shred it: California Adventure- Day 15

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We all had a bit of a weird feeling waking up this morning- my parents and Alex had to get up and leave by 6:00am to catch their plane home, so we woke up to an empty condo. After eight days of having family here, it was a bit lonely to wake up to face the day alone. After a late and rambunctious night with Alex last night, the boys slept in until almost 8:30. Caleb immediately asked for Alex but when we told him that Alex had to go home, a quick snuggle on the couch got him back on track pretty easily. We were all a bit slow to get moving this morning, but by 10:00ish we were ready to be out and about. We decided to try to go back up to the Griffith Observatory because we didn't make it up there last night! But first we stopped at Starbucks for a giant iced coffee and then we went to a playground in Griffith Park to let the boys play while Jon and I fueled up with our caffeine for the day! The park was packed with families having 4th of July picnics and luckily we brought one of our own :) After the boys play, play, played like crazy we all sat down for a picnic lunch. I think the thing we miss most about Michigan is our backyard- just being able to let the boys run loose outside for awhile- so a morning at the park kind of served as our backyard for today.

After lunch we drove up to the Griffith Observatory and we were pleasantly surprised! The observatory is a huge astronomy museum! I know you are all going to laugh at us and call our kids nerds, but the boys were more excited than they could have been had we taken them to Chuck E. Cheeses! There were planets and stars and moons galore... every which way we looked there were displays explaining the layers of the sun, the phases of the moon, how the Earth rotates, how the planets compare in size... the boys were in outer space heaven! I think it is safe to say that there has never been another two year old in the history of the Earth who has had more fun in the Griffith Observatory than Caleb and Matthew Paddock! We missed the planetarium show so we will definitely be going back for that one day next week. It was a bit overcast outside, so it will also be nice to go back on a clearer day... the views of the city were just amazing! Luckily it was plenty clear enough to have a great view of the Hollywood sign- the boys were just thrilled to see it! I'm not sure why- I know we've talked about it a bit since we've been here- but aside from that I'm not sure what made it so exciting for them!

We had plans to go see some fireworks California style, but we couldn't talk the boys into it. A friend/stranger who has been nothing but kind to us since before we even got out here invited us to a rooftop spot to watch the Studio City fireworks tonight and we were all excited about it, but the boys chickened out. They said it would be too loud. Bummer. So instead we made them skip nap in an attempt to get them to bed at a more decent hour and back on a regular schedule since they've been staying up so late! It made for a looong afternoon. Once we got home from Griffith Park at about 2:00, we couldn't go anywhere else or they'd fall asleep in the car so we were stuck in the condo all afternoon and evening. The boys have done SUCH an amazing job of entertaining themselves here with little to no toys to play with, but today was a realllly long stretch of trying to keep busy and it was a bit tough towards the end. Luckily Jon is quite creative and despite being exhausted, he came up with a big winner! The condo we are staying in does not have a bath tub and the boys have been seriously missing their tubby time. At home we spend a good half hour in the tub every night. So tonight we took one of the giant Rubbermaid totes out of the main closet, stuck it in the shower, and filled it with water and bubbles... instant tubby time! The boys were so excited. They took their beach buckets and shovels in there and played until they were beyond pruney. It was a breath of fresh air and just enough to get us all through the rest of the evening!

The boys are already down and Jon and I are hoping to catch some fireworks out on our patio... Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

Of course our camera battery died halfway through our trip to Griffith Park, so I had to pull most of these photos off our Flip- I hope they aren't too grainy!

Saying good bye to Alex last night before bed