Labor Day Universal Studios Vacation

For Labor Day this year we decided to take a trip to California to do something that we haven't done in a long time.  So we decided a trip to Universal Studios would be something different.  I hadn't been there in over 20 years.  I know Josh had never been there, and for my mom, Nicole and Robbie it had been a few years. 

We left Friday evening after Josh got home from work.  He drove us there and we stayed at a Marriott. (Remember I love Marriott's)  Our room was nice, it was a small suite with two rooms adjoined.  Our room had a nice desk area where Josh and I were able to sit and do our homework comfortably.  It also had a workout facility were I was able to go to so I could work on my marathon training without missing a day. 

Saturday morning we got up and headed out to Universal Studios. 

Josh, Me, Nicole, Mom & Rob outside Universal Studios

 We went to almost all the attractions and shows on Saturday while we were there.  We decided that we were going to take our time and not rush to get everything finished.  But the thing about Universal, it is much smaller than Disneyland and they don't have as many rides, so we were able to see most of it in one day.  Universal actually specializes in television and movie productions.  So we were able to see "movie magic" and how they are made to look so real.


Fast & Furious cars...and pose!

Choke Chuckie!!!

Josh & Nicole posing with Jaws...dun-dun, DUN-DUN!!!

Lets go for a ride guys!

Sunday started out with a stop to Randy's Donuts...YUM, YUM, YUM!  We stood in line to get a dozen donuts for about 30 minutes.  This place is world famous, so we had to stop and see why it was so famous.  I have to say, whenever I go back to the area I will most definitely make Randy's Donuts a stop on our trip.  The prices were so cheap to...Well worth the wait. 

WORLD FAMOUS...

 We continued our Sunday back at Universal for the remaining attractions we didn't see...All 3 of them.  They were well worth the wait.  When we finished with those, we went to Bubba Gump for lunch.  It was nice to sit down and relax and have a nice meal.  While we were there, Josh decided to jump up and sing happy birthday with the waiters to some guy whose birthday it was.  Typical Josh, so unpredictable.  It seemed like he had a good time one this trip. 

When lunch was over we went back to the hotel.  Everyone fell asleep for several hours.  I sat and watch a movie all by myself.  I didn't think anyone was going to wake up.   Finally everyone woke up around 8:00.  We decided to go check out the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  It was rather interesting.  I have been there before, but it wasn't what I remembered.  I liked seeing all the different stars on the sidewalk and recognizing different names, but the area sure doesn't look anything like it looks when you see something happening on tv.  But that was okay with us.  We decided that it was something we can say we have seen in our life.  We also accidentally found the Los Angeles temple.  It was huge!  I only wish we could have seen it during the day.

Los Angeles temple..

Monday we took our time leaving the hotel.  We had homework to get finished!  When we left we decided to go to the beach.  We went to Venice Beach.  I don't know if that was a good idea or not because it seemed like we did more walking to get to the beach than we spent at the beach.  I wanted to see more of the crazy sites at Venice Beach, but it wasn't in our time schedule.  Josh and Nicole wanted to go into the ocean, so some plans were eliminate, which is fine with me.  They had fun out in the water.  The waves were rather large because there had been huge storms out in the Pacific.  While they were out in the water I noticed a turtle walking in the sand.  What was unusual was the turtle was with a family and it was a desert turtle!  The turtle came right up to me and was right under my feet.  The people said that they have had the turtle for about a year and they bring it to the beach every time they come.  WEIRD!!!

Desert turtle at my feet!  See here's the proof!

Josh & Nicole at Venice Beach

Our day ended with a long ride back to Las Vegas.  Again with Josh driving.  I was getting antsy and couldn't wait to get back home. I even asked a couple times "Are we there yet"? I'm not one for complaining on trips, but I was tired of being in the car.

I have to say I did miss Breanne and Adam on this trip.  Breanne went to my dads to spend the weekend sailing.  Adam had just started a job and wasn't able to get time off just yet.  I have come to the realization that my family isn't young anymore and some family adventures will not be attended by everyone.  It makes me sad because those adventures are opportunities for memories to be built.  I will just have to learn to make the best of all the time we are able to be together now....