July 4 at the Science Museum

I really want to return to the Audubon Center at Debs Park, and I think that Dave's father will enjoy going there with us. So this morning we set out to find it. Though we found Debs Park, we didn't find the Audubon Center (I had expected a helpful sign or two). The kids ended up playing for a few minutes in a small playground in Debs park off Via Marisol before we gave up and went home.

After lunch we drove down to Orange County to check out the Discovery Science Center in Santa Anna. Unlike the San Pedro outing, most of the exhibits in the museum had changed since we visited 5 years ago. Though we had lots of fun, the toddler area was not very good. The kids only seemed interested in playing in a submarine with a little slide, which was fine with me until some kids started stuffing large foam blocks and other items inside. At that point, it seemed dangerous and I took my kids out. On the ground floor, the special robotics exhibit excited the kids. They made their own robot, which the museum called a "jitterbug". All this simple robot does is vibrate! If I buy a simple motor, the kids can try making their own at home.

Outside is a dinosaur exhibit. Five years ago, a dinosaur exhibit was located in the same area, but it was closed at the time we were there. The kids enjoyed investigating the dinosaurs, but we didn't pay extra to go on the "quest", which involved an electronic wand that interacted with some of the exhibits. Upstairs is the science of hockey exhibit, which had some neat activities for the kids to try. Joshua and Benjamin especially enjoyed the virtual volleyball game. Laura enjoyed the outdoors-themed exhibits, especially the fishing boat. Though we had fun at this museum, it seems like the California Science Center is bigger, more convenient, and has free admission (though the Discovery Science Center accepted our local science museum membership through the ASTC reciprocal membership agreement).

Joshua here---

The jitterbug dohicky, you get to make your own robot. Mommy how come they didn't let us keep it? Then when they are done with one jitterbug, will they make new jitterbugs (Mommy says, "yes, when a jitterbug breaks, they will make a new one").

The jitterbugs move. It had a small propeller. It also had two wires that connect the motor to the battery. We played fake volleyball, and I won everytime. It was on TV, but we actually hit the ball. The fake ball was on TV. We played in the dinosaur playground. We saw a fake brontosaurus. At the end of the brontosaurus' tail was a slide. The robot exhibit--I played a harp without string. I beat the robot making a tanagram puzzle.

There are lizards living in our backyard. I made a trap to catch one. I used water because lizards are cold blooded. Cold blooded animals use shade or water to cool down. I put my hat there to get shade. That reminds me, I should check on it.....

Aquarium and beach in San Pedro

Joshua Here--"Boooring" I said before we even got out of the car.

All of it was really boring. Everything was boring, everything except the beach. I found half of a crab claw and a seagull bone on the beach. And Daddy gave me a lizard tail he found in the mailbox. I'm getting bored.

Benjamin here--I found a ummm uhhh (hahahaha) ummmm ummmm I found a feather, and a uhhhhh uhhhhh (hahahahaha) shell. I liked the jellyfish in the aquarium. We stopped at a park. I liked everything--the swings. Daddy showed me a lizard tail he found in the mailbox. I liked the seals in the Marine Mammal Rescue Center. I went in the ocean. and riding in the car, getting out and in the car. I helped Daddy play games---Hungry Hippos. No wait, wait, it's Hungey, Hungry Hippos. But wait--I found so many feathers on the beach. I took a shower (to wash off all the sand). I love grandpa (Idaho Grandpa is visiting). I like jumping and I beat grandpa at chess. I liked jellyfishes. I like coloring different pictures. Can we do more of that? uhhhhh uhhhhh I love Daddy. I like the fish. I liked looking through the microscopes in the aquarium. I beat Daddy at chess. I want to play checkers and dance. I like the rental car. I like the kitty cat. I helped Daddy put the dishes away and Joshua showed me the lizard tail. I made a crown. I liked seeing the crabs and the snails and the seahorse. I liked the train playground because I like it. I played at the park. I liked the airplanes (at the Zimmer Children's Museum) and the ambulence and the blimps. I saw two. One was at the playground and one was at the beach. Ok That's it! The rest of the day, booooring.

Deja View in San Pedro

The view at the Korean Friendship Bell in Angel's Gate Park was so awesome 5 years ago when we were here, that I was eager to show it to Dave this trip. During out first weekend, I dragged Dave down to San Pedro so we can enjoy the view and the beach and the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. I really liked this aquarium our last visit because it is so different from much more commercial aquariums, like the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific located in the next town. Besides being so much cheaper, it is less crowded, so it is more friendly to small children. Since Grandpa is visiting, Dave ran off to the car rental place to exchange his tiny commute-to-work rental car for a minivan that could fit all 6 of us.

We started out visit to San Pedro in Angel's Gate Park with the Marine Mammal Rescue Center. Though it is fairly small, the kids loved the close up view of the seals and elephant seals that were there today. Then we went to the Korean Friendship Bell (see photo) with a playground off to the side. Though the playground was small, the kids had fun for a bit. Suprisingly, both attractions, as well as the view, were exactly the same as I remembered them 5 years ago. Next time I will have to remember to bring a kite to fly in the park.

After Angels Gate Park, we drove to Cabrillo Beach and the Cabrillo Aquarium. Parking was fairly reasonable at $1/hr. First we had a picnic lunch. Then we went over to the aquarium. Though it isn't a fancy commercial aquarium, the price was right (free) and the exhibits looked well maintained. The kids loved looking through the microscopes and at tanks with jellyfish and huge sea stars, but some of the large fish tanks I remember from 5 years ago are gone. Finally we played on the beach for a while. Benjamin tried to build a sandcastle with a moat while Joshua was looking for treasures. He eventually found a piece of a crab claw and a piece of a bone which he believes is from a sea gull. Even though the water was cold and the air was chillier than in Eagle Rock, Laura managed to splash around in the water for a while.

First Children's Museum Visit

Today we started off by taking Benjamin to the dentist because he was complaining that his tooth hurt when he eats or drinks something cold. I was relieved to find out that it is just a permanent tooth coming in. After annoyed at waiting over an hour in the dentist's office we headed out to the Pasadena main library to get some Laurie Berkner CDs that I thought the kids would enjoy. Some of the songs were from Laura's music class (Bee Bop 'n Tots). Then we went to the westside for the first time this trip to play at the Zimmer Children's Museum in the Jewish Federation building. Though it has been 5 years since I have been to this museum, all the exhibits seemed very much the same.

-Joshua here- First we went to play a play at the theater. Then we went downstairs and found some other good stuff, like the building blocks. There was a water play table where I tried to make a complete path from one end to the other. There was a Woody that had 5 buttons: two black, two white and one was red. The two black controlled his arms, the white controlled his legs and the red made him jump. You can do two buttons at a time as long as one of the button is not red. Oh yeah I went in the ambulence and also the airplane (see photo). I see the page is getting full here.

Mommy is back. Laura loved the toddler soft play area even though she was too big, and of course she loved the cafe which had lots of matzoh on the menu. [Joshua: When can you get back to my game. Moooommmmy. (ha ha ha)] We couldn't get Benjamin out of the ambulance or airplane. The dress up area with stage was a hit with the boys and Laura took charge of the ticket booth.

When we got back, the kids were excited to see that Grandpa had arrived. (Joshua: Getting bored of this activity, "bbbbbbbb bbbbbbb bbbbbb") Fortunately, Grandpa was not too tired after his long drive to play a cutthroat game of chess with Benjamin.

Adjusting to Los Angeles

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.