Love, Learn, Play: California Adventure- Day 25

Well, when we woke up this morning we tried to turn on our Flip camera after it spent the last 48 hours in a bag of rice. It looked like all the water was absorbed but sadly it still didn't turn on. We left our last one out in the pouring rain overnight and we were able to dry it out in rice and get it to work again, but I think just the tiniest splash of salt water totally did this one in :( When we tried to look online to see where we could buy a new one, we found out that they don't sell them in stores anymore... oh no! We absolutely can't finish out last week here in California without being able to take any video clips! So we called my dad and he was able to run to the rescue and overnight my mom's Flip camera to us!!! THANK YOU DAD!!!!

Once we had the Flip dilemma taken care of, we hit the road. Yesterday when we were at Verdugo, we saw that on Saturday mornings from 10 until noon they had a kids skate time where only younger kids were allowed in the park... so we had to check it out! The boys skated for about an hour- the first half hour or so there was one other kid there and then they had the place to themselves. They got to ride in both bowls and the snake run... it was really awesome! Its so strange to see them down in those giant bowls. They are just so tiny! While they were skating, a woman came up to the fence and was just amazed. Come to find out she had nearly 7 year old boy girl twins and her kids were so excited about talking to the boys! So we took our pads and helmets off and went out to the park to play with our new twin friends :) The little boy had one of those ride on quad things and he desperately wanted to share it with the boys, so we let each of the boys take a turn driving it and they loved it. Then we all shared a picnic lunch together and Jon and I were able to sit and talk with the parents while the kids ate and played. Since we've been here (though our location is probably irrelevant) the boys have made huge strides in their interactions with other kids, and with each other. Watching them interact with two six year olds made them seem so much more grown up :/ I'm so proud yet so not ready for this!! But Jon and I truly enjoyed talking with the mom... their family seemed quite similar to ours and it was just so wonderful to sit and have an adult conversation. We talked a lot about their experiences with older kid twin issues and we were quite surprised to find out that her son was on the autism spectrum. She said they have worked with a wonderful therapy center for the last four years and with hours upon hours of work, he has made unbelievable progress and no longer needs an IEP in school. They all must have worked their butts off because neither Jon nor I would have ever guess he was on the spectrum. It made my heart smile, just imagining myself sitting on a park bench four years from now having the exact same conversation with my friend Heather about her twins Max and Ty. I said a quiet prayer that someday I will get to do exactly that.

For our naptime drive, Jon and I went on another scavenger hunt for our 123 LA book. We needed photos of four different studios, so we drove around to find ABC, NBC, CBS, and Warner Brothers. It was pretty cool, especially because all four are practically right in our backyard!

Our afternoon adventure was a hike and some ice cream. But not just any hike or any ice cream! We did the Andy Griffith hike and went to Suck It! Jon found the location where they filmed the intro for the Andy Griffith Show and it was a nice easy hike around a lake in Franklin Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains. After two encounters with wild coyotes (the first was almost too close for comfort), we managed to locate the exact spot! It looked a tad different because the water level was so much lower, so it didn't look like they were walking up to a lake... but it was certainly the right spot so we had the boys try to re-create the scene :) It was hysterical! Caleb was more interested in jamming his fishing pole stick into the dirt, and when he threw his rock he nearly took his brother's head off! But it was really sweet and lots of fun to play around with it. To top off the fun, we drove into Studio City to go to Suck It! Jon was desperate to try it, I think just because he loved the name! It is a gourmet popiscle place that makes all natural "sucksicles". I still can't believe how expensive they were ($4 a piece!) but they were seriously to die for!!!! Jon got a root beer float popsicle, I got a pina colada, and the boys each got a coconut cream... it was like frozen coconut milk with giant slivers of fresh coconut! And we just loved that they were all natural (most of them were actually vegan). Amazingly good and a sweet treat to end another great California day.

Matthew riding his new friend Axle's quad... eeek!