A Short Memorial and a Trip to the Beach.

Day 22:

The next day had scheduled to go to Sea World, meaning another long drive South.  However, when the girls got up, Rebekah notified us that Kimberly had wet the bed.  Apparently, since we got in so late the night before, she had neglected to put on her pull-up.  This was a major setback to our day because we had to wash both the sleeping bags they were using.  By the time this was done, it was too late to drive an hour and a half and make it to Sea World in time to make it worth our day.

So, having a little "wiggle-room" in our schedule, we chose option B, first driving north to Forest Lawn, near Griffith Park where we just were a couple days before.  Driving into the entrance of the park, the information station gave me a map directions while Jenny took Kimberly to the bathroom.  She also bought a couple of roses from the gift shop.

Rebekah steps out of the van to honor her great-grandparents.

Driving through the park, we found Jenny's grandparents, her Nana and Pop-pop, laying side by side.  These were her mother's parents, Clifford and Aletha Hines.  We carefully walked the kids up to the spot where the markers were located and snapped a few pictures before ushering them back in the car.  When Jenny was just about to leave, she heard her Nana say, "Love you, too, dear," as she often had, so Jenny took another trip up alone.

Jenny remembers her mother's parents with the children.

Getting gas in Hollywood Hills, we decided to go to the beach.  But first, I took the first exit for Hollywood, just to look around.  I accidentally passed Hollywood Blvd. because I was in the wrong lane to turn.  But while we were stopped at the light on Hollywood Blvd., we saw Spiderman and the Incredible Hulk cross the street in front of us.  When we were stopped at the light at Sunset Blvd., we saw our first Chik-fil-A since arriving in the Lower-48!!  So naturally, we stopped for lunch.

Parking in Hollywood is not easy, but somehow we managed to turn into the side street next to the Chik-fil-A and found a Rite-Aid with a small parking lot for customer use only.  Jenny took Jonathan to Rite-Aid to buy some baby food or something while I took the rest of the kids to Chik-fil-A, ordering nuggets, strips and a sandwich each for Jenny and me at the walkup window.  

Jenny, at Chik-fil-A in Hollywood.

Somehow, I managed to find a seat in the shade.  Jenny arrived about the time we were getting seated and said the people at Rite-Aid told her she could stay parked while we were eating.  Before we left, we wound up needing another box of nuggets.

I explained to the kids the significance of the place.  I said, "You never know who you might see in Hollywood."  And Ben said, "You mean like Spiderman?"

"I suppose,"  I said, smiling.

After Chik-fil-A, we left the Rite-Aid parking lot and just before the stop sign to Sunset Blvd., I caught a glimpse of the Hollywood sign through the canyon of buildings.  Driving down Hollywood Blvd., we saw many famous places we'd only seen before on television or in movies.  Ben saw stormtroopers outside one building.  We were amazed at how closely packed everything was but figured it had to be in the city where real estate is a premium

We were trying to explain the stars on the sidewalk to the kids.  Ben said, "So would Luke and Darth Vader have stars there?"

"Well, those guys would not have stars because they are fictional characters, but the people who play them might have stars.  Mark Hamill probably doesn't, but James Earl Jones, who played Darth Vader's voice probably does."  I still don't think they understood.

When Hollywood Blvd. ended, we cut over a street which took us back to Sunset Blvd., driving past gift shops until we found ourselves in Beverly Hills.  Turning left onto Rodeo Dr., we passed multi-million dollar mansions before getting to the shopping section of the street.

After seeing all these places, we continued our course for the beach, driving down Santa Monica Ave., stopping first at a coffee place where Kimberly could use the bathroom.

The lifeguards at Santa Monica told us not to use these floaties because if the child is actually deep enough that the floaty will start working, it will float them out to sea.

When we arrived at the beach, we stopped at the Santa Monica Pier.  All the beaches in the area cost six dollars to park.  Paying our admission, we found a place to park at the far end of the parking lot from the pier, grabbing all our things and carrying them through the sand.  This turned out to be a laborious process since it was literally half a mile to the water.  Why do they have so much sand here?  Two words.  "Spring Break!"

Jonathan crawls at the Santa Monica Beach.

Once we'd set up our things, we all changed into our swimsuits.  Rebekah recognized the pier right away as where they'd thrown Lily's birthday party at the beginning of the Hannah Montana movie.

Someone found a starfish and shared his find with our children, an educational opportunity at the beach.

The kids played in the water for a long time.  The sand sloped much more gradually, allowing us to go further into the water than at Laguna Beach.  There was also more trash here than at the other beach and the waves did not crash nearly as hard.

The kids all helped out making a large sandcastle before leaving Santa Monica Beach.

After the sun set, we gathered our things back in the van and took a stroll on the pier.  Most of the shops and all of the attractions were closing, so we decided just to leave after a fun time at the beach.

Traffic getting back to Anaheim was horrible, so we stopped to eat.  Not finding anything at first, we finally stopped at a Taco Bell.  Getting back on the highway, the traffic was moving and we finally got home.