Playing the Tourist in Southern California

Having grown up in southern California, Simi Valley to be exact, I still like to play the tourist whenever we go back to visit.  Since I've been gone from the state for the good part of fourteen years some new things have come and some have stayed constant and I'm glad we were able to visit a little of each.

The beach and coastline.  I must say I was never a big fan of the beach, too much sand getting into everything, but it was fun taking my girls even if it was January.

 My sister Tricia also joined us on our adventures journeying from Arizona with her son Jordan.  Aren't they styling in their shades?

 Our first full day in CA we drove up the coastline to Goleta, a little above Santa Barbara and visited a butterfly wintering ground.  Even though it didn't have the variety we can get at the Butterfly Pavilion it was still cool to see tons of monarch butterflies in their natural habitat.

 

Elizabeth was determined to get a butterfly on her hand and even though we're not supposed to touch them, she did coax one or maybe two onto her hand.

 My camera does not do this justice but see those things that look like leaves?  Those are resting butterflies clumped together in the high eucalyptus trees. Go here for more professional pictures.

 Even though it's the middle of winter, the girls wanted to enjoy the 70 degree day and go in the frigid Pacific Ocean--when is it ever warm though?  As you can see in this picture, Evelyn was a little timid about the water but Elizabeth and Rachel hopped right in.

 Playing in the sandy mud--yuck!

 I love this picture with the palm trees and coastal "mountains" in the background.

 Digging holes and bring up lots of memories for me.

 Wednesday we went to the LA Science museum to see the space shuttle Endeavour that's now permanently on exhibit there.  It was pretty cool to see it in person and I loved the "cut here for emergency" sign.

 Enjoying some cousin lunch time outside the museum.

 After lunch we went back in and explored the rest of the museum.  We came upon a life exhibit and a baby chick was hatching.  I know if we were on a farm it would be a natural occurrence but it was kind of exciting to see the chick pushing its way to life outside the egg.

  

We also watched a short presentation in their aquarium

 Just down the road we went to the LA temple as I like to show the girls where we got married.  The visitor center was redone a few years back and I hadn't seen it yet and it was pretty nice so if you're in LA (Santa Monica to be exact) go check it out.

 Twinners Tricia & Jordan

 Cousins

 Ah, sisterly love.

 Elizabeth is just looking so grown up now

 Thursday we had a more relaxing day as Tricia and I did some sewing projects together (no pictures) and we geared up for Friday fun at Disneyland after Eric flew in to join us Thursday night.  Our family at the happiest place on earth (at least that's what Disney claims). It was just about perfect as we had a light drizzle on and off during the day that warded off most of the lines.

We tried to get some pictures with princesses for Evelyn but they all left right as we got to the line but got a few hugs and waves so she was happy.  Even Jasmine left right before we took this picture.

 I kept forgetting to take out the camera because we were just going from ride to ride but here is everyone on the carousel.

 Love this picture even though the lighting wasn't that great with Jordan looking up at Tricia wondering where his mommy had brought him.

 Grandma doing her duty on Dumbo

 Eric doing his duty on Dumbo (waiting for everyone else)

I kept telling the girls how my favorite ride at Disneyland used to be Autopia because I could feel so grown up driving cars around.  Elizabeth was finally tall to ride by herself and I let Evelyn drive.  Thankfully we are still a few years out from the real thing.

 Picture taking waiting for the Monorail

I took a few more pictures from Disneyland but I know you're done with pictures.  Needless to say we had a good time there even if Thunder Mountain, Tom Sawyer Island, Splash Mountain, and Small World were closed (we probably wouldn't have done the last two).

Sadly, Saturday Tricia and Jordan returned to Arizona.  Thanks Danny for letting us have them for a few days!  This little guy was such a trooper through all our adventures.  Next time I see him, he'll probably be crawling around and more grownup.

 Saturday afternoon dad took us to a relatively new Chumash museum in Thousand Oaks where we learned all about the Chumash Indians that lived in the area and you can find relics from in the hills.  I would have gotten some serious arm muscles grinding acorns for mush with these materials.

 A warrior dressed up for a party

 This is probably the only house we could afford in California so we're moving in next week.

 

Saturday evening we drove out to visit Eric's brother in Corona and stay the night and this is what we saw in the back seat.  Asleep and still sucking away at her Disneyland sucker.  I think we wore these girls out.

 The best part of the trip was seeing family and the girls got to see more cousins--Tyler (15), Sam (11).  I just hope Sam wasn't worn out too much by all the "attention" or rather mauling that my girls inflicted on him.

We returned to Denver on Monday after enjoying In-N-Out one last time (no nay-saying comments please as we're still begging for them to come to Denver) and arrived home to a beautiful light snow.  Until next time California.

To Grandmother's House We Go!

What do you do with three kids off school for five weeks in winter (our last year of 4-track year round schedule) and a mom that's going crazy?  Make a trip to southern California to visit Grandma!  The girls didn't care what else they did as long as they helped grandma pick oranges off her tree in the backyard and go up and down the twisty stairs to their hearts content.  Well we conquered those things in the first day and much, much more in the week we were there.

The girls loved their time with Grandma

The well-seasoned flyers.  For some reason a 17 hour drive just doesn't appeal to me, plus I would probably fall asleep at the wheel and kill us all, so a cheap flight from DEN - BUR was just the ticket.

Picking the just ripe oranges off the tree.  It was nice having fresh squeezed orange juice every morning, almost enough reason for us to think about moving back to California! (Sorry mom but Colorado is in our blood now).

 The girls also visited with Grandpa at his office on our last morning there.  I think someone likes his granddaughters.

 Pictures with the infamous twisty stairs that kids love.

 We also enjoyed time with great-grandma Schultz who lives with my parents.