Our mini-vacation

So, just how much can you squeeze into 2 days? We decided that since Dave has not had much time off and the kids are getting ready to head back to school, we should get out and go somewhere. Dave took a shift off and we made a last minute plan. The only catch was this: we only had 2 days and we didn't want to spend all the money that he had just made working all that overtime. What can you do in less that 48 hours on a budget? Well, we left Wednesday morning and headed down to L.A. First stop, the L.A. Zoo. Very affordable. We had a good time. I'm kinda glad we were only there half day because it is a lot of walking. And it happened to be pretty warm and muggy that day. The kids had fun. It was Ali and Spencer's first time to a zoo (besides CALM, of course). Spencer's favorite was the elephants and the alligators. Ali liked the monkeys and the river otters the best. For the rest of us, it was the gorillas. Hands down. First of all, they were the only ones that were acting anywhere near how they might really act in the wild. There was a family in one habitat. A dad, a mom, and a 3 year old baby girl. They were so fun to watch. The dad was a huge silverback. He was very bossy! And the baby was just like any baby. Wait till dad looks away, then quick do something you know you're not supposed to. It was really neat! After the zoo closed, we went to dinner in Hollywood somewhere. Pretty sure we were nowhere near the stars! Then we headed to the Griffith Observatory. I haven't been there since I was a kid and I remember loving it. Plus it was only minutes from the zoo, and again very affordable. Except it took forever to get there because John Cougar Mellencamp was doing a concert at the Greek Theater, which happens to be on the way to the observatory. The observatory was really cool. The kids were so excited about the view from the hill and the Hollywood sign. I think they enjoyed the educational aspect of it to.......I will keep telling myself that. We paid to go see the 30 minute show which was awesome-until they threw in the whole Big Bang theory. Can people really be so stupid? Long ago there was just a huge mass of energy and then from some unkown cause comes a big explosion and then poof, everything just is?! Wow! That is out there. Although I got a kick out of it at the end when the speaker said that new evidence has come up that makes their theory incomplete. Duh! Just another proof that God does know what He's doing. By the time we left there, it was late and our hotel was 45 minutes away in Redondo Beach. We get there to check in and they say if we want to wait 20 more minutes they'll have a room ready with a "harbor view". I said sure. Dummy! I missed out on 20 minutes of extra sleep. The "harbor view" was a buch of boat's masses. Couldn't even see water. Next morning went to an old 50's style cafe (my favorite era-wish I could've lived back then). They had a penny gumball machine. I was so excited! I gave the kids a handful of pennies. Seriously, when do you see anything for a penny these days? That was definitely the highlight of breakfast because the food was not very yummy. Then we went to the pier. It is a really cool, u-shaped pier with lots of shops and restaurants. Dave took Spencer, yep, you guessed it . Fishing. Us girls walked around, yep, you guessed again. Shopping. They also have a boardwalk under the pier. And there is this really cool bike path that stretches forever along the beach. Maybe next time we'll have time to try that out. We met back up with the boys, had lunch, then headed to the beach. The kids had a blast. Tanessa took her turn at boogie boarding, although I think she spent more time getting tossed by the waves than actually on her board. Ali got really brave in the ocean. Even she got tossed by a big wave. She didn't cry, but she was covered in sand. Spencer actually went in up to his waist and had a good time chasing the waves. Then running from them. I sat in the sand and watched and took pictures. I was already chilly from the breeze, there was no way I was getting wet. Dave, however, braved the cold water and played with the kids. When they were all good and dirty and freezing, we showered them off, put dry clothes on, and went out for dinner at the El Toritos on the pier. I like Mexican food. A lot. But I always forget until it's too late that I don't like their Mexican food. But we had a table with an awesome ocean view so that was nice. That made the food not as bad. Anyways, we got gas and headed home. Didn't get home until after midnight. That made our whole trip a total of 38 hours! But it was great. We had a blast!