Dakota Pearl: What a day...

that's what we kept saying when we got home from our adventures this past Saturday. My BFF and her family were en-route from Utah to a family reunion at the beach so we met them in LA for a few kid-friendly activities. Their two boys are the ages of our girls so it worked out well. We met at Traveltown in Griffith Park for some train exploration and a ride on the mini-train. D visited this place as a child and in his words, "The only thing that's changed here in 30 years is the awning they built over the train engines." The kids loved it and the train ride was a highlight.

Sharing candy pumpkins Little S bought at the Jelly Belly Station before we got to Traveltown. It's the candy store around the corner from D's childhood home where he took his quarters for candy-gum fixes.

Self portraits during the train ride - everyone keeps telling us how much Baby J looks like her daddy.

Next stop: dinner. I talked everyone into trying Milk - a West LA ice cream parlor, bakery and diner that makes everything in-house - even their own ice cream. Milk did not disappoint. The from-scratch mac and cheese we ordered for the kids was awesome not to mention the ooey-gooey ice cream sundae. My little sis Lindsay was with us and after trying Milk's red velvet cupcake she's considering them for the wedding festivities next year.

Self portrait (she's quite the photographer these days) - notice the red velvet crumbs

Last stop: Griffith Park Observatory for the Public Star Party. One night each month amateur astronomers bring their telescopes to the observatory and let visitors gaze through them. We underestimated the number of visitors and the parking issues but in his typical fashion D wheeled and dealed with parking attendants and we parked in the closest lot to the observatory. (Traffic was a headache all day - there were big events at the Greek Theater and the Kodak Theater causing major traffic issues on all the streets we were cruising).