Needing a change in the speakers and in the variety of topics presented, Joy investigated other home school conferences and landed on one in Los Angeles. Since we had not sojourned to southern California in quite some time, we thought it prudent to add a few days to our trip and enjoy a day at Universal Studios and some educational time at the two presidential libraries in the LA area (Nixon and Reagan). We were invited to stay the night with friends Stacy and Adrian the night before our Universal Studios day which ended up being an eye opening game time for our boys. Grammy and Poppy joined us for the Nixon library and the home school conference.
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| The award winning poster created by our boys in the VBS program they attended while we were at the conference. |
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| Relaxing on their shared bed in the hotel. |
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| Taking a picture with President Reagan and First Lady Nancy. |
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| Oh you gotta take a picture of the model aircraft carrier! |
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| A replica of the Reagan's Oval Office filled with jelly beans. |
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| The Titanic Exhibit was also being featured at the Reagan Library which was quite interesting as well. |
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| Air Force One, retired to the Reagan Presidential Library--we walked all the way through it, amazing. |
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| A portion of the Berlin Wall, which came down during Reagan's Presidency. |
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| F-14 fighter jet, famous from Top Gun, and during Reagan's Presidency. |
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| Getting an education on Star Wars X-Wing the miniatures game, from Adrian. Oh, boy, are they into it now. |
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| Adrian let Garrett try out his electrical guitar with all sorts of different settings. |
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| Enjoying the hospitality and company of Adrian and Stacy. |
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| Family photo op--we didn't get many with the whole crew. |
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| 3-D ride experience. |
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| Hanging with the Minions... |
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| ...before screaming with Harry Potter on the Griffendorf ride. |
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| Harry's castle--a few too many spiders for our taste. |
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| Everyone was burned out on rides at the end of the day, but Brett couldn't bear not going on the ride...how could he face his friend Eric who is a huge Transformers fan. Going solo turned out to be a good move--in and out in 10 minutes! |
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| In the meantime, the boys took pictures with Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. |
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| At Nixon's Presidential Library, a replica of the seal of the office. |
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| What would Nixon have said to our crazy crew if they had been with him that day? |
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| Navy One--the helicopter version of Air Force One and more convenient for landing on the lawn at the White House. |
