ZooZoo

The next Saturday we went to a performing arts show called ZooZoo.  It's a mixture of dance, mime, acrobatics, and comedy.  We all loved it.  I highly recommend it.  It completely captivated Cate, who sat still for the entire hour on our laps.  I think she was trying to decide if it was all real or not!  The show was made up of many shorter vignettes, mostly involving animals. Our favorite were the competitive penguins playing musical chairs!  There was also a cat stuck in giant paper bag, acrobatic frogs, hippos with insomnia, and a lot more.  Above is a short preview video clip.

Cate also has been doing lots of dancing, building with blocks, and playing in the backyard.  California weather is a dream!

Griffith Observatory

We went to Griffith Observatory in the late afternoon and got to the park at sunset.  It was a very pretty walk to the top of the big hill and the observatory.  We got some great views of the sunset over the ocean and downtown L.A. 

The Observatory itself is pretty cool.  It's a small museum in and of itself.  It wasn't very exciting for Cate though, unfortunetly, as most of the exhibits were over her head.  She liked running around outside and inside and touching everything though.  She especially liked standing on the scales that told you how much you would weigh on each of the planets in the solar system.  The cafeteria food was very disappointing, but Cate didn't notice.  We won't be eating there again, but I'd love to go back and take a closer look at everything else.  Catherine was also too young to attend most of the planitarium shows so I think it would make a great date night with just Joe and I.

Saturdays in January we try to do as many family activities as possible because once tax season starts in Feb. we don't see much of Daddy until after April 15th.  This year we did something as a family every weekend, it was great!  Here are some pictures of what we did and where we went together.

California Science Center Museum

One of several children's special play areas.  Cate is dressed as an astronaut and riding in a space shuttle.

 Very large sound thingy (that's the scientific name :) You can talk in one end and hear it in the other end.

 Kelp forest aquarium tank - looking down from the top

 Airplanes hanging from the ceiling

 Lifting a truck using pulleys and levers!

 We had a lot of fun here, there was a lot to do and see.  We didn't even cover half of it.  Cate didn't understand a lot, but she wasn't bored either.  Best of all - admission is free!  I think parking cost $10 though.  We'll definitely be back.  Next Saturday: Griffith Observatory!