I didn't know that when you turn 10 you sometimes grow balloons on your head. But here we are.
Emma had the same problem, but she is very mature for her age.
After the big bowling party this weekend, we just had a quiet birthday celebration at home with Grandmom Linda, which was also awesome. And you know that's in ice cream cake right there. We do birthdays right in this house.
I decided to bring my cub scout den (plus Ollie and a few other friends) to the good old bowling alley for some birthday fun this weekend. I'm not saying we're ready for the pro tour yet, but a little more practice and we could hold our own.
Seriously, look at that professional form.
It was a real blast. Wish I could turn 10 every weekend.
Today was a chance to check out the California coast and hike up to the top of Point Dume in Malibu. It's the site of where the Statue of Liberty landed in the original Planet of the Apes, but I don't know what that is, and to us it was just a really big hill to climb.
Jonathan even got to see more cacti.
The views were incredible. I always like going to the beach, but they don't have cliffs like this in New Jersey to enjoy.
And we got to see a ton of sea life. If you look closely, you can see a big group of sea lions napping on the beach below Jonathan here. We could hear them barking through our whole hike.
So cool.
Of course, if you're gonna climb a mountain, you gotta strike a victory pose at the top.
And if you're gonna visit the beach, you gotta put your toes in the water. Here's our first steps in the Pacific Ocean. It was chilly, but also awesome to get our feet wet in February.
We saw some dolphins swimming near the shore and even a small whale (not pictured). I wanted to go our further to hug the dolphins, but Mom said I couldn't because I wasn't wearing a swimsuit. Maybe next time we visit California.
Disney isn't the only theme park around, you know.
Emma and I spent the day at Universal Studios Hollywood this week, checking out a stunt show, a whole mess of rides and whatever this show that Dad loves is.
Emma got a chance to pose with Poppy, but we both skipped on pictures with Beetlejuice, because, ew, no.
But there were two big highlights: First was the Jurassic Park section, with all the dinosaurs. Luckily, I was wearing the right shirt for it.
The Jurassic Park ride was a little scary, but not as scary as what Emma did with her new friend Kinsley a few moments later ...
Yeah, that was a lot.
The other big deal was Harry Potter world, which had an honest-to-goodness Hogwarts school for us to tour.
It was incredible.
They also had a full Hogsmeade to walk around, with a Hogwarts Express pulling into the station. The conductor was pretty fun to talk to, but he couldn't answer a lot of my magic questions.
Emma's favorite part was the Hippogriff roller coaster, which she went on four times. She probably would have gone on more, but the park did close after nine hours, and we really needed to get some sleep.
Guess who got a surprise trip to Los Angeles this week?
Emma and I got a chance to fly out to the West Coast with Mom and Dad this week, seeing the Sunshine State for the first time. Our first full day here included a trip to the Getty Museum, located up on the hills just north of the city.
That meant beautiful pictures inside and even better views outside.
Jonathan even got to see a garden of cacti, something that he had only read about in books so far. I thought the whole place didn't look enough like a desert for those things, but Dad touched one and they were sharp, so I guess they were real.
It really was a gorgeous site. Can't wait to see what we do out here tomorrow.
Sometimes you just look so good, your school decides that they'll use your lunch with grandparents to advertise the next fundraiser. Normally we'd ask for royalties, but we'll let them slide this time.
This year's car went faster than ever before, so that was great.
I walked home with another medal, but next year I want to get that top award. Dad says we can't put an actual engine in the thing but I have some ideas that he hasn't ruled out yet...
