This blog is meant to be a journal of our summer (8 whole weeks) in Los Angeles (population 3.7 million). Actually Dave spends the weekdays working while I drag the kids all over the city to give them cultural experiences that they can't get elsewhere, especially in a place like Binghamton NY ( population 47,000). I will try to include some details about how worthwhile and/or fun our visits to various playgrounds and museums are. I also am trying to include some contributions from my kids' point of view, but that is much easier said than done.
The last day of school for the kids was June 23, and then we spent the rest of the week frantically cleaning and packing. The big question is, can we survive the summer on no more than 50 pounds of stuff in a big suitcase and 40 pounds in a smaller suitcase (including weight of suitcase) plus whatever else we put in a few smaller backpacks. The kids have already stuffed their most important treasures in Joshua's wheeled backpack (i.e. Bakugan toys, Joshua's Pokemon coins, as many Webkinz as they can fit, and Benjamin's garbage truck which won't end up coming because it is just too big). Benjamin is also trying to figure out how he can bring his bicycle.
All this harried preparation ended around 2pm on Friday June 26 when we locked up our house in Binghamton and left for NJ. We ate dinner at Dave's mother's house joined by my parents, Jodi, Sammy, Milo and Maddison. The kids loved playing together--Sammy especially enjoyed entertaining Laura. Saturday morning, we woke up, packed another 10 pounds of supplies (i.e. food) so that the kids will survive the plane trip and headed to the airport. Our plane flight was uneventful, but we had lots of opportunity to check out the airplane restrooms as Laura insisted she had to go every 10 minutes. Since we changed planes in Chicago, our first flight was relatively short, and Laura slept most of the second flight so Dave and I got a break from the aiplane bathrooms for a while. Joshua and Benjamin loved playing with the earphones on the second flight.
We arrived in LA, rented a car and headed to the house which we had rented sight unseen and in which we would live to the next 8 weeks whether we liked it or not. The house is a 3 bedroom ranch with a nice size backyard (especially for LA). I like the patio/courtyard area which has a decent amount of shade.
Sunday, we woke up, had breakfast and headed to the grocery store to stock up on food. Since we were still on east coast time, that gave us plenty of time to rest a bit before heading out to the LA Live Steamers train ride at 11am, which is the most awesome train ride I have ever seen. The kids loved the train ride. Then we headed back to the "people's house", as Laura calls it, for lunch. In the afternoon we found our way to the main Glendale Library to stock up on reading material for everyone and sign up for the summer reading club. In the library Laura loudly demanded "More Berenstein Bears books" and Benjamin found a cool dinosaur book he liked. On our way back to the house, we stopped at Ralphs for groceries we forgot this morning and the kids were thrilled to get helium balloons, lollipops and cookies.
Monday morning we had trouble getting out because Laura's balloon didn't stay up in the air anymore and then Benjamin popped it. After dropping Dave at the car rental place, we finally started serious sightseeing and Laura calmed down about the major balloon tragedy. Our first stop was at the Madrid Theater in Canoga Park to see a performance of the Rock Theater group. Laura tried to follow along with the dancing from her seat. Then she fell asleep in the car on the way back, so we went straight back to the house to give her a good nap. In the afternoon we checked out the Linda Vista branch library in the Pasadena system to see a performance titled "A Bee, A Bat and Boink"). The highlight for Joshua and Benjamin was getting to participate in the final skit (a version of the 3 Little Pigs--J&B built the straw house). Though the library was small, the neighborhood was beautiful and scenic.
Tuesday we spent the morning at the Los Angeles Zoo. Joshua complained he was bored, but the rest of us enjoyed petting the goats and seeing gorillas, desert animals (mostly reptiles), and some other assorted creatures.
Wednesday, our first stop was Travel Town. Joshua was bored again
, though he pretended to enjoy the train ride and climbing on the engines for my benefit, I'm sure. Benjamin and Laura were thrilled by all the big engines and they spent some time playing on the tracks. Before leaving, we took a ride on the Travel Town train. The kids wanted a water play area, so we checked out Cerritos Park (see bottom photo) in Glendale. It is a very small park, but the kids enjoyed it anyway. The waterplay area has several spots with water spraying out of the ground and what the kids called a "water piano". This water piano had water spout on each of the keys, but it kept playing the same note over and over again, so I suspect it wasn't working correctly. The highlight 
of the water area, especially for Joshua, is a tower in the center with buckets that keep filling with water and then spill out "sploooshing" whoever is standing underneath. I liked this playground because it is compact--I can watch kids in the wet area and the regular playground at the same time.
