Birthday Weekend

Yes, I am 27. I feel pretty young to be hauling 2 1/2 kids around, but youth is great! These sweet gals from my ward threw a little birthday celebration for me at the park last week. I am so grateful for such sweet friends, especially when my own sisters live so far away! (sniff!)

Right before David was born, Joseph and I decided that before each new baby, we would take a little trip somewhere. Because my birthday fell on a weekend this year, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to get away. Since our time was very limited, we decided to explore our own backyard: Los Angeles. We found skyrises, ethnic and commerce districts, arts, government offices (4 huge LAPD offices, btw), and historic buildings.

This was our first stop: the Bradbury building built in the early 1900s. It's an old office building with cast iron staircases that climb at least 7 stories until they reach a glass ceiling. Very ornate and interesting.

Olivera street in the Hispanic district was our next favorite. Because of its proximity to Union Station, we found the most people here. We felt right at home with the mexican food, music, and dozens of vendors. We brought home one of these fierce looking wrestling masks (behind Joseph) for David. It was an instant hit.

At my request, we stopped at the famous jewelry district. We were both blown away by the amount of vendors crammed into 4 city blocks. This picture shows only a tiny fraction of the jewlers we walked through... pretty overwhelming... we lasted in there for about 20 minutes. I would love to take my mom and sisters here some day.

Next up was another historic building, the Millenium Biltmore Hotel... too lavish to describe.

We concluded our day with a walk past the Walt Disney Concert Hall to attend the play Dreamgirls (a compromise after we discovered that symphony tickets would have cost $170 and up).

Here we are at the top of the concert hall overlooking the city. It was so wonderful to have an extended date with my best friend. Joseph is an excellent tour guide, especially when it comes to finding things off the beaten path and is very patient with my slow, pregnancy pace. Los Angeles was a very interesting city and surprisingly pleasant- one more place to mark off.

My sister, Holly, kindly watched the kids for a few nights. When we arrived in Palm Springs to pick up the kids, she served us a delicious birthday dinner and german chocolate cake! What a perfect ending to a fun weekend!