Juice and Joy

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Cali trip days 3 and 4

I'm so dizzy...my head is spinning. I've been getting vertigo or dizzy spells or whatever you'd like to call them. I'm going to the doctor this morning to see what's up. My hope is an ear infection, but I'd take some virus going around that I've heard about which includes dizziness. I do not want to hear vertigo or some other scary ailment. Cross you fingers for me!

So, what day are we on for the Cali trip recap? Oh, right...I had taken you up to arriving in LA. We stayed at my cousin Dawn's boyfriend's house (Jesse for future reference). We slept in on Wednesday (8/15), hung around the house playing Jesse's Singing Bowls and piano, and then finally walked to a nearby park. The weather was fabulous, and we walked on the Culver City Interpretive Nature Walk. Joshua got a blister, so I carried him back to the house, which I will now count as a workout b/c it involved hills and at least a mile walk.

We had PBH (honey) sandwiches, and soon after Dawn arrived. We packed up for the beach and went to Santa Monica. This was the first time my kids have seen the Pacific Ocean. For Elijah, that is a huge deal as he is so into maps and directions and geography. The water was cold, the sand was hot, but we had a great time. Highlights for me were watching the boys jump the waves, and eating the most delicious mango bought from a man selling "fruta" along the beach. Yum.





We ate dinner at Buca di Beppo and planned to ride bikes along the beach as the sun set. The bike rental was closed, so we walked along the pier and rode the most over-priced ferris wheel ever. The boys had fun on a couple other rides as well, and then it was time to head home for some much needed sleep. And that ends day 3.









Day 4: The Grove Shopping Mall and Griffith Observatory.

We woke up late, and that is really late considering we were waking up around 8am or after pacific time. We went with Dawn and her friend, Ferraby to the Grove for lunch and a little shopping. I really wanted internet access at this point, so we went to the Apple store. Elijah got to get his Webkinz fix, and Joshua got to play some games. I didn't feel comfy checking my email there. It was so public. So packed. And the monitors were "gigunda" (joshism). I bought a bra (exciting!) while everyone else rode the trolly and ate ice cream.

We headed back to Dawn's apartment to get ready for the observatory. I quickly changed into my running clothes b/c my reputation is on the line. I said I was going to run at least twice, and I hadn't run at all. Dawn lives in the Hollywood Hills, so she drew the tiniest of maps and sent me off in search of 149 granite stairs that I could run up and down to my heart's content.

I took a wrong turn and wound up Belden Dr. looking for the stairs. It was pretty much a long hill climb. I passed some concrete stairs (at this point, I didn't know the stairs I was looking for were granite, so I thought I found the stairs). I kept running though until Belden hit another road. I turned around at Ledgewood Dr. and headed back to the stairs. I ran down them and back up them, counting 124 stairs. Oops, that wasn't 149 stairs. Back down Belden I run and then over to Beachwood. I notice tourists posing with the Hollywood sign in back. I hadn't even noticed it running up Beachwood (up literally as it's an incline). Once I get back, I ask Dawn to take my picture in front of the Hollywood sign to prove I ran there. I know, I'm a dork.

So we have 3 minutes to get in the car to get to the Griffith Observatory on time. Somehow we make it. We park and take a shuttle, which is the longest shuttle ride, I think. I was fine until I noticed we were winding along a cliff. I wish I hadn't looked. We made it there fine though. Elijah, Dawn and I are so excited. Dawn knows Elijah loves space. I love space, too. This is the main reason she wanted us to come visit her in LA.

It was really enjoyable. I lost Joshua and panicked. He was a champ and found workers. When I was reunited with him, he had his tough face on. I could tell he was scared and wanted to cry, but he wouldn't. He did at least run into my arms. We saw an awesome show, looked at really cool space stuff. The best thing for Joshua was designing your own meteor/asteroid. He loved making his so big and dense that when it hit the planet of your choice, it was total annihilation. Should I worry about that?

We went outside and saw Jupiter and some moons through a telescope. The moon had set, so that telescope was out (the woman there hadn't found another target as she was talking with people). We saw some other thing, too...maybe a nebula or patch of stars. I can't remember what she said, but I do remember thinking there were so many other choices to point the telescope at. We could barely see the fuzzy patch, and honestly, it could have been a smudge on the lens. Oh well, it was still awesome.

We take the long bus ride back to the car. Then we take the long car ride back to Dawn's. It's late now...10pm? Ferraby makes us all grilled cheese sandwiches, and I check my email on his laptop. Woo hoo! Finally at almost midnight, Dawn, the boys and I head to Jesse's to sleep. Dawn stays with us, so we can get an earlier start the next morning...another trip to the beach!

I'll write about the rest of the trip later. I need to also write about our ladder workout yesterday at Austin High, but my doctor visit calls.

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