We awoke this morning to find dolphins in the bay outside our window. It was difficult to provide photographic evidence as every time they appeared, I zoomed in and then they disappeared. So I took photos of pelicans instead!

We then drove the 200 miles or so to Santa Monica. On the way we passed through such trendy areas as Santa Barbara and Malibu. When we arrived it was slightly cloudy but the Loews hotel is great. It's right on the beach front, next to the pier. Facilities are first class. We dropped our bags off, watched Arsenal predictably score two late goals to beat Leicester (why were Leicester defending so deep?) and then headed off towards Venice beach. Wikipedia describes it thus 'Venice is known for its canals, beaches, and the circus-like Ocean Front Walk, a two-and-a-half-mile pedestrian-only promenade that features performers, mystics, artists and vendors.' Spot on. A bizarre place and I imagine not one for children after dark.

We returned to the hotel for a spot of sunbathing. I started chatting to a guy who it turned out works for Fidelity in the US.

Top tip - I think I've hit on a formula. Start at 15% and then take-off 1% for each mis-step. The first night the waitress forgot steak knives (won't happen again as we're not ordering such expensive steak again!) and brought water at second time of asking. Hence tip was 13%...sorted. No, Jo, there is no means of increasing the tip. It maxes out at 15%.

The second morning, Ella and I went to the council pool. I use the phrase 'council pool' knowing that the dear reader is envisaging a leaking roof, algae growing in the corners and disgusting toilets. We may have to deal with that in the UK but here in the US, well Santa Monica, it's a very different story. Amazing facility. Roughly ten 25m lanes alongside a second pool with around ten 50m lanes. Cost us $10 of which $7 was for me to sit at a table and read but well worth it. Ella swam for an hour in 50m pool, great effort. We each received an entry bracelet which said 'Santa Monica Swim Center' on it. Obviously I kept mine on all day! Incidentally no roof because it's sunny all the flippin' time. Who wouldn't want to get fit in this type of environment.

After getting back from the tough swimming session (!), I left the girls to sun bathe whilst I ventured out again towards Venice beach this time armed with my camera. I took some photos of performers and tried to capture the atmosphere of the place. What really caught my eye was the myriad of sporting activities taking place - volleyball, soccer, boxing, roller hockey (in the car park), American football, cycling - the list goes on. Seizing the moment I joined a group who were playing American football. It was one of those just turn up and some-one puts the team together type things. The rules were simple - although at the time I didn't understand a word.

It was mixed sides and each person wore a tag belt that was pulled off to signify being tackled. Otherwise no contact. Offense involved running away from the QB (quarter back) and hoping he'd throw the ball to you and Defense was zonal (apparently) which meant that if some-one ran into your zone and caught the ball you had to tackle them. We played for an hour - defence is much easier than offense as you don't need to run so much.

I was welcomed with a strong push from behind when I was about to 'receive' the ball. Otherwise it was great. I caught everything that was thrown my way - including a very long throw and a Touchdown. And defensively no-one left my zone with the ball! My team won convincingly. Feeling it a bit now though!

I returned to the hotel four hours and twenty minutes after popping out. Ella thought I'd been kidnapped by a drug lord, Isabel was on her phone and Jo was just ordering lunch - such was her anxiety or perhaps comfort eating to allay the worrying! The rest of the afternoon was spent by the pool. Jo and Isabel got ready for Ed a full two hours earlier than was required - apparently worried about the traffic! Ella and I went for a pizza (tip formula employed - 14% as waitress forgot the ingredients of today's special pizza (-1%)). We spoke to Sam fleetingly and generally had a lovely time. We'll hear from the rock chicks tomorrow.

Top tip - a Starbucks pain au chocolat and latte go down especially well after a tough swimming session. Can't remember what Ella had.

