Ladd Photos

Out enjoying a day of sunshine during a week of rain.

A few shots from Gavin’s first Winter Ball game, which is off-season practice for the regular Spring season. He pitched his first ever high school inning, and couldn’t have done better. He faced 3 batters and struck them all out looking. I didn’t get any pictures of him actually facing batters, because I didn’t want to distract him. Great job Bub!

The space shuttle Endeavour was super cool to see and was much larger than I expected. There was a lot more to this museum, covering space history, science of various ecosystems, biology, and even fire safety. And, the boys and I lifted a full-sized truck. This museum is definitely worth the trip up to LA.

Just wandering around our beautiful city.

I’m not so sure it is ice skating when you are just sliding on very hard plastic, but it was just as tough to do as I imagine ice would be. The skates were real, and it certainly didn’t seem like the easiest form of locomotion.

My niece turned 14 and we celebrated with lots of food and piñatas. The party was 80’s themed, but I’m too young to remember the 80’s.

Supposedly, the Whaley House is the most haunted home in America. I didn’t see any ghosts, but the boys swear they felt the little girl who haunts the place grab at their legs.

We rung in the New Year freezing in the rain at Knott’s Berry Farm. It didn’t rain too much while the sun was up, and the park was very empty, so we got to ride on lots of rides. Our friends Jeanette and Niko joined us for part of the day.

Luckily, it was warm and dry inside where we watched two shows, first Snoppy On Ice and later a funny comedian magician named Chipper Lowell.

The rain was coming down hard for the last few hours before midnight, but the awesome fireworks show made it worth it.

The Twisted Colossus was an insane rush!

The boys got annual passes from their Tia Kristel, so they got to experience Six Flags for the first time. Ali and I hadn’t been since we were teenagers. The park was beautifully decorated for the holidays.

If you are ever near Old Town, make sure to check out the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. The interactive tour is very well done and it is an interesting bit of San Diego history.

We spent the morning opening presents, and the rest of the day with the Loera clan, eating and opening more presents.

With no big trip this winter break, we instead did a few little ones. We spent the night at Great Wolf Lodge up in Garden Grove. That gave us 2 days to enjoy the indoor water park. The boys even gave boogie boarding a try.

The park was decorated beautifully for the holiday season with all sorts of lights. There was a light tunnel where the lights synced up with music. We also visited the babirusas and the platypus, before finishing the night with the lantern light show in the lagoon.

In addition to all the rides, we saw “The Gift of the Magi, 1885” at the Bird Cage theater. But the highlight of the night was Snoopy’s Night Before Christmas, the new ice skating show.