3 days in LA, 6 days in Disneyland and 1 Amazing Cast Member Photo bomb!-update 3-9x2

[stacy~**]

Haha I do have one my self....I saw him last week in St. Louis and I am a little obsessed with him also

How funny! I was zooming in on the pictures wondering if it could even be possible to read it!!

Decided to stop lurking and post after your tips to my question on the budget board! Enjoying it so far, cannot wait to hear about the rest!

Glad you came over to check it out. Hopefully you will find inspiration for your LA trip. Feel free to ask any questions.

I cant wait to hear more about your trip

Thanks for reading! I am hoping to get another update done later today or tomorrow!

Enjoying your trip report! Looking forward to hearing more!

Yay! Doing my best to get another update posted.

 

[stacy~**]

Saturday July 13-Day 2-Part 2 Vegan Lunch!
We are mostly vegetarian (as I think I stated before) and at least some of us (ME!) consume little dairy. SO…armed with my list of veggie friendly California restaurants we decided to check out Native Foods in Santa Monica.



First let me tell you I am a horrible decision maker and just going to a restaurant where I could eat everything was pretty overwhelming. Really…I don’t know how meat eaters do it.



My notes say we arrived at Native Foods around 12:45 although I don’t remember it being that late. It didn’t seem very busy. We ordered at the counter and went outside to have a seat.



I happened to order the special of the day so I got a free soup (and it was SO good!). African peanut or something similar. Yum!



For my sandwich I ordered (copied from Nativefoods.com) the Portobello and Sausage Burger-
Juicy grilled portobellos, our homemade Native Sausage Seitan, caramelized onions, pomodoro, sweet roasted garlic, creamy pumpkin seed pesto and mayo. It was very good.



Aaron ordered what I think was the best (yup, I tried them all!) the Wild Jackelope BBQ Sandwich
Slow-cooked jackfruit with a touch of heat, smothered in our smokehouse BBQ sauce and topped with a cool and crunchy Asian slaw.




Olivia got the Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger-
Our thinly sliced Native Original Seitan, melted cheddar, caramelized onions, and crispy Native Bacon on a bun slathered with BBQ sauce and ranch dressing, romaine, carrots, onions, and tomato. Topped with crunchy battered dill pickle chips. This was a bit too much and I know Olivia didn’t care for the cheese. Overall though it was worth it just to say we ordered the “Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger.”



I tried to talk her out of it but Lucy insisted on the kids Freddie’s Mac and Cheese- Quinoa “super” pasta with a cow friendly cheese sauce and broccoli trees. It seemed like it would be too healthy tasting for her and I was right.
She enjoyed the broccoli and ate enough to get dessert, which for a 9 year old is all that matters!



Aaron took the girls back in to order dessert and this little guy came and sat at on the table right across from me!



For dessert Olivia chose the Oatmeal Crème Pie-
Whipped vanilla crème sandwiched between two soft baked oatmeal cookies. It was VERY good and the one bite she shared with me was just a tease!




Lucy again, didn’t make the best choice and ended up with something just ok. Double Delight Brownie-
Double chocolate brownie made from fair trade cocoa powder, maple syrup and delicious chocolate chips You usually can’t go wrong with vegan desserts so it was a bit of a bummer..



Aaron opted for a coffee at Starbucks next door.





Overall the food was fun and very high quality. I don’t know that any of us would order the same items if we went again (well except for the soup and oatmeal crème pie) but I definitely hope we get an opportunity to go back on a future trip.

Next we head to…Santa Monica Pier!

 

[cardramblues]

Planning a very similar trip in Feb., look fwd. to reading more!

 

[msbatchelor5]

Thanks for your TR.


My vegan family will be in LA/DL in early Sept.
looking forward to reading more tips.

 

[peachmermaid]

Sounds like fun so far! Count me in.

Love the photo shoot with Albert. So cute.

 

[stacy~**]

Planning a very similar trip in Feb., look fwd. to reading more!

Thanks for joining me! Hopefully I am able to help you with some of your planning! A trip in February should be a great time of year for crowd levels.

Thanks for your TR.


My vegan family will be in LA/DL in early Sept.
looking forward to reading more tips.

Wow! September is almost here! LUCKY YOU! We didn't really make it to any other strickly vegan/veg places but there are plenty around. And the menus everywhere were definately more veg/vegan friendly than they are here.

Sounds like fun so far! Count me in.

