We did a three-part spring break in 2023: Universal Studios, Joshua Tree, and a Big Bear weekend. Mamo and Pod left in the early afternoon of Monday, March 26. After we got them off, we headed to the Hawkinses' house in Redondo Beach, bearing potato leek soup leftovers that didn't turn out to be as much of a hit with the Hawkinses as it is with the Kringels. The girls watched a spooky show together before bed.
We (Kringels) got up and out early the next morning, hoping to get to Universal Studios before the masses made it super crazy. We had to detour a ways to get to a McDonald's for breakfast, so that set us back a bit. We ended up entering the park just before 9:00 A.M.
There was a cute squirrel just inside the entrance, and squirrel sightings always make us think and talk of Tutu.
The motivation behind the trip to Universal was Harry Potter World; Tiny had finished reading the series, and Ever was still young enough to enjoy it. Jim figured the time was right. Harry Potter World was very fun and charming.
We didn't really know where we were going and ended up going to a wand-finding thing accidentally while we were trying to find a big Harry Potter ride. Then at the main Harry Potter ride, the worker at the entrance to the line tentatively agreed that Berry was just tall enough, but he said the workers at the top had the final say. So we waited in line, and the teenagers working at the top (after we had waited in the very long line) said she was too short. It was ridiculous. I don't think you could even fit a credit card between the top of her head and the sign she had to hit to be tall enough. But they wouldn't budge. It's lame having kids who are way older and braver than their heights would indicate. If Bear had stuffed an extra pair of socks in the heels of her shoes, she would have qualified. I tried to convince her to do that later and try that ride again, but she wouldn't. Anyway, Jim and Ever rode that one while the rest of us waited, and then we went on to other rides together. Jurassic Park was enjoyed.
I thought I had a vague memory of watching the WaterWorld show when I was a kid. Probably I made that up and was actually thinking of the Miami Vice show because I know I saw that one, and the WaterWorld show didn't exist until the year I graduated from high school. Anyway, we saw WaterWorld, and the kids enjoyed it.
Right after the show, we ran into Anna, Leela, Rafi, and their friend Brooke from Orange County. It was so trippy to run into them; we didn't even know they were going that day.
As we were chatting, a couple of ladies came up and asked how many kids we had, and they gave us fast pass-type things for the studio tour and some other attractions. It was the nicest thing ever and helped us so much. By that time of day, the line for the studio tour was really long, so the passes saved us a ton of time.
The studio tour was fun for me. I think it was kind of boring for the girls because they haven't seen any of the movies or TV shows referenced.
Anna taught us about these wands that you can buy for some exorbitant amount in Harry Potter World. At designated spots around Harry Potter World, you wave the wand in a specified formation and say a specified spell, and it'll light a light a bulb or move an item in a window or something. She let us borrow their wand, and the girls were really into it - even (maybe especially) Ever.
Butter beer.
I loved the view between the upper and lower lots of the park. It's fun and weird to see L.A. and remember my life there all those years ago.
At the end of the day, Ever and I went on the Mummy ride together since the Littles weren't tall enough. Ultimately we decided that maybe one more trip to Universal is in order when the Littles can ride everything, and then we probably don't need to go back.
Next stop was Joshua Tree, and it was so incredibly cold. It was in the 50's, I think, when we arrived, and super windy. We backpacked in a couple miles from Keys West and found a place to set up camp for the night on a little side loop off the main trail. All I remember about this trip was that it was excruciatingly cold (like my hands were going numb) and because of that, nobody could really enjoy it. I thought the girls would love scrambling around on all the rocks, but it was pretty much a bust.
Wrenzy and Ever chatted as they brought up the rear, as always.
On our hike out, Wrenzy and Ever tried to protect their faces from the freezing.
From Joshua Tree, we went to the cabin in Big Bear, and Sam and his girls met us there. We went on a really fun walk that started with Wrenzy (and then also Tiny) kicking giant balls of snow up the street and turned into people running and jumping onto the snow banks along the road. This imprint of a torso/arms and a head some distance away from the torso was amazing.
Sam's imprint on the far left, compared to Tiny. Big fella.
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