Western Heritage

On Saturday, we took a drive out to the Griffith Park area to relax and take in some Western History.  First stop: The Autry Museum of Western Heritage.  Here are Daddy and Alice dressing up for a photo op on a horse:

Auntie Bethany found out what it was like to be featured in her very own Western:

And then it was time for some gold mining!

We then took a ride on the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round.  This is a famous carousel in that it is used often in movies and television:

Speaking of movies and television, while Daddy was watching Alice, Mommy and Auntie Bethany on the carousel, he had his first celebrity sighting!  Ron Livingston (of Office Space and Sex and the City fame) was also taking photos of his family on the carousel.

It was a nice, relaxing day, and just what we needed as we prepared for the exciting day that lay ahead!  Here are the rest of the photos from our day in the Griffith Park area.

Relaxing with Auntie Bethany

In the midst of all of our fun adventures, we took some time to relax at home in Culver City.  Here are some fun shots from the week:

Daddy enjoyed a very large beer while on vacation!:

And our little ballerina bunny rabbit had fun dancing around the house!

Here are some more photos from the fun around the house.

Sea World!

One of Alice's favorite days on our trip to California was the day we went to Sea World, San Diego.  We thought she would enjoy checking out all the sea life, but we were all so surprised by the themed area that Sea World has added called "Sesame Street Bay of Play!"  Alice is a big fan especially of Elmo and the rides and attractions were all just her speed.

Here she is with Daddy on the Elmo ride:

With Mommy and Auntie Bethany on the Abby Cadabby ride:

With Auntie, Daddy and Mommy on the Oscar ride:

Sea World is a big favorite of Auntie Bethany.  Here she is getting a closer look at Shamu:

The first half of the day tuckered Alice out and she was fast asleep by naptime:

When Alice woke up from her nap, she got the surprise of the week when we ran into Elmo himself!

And then Zoe came out to join Elmo - Alice was a little apprehensive at first, but quickly warmed up and could not have been more excited!

Alice even tickled Elmo and Zoe's feet!

She got some nice great big hugs from Elmo and Zoe:

Then, it was on to the dolphin show:

Alice and Auntie Bethany sat in the splash zone and got seriously splashed!

Alice finished the day with a present from Auntie - her very own Shamu to take home!

What a fun day! Here are the rest of the Sea World photos.

Hangin' Out, Hollywood & Haircuts

While we were in the Los Angeles area, we contacted Scott's cousin, Jodie and her husband Steve, who live about an hour away, to see if they might enjoy some company for an evening.  We drove out to their house in Lancaster, California for a cookout.  They have a great place and it was fun to visit with them and their two kids, Gracie and Payne.

Alice had fun playing in their backyard playground equipment:

Gracie and Alice had fun hanging out and Alice was very excited to meet their house-trained bunny rabbit - here she is petting the bunny:

We hope that Jodie and Steve and Gracie and Payne will make the trip out to Boston at some point, as it would be lots of fun to visit with them (and now we have an actual guest room and plenty of space for everyone!):

We also visited the sights in Hollywood during our trip to L.A.  Here is Alice, thanking the Academy:

We ran across this statue of Mickey Mouse on Hollywood Blvd - we were preparing Alice to meet the real deal in just a few days!

Alice's hair was getting long again, so we were pleased to find the same haircutting chain, "Snip-Its", that we used for Alice's first haircut in Massachusetts, just down the street from Auntie Bethany's house!

Alice had an equally fun experience this time (probably more so, because she wasn't sick this time!):

Here is a link to some additional photos from our adventures around town!

Venice Beach

The weather in California was pleasant, but not overly hot - most days were high 60s and low 70s.  We still managed to fit in a couple of beach days during our trip, of course!  Venice Beach is very close to Auntie Bethany and Uncle CJ's house, so we spent our beach days there.

A little dirt never hurt anybody, right?

Auntie Bethany taught Daddy how to surf while we were there.  Here they are, heading out on Boogie Boards after spending some time out on the surfboard:

Here is Auntie, teaching Alice how to get her balance.  Perhaps someday our little "ballerina" will be surfing too!

Playing in the mud:

Alice took her nap on the beach with Auntie and Mommy:

We found a cute little cafe on a side street off of the Venice Beach boardwalk and we all had some tea and lunch:

Here are the rest of the Venice Beach photos.