Hollywood Adventure with Ellen Degeneres!

Hey All!

Well, we just returned from the time of our lives! Our son was chosen as a “kid inventor” for The Ellen Degeneres Show out in Hollywood. We were flown out (thankfully, in an airplane) put up in the Universal Studios Sheraton Hotel, and got to hang around the Ellen Studio for about six hours. We met lots of amazing people (the producers are super great!) saw a thousand amazing things, and made a million great memories! We also met a couple of other kid inventors and their families who we really enjoyed hanging out with!

Here is Kyle on the plane after he was offered flying lessons from the pilot. His lesson: “Pull back and the houses get smaller. Push forward and the houses get bigger. Push all the way forward and the house get real big real fast.”

We packed a lot into a few days! We started off at Hollywood Blvd. Talk about an interesting place! Since my poor husband could not go with us because he had to work, I decided it wasn't prudent to hang around with the kids at night but we saw some funny things! Kyle, who is a huge Harrison Ford fan (Star Wars and Indiana Jones!?) dropped to the ground (yuk) for a picture as soon as he spotted this! As you can see, we were also caught by some scoundrels!

We got to the beach before the taping at the Ellen Show. The Pacific Ocean is gorgeous!

So, finally, we got the the set of the Ellen Show. A lot of security to get through before we actually got there...but we got there!

We hung out in the GREEN ROOM! Which, isn't green! Lots of good food, drinks, nice people, flat screen TVs and a pool table...

Ellen introduces the "Kid Inventors" segment:

Meanwhile, Kyle gets prepped. First, he gets his hair done by a Hollywood Stylist!!! Which, of course, is just like home...

Then he gets wired for sound.... (How many eleven year old boys really need this???)

FINALLY! It's time to tape!

We really had an incredible time! Hollywood sets are just as you may imagine! But the producers were not like you may imagine (from the way they are often portrayed in movies and such!)--They were really approachable, incredibly kind, generous, and gracious! They put the kids at ease immediately! Here is one of our favorites...but I don't think I should include her name since i don't have permission...

A million THANKS to ELLEN (who was very generous with the kids!) and "her people." :<) See? I'm already using that Hollywood lingo!