the LA Dodgers play the SF Giants. We wore Phillies gear. The Dodgers fans in right field didn't really know how to deal with us. (In related news, the Phillies beat the crap out of the Dodgers last night, 7-2. Woo!)

- All of us checked out Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the famous Hollywood cinematheque where films are premiered and stars put their hands and feet in the cement. There were many interesting celeb prints, but clearly the best ones were R2D2 and C-3PO.

- Marge got to stalk her crush, George Clooney, quite a bit. Not only did she get to see his parking spot on the WB lot, we took her to his house around the corner from us and she stood in his driveway. "Oh George," she called. "I'm here for you!" We're not sure, but we think we spotted Clooney shaking his head and shutting his window blinds from the bottom of his driveway.

- Griffith Park Observatory was on our list of stops, as it's quite a landmark. It's the site of the famous knife-fight scene from James Dean's Rebel Without A Cause, and it also offers one of the best views of Los Angeles in the entire city.

- Dad didn't seem that impressed with In 'N' Out Burger, which I just don't understand.

- Grandmom was definitely impressed with that giant donut you saw up there. The thing was huge!

- The biggest celebrity we saw the entire trip was James Cromwell. That might sound a little disappointing, but it just about made Aunt Marge's life.

Thanks so much for coming to visit us in Hollywood (Note the song we sang all week together)! We had such a great time and miss you already.