Wednesday, January 21, 2015

June 2014 – Southern California Trip (Part One)

A few weeks after school got out in June, we left to go on our second big family trip of the year (the first one was our Spring Break Florida trip).  This time we were headed to Southern California.

On our way there we stopped in Arizona to spend the night at Daniel’s sister’s house.  His mom and other sister were also there – they had driven down from Utah to attend our nephew’s baptism the next morning. 

The kids were so excited to be able to spend time with cousins.  They got up early the next morning for a fancy breakfast.  2014 06 14_3337

And a game of catch out in the front yard:                                                 :2014 06 14_33432014 06 14_33582014 06 14_3367

And some trampoline jumping:2014 06 14_3378

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Then we all headed over to the church to attend the baptism.  There was a minor mishap right before we left with the side of our van getting backed into in the driveway; the sliding door on one side was crunched in, but luckily it still could open and close (most of the the way), so we determined that we could still drive it on the rest of the trip.

The cousins with Beck after his baptism:IMG_0706

When the baptism was over we quickly changed our clothes at the church and made some calls to insurance companies out in the parking lot to make sure we were all set to get the car taken care of once we got back to Texas.  Then we said goodbye to cousins and were on our way to California. 

We have taken so many road trips that our kids are pretty expert travelers by now:IMG_0719

Our first destination was Los Angeles.  As soon as we got there, we dropped Daniel and the older three kids off at Dodger Stadium for the first baseball game of the trip (this was kind of an “explore Southern California but also cross some baseball stadiums off our list” kind of trip):                                  IMG_0723

Dodger Stadium: IMG_0732IMG_0733

The view of LA from the stadium hill:                            IMG_0738

Meanwhile, the younger three were having fun at our hotel in downtown LA.  After we dropped the others off at the baseball game we found an Albertsons and did a little grocery shopping.  It felt very adventurous because it was a little tiny Albertsons with the entrance down in the bottom of a big parking garage.  The kids were like, wow, things are crazy here in California.  They picked out some fruit and also corn dogs to take back to the hotel for dinner. Super exciting.  2014 06 14_3393

Cindy, Henry, and Lizza enjoying the great view from our hotel room.  They thought it was awesome that they could look straight down and see the pool way below us:2014 06 14_3396

Ready to swim: 2014 06 14_33992014 06 14_34132014 06 14_34242014 06 14_3426

Getting cozy in one of the poolside cabana beds.  It was a little breezy, and the kids got cold once the sun started to go down, so we piled on lots and lots of towels and they huddled together and listened to music.2014 06 14_34362014 06 14_3437_edited-1

The next day was Elizabeth’s 8th birthday.  She was very pleased and proud to have such an exotic birthday in a hotel in LA.  We started out the morning singing to the birthday girl and eating angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast.                                                                                                    2014 06 15_31772014 06 15_3180

Our first adventure of the day was going to the Getty Center, which is at the top of a big hill. The parking garage is at the bottom of the hill, and then you get to ride in a little tram all the way up. 

Sometimes at the dinner table we like to play “20 questions” where we think of a moment/restaurant/event from one of our family trips, and everyone tries to guess it.  This little tram ride must have made a big impact, because it’s been picked as the “fun memory to guess” more than once.                                                              IMG_0747

At the Getty Center there was a special exhibit of James Ensor’s art, which is full of skeletons and people wearing creepy masks;  just the kind of artwork Ollie excels at (really he is good at all kinds of art, but creepy art is one of his specialties).IMG_0748

The view from the top of the Getty Center; you can see downtown L.A. in the background:IMG_07492014 06 15_3182

Exploring the gardens:

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Happy Fathers’ Day to Daniel! (this was one of those years where Lizza’s birthday also fell on Fathers’ Day, which was fun):  2014 06 15_3204

Me with my kids piled all around:                                                                 2014 06 15_3208

Posing by one of the awesome flower trees made with rebar:2014 06 15_3214

Playing around on the grass.  My poor grass-deprived Texans, always thrilled when they encounter any sort of decent greenery:                                                                              2014 06 15_3224

Rachel loved this fancy pink bed inside one of the art museums:2014 06 15_3192

And Cindy and Henry loved this super fancy reading nook in the children's area (I think I need a fancy reading nook in my house someday):                      2014 06 15_3229

There was also a little station where kids could make their own “James Ensor” style mask, and then pose inside a painting:2014 06 15_3233

Very creepy:                               2014 06 15_3237

Heading back down the hill on the tram:                                 2014 06 15_3239

After we left the Getty Center we found a fun little pizza place for Lizza’s birthday lunch:IMG_07532014 06 15_3242

Our waitress surprised Lizza with this giant piece of chocolate cake for dessert.  Luckily for the other kids, she is a good sharer:

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Then it was on to Griffith Park for some pony rides.  This was such a fun activity – I highly recommend it if you are ever in LA with kids.  It was only $3 per rider, and even little kids can ride by themselves.