Love the photo shoot with Albert. So cute.

It was so fun and we really got sooo much done!

LOL...on Albert. That was just a warm up....just wait until we go to Madame Tussauds.

 

[stacy~**]

Saturday July 13-Day 2-Part 3 Santa Monica
We made our way down to the Pier area and just parked in the lot right next to it ($15). I can’t recall if this was when we were coming or going but at one point we saw him…I think he was heading back to his car.



We walked on the pier for a bit. It was packed and part of it was under construction (and at some point there were emergency vehicles on it) so it wasn’t the most relaxing walk. Last trip (2007) Lucy and I rode the Ferris wheel and Olivia went on the coaster. I had already decided that we would not be doing this. Honestly the Ferris wheel scared me to death (I am already scared and then add the breeze blowing off the ocean…ack! I was too freaked out to enjoy the views-which are great if you aren’t scared!). The coaster looked fun but we were going to be at Disneyland in a few days so it could wait! We took lots on the pier







Olivia took this on her iphone and I thought it turned out really good.





I also zoomed in and got a few shots of the imposters. Really they are SO undisney. Not sure how this is allowed but I feel like it shouldn’t be.



Then we really weren’t sure what to do. I thought we could walk down the beach all the way to Venice and back so we started along and quickly realized it would be too far. We watched some people on the beach trying to walk on a rope (the one kid was really good) and then decided to walk over the 3rd Street Promenade. We hit a couple stores that we don’t have at home (and of course the Disney Store).



Then everyone (except me) got a little Fro-yo snack that I missed getting a picture of.

By then it was around 5 so we thought we should go ahead and get the car and drive to Venice beach.

 

[peachmermaid]

Why hello there, captain america...you look a lot different in your movies.

Yay for the disney store! Looks like one we have in Chicago. So pretty.

 

[Cheshirecatty]

Hi Stacy........ joining in to say that I just found your trip report.

Your girls are darling!

Love the Einstein pics, and NO, from looking at that scale photo, I do not want to know what I weigh on Jupiter!

 

[stacy~**]

Why hello there, captain america...you look a lot different in your movies.

Yay for the disney store! Looks like one we have in Chicago. So pretty.

Seeing all these "shady" characters was a cross between funny and highly distrubing. Thankfully we knew we were days away from seeing our favorite REAL characters!

Our DS is not that fancy at all...so it was pretty magical to see!

Hi Stacy........ joining in to say that I just found your trip report.

Your girls are darling!

Love the Einstein pics, and NO, from looking at that scale photo, I do not want to know what I weigh on Jupiter!

Hi! Glad you found me! Thank you for the comments on my girls. I think they are pretty darling too!

Pluto was the planet for weighing in on! I want to say we were under 10 pounds?

 

[stacy~**]

Saturday July 13-Day 2-Part 4 Venice Beach
As we made our way to VB, we were once again relieved that we did not attempt to walk there! Although spending another $15 to park was a bit painful…I bet it was cheaper than the cab we would have needed if we left our car in Santa Monica.

It was close to 6pm by the time we got parked, etc. and we pretty much instantly realized the temperature had dropped. We had sweaters and jackets back at the house so we decided to go into a few stores and see if we could find something cheap for the girls. I have to say these cheap beach shops give me the creeps. They really just seem to be a front for illegal activity plus it is all clearly very low quality stuff made in China BUT sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. After the girls found sweatshirts we decided to actually go walk along the water (we didn't do this in Santa Monica). Both girls enjoyed this (I am not a beach person so my poor deprived girls usually get WDW instead of beach trips).







Hey...why is she not wearing her jacket??




While walking by the water we saw this amazing sand proposal being made.(although I am not gonna lie...the animals are kinda weird to me but never the less it was an awesome proposal i am sure!) Somehow I didn't get a picture but was lucky enough to find an article about it here: http://venice.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/venice-beach-sandcastle-marriage-proposal

After that we went back up to the main area. The girls played a bit on the Muscle beach equipment while I eavesdropped on a SUPER buff dude that was talking about being a stunt double. Really unbelievable people watching!!


At this point in the evening the crowd seemed a bit less family friendly and we were getting tired so we decided to head out. All and all we were only in VB about 1.5 hours.


On the ride back we noticed a shopping plaza with a Baja Fresh restaurant so we stopped there. Quick, cheap and easy…just what we needed (although we spent awhile driving around the lot to find a parking space….not even a good one…just any space!).

