Alright, here’s the story of our trip to L.A. I have to apologize for those with slow internet connections, this post is extremely photo-heavy. Also, there is really no knitting content in this post at all – it’s all about family and vacation, so if you’re here for the knitting, c’mon back tomorrow night for the major knitting update!
We started off on Tuesday morning at the MPL/STP airport. Here we are waiting for the tram to take us from the parking ramp to the terminal. Let’s stop for a moment and admire my amazing stacking and hauling abilities. We had a huge pile of luggage, and there were no carts at the parking ramps, so I carried Sophie in the sling, Julie walked and pulled her case, and I pulled the rolling case while holding Julie’s free hand. Somehow, it worked out just fine.
When we arrived, we headed to our hotel in Glendale. The sky was dominated by a giant smoke cloud from the brush fires in Griffith Park. It was hard to get a clear picture from the car, but it was brown and roiling.
The next morning we came out to the parking lot and found all the cars coated with ash from the fire.
We spent most of Wednesday at the Natural History museum, where Sophie enjoyed pushing the stroller around more than she did riding in it.
Julie enjoyed playing archaeologist in the dinosaur dig.
They had a butterfly house, and Julie enjoyed checking the bugs out. I have to say, the butterfly house at the State Fair last year was a bit more impressive. There weren’t all that many varieties in this one, but it was still a fun way to burn some time.
Back at the hotel, and we took a little dip in the teeny-tiny pool. We chose to stay in a less-expensive hotel the first three nights and a nicer hotel where the wedding reception was held the last two nights. This was an Econolodge, and it wasn’t horrible. Nothing fancy, but at least it was pretty clean and there were no creepy people hanging around. The girls were excited to have their swimming suits on and be in the water, although it was in the shade and the temperature was only mid-seventies, so we didn’t linger very long.
Thursday we did a few little shopping stops, including a big fancy kids’ bookstore. In between, we found a park playground and let the girls play for an hour or so, and ate a picnic lunch. Julie’s food allergies make eating at restaurants a challenge, and our simple meal out at the park was better than another fast food meal.
We ended our day at the Giant Robot store and met Joe’s online friend Martin for dinner at the GR Eats restaurant. Martin is one of the editors of Giant Robot magazine.
Sophie’s prize for the day was an Ugly Doll by the name of Big Toe.
We ended up eating breakfast three days straight at the IHOP nearby. Greasy breakfast is a great occasional treat, but by day three you start to wish for a nice bowl of cereal and toast at home. At least it was filling, and they had food Julie could eat. This trip, I set a lifetime record for myself of eating pancakes four days in a row.
Friday we hit the beach – the Santa Monica pier.
We usually don’t put money in these kiddie rides, but we were on vacation, and there was a whole collection of them at the arcade, so Julie and Sophie got to ride several of them.
We also played Skeeball and some other games while we were there.
It was another relatively cool day, and another picnic lunch on the beach this time made everyone happy.
There were people out in the water swimming, but they were crazy. It was freezing! Sophie enjoyed her first ocean experience, brief as it was.
We checked into the much-fancier Hilton, cleaned up, and rushed over to the church for the rehearsal.
There was much standing around waiting and very little actual rehearsing for the kids.
There were three flower girls and a ring bearer, all very cute.
By the time rehearsal was over, the girls were just about losing it, and we decided to skip the rehearsal dinner and head back to the hotel for room service. It was late and everyone was tired, but a giant hamburger and a plate full of onion rings made my evening.
Julie chose to sit at the fancy desk to eat her hot dog and fries. We splurged and let her have ice cream for dessert. One of the unfortunate things about traveling with little kids in one room is that when they go to bed, we pretty much have to go to bed too. At least we got plenty of rest, and we have vowed that next time we travel we will get a suite so we can put the kids to bed and retreat to the adjoining room.
Saturday morning we met Joe’s parents and brother at the restaurant in their hotel. Sophie was happy to see her Grandma.
And her Uncle Dave.
The fire was under control at Griffith Park, so we went and checked out the Traveltime museum there. They had an awesome model train setup, but it seems they had taken it down and evacuated it in case the fire engulfed the building, so on Saturday morning the workers were busy putting the trains back on the tracks. We still had fun looking at it for about twenty minutes.
Sophie crashed in the sling and slept for almost an hour.
We took a tiny train ride around the park.
And Sophie woke up.
Back to Glendale, and the lunch at a Korean restaurant. We all had NangMyun, a cold noodle soup that is awesome.
Sophie had fun with the noodles too.
Back to the hotel for a quick change, and then to the church for pictures with the bride.
Sophie’s been doing a lot of pointing lately. She points at animals and kids and busses and anything she wants us to stop and examine more closely. It is very cute.
My brother-in-law Dave and future sister-in-law Jinny. Aren’t they a cute couple? We may be traveling to Korea in a year or so for their wedding.
Me and the dress. Sophie and Joe both enjoyed the plunging neckline.
Julie with Joe’s cousin J.K., sister of bride Lindsey.
Gratuitous cute-Sophie picture.
This was before the wedding. I think we were getting the girls to practice their jobs. They did end up making it all the way from the back to the front, although one of them stopped to pick up the dropped petals.
At the reception, the kids were starving and there were no more appetizers. They all swarmed the container of wheat-free cheesy snacks we had brought for Julie, and they were gone in about five minutes.
Sunday morning at the hotel. Sophie is more interested in playing with the crayons – putting them in the box and dumping them back out – than coloring with them. Joe made up for her lack on interest while Julie slept in late.
Sunday, our final morning in town, and we had one last chance to eat some awesome Korean food (for Joe’s parents, pretty much the whole point of going to L.A. is eating as much Korean food as humanly possible, and I don’t mind because it is awesome.) Julie enjoyed a bowl of tduck gook with Uncle Dave and Auntie Jinny.
And then we came home. Whew! The lawn needs mowing, and I’m almost done with the laundry, and it feels good to be back in our own little lives.
Tomorrow, I’ll have an update on the knitting action in the last week. There are FOs to report!
