New Home and California Adventures!

I am actually catching up with the blog! We have been in California for about two and  half weeks. We are finally settling in and have also had time to explore California.We are hoping to visit many sights so that we can give recommendations to people who visit. We are loving it out here in Cali. The weather is absolutely perfect! We keep our windows open all day and have only had to use the air conditioner a few times.  Here are some pictures of our new home as well as some of the adventures we have had!

The outside of our home.

We have an orange tree and pomegranate tree in the yard!

Our landlords have a garden with garlic, cucumbers, tomatoes, egg plant, and other veggies. They have already been bringing us a lot of  vegetables and oranges, which taste amazing!

Our patio with grape vines surrounding it!

This is our kitchen. We were welcomed home with gifts left by our landlords. We are so lucky  to have them. 

Disneyland

I was always so conflicted when I saw people walking around Disneyland with these turkey legs. Part of me was disgusted while the other part of me wanted to try one. This last visit I caved and we spent $10.00 for this puppy. The verdict: not worth it. It actually tastes like ham and there is way too much of it. Maybe it could be split between a family of four and be good. 

Disney's California Adventure does the World of Color show each night. If you have not seen it you must! It is amazing! We stood in the front row, where we were warned we would get wet. I didn't believe that we would but as you can see our faces were soaked. However, it was totally worth it to have such a great view.

Hollywood

We also got a chance to visit Hollywood. We went to the mall as wells as the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We were not as thrilled as we thought we would be. It is very crowded and there is not a whole lot to see. I would only recommend it if you really enjoy shopping because the mall is quite large.

Oh the crazies that don't want to get real jobs so they dress up as characters on the sidewalk to get paid for pictures. I am ashamed to admit that we paid to get a picture with Jack Sparrow when we could have gotten it for free at Disneyland. However, I am now debating dressing up like Katniss so I don't have to have a real job....seems like easy money.
To my fellow OCD friends, I was disgusted by him putting his hat on my head and was worried the entire rest of the day that I got lice. UGH!!

I of course was still able to find a piece of my Disney in Hollywood.

The only bricks I took pictures of were Disney characters. I  have something against idealizing  actors and actresses. They are overpaid and get way to much recognition. Maybe that's why I was not a huge fan of Hollywood.

Observatory 

After we went to the mall and walked the Hollywood Walk of Fame we went to an observatory in Hollywood. I would highly recommend this. It is very large and contains a number of interactive exhibits. Plus it has free admission and free parking.

The building on the hill is the observatory. This is the view from our car, way too far away. There happened to be a concert going on in another part of the park so it was very crowded. 

The Observatory

The observatory overlooks Los Angeles and Hollywood. It is a beautiful view.

Holocaust Museum 

Today we went to the Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles. This was an amazing museum with so much to see. They give you the option of touring it on your own, with a guide, or with headphones and an iPod Touch.  We chose to do it with headphones. The iPod Touch allows  you to select which exhibits you want to hear about. The employees told us that they have over 30 hours of material that one could listen to. So needless to say I don't think we even heard a third of what they had to offer. This museum is also free with free parking! We would definitely recommend this museum.

This is outside the museum. It is a gorgeous building. 

These pillars are outside the museum. Each side explains what happened each year starting from when Hitler  was in power to the end of the war.

Outside of the museum they have an area dedicated to the children who were killed during the Holocaust. These walls are covered with tiny holes of various sizes. Each hole represents a child and the size represents the age. The wall was inspired by the Western Wall in Jerusalem which is considered the holiest place in the world. At the Western Wall, as well as at this monument, you can write on notes and place them in the holes. People are welcome to write prayers or notes to the children.

It was a very neat and humbling experience to visit this museum. It makes you realize the horrific events that took place and the importance of learning from history. It was very educational and we both learned a lot more about this time in history.

We have been able to do a lot in two weeks and we are excited to continue to tour California! I will continue to post about our adventures!