California Report

We recently returned from our annual trip to California. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure:

One of the first things we got to do was meet up with my mission buddy, Jenni and her 2 cute boys at the Los Angeles Zoo. We never served together, and we never even lived together, but somehow we came to be friends and I just love her to pieces. Lexi was chosen to help out with the bird show. You may recall that she was chosen last year, also...


Our next trip was to the Skirball Museum to see their giant Noah's Ark exhibit. It was basically a huge indoor playground based on Noah's Ark. All of the animals were made out of pre-existing materials (i.e. rats made of croquet balls, a rooster from a red boot etc). Lots of activities to do, things to play with, and places to climb. Lexi also participated in a drum circle.


We visited Olvera Street in old downtown Los Angeles, near City Hall & Union Station. After lunch at Phillipes, we explored the little street which is also the location of the oldest home in Los Angeles & the first Fire House. Lots of teeny tiny gift shops selling leather goods, random doodads and Lucha Libre masks.


We took our first trip to Hollywood. In all the summers we've spent in California, we've never gone down to Hollywood. Saw the Chinese Theater, El Capitan, Capitol Records and attempted a *walking* tour that we found on about.com which turned out to be NOT a walking tour AT ALL, but something you would definitely not do without a car.


The Museum of Natural History where we examined the insect zoo, saw a *real live* dinosaur and also dug for dinosaur bones, and walked through the butterfly garden.


Dodgers v. Rockies. Dodgers won! Thanks to our buddy's father, we had incredible seats in the shade on the field level. And after a day game, kids can go out on the field and run the bases! We didn't find out about that until it was too late to go, but otherwise we would have done it. Being a New Yorker, Lexi kept asking when the Yankees were going to play. That, coupled with the Yankees hat I was sporting, probably did not put us in the best light with the surrounding fans, so we made sure to cheer loud for the Dodgers. After all, they were the home team, and if they don't win it's a shame.


The rest of these photos are just miscellaneous from all our time with family and friends. We were able to see 5 out of Matt's 8 brothers, my grandparents and 2 of my cousins who have transplanted here (we missed another cuz due to scheduling conflicts- still bummed about that, K!), the Smiths, and the Russells, who made a huge effort to come down from Oregon for a few days to be with us (they rock).


Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa for hosting us (and all our friends) and for taking such good care of us!!