G & G Allen's Quick Trip

Matt's parent came over to California to celebrate their 37th wedding anniversary and then stopped into Pasadena to spend a couple days with us. It was so fun to see them and enjoyed their quick visit.
One of the highlights was going to the Petersen Museum. This is a car museum in west L.A. that was really cool. Crew of course loved it but I would totally recommend this spot!

Crew and Graham reading up on this model

We came across this Midget Racer and I couldn't get over who the owner was. My grandpa's name is Roy Richter but unless my family is holding out on us, there must be another one out there somewhere. Pretty funny though.

This 1925 Rolls Royce was Crew's favorite.

Dave's favorite.

The Allens also got to go to Crew's sports class which was a real treat. They weren't here long but we loved having them. We are excited to get to see them much more soon.

Sold

In an effort to make sure this year's moving truck doesn't look like this, we have begun consolidating. Dad was so proud of this packing job and rightfully so!
First item up, our bookshelf. We got this bookshelf when we moved into our duplex in Provo. It was only $30 from Walmart, but it has been a good purchase for us. Well, I thought I would just post it on craigslist and see if anyone was interested. They were, and they wanted to pick it up in a couple hours, mind you it still looked like this.

The boys and I got to work and within 30 minutes it looked like this. Graham was so cute trying to help. He often just carried one little book from room to room thinking he was so big. Crew really was a big help.

Obviously I didn't think this would sell so quickly because then our room looked like this!

Books everywhere. Why do they have to be so heavy? Next?

Reese's Last Hurrah

Maren and her boys came up for Veteran's Day weekend for one last hurrah in Pasadena before we move. In addition to all the other things I love about L.A., it has been so much fun to have Maren only two hours away. So, of course, it was very fun to have them up for a couple days. After they arrived Wednesday afternoon, we headed to the park. Our local "Bubble Man" was there which provided lots of entertainment!





Thursday morning we were up and out the door before 9 am to make the most of a day in L.A. Naturally, we started at our favorite spot, El Matador Beach.

Love this place. It was a beautiful day except for the hurricane force winds!
We were slightly sheltered down on the beach but not enough to lure Parker out from under towels and jackets! (Can you see him under there?)Crew and Carson still enjoyed themselves

And Graham was still trying to do handstands :)

After Malibu, we went straight to the beloved Diddy Riese

Do you see the size of Crew's ice cream cookies sandwich? Can you believe that is only $1.50? And of course this was before lunch. What kind of parents are we?

Just a cute shot of Parker on some stairs in Brentwood

Next stop, Rock Sugar. Maren's sister-in-law had told us about this restaurant in Century City that has an amazing "donut chicken" dish. So we called for take out, drove around in the parking lot for 30 minutes trying to find a spot, drug our way overtired children through the mall and finally, we got to enjoy our "Princess Chicken." Seriously, this stuff was amazing and we all devoured it way too quickly! Well worth the hassle.

We got home about 3:30, cleaned up really quick, then enjoyed the rest of our day on the library grounds and the farmer's market. Definitely a great day!

We are going to miss having Maren so close but are so glad they came for one last visit!

Travel Town at Griffith Park

There is a lot to catch up on but some of it will have to wait until I get all the pictures. Maren and her boys came up for a couple days and that will be shown later. This weekend was so beautiful here in Southern California so the Ericksens joined us on an outing to Travel Town at Griffith Park. Look at this picture. Isn't the Thomas the Train theme song running through your head? Doesn't Thomas look cross? :)
This was actually a really neat spot. Here we are inside one of the old train cars.
Graham and his favorite girl Abby. It is so cute to see him light up when he sees her.

The boys

Graham eating rocks

The outing was complete with a little train ride around the park. Definitely a fun outing especially on a beautiful day in the company of great friends.

Now for a couple side notes... First, this child, oh my! He is such a monkey. He tries to climb everything and is so close to running when he tries to catch his big brother. It is so funny to see such a little guy walk around so well.

Second, it is beginning. Have I mentioned on this blog that we are moving? Probably not because I have been in denial. Sadly, it is true and M-Day is a mere five weeks away. How did this experience go so fast? We are heading to Az for Matt to finish his last semester in a full-time internship. There are many things to look forward to and oh so many things to miss! But for now, bring on the boxes.

Go Bruins

Yesterday we went to our first UCLA game at the Rose Bowl (another check of the bucket list). I know Matt goes to USC but going to one of those games with the kiddos would be more torturous than fun. So we stuck a little closer to home. We took the train and then caught a shuttle down to the Rose Bowl. It is funny how long it can take you to go 4 miles during a college football game! Here we are waiting for the train (which of course was Crew's favorite part!)

On the train

We only made it till half time but it was really fun to finally go to a game there!

Go Bruins!!!

Disney Date Night

I have no pictures to document this but I had to post about it because it was so much fun and something we have been wanting to do since we moved here. Friday night we went on a double date to Disneyland with our friends the Ericksens. The best part, no strollers, no monsterly huge bags, and no kids to slow us down! Ha! We were only there three hours but we had a blast. We literally ran all through the park (dorky I know). As we passed some teenagers I heard one mockingly say "Hurry! Got to run to the next ride" I wanted to yell back "You don't understand! We don't have our kids!" but really I didn't care, this was our night and we had to make the most of it. Another check off the bucket list and another huge thank you to Abby and Jake. We love Disneyland!

Huntington Gardens

Last Thursday the boys and I went to the Huntington Gardens. So beautiful. Here are a few pictures.

Does this look familiar?

This part of the park is in the statue scene in the Wedding Planner.

These boys are starting to really play together now. It is so fun!

Wonderful day. Precious boys. Great memories!