My veggie burrito (super yum!)


Olivia's veggie nachos


I didn't get photos of the other two meals but we all enjoyed it.

Then it was back to our house. We were totally slap happy on the way home and had a good time laughing etc. We were back at the house by 9pm and I think we were all asleep by 10:15.
Next up….Sunday and the La Brea Tar Pits (a surprising favorite of the trip!).

 

[ozmum]

im loving your trip report.
I cant wait to hear about the tar pits as we are thinking about taking our kids there in 12 days time.

 

[stacy~**]

im loving your trip report.
I cant wait to hear about the tar pits as we are thinking about taking our kids there in 12 days time.

12 days! You must be dying with excitement! I worked on my tar pits post some tonight but it isn't quite ready. I will do my best to post it tomorrow for you.

Glad your enjoying my report. It is really fun to relive it this way (and kinda sad...but mostly fun).

 

[stacy~**]

Sunday July 14-Day 3-Part 1 Tar Pits
Still trying to work the Eastern Time zone to our advantage…we were up around 6:30 and out the door by 9:15. (see why Rope Drop is SO hard for us…we are slow movers in the morning!!). This cactus was right outside our house. Loved it!



After we found ourselves a FREE Parking meter (Sunday!) we walked the block or so to the Tar Pits. I had read ahead of time that many people take advantage of the free outside stuff only and don’t go in the museum. I already knew we could go to the museum for free by using our local museum’s membership reciprocal agreement so it was a no brainer for us! With that being said I think the museum was great and even if you have to pay for it I am going to recommend that you go inside! It really helps give you a better appreciation as to the Tar pits outside! Also, because the work done at the Tar Pits is almost all volunteer work we did purchase the super cheesy photo to provide financial support…ok….back to our day…




After they take a few silly pictures in front of a green screen you can watch a history of the tar pits movie and then freely walk about and see the TONS of bones that have been collected. TONS! There were several volunteers working at various stations and they were even working in the fishbowl lab which was interesting but made you feel kinda creepy staring at them while they worked. Poor fishes.








This wall became known as Bones, Bones, Bones…..



At the end of the museum area there was a cute enclosed outdoor area where we did some turtle watching and posed for more pictures.







Love this selfie of us!



We then milled around the gift shop and then outside to view the actual Tar Pits. There are several different project sites in varying states of activity.







In the end I was very happy we went. It really is an interesting, educational and somewhat quick activity (we were in and out of it all in under 3 hours).

Next update! Surprise super cool find right outside of the Tar Pits, Lunch and Beverly Hills!!

 

[PHXscuba]

I was planning to take my kids up to see the Tar Pits over the summer when we were in the area but didn't make it. Glad to see a current review that it's still worth doing -- I remember going there as a kid.

PHXscuba

 

[Sherry E]

Stacy --

Finally, you're in my neck of the woods! I was wondering when the Tar Pits segment (or The Grove/Farmers Market segment, if there was going to be one) was coming! I walk past the Tar Pits and LACMA all the time -- and I will even stroll around the park and grounds inside to take photos -- but it has been years and years and years since I actually went into the George C. Page Museum. (I used to roll down the hill there as a child.) I forgot about the little turtle area!

In the common grassy area between LACMA and the Tar Pits (but more on the Tar Pits side), there used to be this wonderful stream and mini-waterfall -- just out in the middle of the grass. In the stream were crawdads. Baby crawdads. Big, honkin' crawdads. Medium-sized crawdads. Tiny little fish (maybe minnows?). I loved looking at the stream to see what was new every time I was on my way to the store or something. I would stop in and check on the crawdads. The whole area was easily accessible to anyone -- it was not fenced off at all -- and therefore, you could walk right up to it...which meant that there were kids killing the crawdads.

I realize that the lure of being able to touch living creatures is too much to resist, and some kids probably don't know any better (maybe), but it made me so sad to see them lunging into the water to grasp at the crawdads, only to end up decapitating them or pulling off claws or whatever. Needless to say, eventually the property owners decided to scrap that little stream and waterfall and let the weeds and grass grow in. It was such a gem in the middle of that whole park area, and yet it had to go.



I hope you caught a good glimpse of the Giant Rock (Levitated Mass art exhibit) and the light/lamppost installation next door at LACMA (in the back and front of LACMA, respectively) -- you can see them from the back or front of the Tar Pits, especially if you're on the sidewalk just outside the Tar Pits. They're good for photos! I know I told you about them in your Pre-TR but I wasn't sure if you'd actually have time to see them.

