2012 - July 27th to July 30th - Vacation with Kendall & Jordan

From 2012 - July 27th - July 30th - Vacation with Kendall & Jordan

Working around summer activities and commitments, we scheduled a few days for the Grandkids to visit for a Grandparent Vacation. This week we were happy to have Kendall and Jordan. When they first arrived on Thursday, Mary Anne, Carrie and Ruby took them to the Mayfair Park pool where everyone enjoyed an afternoon of swimming.

Larry was off on Friday and then through the next week and our fun times began! One of Mary Anne's friends had told her of Whimsic Alley, a store devoted to everything Harry Potter. It is on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. As all of the Eric Facey kids are crazy for Harry Potter, we made this our first venture. The store is fantastic ... they really have everything Harry Potter! As we have been to Universal Florida and visited the Harry Potter Theme Park, we believe the Whimsic Alley in LA has more "stuff" than the park! But no rides and buildings!

Kendall and Jordan outside of Whimsic Alley in LA
The store is packed with all kinds of rooms with different Harry Potter merchandise.
 
Jordan tried one of the wands in the Wand Shop
 
Kendall and Jordan tried on some of the witchery hats
Grandma even had some fun with the fabulous masks in Whimsic Alley with Jordan and Kendall
 


For lunch we headed to our favorite vintage Deli in LA on Fairfax, Canter's
What's a Deli without Pastrami and Swiss on Rye with Dill Pickles?


After lunch, it was down a few blocks to the LA Farmer's Market and The Grove for a shopping and sightseeing afternoon.
 




And naturally,we had to have desserts at The Farmer's Market. Jordan and Kendall had oversize double icing stuffed cupcakes ... ummmy!

Saturday morning we started the day with a stop at The Gaffey Street Diner in San Pedro that we love to go to. We discovered this years ago from an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the food channel and have shown it in our blog before.

The biscuits are huge and with flavor to match. Larry doesn't think a visit to Gaffey Street Diner is a visit unless you have one of these biscuits!
Pancakes were the item for our girls and Grandma cannot resist the Gaffey Street Diner Blueberry Pancakes that are simply fully loaded.

 


Then we headed over to our destination, The Queen Mary

 



We walked around the Queen Mary and took the Haunted Mystery Legends Tour through the lower decks of the ship including the pool, boiler rooms, and other haunted areas that took us on the scary journey. It was fun!!!

Then over to Shoreline Village in Downtown Long Beach for some strolling, shopping and lunch.

 

Sunday after church, we had lunch and then visited Rancho Los Alamitos. It had been years since we were there, which is a shame with it only being about five miles from the house. The revitalization has been completed after many years. The Rancho is historically fascinating and simply beautiful.

The barns are filled with horses, chickens, ducks, rabbits, sheep, and the grounds are beautiful. There are several gardens that are so peaceful and wonderful to stroll through as well. The Villa has been restored with original furnishings of the family and the time period. The docents give a marvelous tour. The two fig trees in the front yard are over 130 years old and stunning.

 

Grandma took the girls to the mall to pick out backpacks/bags for back-to-school. Both Kendall and Jordan found the right one for them with anticipation of school in the next couple of weeks.

 

We had a terrific vacation with the girls and look forward another with Mikayla, Ethan and Ella in another week before they go back to school. Please visit our Photo Gallery at the link in the top of our blog or click on this album link for these vacation photos.