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Here is my final installment of our trip which overall was great. Now the friendliness of LA that I boast about kept on going until the Airport here we met the meanest and rude people you could imagine. Telling us no we can’t check the stroller the whole way to Bangor we have to take it with us to the plane and do it there (this is a lie), Security getting snappy at how we were holding up the line as there was 5 of us 3 of them children we were doing the best we could.

We also had the problem that our seats on the flights were not together at all and at each point we tried to get them changed and told nope you do that at the next point to find out it should have been done by the first person we asked. So finally on the plane the Flight attendant said well it’s too bad you can try and trade with other passengers but she wasn’t getting involved. So the only bad part of LA was trying to leave LA.

Then we met the the guy that would be sitting next to the baby so we asked him nicely if we would switch and he said no i’m not giving up my window seat for a middle seat it’s to long of a flight, at this point we were frustrated and the baby was crying as she wanted a bottle so Amanda put the baby in the seat next to him and said out loud Fine strangers can sit by my kids and deal with them. However our frustrations were completely turned around by a group of 6 20 year old males (dressed kinda punkish) who over heard this and said that’s not right what seats do you have and we quickly traded them all around get got it so we were sitting all in the same row on the plane. These guys were super nice and pointed out that had to be the biggest @$$hole thing they had ever heard. They chatted with us a bit and I discovered they had been traveling for a long time coming from Australia to LA and were now off to Philly their final destination.

In Philadelphia we once again ran into very helpful and polite staff who were very helpful and the people flying to Bangor all volunteered to move around so that 3 different families ours being one would be close to each other. Both flights went very well and I am deeply impressed with all three of my children, none of them put up a fuss, or cried, or even complained, other than for the occasional drink/food item. Which is really good considering it was another 12  hour day of traveling before getting to Calais and into a bed.

General AFV, Flying, Los Angeles, philidelphia, Plane

So as you know the Time Change really threw us off and we were up bright and early so I used that time to sit out in front of the hotel on the free wifi and do some tweeting and blog writing. Also I wanted to mention from walking around LA no one offers free wifi, so don’t expect to use your ipod touch like I was for web browsing while walking around Manhattan Beach LOL.

First thing we did is got some breakfast at the hotel and took a look around at the swimming pool, golf course etc. the hotel had to offer. We also went for quite a walk around Manhattan Beach to see some sights and found a very large sports/park/playground complex so the kids could have a chance to burn off some energy.

After that we came back to the hotel and got ready to go, and we had a really nice driver come and pick us up and take us down to the studio  (no pictures camera’s weren’t allowed to go which is a real shame). We got to see a set that was done up like new york city which was really realistic and he pointed out where 90210 was being filmed. We saw the studio audience getting ready to go in one entrance but so that we  didn’t influence any votes we were taken into another area.

This is where we met some extremely nice people and actress Alexandra Kyle who is a very nice sweet person. They took each group of contestants to get make up and hair done which was new to me, never have had put any kind of make up put on me. Where we have very small children we weren’t able to sit down on the floor for the shooting but we had a tv to see everything that was going on and we got to chat with Alex and few other people that came in and out about a variety of things about the show, Los Angelos and even found a hockey fan!!

When it came time for us to go down to the filming area Alex Kyle actually offered to babysit and took care of Kathleen for about 20 min for us =). However the Producer and Executive Producer said no way we want the baby to be there with the family we’ll give it shot and see how she does, and of course Kathleen was a natural =).

Joey was awe struck when Tom Bergeron came out and I have to admit I was too lol. We first stepped out to take our seats seeing the entire set and everything was a bit intimidating and I couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear. They placed us in our seats and that is when they decided to get Kathleen and when the Producer brought her in it was the biggest awe I had ever heard from the entire audience and murmurs about how cute the baby is.

So they did their test shot with the lights on us to make sure the kids and the baby were going to be okay and then they started to roll introducing our video and us. They did the vote but you’ll have to wait until Oct. 11th to see the final result.

After the filming Tom Bergeron came over and gave the kids including the baby a quick high five shook Amanda’s hand and then mine and thanked us for coming to the show. We then were taken back up to the prep room and were given our information packets and t-shirts for everyone in the family.

It was really exciting and a lot of fun and you’ll be able to see us all on TV Oct. 11th the second episode of the season =). I would love to say Thank you to America’s Funniest Home Video’s and their entire staff and to Alex for all her help and for hanging out with us and chatting. Blake wouldn’t leave the her alone the entire time she was in the room.

We fly back to Maine today and will be back home early Monday. Of course if anyone wants an autograph just let us know hahahahaha lol.

General AFV, Alexandra Kyle, America's Funniest Home Video, California, Flying, Los Angeles, Tom Bergeron

My family and I have never been further into the US past Stamford CT, so This is a big trip for us all the way to Los Angeles California. I’m going to try to blog about what I can each day of the Trip, we are going as we are Finalists on America’s Funniest Home Video’s.

The Trip – Well Friday was a long and exciting day, first we went to Bangor Maine where we found the security and everyone very friendly and very helpful as we haven’t flown as a family before and my personal flying experience being very nill.

We boarded early and the Flight Attendant was very helpful getting everyone situated that was both comfortable and easy to manage. Blake (4) did have to sit by a stranger who was very nice and very helpful, Blake didn’t bother him to much.

However when we landed in Philadelphia we were 15 min behind and we didn’t realize when a plane leaves at 2pm it means you board the plane at 1:30. So as we were trying to get off the first plane the other plane was boarding. We were lucky we checked our stroller the whole way to LA as we wouldn’t have had time to wait for it. So there is the 5 of us running and jumping on to every conveyor belt to move as fast as we could.

On the plane to Los Angeles we were further separated with two seats together in one spot two in another and 1 in the row in front of one of the sets this is where Joey sat. The stranger beside him was extremely friendly, helped joey play ds, and did way more to help out our family than I would have thought from anyone.

We did have a 45 min delay on the tarmac due to weather so we were actually stuck on that plane for almost 7 full hours which if you haven’t done is not an easy feat with children. However I am very impressed with how everything went the boys (6 and 4) and the baby (5 months) rarely complained or had upset, the baby only had her usual upset when she needed to be changed so we were very fortunate.

We landed in L.A. and was greeted by the driver who was extremely friendly (you’ll notice this growing trend) He helped us with our bags explained where things were for children to do and where we could go to eat if we were on a budget and wanted something quick.

We checked into the hotel and went for a stroll to subway and was greeted by something i’ve never seen before. All three employees that were busy doing this as soon as we walked in stopped what they were doing looked up and said “Welcome to Subway” and then continued on with their work. With one of them moving over to take our order, everyone we have come into contact with has been extremely friendly and helpful with anything we might need. The subway person was able to direct us to a local drug store to pick up a soother as we lost one on the trip and it’s always better to have two on hand.

I personally was very excited to see Palm trees in real life that stand easily 50 feet tall as I don’t believe I’ve seen a real one in person. Today everyone is excited as it’s the big day and will be full of adventure. Also while I sit here writing this blog at 5 am local time, i’m sitting outside using using the wifi and their is lovely music playing just adding to the almost magical feel of the day. This is gonna be a great day.

General AFV, California, Flying, Los Angeles, Palm Trees, Plane