Disneyland, Hollywood, CA Science Center, Aunt Linnie’s and the beach… gotta love L.A.

When someone says February 14th, what’s the first word that comes to mind? I dunno – love, flowers, chocolate, valentines? Well somehow when my sweet hubby was scheduling his clinical skills board exam (an 8 hour test that has to be taken in one of 6 cities in the Nation) these words did not come to mind (he wondered why the 14th was the only day in February that was open) and he went ahead and scheduled it for Valentine’s Day. In an attempt to makeup for his absent mindedness Jared got the whole week off and we decided to make it a family trip to LA. Jared’s Aunt Linnie lives just north of LA so we were able to stay with her for the week and venture though the LA traffic to Disneyland, the beach, the California Science Center and Hollywood – we may have been able to see more had we not spent half of our time in traffic. We had a great time at Disneyland, it was so fun to hear the boys giggling with delight all day. Every time we got off of a ride that Gage enjoyed he would say “again, again!” Fortunately for us it was not a busy day and many times we were able to oblige. Carter’s favorite rides were Space Mountain and Splash Mountain, he later admitted that they were the coolest because Gage couldn’t go on them and he got to go by himself with Mom or Dad. The first ride we went on was Pirates of the Caribbean, they have changed it a little bit and it seemed scarier to me, but maybe that was because Carter had a death grip on my hand and Gage was hanging around Jared’s neck for dear life crying, “Out, out, out!” It wasn’t so bad once we got further into the ride but I thought they were going to be terrified to go on another ride. I was nervous about taking the little guy to Disneyland but there was plenty that he could do and we all had a really good time, I would recommend it!

The beach was also a hot spot for the kids. I thought it would be too cold to really get in the water much past our knees, but of course the temperature did not stop Carter from getting in all the way to his neck and unfortunately for Gage we let go of his had for a few seconds and the sand washed out from underneath him and he fell and got soaked too. Neither of them seemed to mind until it was time to get out!! They then realized how frigid it really was! Good times though, Gage’s favorite pastime at home is playing in the sandbox so this was like a dream come true – the biggest sandbox he could dream of!

Gage hiding from the waves!

Carter's Baywatch Debut:

One day we went to Hollywood and the favorite place to play was Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Carter ran around on the sidewalk trying to find a hand or foot print that was the same size as his. Believe it or not he finally found a handprint that matched his perfectly and he was so excited! (It was Shirley Temple – funny huh!) He also got a kick out of the Darth Vader, C3PO and R2D2 tracks on the sidewalk (he doesn’t have a clue about Star Wars but has a friend that is way into it – crazy the influence a friend can have). Gage was super scared of the guy on the street dressed as Jack Sparrow (I think he was still having nightmares from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland.) And Jared even found his star on Hollywood Blvd – you didn’t know he was famous did you!?! Hmm!

We also had good times at the California Science Center (we would definitely recommend it) enjoying a session in the LA temple, and spending time with Jared’s Aunt Linnie. One night we were at dinner with Aunt Linnie and Carter asked her how old she was (he hasn’t yet learned not to ask a woman her age). Aunt Linnie jokingly responded that she was 29; Carter’s gasped, got real excited and announced, “really, you’re the same as my dad!”

These are the Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches that they let us hold at the Science Center - yes they are real and they were really creepy to hold, especially when they started running up your arm - Nasty!

Wholy Moley! Wherein the world did that boy get his monsterous mouth?!?