Glendale and the LA Zoo

I know what you're thinking, you're thinking this is going to be another post about how awful it is to do anything with four-year-old twin boys. But it's not! We had a pretty nice weekend! I mean, it was very strenuous and taxing, and I'm so glad to be home and all that. But really, all things considered, it went well.

We left at 9:15 Sunday morning and drove to Torrance with only one bathroom/fuel stop in Mojave. Made it there a little after 12, in plenty of time to partake of the delicious lunch before the birthday party entertainment began. The entertainment was exotic animals, which I always enjoy (though the twins didn't pay much attention!).

The animals included this nice chicken

and this beautiful snake, which I also got to hold.

After the party we drove to our hotel, a Vagabond Inn in Glendale -- chosen because it was kind of on the way home and because it was very close to the zoo. Also, according to the website it had a heated pool and was next to a big mall.

Well, it was not a fabulous hotel, but it was OK. The room was fairly spacious and the air conditioner sort of worked. There was a very nice empty space for setting up the pack 'n' plays for the twins (which they still manage to curl themselves up into). I'd say the worst thing about the room was that the TV had no kids' channel -- no PBS Kids, no Nickelodeon, no Sprout -- but of course the kids wanted to watch TV, in their minds that's the whole point of staying in a hotel room, so we kept watching very odd, inappropriate things. The pool was small and practically in the parking lot, not very appealing. Also, though it was heated, it was not very warm. And there was no hot tub. Rocket Boy and Baby A did go in it and enjoyed themselves, so that was good, but I think I'll look for something better next time. Still, overall it was OK.

When we got hungry we walked about a block to a Jamba Juice and got smoothies and some bread things. Then we walked into the mall-ish thing that is right there, "the Americana at Brand," and discovered a "grassy" area on which to sit and eat our "dinner." This was the view from where we sat:

I'm not sure WHAT that grassy stuff was -- it was extremely short, and bits of it got all over our clothes and limbs as we sat on it. Not like any grass I've ever sat on before, but not like astroturf either. I also don't know WHAT that gold statue is supposed to represent. But there were fountains that shot up, and music played, and there were tons of people out enjoying the evening. There was also a nice children's play area, but it had fences around it and a sign saying it was only open until 6 pm (we got there around 6:45). A bunch of kids (including ours) climbed over the fence and played there anyway, until, get this, a SECURITY GUARD came and shooed them all away. I mean, yuck. Why does a playground have to close at 6 and why does a security guard have to chase children off a playground?

I don't know. Rocket Boy liked it, the twins liked it. I was just turned off by the artificiality of the whole place. It was trying SO hard to be European and quaint, but that security guard gave it kind of a Nazi feel, and I don't think that's the type of European they were aiming for. Anyway, despite that, we had a nice time.

The next morning we got up fairly early and had breakfast two doors down at a restaurant called Foxy's, which we liked very much: we got to eat outside on the patio, we were there early enough that we didn't disturb anyone until near the end, and there was oatmeal (I liked that part). Boos shared an order of pigs in blankets, which the waitress was nice enough to divide for us (and gave them 2 each, even though the order was only supposed to have 3 total), Rocket Boy had a veggie omelet, and we shared a bowl of fruit.

Then we packed up in a leisurely fashion and left for the zoo at about 10:15 am (it had opened at 10). The desk clerk at the hotel had warned us to get there early, but we ignored him, and as we joined a long line of cars taking the "Zoo Exit" I realized that we had made a mistake. However, even though we had to stand in an enormous line to get in, the line moved quickly.

The zoo itself is very attractive and I'd really like to go back. That said, we probably didn't do things the way we should have. First of all, we should have rented a big stroller. Boos are very good walkers now, but a stroller would have given them a chance to rest now and then. Second, we should have ridden the carousel as soon as we spotted it, rather than continued to say "We'll do that at the end, when we come back." Baby B so desperately wanted to ride it that he couldn't focus on anything else, just kept asking me when we were going to ride it. My idea was that we would walk to the farthest corner of the zoo where the lemurs are, see them, and then go back to the carousel, but that didn't work. We finally had to turn around (without seeing the lemurs) and go back to the carousel.

Silly boos are still afraid of the carousel animals that go up and down, so we rode on this nice peacock bench. Everyone enjoyed themselves.

Third, we should have taken out a bank loan before going. It cost us $54 to get in, $37 for lunch, $3 each for the carousel... I know, stuff is just expensive these days. At least it wasn't Disneyland!

After the carousel we saw a few more animals, and Baby A provided some excitement by actually climbing into a tortoise pen. Granted, the tortoises inside paid no attention to him, but the whole crowd looking at the tortoises was yelling "Get out! get out!" and of course we were yelling the same thing, and for a moment there I thought he was going to be too scared to be able to respond, but we eventually got him out. Here he is on the outside of the pen, not looking the least bit repentant:

I was glad I got to see the tortoises, because we did not manage to go into the new LAIR exhibit hall, where most of the reptiles are. But that's a reason to go back. After the tortoise incident we all agreed it was time to go, and we ended up driving out of the parking lot at about 2 pm.

Of course, then we had the long drive home, but we broke it up with the usual stop in Palmdale, where we went to Trader Joe's and our usual coffee place for drinks and snacks. Then it was on to Ridgecrest, getting home just before 6 pm. Everyone (except me) took a good long nap between Glendale and Palmdale, and we were all still in a fairly good mood when we got home. It cheered me up, as we were driving on 14 fairly close to the Inyokern turnoff, to see ALL the cars coming back from the mountains and to think how far they still had to drive.

So that's what I call a successful weekend: a family gathering (the birthday party), getting to see something a little different (the Americana at Brand), and a fun, special outing (the zoo) which we all actually enjoyed. Plus, the chance to buy a whole lot of cereal at Trader Joe's (very important, since my favorite cereal costs TWICE as much in Ridgecrest). Still didn't get to use my Macy's gift card, but that can wait. I'm happy.