Isabel reports - 'OMG. The concert last night was amazing. Possibly one of the best I had been to. Ed Sheeran is incredibly talented considering it is just him and a loop pedal, no band. There was not a person in the audience that wasn't having fun. Well, apart from the man in front of me who was glaring at anyone who danced or, in my case, put flash on for 5 seconds. Luckily, for us, they were driven out by a couple of ladies who were dancing and talking (after having a couple of drinks) so much that the man decided he had to leave a take a break from them. This proceeded to everyone standing up around us to dance, as well as one lady highfiving everyone she could. Overall it was a truly memorable night and such a great birthday present! Thank you mum!'

Our last full day can be summarised as folllows - morning: girls shopping (yawn!), me pottering. Afternoon: by the pool.

The last day went like clockwork until an American Airlines debacle. Ella and I awoke early to go back to my favourite swimming pool in the whole world. Ella was asked to do a swim test before being allowed to swim by herself. At first I thought they'd sized us both up and asked me to take the swim test but actually it was age related which was fortunate. I pointed out that she'd swum around 2km in the same place on Saturday but to no avail. Having successfully swum a length in front crawl (although not her best I have to admit), Ella was allowed through. I took revenge by paying the $10 fee (note no discount for having passed the swim test) in a lot (I mean a lot) of coins.

We sat by the hotel pool for the rest of the morning, checked out just before check-out deadline at noon and had a cab waiting for us at 13:00....all seamless. The trip to the airport was without incident. The cabbie noted that the temperature was around 80F most of the year but dipped to 60F in winter. He added 'no global warming here'. I wanted to point out that global warming related to the volatility of weather conditions but couldn't be bothered. He then went onto North Korea (having seen a Korean Airlines plane on the runway) and stated that democracy would help. He may be right. I wanted to point out that democracy led to Trump being in charge in the US but couldn't be bothered!

So in my relaxed state we approached the American Airlines desk. Bang....stress back to pre holiday levels. We were flying with AA to Phoenix and then picking up a flight with BA to Heathrow. It was a tight 90 minutes between the two flights. I had organised it all through BA who confirmed everything would be fine but they added that I should make sure that AA check through the bags from LA to London. Guess what? AA's systems couldn't check through our baggage to Heathrow. There was no option but to get the bags off the carousel in Phoenix and check them back in with BA. 'You'll have plenty of time' she said unconvincingly. We even went around to a different terminal to find BA who were no help but were surprised that AA couldn't help.

The girls were optimistic, Jo and I feared the worst. We hatched a plan. Ella and I would run to the BA check-in desk to warn them of the imminent arrival of the four bags. We had already checked-in online. Jo and Isabel would follow us with the bags. Ella was surprised that we were so nervous until I pointed out that there were seven factors that could mess things up and all were out of our control. AA flight needs to leave LA on time, AA flight needs to arrive in Phoenix on time, check-in needs to be close to arrivals, bags arrive promptly (this was key), check-in hadn't closed, security wasn't busy and departure gate was not too far away. Even she gulped.

Anyway - factors one, two and three were in our favour. Ella and I got to check-in at 18:20. We ran most of the way there. I felt pretty good that I matched Ella for pace (but daddy you used the travelator and I didn't). Hmmm.

'Typical American Airlines' was the not very helpful line from the BA employee at desk when we explained matters. We had roughly twenty minutes to check-in. Factor four took a bloody eternity. Usual story - seven carousels, two working. I went back to join the bag searchers. Ella counted down for us via WhatsApp. 'He says five minutes until they close the gate'. What saved us was that the unhelpful AA lady in LA put 'Priority' tickets on our bags. On 'he says three minutes', the bags popped out 3rd, 4th, 7th and 8th in line. Never before has that happened in Peters travel history.

We ran to bag check-in and then relaxed a little. Security was a breeze and the gate was close-by. Phew. Anyway a somewhat stressful end to a rather brilliant holiday. We are now about to take-off. Back to work on Wednesday to dream about the next holiday. That's all folks......