Last year Nathan and I decided it is important for me to take the girls 12 and older on a little trip each year if we can make it happen. This year we decided to take a couple days to bond at Universal Studios Hollywood (or rather Harry Potter land to make Libbie's dreams come true) and enjoy some sunshine in the dreary winter months. Mia was so scared to fly this time around so being the caring mom that I am, decided to pretend we were the next cast of the show LOST. Libbie and I had fun checking out the terminal for the characters that represented "Sun, Gin, Saiid, Sawyers, Kate, Jack...you get the picture? Or maybe you don't :)/. Anyway, it passed the time and gave us something to think about. It was a very late flight so we didn't get to our VRBO until the wee-hours of the morning.
Libbie's and Mia's bed for the next couple nights. The refused to get into the covers. They are so bizarre.
The inviting gargoyles outside our little place. At night, this giant pathway to the house was lit up by all sorts of motion-sensor christmas lights. The owner called it "the yellow brick road". Indeed it was. The first time it was a little alarming. Then it became charming.
After a quick/mediocre donut, we headed for Universal.
This picture is something else. My body placement is...interesting. The Koala seems to think it's funny. Ha ha. My girls did too.
Libbie is so happy to finally be at Hogwarts! We enjoyed the candy store and butter beer. What we (specifically me) did not enjoy was the 50-degree weather. It was just a bit nippy for me to be content. I should have brought my coat. Drinking my frozen butter beer while seated outside for lunch was a bummer. None-the-less, it was delicious and the fish and chips was yummy too.
We are all looking a little tired and red-nosed before the backlot tour.
After our day at Universal we had dinner (per Mia's request) at Tortilla Republic. She fell in love with this place in Hawaii and "needed" to try it again. After freezing all day we got to sit by the door :). Next we hit up Sprinkles Cupcakes for a late-night snack. The driving was a bit stressful.
Our breakfast the next morning was quite delicious. Hugemongous, tasty french toast.
Next, we hit up the Getty. It wasn't the girls' favorite activity of the trip, but we are definitely more artistically refined.
Cookie sandwich at Diddy Riese.
After some shopping we decided to check out Griffith Observatory. Apparently this is a popular thing to do on a Saturday night. We had to hike in the dark a crooked mile. The girls thought I was pretty much crazy for making them do this. A couple of times I was also wondering if I was nuts. We made it though and it was pretty neat. We'll have to go back at a less busy time, maybe during the day.
And one more stop at a different Sprinkles Cupcakes. Sadly, these cupcakes just didn't measure up to the ones we had in New York. We still ate them though :).
On our final morning we went to church at a ward near the temple then grabbed breakfast at this little place. We sampled several different pastries and concluded they were all delicious. Thank you Nathan for holding down the fort while we frolicked and played. He treated the kids to pizza, a movie (Trolls), hung hooks in our closet, took Tyce to work, and had dinner hot and ready when we arrived home. The only real casualty was when Kona swallowed a sock.
Our Claire Bear turned 9! She's such a delight. Her day was not the most exciting thing since she had school and swimming lessons in the evening. Dad took her and her sisters to the movie beforehand in celebration.
Jake, Hannah and the girls joined us for cake and ice cream.
That chocolate whipped cream was so yummy :) We love this girl very much.
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