The last few days in California were spent at the Santa Monica Pier (SO happy that I had the chance to visit there!), The Crystal Cathedral, and Newport Beach. Oh, and I also tried to squeeze in an Eliot photo session... I was not too successful. He hates looking at the camera when I am behind it.
The Santa Monica Pier was so cool. Ted, Emily, Eliot and I went for a ride on the famous Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel (you know, the one you see in all the LA based movies and TV shows!). I think my Dad secretly wanted to come, but he chickened out. The view from up there was amazing! Eliot got a kick out of it too. He was a bit nervous, but he definitely thought it was cool.
We also played for a bit in the arcade. We collected tickets that amounted to pretty much nothing. I think we ended up 'winning' Eliot a little plastic frog once we were done turning them all in. Yippee.
After we walked along the pier, we went down to the beach. Eliot had to have this red shovel, so I caved and bought it for him (after Daddy said no-- usually it's totally the other way around--). He had so much fun digging with that shovel. We actually ended up leaving it at our rental house-- hopefully the next little boy who stays there will have just as much fun with it.
The Crystal Cathedral was cool. This was really the only place that my Dad wanted to really visit while we were in CA. It just so happened that they had declared bankruptcy that very week so they had money specialist, Howard Dayton, on to talk about finances and the best way to tackle debt. It was actually fascinating and a little surreal to me to be there and see Reverend Robert Schuller in the flesh because growing up, my mother cared for her grandmother every day, and every day, she would watch him on TV. It was almost like meeting a TV star. I've certainly NEVER been to a church like that before. It's a shame that they went so lavish on their property. It's really not what worship is about and it actually makes Christians look badly.
At the end of the sermon, Sheila Schuller asked anyone to come forward who wanted to receive a nail as a reminder of being always indebted; indebted to Jesus. My Dad, Emily and myself all went forward to get a nail. It will always be a reminder, a keepsake, a souvenir from my visit to the Crystal Cathedral.
Our very last activity before packing up and heading out, was a visit to Newport Beach. The part of the beach we went to wasn't anything too special, especially after our visit to the beautiful Aliso beach in Laguna, but it was still nice. Eliot had fun; and really, isn't that all that matters?
A few last photos from our trip:
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