This is a very late post. This past November, we had decided to take the kids out of school for a week and go on a family trip. I was a little conflicted about having the boys skip school, but it was what our family needed. I'm really glad we did it, because this was all before we knew about Corona Virus. If we had decided to wait to go during the Spring or Summer, it wouldn't have happened. Mark hasn't really taken any time off since.
We went 2 weeks before Thanksgiving break, which is the best time to go to LA. Not too hot, and not too many people!
We spent the day driving and drove straight to the beach. The water was pretty cold, so we just played on the beach and got our legs wet. We got to see the seagulls all take off at the same time and fly off into the sunset. The sunset was amazing! I'm pretty sure that this was the Santa Monica State Beach.
The next morning, we drove down Sunset Blvd and was amazed by all the huge houses. Then we headed to the Getty art museum. It was on top of a mountain. It was a really cool museum. Evie liked the inside echoes a little too much, and kept running into walls, so she (and I) spent most of the time outside between the exhibits. The grounds were really cool though.
This sweet grandpa approached us and asked to take this picture. Then he emailed it to me. It was so sweet.
After the museum, we headed to downtown to Hollywood Blvd. We saw the Chinese Theater and the walk of fame. It was cool to mark it off our list, but there were so many people! We forgot to take pictures here. After that, we headed to Korea town and found a great place to eat! Ewin had spicy squid and he was in love, everyone was amazed! Joshua had a lot of Kimbab, and I had a fusion style Ddeokboki. I can't remember what Mark had...
We then took off and went to the Griffith Observatory. After a potty emergency (someone drank too much water to compensate for the spicy dinner) we started the ascent up the mountain. Everyone in town also wanted to go to the observatory. We were pretty worried. Everyone was pulling off to the side to park on the road at the bottom of the mountain. That would be a mile hike up to the observatory! After such a long day, I didn't think the boys could do it in the dark. We took our chances and drove all the way up. Along the way, there wasn't as single opening on the side of the road to park, so we figured we'd have to pass the observatory and drive down on the other side to find parking. We get to the top, pull into the tiny parking lot, and someone was pulling out! Woohoo! We got a great view of the Hollywood sign, and the city. The inside was a tiny museum, which was fun! The boys watched a show in the theater and then we were able to look through some of their telescopes.
The next morning, we headed to the Natural History Museum and then to the Science Center next door. Ewin obviously loved the Dinosaurs! Evie's favorite thing was just walking around and touching everything.
The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and booked a surprisingly cheap hotel close to Universal Studios! We parked at the hotel and walked up the hill, passing Ewin's favorite, Jurassic Parking! We walked in and went straight to Harry Potter World! It was so magical! Since it was November, it was even decorated for Christmas! I loved taking in the surroundings. We loved "Flight of the Hippogriff," but got a little sick on "Forbidden Journey." There was hardly any line, and we zipped through the castle. Afterwards, we decided to walk through the castle again slowly, and it was so magical! We watched a special effects show and an animal training show (Evie loved that one). Ewin's favorite ride was the Jurassic World ride! The boys went on that one a few times. Joshua was not a fan of the Mummy Ride, but he and I went on the Transformers ride a few times! The Studio Tour ride was fun, and the 3D portion of it was really well done! On day 2 of Universal, we went back to Harry Potter world. We went through Ollivander's wand shop, and Joshua was selected out of everyone to be up front, chosing a wand like Harry Potter did. It was such a fun experience and he did a great job. His wand chose him for his bravery and honesty. We did not intend on buying a wand (they are extremely overpriced), but the boys were really great sports. We could tell they really wanted one, especially the one that "chose" Joshua, but they said it was okay if we couldn't get one. Of course we had to get them one! They had these windows all through Harry Potter world, and if you used the wand to cast a spell, something would happen. It was really fun! We of course got warm butterbeer a few times! Mark and I separately did the "Walking Dead" attraction. It was so creepy. I somehow ended up going in alone, instead up lumping me in with another group. There was a lot of screaming on my part. On the way out, we got 36 donut holes and pretty much polished them off before the car! It was a great time!
After Universal, we drove straight to our hotel at Legoland. We had debated whether booking the Lego themed hotel was worth it or not. Honestly it wasn't much more in price, and it was soooo worth it! The themed room was so fun, the little scavenger hunt through the hotel to get a code to unlock a gift was exciting, the breakfast was amazing and the 1 hour pre-opening entry into the park was awesome! One of the best parts was the dance party every time we rode the elevator. I think Legoland was the best part of the trip for the boys. They were in heaven! It was really great for little kids, and we're glad we did it before Joshua was too big!
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