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. 

And a game of catch out in the front yard:                                                 :

And some trampoline jumping:

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:

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:

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):                                 

Dodger Stadium:

The view of LA from the stadium hill:                           

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. 

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:

Ready to swim:

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.

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.                                                                                                   

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.                                                             

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).

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

Exploring the gardens:

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

Me with my kids piled all around:                                                                

Posing by one of the awesome flower trees made with rebar:

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

Rachel loved this fancy pink bed inside one of the art museums:

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):                     

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

Very creepy:                              

Heading back down the hill on the tram:                                

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

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

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:                                         

Rachel:                                                                  

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

Henry and Cindy getting saddled up:

Happy boy:                                                                             

Cindy trotting around:

She loved that she got to pet her pony after she rode it.  So proud.                    

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):                       

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):

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:                                                  

To this:                      

And then this:                                                                               

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

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. 

Thank goodness for the beach tent.

Football in the sand:                                                           

Tristan’s finished sand castle:                                                

The Mott kids at the beach:                                                   

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:

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:                                                            

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.      

Happy with their dollars.                                           

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.  

The next day we went to the California Science Center. 

The older three riding a bike high up on a wire:                             

Enjoying an Imax movie:                                           

Playing around at the exhibits:                                                

Learning all about Pompeii.  Henry loved using the self-guided tour speakers. 

The Space Shuttle Endeavor:

And sea creatures:

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

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. 

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). 

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