The Grotto Trail

Saturday morning we set out for the Grotto Trail in Malibu.  We have a book of local hikes and this one sounded really great.   It's an old, dried up riverbed where now all of the large boulder are exposed. 

 All of this is new grass growing.  Even a couple inches of rain makes a huge difference around here.

 Seeing all of the layers of rock stacked on each other was really cool.

 The first part of the trail had great views and was pretty easy (mostly downhill, which meant uphill coming back).

 This is the part where we started seeing larger rocks.

 This was the top of where a waterfall used to be.  We rested and grabbed a snack before heading farther down the river.

 The best way to get down the river, was to go up first. 

Some more cool stacked rocks.

 There's still some water sitting at the base of the water fall and there was even still some trickling in.

 We decided we didn't want to stop there, so we kept bouldering down the river.  Shawn's straining to swing Caleb over some water.

 I'm surprised I didn't twist my ankle or break something trying to jump over rocks after setting the timer.

 We thought this tree growing out of the side of the hill was pretty cool.  

 All of those rocks we just climbing down, we now had to climb back up to get back on the trail.

We had a great day on this hikes.  We may have even gotten a "this was the best day ever" line!  Afterwards, we stopped at the famous Neptune Net, seafood joint that's along the Pacific Coast Hwy.  It's always packed and we figured we better add it to our list of places we've been to while in CA.  It was good, but after walking out of there with two fish-n-chips, fish tacos, chicken fingers and 4 drinks...wait for it...costing us $66.00...we figured that was a one time deal!

PCH Sand Hill

For the last year and a half, every time we drive down the Pacific Coast Highway, we see people climbing and sledding back down the sand hill.  Every time we pass it, we say that we're going to stop and do it.  And then we never do.  Saturday morning Caleb had baseball assessments and after they got home we drove to the sand hill.  The only way you will be able to tell how big it is is to find the people at the top of it or bottom of it.  I was actually a lot harder to climb than I had expected.  Shawn kept singing, "On the solid rock I stand.  All other ground is sinking sand."  The sand kept shining and sliding down with every step you took.  

 I had to crawl on my hands and feet at times too.

 Caleb taking a rest :o)

 We finally made it to the top.

 Getting ready to sled down.

 Going down!

 Caleb climbing back up.  I figured they'd sled down and then not want to come back up, but they did.

 We were told that cardboard boxes were the best thing to use, but we didn't listen.  The sleds didn't go that fast, but they were still fun.  

(Photo by Caleb)

 Amelia flipping over at the bottom and Caleb making his way down.

 We talked to people at church on Sunday that have lived here their whole lives and have never done that.  It was pretty fun and definitely worth the stop!

Natural History Museum

Since we all had Martin Luther King, Jr. Day off, we headed to LA to the Natural History Museum.  Unbelievably, it wasn't really that crowded and we enjoyed the entire museum by lunchtime.  It was definitely worth the drive we all really enjoyed it.  

 There's a rose garden between the Natural History Museum and the Science Center (which we have been to in the past).  It was closed that day, so we couldn't talk through it, and this picture doesn't do it justice.  Even with the few roses that were bloomed it was still pretty.  I can't imagine when the whole garden is in full bloom.

 View of the NHM from the other end of the garden.

 I love the root structure of these trees.

It was a great day!  Next time we'll try to visit the Tar Pits to see active dinosaur digs.