California Fun

I neglected to mention in the first blog about the wind here. The Santa Ana winds have been at their finest. I first noticed Christmas morning when I woke up to the chimes, which seemed very magical and Christmas-like that morning. I also noticed them when we went to Simi Valley on Thursday. Simi is where I mostly lived when I remember living here. It means "windy" in Native American tongue. We got to visit with my friend Diana who I first met when I was Victoria's age (9) when we moved to Simi. She lived two doors down from my house. Now she has an almost 6-year-old and 4-year-old twins.

Instant friends

In-and-Out

My dad then took me to see someone I hadn't seen since I was 8, my old girl scout leader and mother of a good friend I had in Woodland Hills. It's amazing how certain memories pop up when you see things you haven't seen for 27 years!

Grandma spoiled the girls and I by taking us to get our nails done and window shopping at the local nursery.

A trip to the temple where we were sealed was a definite plan!

Erik missed the lights...

One thing I wanted to do with the kids was visit Travel Town, a place in L.A. with old trains that kids can explore. I remember going there when I was younger. The best thing about it now, is that it's free!

Around the corner from Travel Town is the Griffith Park Observatory. From there is an awesome view all the way to the ocean and a view of the Hollywood sign. My kids love the pop song about "dancing on the edge of the Hollywood sign..." There were a ton of people there since the weather was so nice, but we still got a few shots of the sign. It was hard to get the kids in it with them focused or the sign focused.