Before we even made it out there to the West coast, Jason (Brett’s brother) had some great plans/ideas lined up for all of us.  You will have to excuse this very long post, but I just had to get the next part of our trip in….as much as I would like too, I can’t extend our LA trip on here forever!

On Saturday we all went to the Santa Monica Pier.  Our new friends Myriam, and her son Ethan joined us too.

Of course the kids started riding the rides immediately….this was Gabe’s first time on a ride, and he LOVED it.

Priya waited in line for 30 mins. to do this….

her legs looked so much longer than all the other kids.

My pal Renee (who came to LA with us to help with the kiddos) waited with me for Priya.  Isn’t she purdy??

Meanwhile, Jason, Myriam, Adin, and Ethan were off trying some other rides.  I think Brett was playing paparazzi.

Riah waited with me oh so patiently…

Adin and Ethan rode the roller coaster.  There they are- 3 rows from the back.  :)

Finally, Riah’s patience payed off.

Looking out over the pier….it was a little chilly.

Renee was so patient.  :)

As I told you before we had some new friends join us.  We were so excited to meet and hang with them.  Ethan is 12 yrs. old, and a mini musical genius. He goes to the real “school of rock.” He has a band called, “Front Line Failure.” Did I mention he is 12??  I wasn’t sure what he would think of our kids…would he think they were lame?  Would he be annoyed because of how young they are?  He was amazing.  He couldn’t have been more kind, patient, and polite with the kids.  And they absolutely adored him!!

And here is the lovely Myriam.  It was such an honor to hang with her…just wish I could have more.  She is an AMAZINGLY talented photographer, and if you have a moment you should check out her work HERE.  But brace yourself-you might be blown away.

She snapped some shots of the boys eating their corn-dogs.  :)

I just love Gabe’s little face here….

**so them. **

Brett’s view of me shooting the kiddos…..

And the picture I shared here on the blog a couple weeks ago.

(If you look closely to the lower left you will see Brett shooting.)

Fun in the California sun.

If you made it this far and have actually READ what I wrote- BRAVO!!  You have earned a free hug from me.  :)

So, on to the next day.  Actually on Sunday we did the family beach shoot you may have seen a couple posts down (If you haven’t seen it, go look!).  This was Monday when we went to the California Science Center with Dom, Elijah and Pam.  What a fun place!!  Jason had coordinated everything with the nice people there, and nothing was left out.

When we first arrived the kids tried rock climbing for the first time.  Priya struggled to make it on that overhang…Adin came the closest to the top.

Here are the boys giving it a try…

Meanwhile Dom and Gabe compared the bottoms of their shoes and had a little conversation about it.  :)

Moving on we had a mini-lesson in “air pressure.”  The kids were so intrigued with her experiments.

Then we explored the world of sound and how it travels…..

We watched chicks as they hatched, and also learned about levers and how they work.

SCORE big for home school today!!

When we took a break for lunch, we found this sign welcoming us.   The food was yummy.

What better to do after lunch than go play with some big cockroaches!  Riah was taking photos of Elijah holding his new friend.

Brett decided to make a new friend too.  I refrained.

Then we had the best puppet show EVER, presented by Mr. Turtle and Miss Panda (a.k.a. Elijah + Pam).  Gabe even joined in.

Next we went to the 3rd floor so everyone could try out the bike on a wire.

First up was Renee, and then we have Pam, Jason, Brett, Elijah, and Priya.  That is as far as Priya got though.  She was a little nervous.  Poor Adin cried and cried because he wanted to do it so bad, but his feet couldn’t touch the pedals.  Next time.

The hurricane simulator!! Pam and the kiddos stood there as the winds went up to 75 mph. and then back down.

And then just like that, we were done.  Time flew by much too quickly.

ONE more LA post coming soon….thanks for tagging along as we reminisce.  :)