Third full day in California. As a part of our "City Pass" entertainment package, it came with tickets to Universal Studios Hollywood. I actually wasn't too keen on going there, I didn't think the kids would like it, but since it was essentially free we decided to go anyway. I am so very glad that we did! Actually getting to Hollywood was..... an experience. You haven't driven in traffic until you've drive in California traffic. I wasn't even the one driving and I'm still a little traumatized by it. There's a big, open shopping area before you actually get up to the theme park. Full of great restaurants and stores that we don't see very often back home. Particularly, "Dark Horse Comics". My sweet husband was like a kid in a.... well, comic store, but it's cuter than it sounds. Especially when I stood back and just watched him. He was in full tourist mode and was so giddy when he saw the wall full of Captain America comics and paraphernalia. I love that man. He's just so cute. Please note the sunglass tan line and the backpack stocked with sunscreen & aloe gel with lidocaine. I think I forgot to mention that Billy, Alyssa and I got a really bad sunburn at Sea World. It prompted the purchase of all the floppy hats you'll see in the rest of the photos.
As expected, the kids were not down for any of the rides at Universal. It's also a relatively small park, so we went through it pretty quickly. We did "Shrek" in 4D, but it freaked the kids out and they didn't want to do anymore. We were all really stoked to ride Jurassic park, but once we actually got down to it, everyone chickened out. After the "Journey to Atlantis" ride, I learned that I don't handle rides as well as I used to. And the boys realized they weren't as adventurous as they though. Alyssa has never liked that stuff and Billy prefers to keep his feet on solid ground, so..... yeah, no Jurassic Park ride for us.
We DID get to see Bumblebee though! That was pretty neat. Brayden seemed to be the most adventurous when it came to meeting characters, so he was the only one that went up to say hello (with Daddy in tow of course). I don't know if he'd admit it, but even Billy was pretty stoked to be interacting with Bumblebee. It's not everyday that you get to say hello to a Transformer.
After we walked around some more and saw what there was to see, I begged for us to stay a little longer and catch the "Animal Actors" show. It was a really cute show full of animals (almost all are rescues!) that have appeared in shows and movies. I recognized a few. Particularly the dog from "Marley & Me" .His real name is Jonah and he was quite the entertainment. I'll get to that part in a minute. You know who else was entertaining? Brayden. Literally! He got called on stage and got to interact with the animals. He was probably on the stage longer than most animals were. I think we might have a star on our hands.
I had to cut that part a little short because my camera battery was getting low and I didn't want to miss anything. I wasn't sure how long they were going to "prep", so just paused the camera. Which I regret, because I missed the part towards the end where she introduces Jonah and talks about how he was in "Marley & Me". Anywho, so they set up the little obstacle course and Brayden becomes one of the hurdles they have to jump over. Super cute. First dog? First dog did great. Good job.
Then it was Jonah's turn. And in true "Marley & Me" form, Jonah decided to just do his own thing.
It was all part of the show, of course, but even animal actors can surprise us sometimes. Sweet Jonah was supposed to ACT like he was peeing..... not actually do it. I guess maybe it's an honor to get a little animal actor tinkle on you? Who knows. Brayden didn't mind too much..... and we promptly left the theater to go wash his hands. lol He laughed and boasted about that all day long. You would have thought he won the lottery.
All in all, I'm super glad that we ended up going. Getting to be on stage with those animals is something he'll remember forever. And so will I. Nothing boosts the confidence of a 6-year-old like being up on stage and having a crowd of people clap, cheer and tell you how good you did. It makes my heart smile just thinking about it.
One last little side note about Universal Studios. They were filming an episode of "Extra" out in front of the main gates. Apparently it's a game in California to see how many famous people you can spot. The set of "Extra" was my best bet. I stared and looked and couldn't quite figure out who was on stage, but I snapped a photo anyway. That's when Billy, quite loudly!, told me that it was Jack Black. So here ya go. My only celebrity spotting - the back of Jack Black. Oh, and that's Maria Menounos standing with him. So technically, two celebrities? Is she a celebrity? I don't know these things.
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