Hollywood, Rodeo Drive, and the L.A. Temple!

On our California vacation, we learned Summer has definitely inherited the "travel bug" from Jerald and me (he and I both crave travel and adventure). She adored all of California's sights, sounds, people, and scenery. Her normal at-home schedule was completely thrown off with long, all day sight-seeing extravaganzas, but she adored every second of it, never complaining of boredom or tiredness. Even with all of those hours in the car, she was so content and carefree in her car seat. My parents are ordinance workers in the Los Angeles Temple on the fourth week of every month. It's quite a commute, yes, but they love the experience. We traveled with them this time and we all made a vacation out of it!

Ah, Rodeo Drive! The most elegant and sophisticated stretch of road with the glitziest and ritziest shops in the nation!

Okay, so first we stopped at Tiffany's for a diamond bracelet I'd been eyeing. Then, we stopped at Dolce & Gabbana to purchase a few key pieces from their spring collection, but not before we swung into Jimmy Choo to buy some fabulous sandals made with 24 carat gold, whilst waving nonchalantly at the hovering paparazzi. Yes? Nooooo, but we can dream, right? It was actually a bit intimidating to enter those stores with the security guards standing at the entrances, and viewing beautiful clothes, shoes, and jewelry at astronomical prices. Get this...a designer fur-lined black mini cape in Vallentino's was a whopping $7,700! Holy stars! We laughed, though, because we saw a shockingly expensive glittery silver purse nearly identical to a purse I have...but mine is the $10 Wal-mart version!



Summer's sparkly silver shoes from Target made quite a splash on Rodeo Drive. She had countless sales people in the posh stores complimenting their sheer fabulousness. An employee in Tiffany's actually asked if they came in her size! They were all so sweet to her. :)

Later that day, we went to Hollywood! We strolled the Hollywood Walk of Fame and visited the Kodak Theatre, where, in less than an hour, American Idol would be filmed!

One evening, we went to Monte Alban, an Oaxacan style Mexican restaurant - so authentic and delicious!

Here's a picture of the stunning Los Angeles Temple! Jerald and I took the opportunity to perform some temple work and loved it! We later took Summer on a walk on the grounds and took some photos.

The temple is surrounded by luscious flowers!

Of all the things to see in Los Angeles, the place bringing the most peace and happiness is the temple. The bright lights of Hollywood simply cannot compare with the beauty and the spirit of the Lord inside those walls. We felt so thankful to be a forever family.

The Happiest People on Earth

Disneyland!!! Such a place deserves three exclamation points, agreed? We were jumping up and down with excitement as we entered the gates! Well, actually, we had been doing thus for many weeks prior, as we awaited the special day! Disneyland is such a joyful, magical, musical, beauteous, sparkly, happy place. Everywhere you look, there is music, dancing, flowers, love, and...churros! Mmmm...We took full advantage of those warm, sweet, cinnamon-y, crunchy delights. Anyway, we took oodles of pictures, and here are a few:

Summer is wearing a Minnie Mouse shirt and skirt, which we purchased just for the occasion!

Oh! You've just never seen so many blooming blossoms! Everywhere you look in the park are seas of assorted flowers and beauty...


...and I felt strongly, in my heart, that Jerald's own beauty and hotness further adorned the park itself, whilst effectively adding to the ambiance, scenery, and decor. The truthfulness of my words is made manifest by the picture below, which highlights his casual, yet suave pose. :)

Now, this may look like the view of a quaint European village, but no. It's a miniature! We snapped this shot while on the little train ride.

The rooftops of London! We shot this while on the fabulous Peter Pan ride!

Take me to the Haunted Mansion, please, Driver!

"It's a Small World" was Summer's favorite ride of all! It's such a relaxing boat ride, while passing by the singing and dancing dolls representing every country. We went on it twice!

...and here, Jerald, being a professional musician, thought he had played every kind of piano imaginable! Well, he hadn't played Mickey Mouse's wacky turquoise and lime-green extravaganza!

Summer and I enjoyed a prim and proper tea party at Minnie's house!

We took a break to enjoy our favorite four-cheese pepperoni pizza at the Rain Forest Cafe'!

We watched in amazement as singers, dancers, and all the characters performed at the Disneyland Parade and Street Party. Summer was even lucky enough to dance "on stage" with the performers. Like a true Simon, she loved the applause!

Summer met Mary Poppins and Burt, who were so darling and sweet to her! She was thrilled, since it is one of her very favorite movies, and happily informed them that she had their movie at home.

Summer was lucky enough to be chosen to take a princess stroll with Alice in Wonderland!

Well, "Gawrsh"! It was Goofy himself!

...But the crowning moment of the day came when Summer got to meet her beloved Mickey! She patiently waited in line to see him, but when he came into view, she left the line twice, approaching him, eagerly, saying, "Hi, Mickey!" We had to pull her back in line to wait for her turn. When her time came, Mickey was adorable and so kind to her!

Through all of the festivities, performances, rides, and such, Jerald's and my favorite part of all was seeing Summer's eyes light up and her little voice exclaiming how happy she was to be at Disneyland. We were definitely the happiest people on earth in the happiest place on earth!

A Peach of a Beach!

Hundreds of pictures! We traveled to Southern California, where we experienced a blissful vacation, and proceeded to take a photo of every single fun thing we did...and we did LOTS! It will take several blog posts to describe it all. The Santa Monica beach was just a few minutes away from where we were staying, so here is a photo collage of our sea adventures. With the whipping wind, the rolling waves, and the crying seagulls, we exhilarated in the vastness of the sand and the ocean. There's nothing like seeing your child experience the surf and sand on her toes for the very first time. Summer enjoyed building sand castles the most, while Jerald and I leaped, spun, ran, jumped, frolicked, and kissed in the waves. I'll always remember that day...