1) Griffith Park at Sunset: This was a spur of the moment decision to head up to the observatory after work, and I have to say that sunset is the BEST time to go. These pics can't do that sunset justice.
2) Arcadia Arboretum: I'm not quite sure why we decided to wander around here on what felt like the hottest day of the year, but the sight of that hummingbird (my favorite bird) next to that huge orange flower made it all worthwhile. We also saw lots of peacocks and peachicks (not sure what baby peacocks are called), as well as turtles and tons of pretty flowers.
3) The Gun Store, Las Vegas: This was a birthday gift from me to Joe. Our birthdays are two days apart, so we headed to Las Vegas for the weekend. I got him the World War II package, in honor of Saving Private Ryan, one of his favorite movies. He shot a Thompson, an MP40, & a 1911 Pistol. I got myself and his mom the Ladies Package, which included an AK47 & a Glock. I was the only one who had ever shot a gun before, and my experience was very limited. We got there early and had a private room and instructor. It was so much fun and such an adrenaline rush!
4) Redondo Beach: We set out for Redondo Beach on a Sunday because we somehow found out about a chalk art contest and decided to check it out. After we worked out and ate some lunch we were headed toward the pier when we happened to pass a peddle-boat rental shop and impulsively decided to try it out. Let me tell you, that is WAY harder than peddling a bike. There's no way I could have moved that thing on my own without a second person. It took us a long time to go not very far, but we did see a lot of pelicans and a seal came swimming right up to us. Afterward we rewarded ourselves with ice cream :)
5) Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, Hollywood: We were lucky enough to get two free tickets to the museum through work and decided to check it out on our Thursday date night. First we ate dinner at Cafe Med, which has the absolute best chocolate lava cake with pistachio ice cream. The museum turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected. They actually encourage you to wear props and pose with the statues. And there are three floors, so there's plenty to see.
6) Ripley's Believe It Or Not, Hollywood: Since we wound up loving the wax museum, we decided to try out another tourist attraction. Between the two, I would rate the Wax Museum higher, but we had a fun time at Ripley's too. Some highlights were all the trivia of weird or famous people. Joe also liked the Star Wars statues, and I was a fan of the entire room devoted to Marilyn Monroe - including some of her makeup and nighties. As a side note, we ate at the Cat & the Fiddle and saw Jean Claude van Damme!
7) LA Sparks Game at the Staples Center: This was my very first basketball game. Joe found cheap tickets online and we went with his mom. Our seats were amazing! The team walked right by us at halftime.
8) LA County Fair & Karmin Concert: I became a lil obsessed with Karmin's rapping after hearing her on YouTube, so when I found tickets to see her at the LA County Fair on Labor Day we had to go. This was less than a week after we found out about Joni, so it turned out to be Joni's first concert!
9) San Diego Zoo: Zoos are not just for kids! We had so much fun, and the San Diego zoo is one of the best zoos in the country. Our favorite animals were the tiger, the panda, the polar bears (the female was ready to fight the male) & the kissing hippos (aww!), to name just a few. Afterward we went downtown and had a sundae at Ghirardelli - yum!
Sorry for the long post, we just have so many pictures I wanted to organize them all in one place.
Love that you both do so many fun couple things! Its going to be great when you have a little one to share all these fun times with!!!
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