Our Whirl-wind Trip to L.A.

It's pretty amazing that the kids have a great-great grandmother,

and Grandma Lupe,

at 101 years old,

is pretty amazing herself.

Where most people would be experiencing a

mental slowdown (I get those!),

she continues to remain

lucid, active, &

understandably frustrated that her body

hasn't kept up with her mind! 

We had plans to visit her in the Summer of 2011,

but when we learned that she was experiencing serious heath problems,

we decided to move our trip up.

So...

here we go!

Gabriel

Traveling in style...

No 8-hour drive is complete without a trip to ANYPLACE
that serves burgers, fries, and, of course,

the stretch-your-legs-out-while-you-can slide!

We finally arrived and were greeted by family...

...and a big BBQ!

Carne Asada anyone?

My Grandma, Irene Lopez,

and her two brothers, Bernardo & Lico Romero.

We're in L.A. so Ava's freely flashing the gangsta signs...

Owen, Gabriel, & Grandpa Jose

Grandma Lopez and her sister-in-law Rosa (Lico's wife).

After a good night's sleep it was time for breakfast!

The girls looked beautiful in their Sunday best!

One of our favorite things to do while we're away over a Sunday,

is to visit the local ward.

It's a great opportunity to visit with the Saints,

but it does have a down side...

You see,

most of the wards we visit, like this one,

the Monrovia Ward,

are very small in size.

They take one look at our family

and are thrilled to have us as new "move-in's"!

We hate to disappoint,

especially since it's always hard to say good-bye

to our new friends!

...

After church,

we visited the hopsital to see my great-grandma Lupe.

Unfortunately,

due to hopital rules,

no one under 12 years old was allowed,

which meant that Grandma woudn't be able to see

any of her great-great grand-children!

In addition,

despite being ill of health,

she was still as stubborn as ever,

and when it came to taking pictures of us together,

she refused.

Adamantly.

Me,

being her great-grandchild afterall,

meekly complied.

And we jut sat.

Talking a little.

But mostly just holding each other's hand.

It was nice.

And sad.

And humbling.

We talk of posterity,

and taking joy in our children,

and later,

our grandchildren

(and if we live long enough: great-grandchildren!).

But she is my connection to ancestors long-since passed!

She still stands,

and we are fortunate to have five generations

of first-born daughters living:

Great-great grandma Guadalupe Romero

Great grandma Irene Cecilia Lopez

Grandma Rosa Maria Ramos

Me, Olivia Angelina Lopez Ramos Elmer

My daughter, Isabella Rose Lopez Ramos Elmer

It's amazing!

And we are blessed!.

Family IS the most important unit on earth.

And later,

I laughed as my mother and grand-mother scolded me

for not blatantly ignoring my great-grandmother's request

and taking pictures of her anyway!

{sigh}

Family!

{smile}

After our (okay, "my"),

visit to grandma,

we went back to our hotel

and Gabriel took his very first steps!

Go, Gabriel!

First steps at 15 months!

We celebrated (okay, we needed to eat too),

at "The Soup Plantation", which Bella suggested.

You can't go wrong with a place that includes dessert

at the conclusion of the meal,

and all was well,

except for the fact that a woman tripped in the restaurant

only feet away from our table and

had a terrible, terrible fall.

I saw the whole thing happen in slow motion,

and I felt so bad for her.

Needless to say,

the kids-especially Owen-were thrilled when the

Fire Department responded and took her away via ambulence!

Being Sunday

we wanted to stay away from the crowds and traditional tourist hot spots,
 so we visited the Los Angeles Temple!



This is a beautiful temple...

I'm so glad my kids are so reverent!

Samuel geting fiesty!

Owen.

Quiet.  Contemplating.  Soul-searching.

And I'm sure he's wishing he were tall enough to touch the water too!

 This scultpure was so significant to us!

We had to model it ourself!

From the street,

we saw that there was an invitation

to visit the newly remodeled Temple Visitors' Center.

What an experience!

The new exhibits and features were fantastic and we

had a great time exploring.

We left at dusk,

catching another stunning view of the temple.

Since we were in Santa Monica we hit the

Santa Monica Beach!

Being quite a bit away from the pier,

we had very little light.

That made Gabriel a little weary of the surf

that he could hear,

but not see!

Okay, he officially decided he hated the beach!

Sand Angels!

{note}

Iris and I are missing from this shot.

We were scouring the pitch-black beach for her

flip-flips that she kicked off "I don't know where!".

Yes, they're still out there somewhere!

So,

since we were in the area and all,

we made a surprise proposal to the kids.

Seeing as Christmas was just around the corner,

they could opt for an early gift now
(i.e. A Day at Disneyland),

or have regular gifts from mom and dad at Christmas.

{note}

 Santa would still bring gifts as usual,

but mom and dad would be off the hook. 

Of course all you parents realize that's not really a deal at all...
but we wanted to go to Disneyland too!

...

Needless to say,

we found ourselves bounding towards

"The Happiest Place on Earth"

in the beloved carpool lane!

We made it!

And for the first time in our life we were actually early!

And so was everyone else!

And did I forget to mention that at 9:30 in the morning

it was already blazing hot?

Part of the Disneyland deal

was that if you're old enough to ride it:

You're riding it!



That's why these girls are taking their first twirl on

Space Mountain!

Iris and I were up next,

and I had to laugh because of all the times to ride that ride,

it had to be near Halloween when Space Mountain

was converted to Ghost Galaxy!

Iris survived,

but just barely!

The Orbiter

Alot tamer,

and something the whole family could enjoy!

The Matterhorn is next!

Woo-hoo!

All smiles...

... and no smiles.

Waiting for that Splash Mountain Fast Pass to activate!

Can you figure out which one is Poo vs. Pooh?

{smirky smile}

We never tire of hill-billy humor {it's Samuel's roots!),

or the awesome chicken and fries at the Golden Horseshoe!

Another fave:

The Jedi Knight Academy

Exception:

Gabriel was intent on breaking the number one rule.

"Don't cross the blue line!"

Once the action started,

he wouldn't budge from Samuel's lap.

I think he remained motionless froms start to finish!

The mandatory photo in front of the castle!

...

At this point in the day,

we realized that the crowds were thinning significantly.

The heat was unbearable,

and that meant...

Everyone...

...could have...

...their own cup!

Augh.

I really, really, really, really, r-e-a-l-l-y
hate the Carousel at Disneyland.

Come on!

It's something you could ride on at the mall,
for Pete's sake!

But Owen,

my beloved Owen,

does not care about such things...

And neither did anyone else!

Owen, I really, really, really, really, r-e-a-l-l-y love you, son!

I have to admit,

I feel the same about Toon Town too!

It's just a big blob of plastic!

But what are you going to do?

As you can see,

we had a great, great time!

Disneyland is definitely a classic.

...

Later though,

we learned that L.A. had broken a record for the hottest day yet:

113 degrees!

No wonder we melted...

and no wonder people went home early!

Heading back, we decided to take another route:

I-5

That was a horrible decision and

we will never make that mistake again!

We met some interesting characters on the way back,

and now I'm extremely grateful for doorlocks

and a sizable husband

(I always loved him but now I appreciated his man-size :).

Rest stops:

Good for restrooms and getting the wiggles out!

Our final stop before home:

The Harris Ranch

For about five-seconds Samuel and I contemplated

visiting this resort for a weekend,

and then we realized that as nice as it was,

it was still in the middle of no-man's land

and we had no desire to return-

no matter how good the beef!

...

By the time we reached home,

Grandma Lupe was released from the hospital.

As of now,

she's doing great and will soon celebrate her

102 birthday in March!