Descanso Gardens Part 2 : Now and Then

I knew I had some older pictures of the boys in the same spot when we were at Descanso a few years ago. I love comparing pictures to see how big they've gotten and how much they've changed.

April 2014

April 2017

April 2014

April 2017

I'm finding it's harder to get pictures of the boys as they get older. They just don't want to cooperate! Anyone have the same problem? I know that one day they'll appreciate all these pictures....or at least their wives and kids will!

Descanso Gardens

Spring is finally here and with all the rains we've had Descanso Gardens was absolutely beautiful! My mom has been wanting to get out a little so the boys and I took her to the gardens. Plus the third Tuesday of every month admission is free!

As you got closer to the rose garden you could smell their perfume...it was amazing! 

These are one of my favorites!

The boys were real sweet with their grandma this day ....thankfully!

 

 

 

The gardens did get quite busy around 11:30 so I'm glad we got there earlier. It was a real enjoyable day and I'm so glad we got to go.

The Endeavour at the California Science Center

I remember when we lived in Russia and the Endeavour was coming to it's final resting place at the California Science Center. There was a ton of footage of the special flyovers and I remember thinking how I wished I could be there to see the Endeavour fly over my head. Then there was the almost impossible task of getting the shuttle to the museum. It was so cool seeing the engineering that took place to get that huge shuttle to DTLA. I also remember wanting to be in that crowd as the Endeavour was painfully and slowly wheeled down the streets of Los Angeles.

I was super excited to see the Endeavour as were the boys. It was pretty breathtaking walking into that huge hall and seeing it for the first time.

Before you walk  into the hall where the Endeavour is there are smaller exhibits to look at! We especially liked the mission control. They also were showing video of the astronauts in the Endeavour while it was on a mission! They even had the toilet from the Endeavour...so funny!

I was a little surprised how "rough" looking the shuttle was but I suppose it's been up in space several times! I have to tell you though that the boys were not so impressed once we walked into the hall. They thought we'd be able to go inside the actual shuttle! Probably should have told them beforehand!

Carlsbad Beach

After our little San Diego and Legoland time we stayed one more night in Carlsbad and the following day headed to the beach! Yes...beach in October...only in So Cal!

We were all in relaxation mode! This beach is absolutely beautiful and we basically had the whole beach to ourselves. Not only is it beautiful but it's super clean. There were also some surfers catching some waves so that was fun to watch.

There's a nice jetty on the west side of the beach with smooth rocks that provide an easy walkway to go out and explore.

On the east side of the beach there's two lookout points on the bluffs. I wish the pictures were nicer but for some reason Nathan changed the settings on my camera and while I sat back in our spot relaxing he enjoyed taking some overexposed shots with my camera!!! I guess I could have edited the pictures but oh well!! Next time we head to San Diego we will definitely stop by this beach again. Perhaps we can also explore some other new beaches too. All my life I've only gone to Zuma Beach but since moving to Moorpark I've explored different beaches and I'm loving all our new finds! 

Whale Watching

We got to go whale watching at the end of February and it was absolutely fabulous! We went last year in mid-April and we did not see one single whale. Scientists say though because of El Nino the migration patterns of the gray whale and humpback whale have been thrown off a little causing the whales to cross migration paths. There's also more food in the water closer to the shoreline bringing whales closer and closer.

We started off from the Channel Islands Harbor.

It was a gorgeous day in California.

Lots of beautiful sunshine.

Our first encounter were gray whales.... 

in total we saw 5 gray whales.

We then headed off to the Anacapa Islands...

and we happened to see a couple of humpback whales.

We saw a ton of dolphins...i mean a ton!

It was such a lovely day. We were all so amazed by God's beautiful creation. We also saw seals basking in the sun on the Anacapa Islands, a "sunfish", and different varieties of birds. We highly recommend Channel Islands Whale Watching company in Oxnard.

Look who took a day off and joined us!

Gardens of the World

One of the fun things about living in a new town is finding all the new places to explore. When my mother-in-law visited in December we took her to Gardens of the World in Thousand Oaks. There is no entrance fee to these gardens which of course is a huge plus! The gardens aren't very large either so it doesn't take forever to walk through them. The only thing I didn't like is that you are not permitted to take pictures of people while you are in the gardens. They require you call them and get a special permit. Of course everyone does it but when you're trying to set an example for your children about following rules...well you follow the rules! I would love to go the gardens by myself to read a book and just relax. Maybe I'll sneak out one day soon!

Sub Zero

Last week we ventured to the Sub Zero Ice Cream shop in Simi Valley with our PSP for a field trip. They make ice cream in front of you with liquid nitrogen and since the boys are studying Chemistry and Physics this year it was a great opportunity to see the practicality of Science. 

The owner performed several experiments for us.

After several experiments inside we headed outside.....

where one of our students became a mad scientist.....

where they created a huge cloud of liquid nitrogen.

It was a fun day and the end we all got to eat ice cream. Unfortunately, I failed to get pictures of our ice cream but that's probably because we ate ours too quick.

Los Angeles Zoo

It's been a few years since we've been to the Los Angeles Zoo. Actually the last time we went to the zoo, Jojo looked like this:

Jojo with mommy, his Grandma Judy, and cousin Rachael

We usually like to go to the San Diego Zoo but that is quite a distance from where we live and since we had some extra time yesterday and a coupon we headed over to the Los Angeles Zoo. First of all, I have to say that I have never really liked the L.A. Zoo. I always saw a lot of wasted and empty space. I am happy to report that this has changed a ton! They have done some major renovations and have added some beautiful exhibits. The zoo has really changed so much and since we arrived after 12:00 it wasn't even busy...actually at some exhibits we were the only ones there!

It was "Boo at the Zoo" so there were some real cute Halloween decorations.

Jojo loves snakes and so we made our way to "The Lair"... a new exhibit for us. We loved this exhibit!

I could watch the gorillas ALL. DAY. LONG! They are one of my favorites.

I could watch this guy all day too but I think he was watching me!

The koalas are so cute! The Australia exhibit is pretty amazing!!

The boys behaved so well which I think added to such a wonderful visit to the zoo. We took our time, sat and relaxed, and headed to whatever animals the boys wanted to see. In comparison to the San Diego Zoo, the L.A. Zoo is fairly small but there are a lot of hills and we got in some great walking!