Crying "Uncle"

Today we were supposed to be in Sequoia. I wanted to see the big trees, I really did. But, the bottom line is, one family can only push so hard, and I guess we hit a wall. We were tired when I read the forecast Thursday night which was forecasting snow there, and we just decided it was one stop we were going to have to forego. Maybe one of my children will take me to see them when I'm old and gray. Or maybe not. But, the bottom line is, we decided to cut out a move and stay longer in the LA area, just so that we could rest a little.

So, here's what we did instead...

Saturday, we got up and went into downtown LA. We stopped off in the Hollywood area, just long enough to realize that we're not Hollywood people. But, we took the iconic photos, we can say we've been there, and we did eat some fabulous cupcakes we found at the Kodak Theater.

This surely needs no explanation. Though the ride to get this shot was definitely memorable.

Our favorite star in front of the Kodak Theater

Graumann's theater, where the famous handprints and footprints are.

The kids wanted to find this one and we did. According to the date, she did this in 1935 and her hands and feet were teeny tiny!

Here I am choosing our cupcake flavors from this adorable bakery at the Kodak Theater. Abby and I have totally been swept up in the cupcake craze.

Here are the four I chose for us to sample. Abe had fallen asleep, so the other 6 of us sampled them on the ride across town. I cut each of them 6 ways, like a pie and we each tried a few bites. The ovewhelming favorite was the bottom left, it was called "black-bottom cheesecake." The close second was the "squiggle" flavor which is that pretty Hostess cupcake looking thingy.

Then, we hopped back in the vehicle and drove over to the Le Brea tar pits where there are literally just puddles of tar oozing out of the ground. It was cool, and sorta weird, and one of my children found out the hard way that tar stains clothes, terribly. There is a museum there where they display tons of fossils they've dug out of the pits. We didn't go, we've already seen some cool fossils this trip. Instead, the children ran up and down the grassy hills leading up to the museum, while trying to ignore the strong scent of tar.

This was one of those bright orange traffic cones once upon a time, then it found it's way into one of the tar patches, pretty cool, huh?

Running down the Le Brea hills.

After that, we drove over to Santa Monica and grabbed some dinner before we walked out to the pier. The kids romped in the sand long enough to say they've been to the Pacific Ocean, and then, because it was frigid, we coaxed them back to the car. We drove up the coast a little bit and Ryan and I came up with a plan in case the new job thing doesn't work out. We've decided that if we need a back-up plan, he'll buy a Spiderman Costume, I'll buy a Wonder Woman costume, and we'll make a living getting our photos made with the tourists strolling on Venice Beach. With our earnings, we'll buy a humble home in Marina Del Ray, since the views there are so pretty.

The mountains and the beach, beautiful!

We made it to the other side! Isaac discovered that seagull footprints look the same on either edge of the country.

I have to say, that the beach in Santa Monica totally appealed to me because I am a mountain lover. It was absolutely breathtaking to see the mountains at the beach. I don't know how I missed that there were so many visible mountains in the LA area, but I had. They are beautiful and I understand why people would want to live here. Sort of. I definitely would pick it over NYC as far as livability, but as a tourist, I like NYC about 10,000 times better.

Yesterday, we decided to drive about 25 minutes to Lake Forest and hear Rick Warren preach at Saddleback. It was well worth the drive. Afterward, we ate at this amazing restaurant someone had recommended to us (thank you Striplings!) It was called Claimjumper and it honestly is a very good thing that we don't have them in NC. I ate the best country fried steak I have ever had in my life and the 2 desserts we ordered to share were too much for the 7 of us to eat. All I have to say is, chocolate chip calzones are a very clever invention and mile high ice cream pie isn't too shabby either.

Intelligent woman that I am, I have somehow managed to lose one tennis shoe on this trip. We searched the hotel room where I last had them both high and low and it has vanished. I have tried to convince Ryan that the brownies or the elves took it, but he's not convinced. Anyway, we're headed toward colder weather and rougher terrain and since I had somehow managed to lose one tennis shoe, shopping was a necessity. That was a pretty ordinary way to spend our last afternoon in LA, but frankly, I was ready for something that resembled ordinary.

Today we pack up and move on, out of the city. And I'm looking forward to getting back to nature again!