The happiest birthday girl:                                          IMG_0759

Rachel:                                                                   IMG_0756

The older boys trying to act cool, but really loving every minute of their pony rides: photo

Henry and Cindy getting saddled up:2014 06 15_3248

Happy boy:                                                                              2014 06 15_3273

Cindy trotting around:2014 06 15_3269

She loved that she got to pet her pony after she rode it.  So proud.                     2014 06 15_32872014 06 15_3290

Then we did lots of swimming at the hotel that night (and by “we” I mean the kids – I lounged around and read books on my kindle and took pictures of sweet jumps):                        2014 06 15_3311

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The next morning we drove down through the Santa Monica mountains to Malibu, and over to the Santa Monica State Beach.  It was a little bit windy and not that hot, but the kids all jumped right in (except for Tristan – he got started on a sand castle right away):

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Cindy loved the beach at first, but then she started to get a little overwhelmed with being cold and wet and having sand all around.  She went from this:                                                   2014 06 16_3133

To this:                       2014 06 16_3145

And then this:                                                                                2014 06 16_3141

Henry was cold, too, so I got them some cover-ups and they played happily in the sand for a few minutes: 2014 06 16_3149

But by the end, Cindy was only content when she was wrapped up in my jacket, laying on top of a blanket inside our little beach tent, with no sand touching her.  2014 06 16_3163

Thank goodness for the beach tent.IMG_0768_edited-1

Football in the sand:                                                            2014 06 16_3164

Tristan’s finished sand castle:                                                 2014 06 16_3170

The Mott kids at the beach:                                                    2014 06 16_3172

Before we left I braved the cold and grabbed some goggles and swam way out into the ocean to the end of the pier, just for old-times sake (when I was growing up we came to California almost every summer and at the beach I would swim with my sisters and just keep going and going, probably too far out, until we would get freaked out at all the possible sharks under us, and head back for shore).  Nothing much has changed because I still started imagining sharks swimming under me as soon as I couldn’t reach the bottom anymore; it wasn’t quite as much fun with no sisters out there with me.

Next we drove a couple miles down the coast to show the kids Venice Beach, where they practiced their best body-builder moves:

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Daniel told the kids that he’d give a dollar to anyone who could make it to the top of this rope climb thing. Tristan was the first one to do it:                                                             IMG_0777

And Lizza went up next.  She’s such a little monkey.  I was nervous for her once she got up to the top – she had to let go with one hand and touch the top bar to earn her dollar.  And then when she was coming down it seemed so high.  I guess I shouldn’t have been worried. She might be the most athletic of our kids.      

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Happy with their dollars.                                            IMG_0781

Oliver started climbing up so many times, but kept getting stuck a few feet before the top. Eventually we moved on to another area of the beach to watch some skateboarders, but on our way back to the car we stopped by the rope climb again to give him another chance.  He was so determined to make it, and finally earned his dollar.   IMG_0783

The next day we went to the California Science Center. 

The older three riding a bike high up on a wire:                              2014 06 17_30322014 06 17_30402014 06 17_3036

Enjoying an Imax movie:                                            IMG_0793

Playing around at the exhibits:                                                 2014 06 17_3044

Learning all about Pompeii.  Henry loved using the self-guided tour speakers.  2014 06 17_30532014 06 17_3059

The Space Shuttle Endeavor:2014 06 17_3065

And sea creatures:2014 06 17_30712014 06 17_3079

When we were done seeing all the exhibits we went over to the rose garden behind the Science Center. 

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And then we walked down the street to the Mercado Paloma for a late lunch at Chichen Itza, a Mexican restaurant featuring food from the Yucatan Peninsula.  Very interesting and good food.  2014 06 17_3105

The 3-year old all tuckered out from our fun day.  Sometimes I wonder how much Cindy will remember from all the trips we have gone on when she was young.  I just counted, and she’s now been in 38 states (she’s just missing some of the states in the northeast, Washington and Oregon, and Hawaii and Alaska).  2014 06 17_3106

Well, that’s it for part one of our California trip.  Hopefully it won’t take me another 6 months to write part two!