Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Santa Barbara Zoo March 4, 2014

Filed under: Santa Barbara,Zoo — Kelocity @ 8:32 pm
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On Presidents’ Day, Irving and I both had the day off and we wanted to get out of LA and do something fun as a family. We tossed around a few ideas and decided on the Santa Barbara Zoo. Rumor has it that it’s smaller and easier to maneuver than the LA Zoo we have right down the street. And we were definitely impressed.

It gets a two toddler-approved thumbs up!
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It was busy, but at times, we had entire exhibits to ourselves. Adele had so much fun. She was taking in everything!

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Hi Mr. Turtle!IMG_4408

She loved the Elephants (pronounced ‘el-fint’) She was completely mesmerized watching them eat. 
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Sometimes, as a mom, I try to simplify things for Adele so that she’ll understand them. For example, when we got to this exhibit, I said “Adele, look at the Monkey! Hi Monkey!” And in response she said “Gorilla!” (pronounced ‘Go-ril-ra’). Um, how did she know this was a Gorilla and not a monkey? Then I felt dumb for assuming she wouldn’t know the difference! Irving and I were both impressed. And ever since, she’s OBSESSED with gorillas. We even have a gorilla book at home that has become a new favorite.
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We ‘splurged’ on the train ride. It takes you around the zoo and shows you some of the exhibits from other angles. We had to wait in line for 15 minutes or so, but Adele did great. This is her ‘say cheese’ face. (A smile on demand! I love it!)

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On the train! She’s concentrating very hard.IMG_4433

I think she was looking at a bird in a tree in this picture. Girl’s got good eyes!IMG_4436

 

 

Hi baby giraffes!! (pronounced ‘baby giff-aff’)

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You can see the train we rode in the background! So cute!

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We had a blast at the zoo. We hope to visit again soon!

 

St. Louis: Forest Park September 10, 2013

Filed under: animals,St. Louis,Travel — Kelocity @ 8:15 am
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One of our ‘must sees’ on our St. Louis to-do list was to visit all the attractions in Forest Park. The park became famous in 1904 after hosting both the Summer Olympics AND the 1904 World’s Fair (aka: The Louisiana Purchase Exposition).
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Most of the World’s Fair buildings no longer exist anymore (it would have been too expensive to build them for long-term use). But you can still feel the history there.
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This pavilion was built decades after the World’s Fair, but it commemorates the big event. That 1904 exposition was the first time the world had seen an ice cream cone, hamburgers, hot dogs, cotton candy, Dr. Pepper, peanut butter and iced tea. <—all my favorite things!
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Look! A map of the Louisiana Purchase!
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More history! We were in nerd heaven!
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Also in the park is the Saint Louis Art Museum.
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Oh, hey Mr. Saint Louis!
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We only had a little bit of time, so we grabbed a map at the front desk and set off to find all the important pieces. We got to see some Van Gogh, Picasso, Pollock and Matisse.
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I also saw this piece again. I think this is my 3rd time seeing this one (unless there are multiple versions of it?) It’s by El Anatsui. I like it, it’s made out of liquor bottle tops.
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After our quick jaunt around the museum, we hopped back in the car to drive over to the Jewel Box. It’s an art deco greenhouse in the park.
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And the last thing we did in the park was visit the Zoo! It’s free, why not! It was really hot and we were getting hungry, so we only did a quick loop around. It was a really great zoo, someday, i’ll have to go back with Adele!
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Forest Park gets an A+ in my book. It’s bigger than Central Park and so beautiful and clean!

 

An Easter Getaway April 25, 2011

Filed under: California,Family,Travel — Kelocity @ 8:53 pm
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This weekend, Irving and I headed up to the California Central Coast for a little Easter Getaway. We stayed in Avila Beach, which is about three hours north of Los Angeles. Along the way, we stopped at Pea Soup Andersen’s! I’ve been wanting to stop there for ages!!
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It’s a California Road Trip destination and they’re known for…. Pea Soup!
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It was far too early in the morning to enjoy any soup, but we had fun looking around the gift shop and buying some canned soup for later. I’m sure it’s not quite as good, but we couldn’t resist. This is what we’ll look like when we cook the soup! BAHAHA!
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We “conveniently” saw the LuggageBase.com store along the route (turns out Irving mapped it ahead of time and was planning on stopping all along!) This is the website where we buy all of our luggage and travel gear from. Great prices, fast shipping and good people. It’s always nice to put a face to an online retailer. It’s just a family owned company who started a business that just happens to be on the web. We forget sometimes that online companies can be mom and pop shops sometimes. It was really nice to visit. We bought a few things while we were in there too.
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When we finally pulled in to Avila Beach, we went for a walk to explore.
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The beach was really pretty and not too crowded. I never put my toes in the water, but it looked really nice.
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The boardwalk area was really beautiful. It’s all relatively new, and commercially untouched. So refreshing coming from LA.
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There are three main piers and we walked to the end of each of them. We didn’t have much of an agenda on Saturday, so it was nice to just walk, chat and relax.

