La Brea Tar Pits and the American Girl Store

We decided to take a trip up to LA to hit two very important places.  La Brea Tar Pits and the American Girl Store!  Tatum has been wanting to go to AGS since she got a doll at Christmas and insisted we go for her half birthday. :)  Ty couldn't wait to see dinosaurs stuck in black tar so we decided to hit both places.  Here's an excavation area with workers finding new animals daily!

We could see the tar bubbling up right in front of us, so crazy.  And the kids kept referencing The Croods movie, when the dad and Guy get stuck in the black stuff.  Now they understand what tar is!

I have a picture of me standing in this very spot when I was just a bit older than Tatum.  And nothing has changed!

So many big dinosaurs to check out...

and Ty liked this one the best. :)

Outside was this hands on exhibit, very strange.  But we all had to get in between the hundreds of plastic ropes and see what it felt like.

Now this was going a little too far for my comfort level. :)

You can see Grandma standing against the wall in the background, she had no interest in getting in the craziness.

Next, we drove over to the Grove in LA where we sat on blankets in the park and ate delicious and very overpriced hot dogs.  The Grove is an outdoor mall that looks like a street, as you can see above.  I guess it has a trolley running through it but we never saw it come by.  Lots of expensive stores and things to look at.  We kept looking for famous people but really, I don't know as I'd recognize anyone even if they stood right in front of me. 

Tatum was so excited to make it to the AGS!  Her and her doll Katie wore a matching outfit Aunt Diane sent them, and she couldn't wait to get in there!  So many outfits, dolls, things to buy!

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She was overwhelmed and we went up and down the escalator numerous times trying to find her that perfect something to buy.  Grandma gave her $30 and I gave her $30 and she brought $30 of her own.  She really wanted the gymnastics set which has a balance beam, mat, bar and the outfit for the doll.  But it was really expensive, like $85!  Instead, she settled on a closet to store all her dolls things and clothes, as well as two outfits.  She was very happy with that.  And would you believe that not long after this, we went to a garage sale where we bought the gymnastics set for $20!  Lucky girl!

 

 And the absolute best part of the day was when Tatum's tooth fell out at the American Girl Store!!!  She was twisting and twisting it in the bathroom and it finally popped out!  The perfect ending to a perfect day!