Shoreline Village, Long Beach, CA

Now that Jose's restaurant has closed down he has a little more free time (in between networking for new jobs). Yesterday was his first full day off. We decided to get out of the San Gabriel Valley. Since it was our first sunny day in about 2 weeks (sheesh!), Jose took us to Shoreline Village in Long Beach. There isn't really much to do there but eat, walk, peruse and photograph stuff. We had worn pants since we'd grown accustomed to the coolish weather we've been having but it was actually pretty warm and shorts would've been much more comfortable.

Jose and the girls had some ice cream. I like to watch Maxine try things that are new to her. She's such a sport and loves to try everything. Then Jose and Raquel played a little bit in the arcade while Maxine and I looked at a water fountain and enjoyed the beach air.

Good Food and The Museum

Monday was such a fun day! Jose took us to lunch at Macaroni Grill (where he works) and it was so good. We sat on the patio because the weather was great.

Then we went to the Museum of Natural History across the street from USC. I hadn't been there in 20 years. Some of it looks sadly the same, especially the bird exhibit, like it hasn't been updated in at least 25 years. They have a gemstone exhibit that is amazing! I took so many pictures in there. I thought of my grandpa the whole time because he's a sort of geologist. Raquel wasn't really into the rocks but overall she enjoyed herself throughout the tour.

This cotton ball-looking thing is from the gemstone exhibit. WEIRD!