In the evening we saw Aaron Nigel Smith and the FUNdamentals Band at the Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena, which is an outdoor amphitheater. The kids loved dancing and moving to the music which included everything from "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" to animal imitations. As we were leaving, we paused for a moment in the park's playground which includes a train themed play area.
The last day of school for the kids was June 23, and then we spent the rest of the week frantically cleaning and packing. The big question is, can we survive the summer on no more than 50 pounds of stuff in a big suitcase and 40 pounds in a smaller suitcase (including weight of suitcase) plus whatever else we put in a few smaller backpacks. The kids have already stuffed their most important treasures in Joshua's wheeled backpack (i.e. Bakugan toys, Joshua's Pokemon coins, as many Webkinz as they can fit, and Benjamin's garbage truck which won't end up coming because it is just too big). Benjamin is also trying to figure out how he can bring his bicycle.
All this harried preparation ended around 2pm on Friday June 26 when we locked up our house in Binghamton and left for NJ. We ate dinner at Dave's mother's house joined by my parents, Jodi, Sammy, Milo and Maddison. The kids loved playing together--Sammy especially enjoyed entertaining Laura. Saturday morning, we woke up, packed another 10 pounds of supplies (i.e. food) so that the kids will survive the plane trip and headed to the airport. Our plane flight was uneventful, but we had lots of opportunity to check out the airplane restrooms as Laura insisted she had to go every 10 minutes. Since we changed planes in Chicago, our first flight was relatively short, and Laura slept most of the second flight so Dave and I got a break from the aiplane bathrooms for a while. Joshua and Benjamin loved playing with the earphones on the second flight.
We arrived in LA, rented a car and headed to the house which we had rented sight unseen and in which we would live to the next 8 weeks whether we liked it or not. The house is a 3 bedroom ranch with a nice size backyard (especially for LA). I like the patio/courtyard area which has a decent amount of shade.
Sunday, we woke up, had breakfast and headed to the grocery store to stock up on food. Since we were still on east coast time, that gave us plenty of time to rest a bit before heading out to the LA Live Steamers train ride at 11am, which is the most awesome train ride I have ever seen. The kids loved the train ride. Then we headed back to the "people's house", as Laura calls it, for lunch. In the afternoon we found our way to the main Glendale Library to stock up on reading material for everyone and sign up for the summer reading club. In the library Laura loudly demanded "More Berenstein Bears books" and Benjamin found a cool dinosaur book he liked. On our way back to the house, we stopped at Ralphs for groceries we forgot this morning and the kids were thrilled to get helium balloons, lollipops and cookies.
Monday morning we had trouble getting out because Laura's balloon didn't stay up in the air anymore and then Benjamin popped it. After dropping Dave at the car rental place, we finally started serious sightseeing and Laura calmed down about the major balloon tragedy. Our first stop was at the Madrid Theater in Canoga Park to see a performance of the Rock Theater group. Laura tried to follow along with the dancing from her seat. Then she fell asleep in the car on the way back, so we went straight back to the house to give her a good nap. In the afternoon we checked out the Linda Vista branch library in the Pasadena system to see a performance titled "A Bee, A Bat and Boink"). The highlight for Joshua and Benjamin was getting to participate in the final skit (a version of the 3 Little Pigs--J&B built the straw house). Though the library was small, the neighborhood was beautiful and scenic.
Tuesday we spent the morning at the Los Angeles Zoo. Joshua complained he was bored, but the rest of us enjoyed petting the goats and seeing gorillas, desert animals (mostly reptiles), and some other assorted creatures.
Wednesday, our first stop was Travel Town. Joshua was bored again
, though he pretended to enjoy the train ride and climbing on the engines for my benefit, I'm sure. Benjamin and Laura were thrilled by all the big engines and they spent some time playing on the tracks. Before leaving, we took a ride on the Travel Town train. The kids wanted a water play area, so we checked out Cerritos Park (see bottom photo) in Glendale. It is a very small park, but the kids enjoyed it anyway. The waterplay area has several spots with water spraying out of the ground and what the kids called a "water piano". This water piano had water spout on each of the keys, but it kept playing the same note over and over again, so I suspect it wasn't working correctly. The highlight 
of the water area, especially for Joshua, is a tower in the center with buckets that keep filling with water and then spill out "sploooshing" whoever is standing underneath. I liked this playground because it is compact--I can watch kids in the wet area and the regular playground at the same time.In the evening we saw Aaron Nigel Smith and the FUNdamentals Band at the Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena, which is an outdoor amphitheater. The kids loved dancing and moving to the music which included everything from "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" to animal imitations. As we were leaving, we paused for a moment in the park's playground which includes a train themed play area.
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