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From the end, we got a good glimpse of our hotel for the night too. So pretty up on the cliffs.
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Wait for it…. Ready….

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It just felt right….
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Under the pier is a second level, and you could see starfish clinging to the posts! So weird!
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My date for the weekend life!
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Our walk continued along the bay.

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We saw a sign for “BJ’s Restaurant” and I’m like “YAY! PAZOOKI!” But alas, that was not the case. at all.
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But we did find Sea Lions hanging out under that pier! You could get really close to them too!
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Later that night, we met up with Jake and Janie (Irving’s aunt and uncle, whom we haven’t seen in a year!!) It was so nice spending some time with them again! While we caught up and chatted, we baked some Easter Treats in the hotel.
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PS. How scary does the dough boy look?!
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Before…
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After!
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We enjoyed the cookies while looking at the ocean from our room.
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After our snack, we headed out for some more coastal exploring. First stop was Pismo Beach.
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There was a pretty wedding going on too! We stopped to listen to the vows. Creepers!
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Look! A mom, dad and baby goose! See the baby in the middle?
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We followed them for a while, it was adorable!
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After sight seeing a little more, we pulled into the Oak Pit BBQ for dinner. We read rave reviews on yelp and were very excited to try it! The owner took our picture for us too! Thanks Sammy!

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Lots of wildlife sightings this weekend!
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Stay tuned for Day 2 later! It’s a picture heavy weekend, so I’m splitting it up.

What’s the strangest wild animal you ever saw on vacation? We saw Bears on the side of the road in Russia!

 

The Fall Festival of Love October 3, 2010

Irving and I started a tradition a few years back that we appropriately deemed The Fall Festival of Love. 🙂 It’s a day to forget we live in Los Angeles, go out, find some pumpkins and enjoy some fall themed festivities.

A quick history:

2005 – Faulkner Farms
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2006 – Riley’s Farm
It rained that year and we didn’t feel like trucking through the mud to get a pumpkin. We tried!
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2007 – Underwood Farm
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….we skipped a few years after that…

2010 – Underwood Farm (Again!)

This time, we went with our friends Erika and Timmy = built in photographers. 🙂

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It’s a huge farm up in Simi Valley (with lots of pumpkins).
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It was “Public Safety Weekend” there, so they had tons of firetrucks and cop cars and fun stuff for the husbands kids.
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One of the highlights was the giant ‘pumpkin drop’! They had two firemen climb a HUGE ladder and then they dropped pumpkins filled with candy to the ground! (Kind of like a Fall Themed Pinata?)
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There they go!
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1…2….3…
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GO!
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And then all the kids ran over to get their candy!
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Including that big kid in Orange!
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They have a big farm too, for all the adults kids to enjoy.
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Next up was the Corn Maze!
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Seems easy, but it was quite confusing!
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How do we get out?
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But finally (with the help of some little kids), we made it to the end!
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Nice job, babe!
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And then… it was pumpkin time!
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And some pics in the patch!
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Farmer Irving wanted to drive the tractor!
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Random Fact: Irving knows how to juggle!

Somewhere in between all the fun, we had lunch. There were so many great options to choose from. I started with the spiraled yams!
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YUM!
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I also got a fresh roasted corn on the cob!
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Irving got a French Dip with Chili Cheese fries! (I think he’s fist bumping the camera!)
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Unpictured was the fresh tomato (right off the vine) that I ate as a snack later. There is nothing like a fresh garden tomato, let me tell you.

And that, my friends, was the 5th Annual Fall Festival of Love!
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We like to learn stuff! July 26, 2010

Filed under: Los Angeles — Kelocity @ 10:42 pm
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Hope you guys are loving my influx of posts lately. Lots going on! I love the summer!

 

Sunday morning, Erika and Timmy and I decided to be productive and go learn something. So we headed to the California Science Center. They totally gear the exhibits towards children, but we totally loved it! Why is it so much fun to learn stuff?

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The atrium is so pretty!
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We went to see the Ecosystems exhibit. We could have spent all day in just that one section!
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Each room was a different stage of life.
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If I were a 10 year old boy, my favorite would be the Rot Room!!! It was so gross, yet exciting! hahaha

We loved the aquarium section outside. (PS. how awesome is it that you can have exhibits outside? I love LA)!

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Here, you had to pretend you were a fish trying to grab food. HAHA
Erika and Timmy almost got some!

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In the desert room, you could see how warm your body is compared to the rest of the room. HEE HEE. We were like little kids.
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I’m pointing at myself. LOL

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The aquariums were so cool!
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Jellyfish!

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This was in the LA Room. Hee Hee
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After a fun educational morning, we stopped and got some lunch at a Mexican Restaurant called Chano’s. If you haven’t been there yet, you have to go. Mmm. We even got fresh squeezed watermelon juice!!! Wow!
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Later on, we headed up to Universal Citywalk to see Inception.
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I really liked the movie. It was really, really good. It had a few holes in it, but it was entertaining and the story was good. Not Leonardo DiCaprio’s finest (in my opinion), but a good flix for summer.

 

 
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