Los Angeles Zoo

Jacob was noootttt quite sure what he thought of the zoo.  See Exhibit A:

For a while, he was pretty scared of all the animals, but then he warmed up.

These were the days where he was *just* starting to take steps and walk a little - - it was SO fun - - and he tuckered himself out!  Sweet boy.

Beach Day - March 19

Spring Break Beach Day, Take 2

Beach Day - March 16

Next up for our marvelous spring break, a beach day!  It was Jake's first time going to the beach where he was actually aware of where he was, and mobile.

Disneyland - March 15

At the end of Ben's winter quarter, he didn't have any finals during finals week.  SO, instead of a week of finals and a week for spring break, we had a 2 week spring break and it was the most glorious spring break ever!  We stayed right here in LA and had a total blast.  Of course we went to Disneyland at least one day.

California Screamin' is the perfect ride for our family.  Ben & I can easily take turns riding, using the Single Rider Line that moves super quickly, and Jacob loves to stand here and watch the roller coaster take off!  It's the best!

Hollywood Sign Hike

Disneyland - February 23rd

Disneyland - February 5th

Jake & I went 2 times that week!  So fun . . so exhausting!

Show Biz: Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Conan, & Ellen

We are trying to squeeze in every LA experience we can before we leave - - and attending tapings of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy was *definitely* on my list.  Our thoughts:

the stages/sets are MUCH smaller than you'd imagine

the audiences are much smaller than you'd imagine

Pat Sajak is awkward!

Alex Trebec is very well-spoken and hilarious - with a dry sense of humor.

Wheel of Fortune is SO. MUCH. CLAPPING.  Seriously, it is kind of exhausting!

Watching people in real life is . . hilarious.

If Alex Trebec pronounces something incorrectly, the crew will re-tape him reading that clue, and then fix it for the TV episode.

We much preferred watching Jeopardy - it was SO low-key and chill, it required a lot less work from us, and there was more fun content to watch.

Wheel of Fortune with Chelsea & Will

Jeopardy

When Ben was finished with his Applied Market Research project - the capstone of his MBA program, he and his team attended a taping of Conan O'Brien

I was invited to go to The Ellen Show with some friends from our ward.  We had stand-by tickets, and unfortunately we were about 15 people away from making it into the studio!  We had to wait outside the studio, in the Riff-Raff room, and watch the show on TV.  We could still hear it all live, though . . and that was kinda fun . . ?  Ha!  We were given guaranteed return tickets, but they are for after Ben & I will have already moved.  Major bummer!