 

[peachmermaid]

Those veggie nachos looked yummy!

I love these photos! So fun and not just the standard pose & smile. Cute!

 

[DisneytheKid]

Thanks for your detailed review! I'm looking forward to hearing more!

 

[stacy~**]

I was planning to take my kids up to see the Tar Pits over the summer when we were in the area but didn't make it. Glad to see a current review that it's still worth doing -- I remember going there as a kid.

PHXscuba

I am a bit of a museum nerd so keep that in mind but I thought it was a great mix of history and "how can this be real and still be bubbling?"

Stacy --

Finally, you're in my neck of the woods! I was wondering when the Tar Pits segment (or The Grove/Farmers Market segment, if there was going to be one) was coming! I walk past the Tar Pits and LACMA all the time -- and I will even stroll around the park and grounds inside to take photos -- but it has been years and years and years since I actually went into the George C. Page Museum. (I used to roll down the hill there as a child.) I forgot about the little turtle area!

In the common grassy area between LACMA and the Tar Pits (but more on the Tar Pits side), there used to be this wonderful stream and mini-waterfall -- just out in the middle of the grass. In the stream were crawdads. Baby crawdads. Big, honkin' crawdads. Medium-sized crawdads. Tiny little fish (maybe minnows?). I loved looking at the stream to see what was new every time I was on my way to the store or something. I would stop in and check on the crawdads. The whole area was easily accessible to anyone -- it was not fenced off at all -- and therefore, you could walk right up to it...which meant that there were kids killing the crawdads.

I realize that the lure of being able to touch living creatures is too much to resist, and some kids probably don't know any better (maybe), but it made me so sad to see them lunging into the water to grasp at the crawdads, only to end up decapitating them or pulling off claws or whatever. Needless to say, eventually the property owners decided to scrap that little stream and waterfall and let the weeds and grass grow in. It was such a gem in the middle of that whole park area, and yet it had to go.



I hope you caught a good glimpse of the Giant Rock (Levitated Mass art exhibit) and the light/lamppost installation next door at LACMA (in the back and front of LACMA, respectively) -- you can see them from the back or front of the Tar Pits, especially if you're on the sidewalk just outside the Tar Pits. They're good for photos! I know I told you about them in your Pre-TR but I wasn't sure if you'd actually have time to see them.

Sherry~We did see the rock (from afar) and the lights (pictures in next update). Also found something you didn't suggest in the area as well! I will gush about it in my next update!

Thank you for all your PTR help! It really was useful (even if I didn't get to everything you suggested!).

Those veggie nachos looked yummy!

I love these photos! So fun and not just the standard pose & smile. Cute!

LOL. Those nachos do look so good. Some of my favorite pictures from our trip were the food ones. Thanks for the compliment on my pictures. They are all 100% uneditted which probably shows but heck I would never get to the report if I had to edit the pictures.

Thanks for your detailed review! I'm looking forward to hearing more!

Thanks for reading! I am getting anxious to start the DLR part so hoping to get the updates moving!!

 

[stacy~**]

Sunday July 14-Day 3-Part 2 Lunch and the Berlin Wall
After we finished up at the Tar Pits we walked over the LACMA to check out the outdoor Urban Light display. We snapped a few pictures and were on our way (not that impressed but glad we saw it).





As we were walking there were several food trucks parked along the road so it seemed like that would be as good as anything else for lunch since I didn’t really have anything planned.





Food trucks are kind of a “thing” here (are they everywhere?) and I have to say it was our first time eating a meal at one. It worked out well and was good (but kind of greasy).

My portabella mushroom sandwich:


Lucys grilled cheese:


And the perfect teenager meal of cheese quesadilla and fries:


You may notice that Aaron rarely waited for me to snap pictures of this food. Sorry about that!

During lunch we noticed an art display and afterwards went to check it out. It was in front of the Wende Museum (5900 Wilshire Boulevard). To our surprise it was the largest section of the Berlin Wall outside of Berlin. It was AMAZING to see such a unique piece of history on display without any sort of protection, etc. Different artists were commission to paint on it and I was really mesmerized by it all. If you visit the Tar Pits please stop and check it out! Now here are some of the million pictures of it that I took:











After lunch we found the car and were off to Beverly Hills!